Was I wrong to complain

[Poppylicious1]

Last night my family (5 of us) went to a local restaurant for my sons birthday.
Drinks were ordered, including 2 pints of beer and 3 soft drinks and when they were brought over the waitress accidentally spilled the drinks over 2 of my party, wetting their trousers and shoes/trainers.
Staff were most apologetic and cleaned up the mess as best they could, replaced the drinks and informed us that we would not be charged for the drinks.
When the bill came at the end of the meal they had charged for all the drinks with the exception of one pint of beer.
I queried this with the manager who said that he could/would not authorise any further reductions to the bill but could give no real explanation as to why not. He was quite rude and laughed in my face when I was arguing the point. He also laughed when I asked if they would pay for any dry cleaning saying no they wouldn't as 'it's just beer'.
The bill came to £110 and they deducted £5 off for the beer.
Was I right to complain and expect not to be charged for all the drinks or am I being over dramatic as it was an accident?

I left a comment on their fb page earlier regarding the incident and they have deleted it and blocked me 🤷‍♀️

I would put an honest report on trip advisor. Yes, accidents happen, but bad customer service isn't an accident.

Just give an honest review on sm.

What!!! That's insanely poor customer service! You definitely should complain- what poor service!

That's very poor, as a gesture of goodwill they should definitely have given you all the drinks for free.

YABU - they discounted the bill, just not by the amount you wanted.

I think that's really poor service OP and you were right to complain. If at least 2 of your party had to sit through the meal in wet clothes the very least they could do is offer you the round of drinks on the house.

I would make sure that you leave as many reviews as you can in as many different places as possible that are factually accurate about what happened and I wouldn't eat there again on principle. I would make sure all my friends locally also knew what happened.

It is amazingly short-sighted of any restaurant manager to prioritise the cost of a couple of beers and 3 soft drinks (probably less than £5 cost to them) over a good customer experience. It's the old adage of a customer who has a good experience tells 5 people on average but a customer who has a bad one tells 10.

YANBU, working in a restaurant, I can guarantee we wouldn't have charged for any of those drinks. And for the manager to laugh at you is shocking really. I'd be leaving a honest review on TripAdvisor.

How on earth have they managed to delete your review on Trip Advisor?!? That's terrible

I'd be fuming OP. Fair enough accidents happen but any good restaurant with any decent manager - would have given you that round of drinks free. His attitude would have been what pissed me off, not the drink spilling.

I don't think I'm overplaying it at all. When I spoke to my mum this morning she had sponged her wool coat but not sure if that helped as I've not spoken to her since.

Now is your chance to name and shame since they deleted your FB post

I'd be disappointed by their reaction too. Sitting in wet clothes throughout the meal would be unpleasant and depending on the fabric coats and shoes can be difficult to clean.

You should have got the drinks for free, a clean table if possible, plus an apology, at the very least.

Unfortunate any fucker with some money can start a restaurant. Doesn’t mean they have a clue about customer service or basic manners.

If you’d like to leave an undeletable complaint, use Google reviews.

Do keep in constant contact with her. You can't be too careful.

I mean at the very, very least the two people with drinks spilled on them should have got a free drink each

I'm with you OP; I would have expected the drinks they dropped on you to be replaced and deducted from the bill. I would have paid in full for the meal and would have still paid the service charge if the Manager hadn't been a dick about it. I think your best bet is to leave a scathing Google review, and if it was a chain, email a complaint to the Head Office - ensure that you point out that it was the attitude of the Manager that was the issue, rather than the accidental spilling of the drinks. Let us know if you get anywhere!

They didn't. It was Facebook.

They should have honored what was offered as compensation. Now they have deleted your Facebook, write on Google reviews & Trip advisor and explain due to your original complaint being deleted, you'll make sure to highlight their very unprofessional behaviour to all who will listen!

They should have given you the drinks free as they said they would when the accident happened.

Pretty rubbish customer service tbh, accidents happen but the round of drinks for free would have been the right thing for the restaurant to do as part of the apology and a gesture of good will.
This deleting Facebook negative reviews is the norm, I would never use it to judge a place/company when they can just get rid of anything negative be it a review or post.

It sounds like they offered you the drinks for free but only removed one beer from the bill. I’d be annoyed that they lied to you and set you up for disappointment. But if they didn’t offer free drinks I wouldn’t request it.

i would expect the round of spilled drinks to be replaced at the restaurant's cost (so no charge for one round of drinks)

dry cleaning? nah. That's pushing it unless you were all wearing Versace.

please tell me that after the manager was rude, you asked for the service charge to be deducted? But "manager" was it a chain? complain to head office and leave a review about it?

You weren't wrong to complain.