Non meat eater served meat again!

[Hellon]

i stopped eating meat 2 years ago and have been served meat now twice whilst eating out, and both times I have accidentally eaten some meat as I ordered vegetarian food. On both occasions the staff just don’t seem that’s it’s a big deal and just apologised. On the first occasion I had ordered a vegetarian burger and took a big bite only to realise it was a beef burger, I complained to the waitress and they said sorry and brought me a veggie burger which then couldn’t eat as I felt sick. They refunded me the money but it seemed like an inconvenience to them.
the second occasion I was at a wedding and got served a meat and mushroom pie when I had asked for the vegetarian option and the waitress serving the pie said yes it’s vegetarian. Again the staff just say oh sorry I’ll change it for you. Again I had eaten a small piece of meat so felt sick and couldn’t eat the new soggy tart they brought me. I didn’t make a fuss on the day as it’s someone’s wedding and I didn’t want to cause a scene, but they staff just brush it off.
i worked in hospitality for years and when we got something wrong we went above and beyond to make sure the customer left happy. I hate to think what happens when people have allergies, how do they trust a venue will
not kill them.
It is a big deal serving meat to a non meat eater and hospitality staff should start being more sympathetic to their guests! It really does put me off eating out.
Im interested to hear other people’s experiences as I don’t know many vegetarians /vegans

My Type 1 diabetic son (8) was served a regular coke instead of the sugar free one he ordered. It was only when he was feeling very unwell that we realised what had happened. The staff actually laughed and said 'never mind' it was very busy (mothers day). We left immediately as son was feeling very ill (no food had arrived). I went back in & said very loudly "we are leaving as you have made my son very ill." Everyone makes mistakes but the attitude was appalling.

When we eat out with my parents it's absolute nightmare, as my dad has a severe nut allergy and I'm vegetarian (but last year was also dairy free as I was breastfeeding baby with CMPA). For my birthday I thought I'd make it simple by going to a vegan restaurant with them but when my dad mentioned his nut allergy, they refused us service - so pretending you have an allergy as pp suggested could very well backfire. We had travelled hours to London as well, far a day out but also to go to this restaurant so I was pretty annoyed! It was half term and everywhere else was packed out and didn't have a table for hours (and I had a pretty grumpy baby now) so we just ended up getting sandwiches for the train home. Pretty sad. You can't even win all the time if you go to specific restaurants!

I’ve been vegetarian for years and this happened to me a long time ago. The difference was that when the waitress realised the mistake, she gave a small scream (just a little one!) ran off to the kitchen to check, came back and was deeply apologetic. That made me feel so much better, because the staff clearly took their job seriously. I’m so sorry you didn’t get that response. All I can say is, i now try to order food I can ‘see’ (so if it’s in pastry, I cut into it and try to spot the vegetables) and I don’t order meat substitutes. But I know with limited menus, this isn’t always possible. I haven’t had another issue since, so I hope you don’t either. Maybe leave a tripadvisor review of these places, so other diners are warned.

When vegetarian PPs say they feel sick as soon as they accidentally eat a piece of meat, do they mean they are actually nauseous, as in involuntarily retching, or is it more of a mental, ‘yuk, I ate something nasty’?

When I was served meat, once as a vegetarian, once as a vegan, I felt physically sick even though I didn't eat any of it thankfully. I couldn't eat afterwards for a few hours/ til the next day.

Sometimes I retch just from the smell or look of meat or eggs.

I ate some mince by mistake instead of veggie mince (I had a portion of each leftover from tacos and had put the bowls in the fridge).

I thought DP had taken her leftovers home, so I just tasted a tiny bit to see if it was still okay to eat and then realised that two bowls were still present.
I didn't retch, but I did feel extremely ill at the thought, rinsed my mouth with water and felt a bit gippy. It happens, to me eating a minced up animal is utterly disgusting to even think of, it can induce sickness.

There is a Portuguese cafe near me and three times they got it wrong. I asked for veggie sausage abd they gave me what our family used to have - that Dutch breakfast sausage which I know is meat. I had a vegetable soup which they assured me was made with veg stock but had chicken in it! I had the pasta arrabiata and asked if it had meat in it. "NO". No meat, only bacon!!!!!

Good luck with that, I'm coeliac so GF for medical reasons and constantly get offered Vegan bakes as if they are the same.
It feels like the more they legislate to protect, the less clued-up staff are where it matters

In the same vein, I'm often told 'you'll be okay here, they do GF!' As a vegan.

Of course my preference to not consume animals/animal secretions is NOTHING like an allergy that could kill someone, but the fact that people get the two muddled is so problematic. And I cannot understand it at all, the two things are absolutely nothing like each other!

this is TMI so I apologies

I was served bacon once on loaded fries. They bounced

I think it's probably just bad luck that this has happened to you twice in quite a short time frame, and it sounds like the staff serving you didn't seem to care which isn't very good.

I've had this happen once - at an early 1980s works Christmas meal. The staff brought me the normal Christmas dinner, so I pointed out I'd ordered veggie option. They apologised, took the plate away and brought it back with the turkey taken off and extra potatoes added!

The only other time I accidentally ate non-vegetarian was a couple of years ago when a friend went to the bar to order and didn't specify vegetarian chilli - not realising there were 2 versions on the menu.

Husband has been vegetarian for 40 years, and this hasn't happened to him (in this country. Asia, in particular, was harder), let alone happen regularly!

Not have been present at either occasion it is impossible for us to give an opinion on the waitstaff’s behaviour. I don’t doubt OP’s distress and it sounds like at a minimum staff could have done a bit more, if only to convey a more sincere apology.

OP, nothing prevents you from submitting online reviews describing your experiences. If I were vegetarian I would especially appreciate this