Do you every complain about food in a restaurant?

[BadMeal]

I don't ever complain about what is served to me in a restaurant. On the very rare occasion I am not happy with the food, I simply make a mental note never to return to that establishment again. I am usually so grateful that I don't have to cook the food or wash the dishes, that a sub par meal is seen as just one of those things to chalk up to experience.
DD (20) says that all of her friends parents complain if they are not happy with the food in a restaurant. They often get a discount or a free meal. I just haven't got it in me to do this.

If there is a genuine issue like it's inedible yes or not what I ordered but just not to my taste no

Yes, definitely complain if justified. Also, good service cost nothing, no excuse for less. It's important for the restaurant to get feedback on their food. My Dh makes a point of praising staff when it's deserved as well as complaining if something is wrong

I do if it's not what I've ordered or not cooked, burned etc. But not really a complaint I just ask with a bit of common decency, for it to be rectified.
I also don't wind myself into a frenzy about it by convincing myself they're going to have an attitude with me before I've even opened my mouth and therefore have a combative attitude to start with - I just raise it and then respond to their response.
A lot of people do the above, and it's a hard one to navigate because no matter how polite and accommodating you are, they've already decided you're not and so see and hear what they expect to, not what's actually being said and done.

I've changed meals & drinks for people, apologised, discounted the bill - to then read a review that apparently I 'glared' or my tone was 'off' or I committed some other crime that indicated I wasn't happy with the situation (dropped a knife off the plate once returning a meal where they had an issue, apparently I 'launched' it in a fit of temper 🤷🏼‍♀️ genuinely I'm a human, on occasion like everyone else I drop stuff - I actually agreed with the customer on the problem and didn't have an issue at all, just dropped a knife).

For me as a hospitality worker that's the main issue and why I'm always sceptical when people say they had everything changed but the staff had an attitude about it or were rude - sure, some are, but many more times it's the customer projecting because they've got themselves overwrought and need to justify that.

Only if it's actually badly prepared or, in the case of a recent very expensive tasting menu, so disgusting I can't eat it (raw prawn on top of raw beef with tamarind sauce? Wtaf!)

If it's really bad, yes.

If they've misunderstood the order and brought something wrong, or it's cold, or especially poor quality. I will just tell the waiter what's wrong with it and we decide whether to bring a fresh one or just remove it and take it off the bill.

You pay a fortune to eat out, you deserve for the food to be at least acceptable quality and to match what the menu said it would be!

Yeah, there's no need for it to be weird or combative in any way. It will happen every day. Wait staff are just happy when the customer is polite about it! Cos so many aren't.

Yes, same. Maybe I've just been lucky.

If it's very poor then I do - but I do it quietly and politely. I have to say though that it's pretty unusual if I'm not pleased with it! We go out fairly regularly, say 2-3 times a month, more if on holiday, but I have only complained once in the last 2 years.

I think I complaint rarely because I read the reviews of the restaurant and look at their review scores before I go, probably key if someone is a complainer. Perhaps "all her friends parents" (I smiled at this) need to do more research!!

We have just been to a Chinese for brunch. We ordered item 72, Thai baby octopus plus a load of other stuff. They brought what we thought was squid; but the texture didn’t taste right. Looking at it, it was more like chicken’s feet - which we never eat! We checked the pictorial menu - they had brought us item 71, chicken’s feet!

We complained and they refunded us half, as we’d eaten some!

I used to but my kids get embarrassed if I complain and I can see it spols the meal. So I now just pretend it's lovely and we all have a lovely time.

So there's a restaurant we used to go to regularly . I always chose something with 1 chili hot on the menu and it was nice. But on 2 most recent occasions. the meal was so spicy that was in inedible. Eating it was a chore, and it gave me hiccups. In the past I would have complained and would have replaced with something else. Maybe if enough people did this they would be more careful when cooking with the scotch bonnets for other dishes. As it is, I just won't go back there now which is not a good result for the restaurant.

We don't go out often at all, maybe twice a year. We pay well for the food we eat at restaurants so if something isn't right then yes, I'd definitely ask for it to be rectified. I'm always genuinely polite as it's really not a big deal.

We used to occasionally have breakfast in a Bistro wine bar type place.
The breakfast was always delicious and came with toast and butter on the side.
One morning our breakfast arrived with the toast thickly buttered.
I'm afraid I was well into the menopause and tended not to put up with any old shit.
I asked the waitress why was my toast buttered..she says ' chef does it this way now '
Well not for me he doesn't. I'm not 5 I can butter my own toast and back it went.
I sound a right stroppy mare but I like a small amount of butter on toast..this was lathered with bright yellow greasy gunge

I had a very favourite cafe for a long time, the owner knew me and my son and always greeted us warmly etc. When my parents came to visit me I took them to it quite excitedly, telling them how nice it was.

The meal was terrible, which had never happened before. I went over to the owner to mention one dish that was particularly not right (a chili con carne which was absolutely swimming in liquid) and he looked so grumpy, didn't apologise or anything, and just had a waiter take it away, pour some of the liquid off and bring it back to me (not even rewarmed). Owner continued sitting at a table chatting to a friend and paid no attention to me for the rest of the time I was there. There was no comping or anything. If he had apologised and been a little attentive or friendly about it I would have carried on going there weekly as I had for years. One bad meal would not have driven me away. As it is I never went back.

All the time!

But I do it very nicely. Never asking for a discount or write-off unless it is truly dreadful.

Always politely asking to speak to the Manager as I don’t want junior staff to feel uncomfortable.

They often are cooked medium (as long as it wasn’t a chicken burger!).
but they should have checked with you first.

I’ll send back food if it’s wrong, cold, not cooked properly or inedible.

I would not complain if something turned not to be to my taste. The best service I have ever had in a restaurant was when the waiter spotted my face when I tasted a dessert that turned out to have a texture I just couldn’t deal with. He came straight over to ask if I was not enjoying it and offered an alternative at no charge. It was a set menu so I hadn’t actually chosen the dessert. I would happily have accepted that it was my problem that I didn’t like it, DH loved it. The chocolate mousse that replaced it was delicious. Well done Quality Chop House in Farringdon.

I do complain if food is wrong, most recently a macaroni cheese that was sitting in a pool of orange grease.

If it isn't what i ordered? sure
if it's not cooked properly, or under/over cooked etc etc? for sure
Not in terms of "i want a freebie" but "i'm paying for this and what you have given me is unacceptable"

Luckily for me it hasn't happened often. Mostly overcooked steak because so many places don't believe that when i order my filet blue, that is what i expect, and serving it on a super hot place will have me sending it back.

I actually hate being given free dessert as an apology..I want to not pay for the awful thing, not be given something I wouldn't have ordered anyway

Have your steak cooked medium but not your burger. I realise they are sometimes cooked medium. On the rare occasion I eat a beef burger I now ask that it’s cooked through and am often told they wouldn’t cook it any other way.

We've got coeliac disease in the family (me and both kids), so if I think something is wrong it goes back for checking. If it IS wrong then I will absolutely kick off because it's our health. Not only will we be in bed for a week in agony, but it takes our stomachs right back to fucked up status. That's really, really rare though. I don't enjoy the argument but I would absolutely expect to be reimbursed, and I take it higher if I think I'm being brushed off. Training needs to be better.

Other stuff? Not really. If it's inedible I'll not eat it and send it back, but if it's just not what I expected or the pasta is too gloopy/pizza too thick, I'm not bothered. Not ideal but I'm not going to cause shit in a busy restaurant for people run off their feet. I will send back cold food though. But I'm nice about it, and I'll tip very generously if my concerns are met with respect.

@BadMeal

why would you be grateful for something that you’re paying for , OP? They’re not doing you a favour out of the goodness of their hearts are they?!

@Sparsely

complain! So what if your kids are embarrassed?! It’s good for them to see you modelling appropriate behaviour when something isn’t right rather than just putting up and shutting up.

I very very rarely complain. Mainly stemming from having worked as a waitress in the past. Some of the ways people spoke to me were wild, many people do seem to think people who work in hospitality to be stupid or unworthy of respect.

Also, chefs are often totally stressed and cantankerous and having to go back and tell them something was wrong resulted in a very bad time for me or the customers. Either I would get shouted at, or awful things would happen to the food. I’ve seen a chef put a burger down his pants and back onto the plate, spit in food, absolutely grim.

I have a relative who complains about things like coffee not warm enough for her liking and I find it very embarrassing, not really the complaining itself but it just feels entitled. I’m like you OP, these people are waiting on me and that’s already a slightly uncomfortable balance of power, even though I pay.

I think I've only ever complained twice and that was once when chicken was pink inside and when a burger was so charred it was inedible (the waitress was arguing the toss with me about that one but I insisted on it being sent back and a new one cooked).

I don't complain if it's just a bit meh, not very nice or not well-seasoned. In those cases I wouldn't return.

If it's not to my taste I wouldn't. If it was inedible I would. One time for example I was served a chicken burger that was still frozen in the middle. I did send that back!