Is this grim or am I being pathetic?

[Idontwantbeans]

As the title says. Name changed as I really don’t know if it’s just me.

Went to a local garden centre for coffee with my mum today. While we were there we purchased two jacket potatoes.

I ordered bacon with cheese for my potato. I have a suspected allergy and am following a diet that removes foods. At this moment I cannot have legumes in any form among other things.

When my food came they brought beans and cheese. I cannot have this. The girl that came out asked to look at the receipt and I pointed out what I’d ordered. She seemed to have a huge issue with taking it away and giving me what I’d paid for.

5 minutes later my food returned. I could see straight away that she had scraped the beans off and replaced it with cheese and bacon.

It’s a Sunday and I wasn’t going to cause a fuss so just took it. The cafe was full by this point.

On eating the food was cold apart from the bacon that they’d just cooked. I also had to pick beans out that she’d missed.

Am I being precious or is this as disgusting as I think. If you work in food standards what would be your opinion. What if id been highly allergic to the beans or the sauce that was stuck all over the potato?

First world problem for me I know but could have been a serious issue for someone else.

HOW ABOUT GIVING CUSTOMERS THE CORRECT ORDER THEY ASKED FOR

Really?

Tell that to my friend who nearly died.

You utter tube.

I know right? Amazing how some people assert things with such confidence when they know nothing. So ignorant they don't even know they are ignorant.

I had a family member threaten to feed my then non-verbal 3 year old with an anaphylactic peanut allergy a mini snickers in order to 'show' me that allergies were all about an attention seeking parent and didn't really exist.

I am a quiet and calm softly spoken person generally. I went fucking crazy all over their arses. But people like this- they walk amongst us.

They’re wrong clearly. But I would suggest when you order you always clearly state your alllergy, even if the food you’re ordering doesn’t contain it. My son has a milk and egg allergy and we always state it

it’s disgusting and I’m pretty sure they do this in McDonald’s when you ask for an egg only McMuffin. You’d expect better from a garden centre personally I’d of walked over and taken a photo lol

I worked in the hospitality industry for 14 years, from ‘Spoons to silver service.

This is terrible. Please write an excoriating Tripadvisor/Google review for it as it needs calling out.

I'm concerned that you didn't go back and get a freshly made one because your Mum said don't make a fuss. She would prefer you to get ill than to upset the member of staff who got your order wrong and also didn't replace it correctly after you'd told her you can't eat beans.
Always go back, the staff need to be educated on allergens. Also speak to your Mum about it and why it's important.

I’ve worked at McDonald’s and everything is made to order

That response to your request is completely unacceptable, I used to work in the food industry and if I had been your waitress I would have demanded the kitchen do a whole new plate for you, like you say if someone had allergies it would be a big problem and they would be facing legal action should anything bad happen as a result, you have to be so careful. If I had been you I wouldn't have eaten the amended plate, I would either have demanded a fresh plate or if I feared getting spit in my food I would just demand a refund and go elsewhere for lunch

I was with a friend on the way home from a concert & she wanted a burger. We went into a burger place (independent) & he cooked it & put a slice of cheese on it and handed it to her. She pointed out that she didn't order it with cheese as she can't eat dairy. He removed the burger top & scraped the cheese off with HIS HAND! 🤢

He was most put out when she refused to pay.

My son is allergic to legumes. If this had of happened to him I would have hit the roof. So utterly dangerous!! She needs reporting.

OP didn’t pick the beans off, they did when she sent it back. She doesn’t say that she told anyone that she was allergic when she placed her order - why would she, she didn’t order beans.

Why are you shouting ? Especially as you’ve got it wrong. OP didn’t tell them she had a bean allergy because she didn’t order beans. And do you really think that after getting the order wrong, it’s ‘helping’ to just scrape the beans off the potato and send it back out with a different topping ? It’s disgusting.

Nope. Beans are legumes, which account for a high incidence and severity of allergic reactions. Some of the most potent and prevalent allergenic foods belong to the legume family, including peanuts. Beans of all types can cause anaphylaxis and severe skin rashes if you’re allergic. Why are you posting dangerous misinformation ?

We have this with my step-father. He cannot tolerate onions or any allium-type vegetables- they make him extremely ill. Whenever we're out for a meal, we always stress that he doesn't want any salad, particularly onions.

So what do we get nine times out of ten? No salad but a pile of raw onions on his meal. How difficult can it be?

Garden centres often employ young people on minimum wage (or less than minimum wage if they are under 21) and are deliberately short staffed to keep costs down. Staff may be rushed off their feet during popular times of day. It is still bad practice and needs mentioning as it could be dangerous but you can see why staff might make a mistake under time pressure and then take a shortcut to try and rectify it quickly. Not good practice though.

Disgusting. Vote with your feet and dont go again

I think this is minimising. Food establishments have to follow health and safety guidelines on allergies/food intolerances and this place clearly didn’t. The shortcuts to rectification could be responsible for ending someone’s life if staff are not properly trained and made aware. In this case the OP was given something she hadn’t ordered, then short changed by being given back the same item, scraped of the beans, and now cold, with a hot topping on it. That’s appalling.

No this is grim/dangerous

My son is Ana to dairy. If they had just 'scraped' off the cheese 😬

This reminds me of the time my best friend was in hospital delivering her son. She completed the menu choice thing. When they brought her dinner it wasn't what she ordered. (She is vegan)
She politely asked hospital staff if her plate of food was around as she was vegan
They took the plate, walked to the bin in her room, scraped the chicken off into the bin and give it back to her!

Unacceptable actions from them I would expect a refund

You would be right to complain, but it's highly unlikely the waitress is handling food in the kitchen! I've worked in many restaurants etc and I've never touched food for tables, it's always the chef.

Disgraceful I would leave a negative review, I don't understand, we choose their place to go and have a nice time/meal spend our hard earned money in their establishment you would expect their best service. Obviously they don't want recommendations or returning customers 😕
@Idontwantbeans

So bad. I’m not surprised though - I worked in a garden centre cafe around 20 years ago and I seen some things that I will never forget 👀

Depends on the place.

In some cafe's it isnt a professional chef but more of a cook, and everyone pitches in. A garden centre cafe could be either and I have worked with a lot of chefs over the years, none of them would do this. They know the consequences of cross contamination etc too well, they know it can kill and that they would be held liable. However a young inexperienced waitress ...... that I could see, especially if she is fairly new and hasnt had the proper food hygiene training.

Disgusting you would have been right to send it back. I'm allergic to garlic had a steak sent with garlic butter. I returned it and explained they couldn't just scrape off the garlic butter and send it back. They did exactly that I was ill within minutes and they have us the meal for 4 free! They only needed to cook what was asked for as did your place. I'd actually put a review on twitter someone might have a serious allergy and they really need to listen to their customers