Here's something you might be interested in.
I'll tip big if the service is good or I like the waitress. I gave a $10 tip on a $19 bill at Fridays the other day.
But I've talked about bad service and how low the tip should be in previous blogs.
This is about something else.
I was eating at a place on Old Restaurant Row in San Marcos. My parents had eaten there and couldn't stop raving about the food. They did say the service was horrible.
My girlfriend and I went and found the same thing.
We were seated and sat there for 15 minutes before we finally got up to ask if a waitress could come over. She took our drink order.
We ordered an appetizer, too.
Then, it took her a long time to come back to take our order. That's not so bad, since we had an appetizer to munch on.
Neither of us had silverware, so we went and got some from another table.
Our order was taken and it took awhile for our food to arrive. It was delicious, but I thought my dish was dry. I then realized it didn't come with the two sauces mentioned on the menu. I waited for the waitress. I figured when she came around to ask "How is everything?" They usually do that about 3 more times then necessary...I'd ask for those sauces. But, she never came around.
After 15 minutes I went looking for her. She said, "Oh, that doesn't come with sauces." I said, "I think the menu said it did." She told me she could bring me some, though.
As I walked back to my seat I grabbed a menu. When she came over with the sauces, I showed her where it said that on the menu.
I did all this without raising my voice. My logic is always, these are people that aren't making a million dollars. They work hard. And, they'll fix the mistake. I'm just not going to tip, since the service is horrible.
We waited so long for the check, we again went looking for her. When we couldn't find her, we went to the hostess.
I saw on the bill, I was overcharged. I was told, "Oh, yeah, the steak is a few dollars more than the chicken when you order that dish." I said, "You can't order that dish in chicken. It only comes with steak." She went back and corrected it.
Now, here's the point of all this. Near the salt and pepper shakers, there was a comment card. I filled it out. I wrote all this, and a few other little things that were wrong. And, I put the problems my parents had a few days earlier. One of the things I wrote on the comment card was, "I will continue to visit your restaurant, since we loved the food. The service just needs vast improvements."
Just today I received a gift certificate for $25. That was nice of them. Restaurants probably think when you gripe, you are just hoping to get something free.
But what I thought was weird, was the long form letter. It asked me to please give them another chance.
They must not have read my letter very well. I said I would continue to go there.
It almost makes me want to fill out a comment card again, saying "If someone complains, don't just send out a generic form letter. People know that's what you're doing."
I'll tip big if the service is good or I like the waitress. I gave a $10 tip on a $19 bill at Fridays the other day.
But I've talked about bad service and how low the tip should be in previous blogs.
This is about something else.
I was eating at a place on Old Restaurant Row in San Marcos. My parents had eaten there and couldn't stop raving about the food. They did say the service was horrible.
My girlfriend and I went and found the same thing.
We were seated and sat there for 15 minutes before we finally got up to ask if a waitress could come over. She took our drink order.
We ordered an appetizer, too.
Then, it took her a long time to come back to take our order. That's not so bad, since we had an appetizer to munch on.
Neither of us had silverware, so we went and got some from another table.
Our order was taken and it took awhile for our food to arrive. It was delicious, but I thought my dish was dry. I then realized it didn't come with the two sauces mentioned on the menu. I waited for the waitress. I figured when she came around to ask "How is everything?" They usually do that about 3 more times then necessary...I'd ask for those sauces. But, she never came around.
After 15 minutes I went looking for her. She said, "Oh, that doesn't come with sauces." I said, "I think the menu said it did." She told me she could bring me some, though.
As I walked back to my seat I grabbed a menu. When she came over with the sauces, I showed her where it said that on the menu.
I did all this without raising my voice. My logic is always, these are people that aren't making a million dollars. They work hard. And, they'll fix the mistake. I'm just not going to tip, since the service is horrible.
We waited so long for the check, we again went looking for her. When we couldn't find her, we went to the hostess.
I saw on the bill, I was overcharged. I was told, "Oh, yeah, the steak is a few dollars more than the chicken when you order that dish." I said, "You can't order that dish in chicken. It only comes with steak." She went back and corrected it.
Now, here's the point of all this. Near the salt and pepper shakers, there was a comment card. I filled it out. I wrote all this, and a few other little things that were wrong. And, I put the problems my parents had a few days earlier. One of the things I wrote on the comment card was, "I will continue to visit your restaurant, since we loved the food. The service just needs vast improvements."
Just today I received a gift certificate for $25. That was nice of them. Restaurants probably think when you gripe, you are just hoping to get something free.
But what I thought was weird, was the long form letter. It asked me to please give them another chance.
They must not have read my letter very well. I said I would continue to go there.
It almost makes me want to fill out a comment card again, saying "If someone complains, don't just send out a generic form letter. People know that's what you're doing."