Bad service: What do you do?

Andalublue said:

My reaction would be from not leaving a tip, to a complaint to the manager. I would certainly inform friends of my experience. I've had bad experiences at places where I've been a repeat customer - sometimes s*** happens. In those cases I'd still tell friends, just not recommend they boycott a place that might have been having a bad day. New places have less chance of being revisited.

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If it's a place where I go often and they have a bad night I won't tell anybody. Everyone has a bad night from time to time. If it becomes a trend, and places do "lose it" too, then I will.

If a restaurant changes ownership, they start over in my mind. I've seen too many where the new owner changes too many things.

Bodhisattva said:

I guess you eat in ****ty restaurants with ****ty service... I am speaking about nice to fine dining were waiters know their stuff. Wine pairings. Sauce ingrediants. Wine makers. Etc.

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Nope. But sometimes it happens and when it happens, they need to know that it was their own actions, or lack thereof, that cost them their tip.

Cephus said:

Nope. But sometimes it happens and when it happens, they need to know that it was their own actions, or lack thereof, that cost them their tip.

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:lol: like a naughty two year old. No offense. I bet you were a hand full for your parents. No. No. No.

My comment is not an insult. Many of us that debate probsbly were handfulls.

Cephus said:

If I get bad service, I leave no tip at all. Tips are for going above and beyond the call of duty.

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The problem is that that is not true in this country. Servers are paid something like $2.50 an hour specifically because the customer is expected to pay their wages via tips. Sure, if it's absolutely horrible service, you need not feel obliged to tip. But tipping is most definitely not "for going above and beyond the call of duty".


There is an angle for self-interest here: if you keep going back to the same place and leaving crappy 5% or 10% tips, you're probably going to get worse service and I wouldn't be surprised if some servers chose to "augment" your food between kitchen and table...

radcen said:

When you get bad service in a business... could be rude service, poor quality, whatever... what do you do?

Do you...
- simply not go back?
- don't go back AND tell your friends?
- write a letter of complaint?
- give them a second chance?
- ask for the manager and complain right then and there?
- some combination of the above?

Except for asking for the manager I am a mix-and-match, depending on the place and the issue. I have been known to write a letter on occasion, and I try to balance that with an occasional letter of praise if something is really good. I will generally give a new place a second chance, if they have a good reputation, except in the most egregious of experiences.

How about you?

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Depends on the place, and how severe.

Fast food place with bad service, maybe even a wrong order? Meh. As long as I get something edible through any means other than having it thrown at me, I'll probably shrug it off and forget about it. Half of these people have probably just worked 18 hours with a 3-hour break in the middle, and if it's one of those really busy times of the year, they've possibly been doing that all week. I've been in low-end food service, and it can be brutal at times. I'm not going to hold it against them. They frankly don't get paid enough to fawn over my french fries after not having slept since last Thursday.

Nice restaurant with poor service? I doubt I'd go back, and my tip would be tepid. But, I will still probably tip at least 10%. I don't know this person. They're human and maybe they're having a bad day. While I probably won't go back, I'm also not going to make them eat rice over it or put them at risk of getting fired.

I've only totally shorted the tip and complained once. The waitress did literally throw food at one of the people I was out with (who was perfectly polite, and simply asked for something that was included with his meal that she didn't give him). He also talked to the manager.

I didn't blast it on social media or anything, because she was really the only issue and I doubt she lasted a week if that's what her temper's like. But obviously that's a really extreme sort of situation. That's the only example I can think of from my life of truly god-awful service.

To be honest, I'm usually harder on patrons than I am on servers. No better way to judge a first date than how he treats the service people.

As far as the food itself being really terrible or prices for what you get being absurd, I'm much more likely to write it up on Yelp or something in that case. That's an issue of the product itself, not the ever-changing dynamics of a single employee and who's having an off-day.

Mr Person said:

The problem is that that is not true in this country. Servers are paid something like $2.50 an hour specifically because the customer is expected to pay their wages via tips. Sure, if it's absolutely horrible service, you need not feel obliged to tip. But tipping is most definitely not "for going above and beyond the call of duty".


There is an angle for self-interest here: if you keep going back to the same place and leaving crappy 5% or 10% tips, you're probably going to get worse service and I wouldn't be surprised if some servers chose to "augment" your food between kitchen and table...

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That's their choice. Nobody holds a gun to their head and makes them take that job. Most do it because they know that they CAN make a lot more than minimum wage, but they have to earn it. Service jobs require hard work and dedication because you're not just getting paid a flat wage for your time, you have to rely on your customers to make up the lion's share of your income.

But of course, by law, if the tips do not make up the difference, employers are still required to pay minimum wage regardless. A really bad waiter or waitress still gets minimum wage even if they get no tips at all. Of course, they probably won't have a job, but that's what the law requires.

Note that there are a handful of states, 5 I believe, that do NOT allow tipped employees to be paid less than minimum wage. In those states the server gets minimum wage AND tips.

Most people will complain when receiving bad service but I always try to
complement when I receive good service. Everyone likes a pat on the back from
time to time. So make sure when you get good service you let someone know.
Thank them for it and let them know you appreciate it.

Once while visiting my sister in Michigan my father tipped a crappy waiter with pesos.

Rule #1. If you want to bitch and whine when service is bad you should praise and compliment when service is good.
Rule #2. Be a good customer. I told a waiter to leave and come back in ten minutes when one of our group at a table sat there going, "Oh, I just don't know what I want. Maybe fish, no, no, maybe chicken, oh, golly, I can't make up my mind."

If I do get bad service and it's clearly the waiter I leave the smallest coin I have as a tip. I don't want him to think I'm a liberal who doesn't tip.

The waiter frequently gets blamed when the problem isn't his doing. I talked to a manager once about expecting a waiter to deal with five tables plus a club meeting of 25 people ordering individually. The managers expectation was unreasonable and I told him he should have been taking orders, hustling dinners, and clearing table.

Patrickt said:

Rule #1. If you want to bitch and whine when service is bad you should praise and compliment when service is good.
Rule #2. Be a good customer. I told a waiter to leave and come back in ten minutes when one of our group at a table sat there going, "Oh, I just don't know what I want. Maybe fish, no, no, maybe chicken, oh, golly, I can't make up my mind."

If I do get bad service and it's clearly the waiter I leave the smallest coin I have as a tip. I don't want him to think I'm a liberal who doesn't tip.

The waiter frequently gets blamed when the problem isn't his doing. I talked to a manager once about expecting a waiter to deal with five tables plus a club meeting of 25 people ordering individually. The managers expectation was unreasonable and I told him he should have been taking orders, hustling dinners, and clearing table.

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I try to compliment, as well. Like you say, it's only fair.

And I agree that the server often gets blamed for things that aren't their fault, especially food quality. People should be mindful of that.

radcen said:

I try to compliment, as well. Like you say, it's only fair.

And I agree that the server often gets blamed for things that aren't their fault, especially food quality. People should be mindful of that.

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Actually, it would help if everyone had to work two months serving customers before they take over their father's corporation.

radcen said:

When you get bad service in a business... could be rude service, poor quality, whatever... what do you do?

Do you...
- simply not go back?
- don't go back AND tell your friends?
- write a letter of complaint?
- give them a second chance?
- ask for the manager and complain right then and there?
- some combination of the above?

Except for asking for the manager I am a mix-and-match, depending on the place and the issue. I have been known to write a letter on occasion, and I try to balance that with an occasional letter of praise if something is really good. I will generally give a new place a second chance, if they have a good reputation, except in the most egregious of experiences.

How about you?

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Depends on the level of fail, are they trying, is it the employees fault or company policy?

I have seen many business heavily understaffed, where one employee is busting ass trying to keep everyone happy but is onyly one man, in such case I would complain, but not agaist the employee but the company itself. Even then I am cautious because some companies would fire that guy as an easy out to avoid blaming management, even though management failed and not him.