Restaurant wait - was this excessive

B

Boyd

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I was in restaurant with someone in Temple Bar last night, which was not in any way busy. We both ordered starters and mains and just water. One starter arrived after about 15mins, no water.

I assumed they were doing a "bring each item as its cooked" so I didn't say anything. Another 10 mins passed at which stage I mentioned to the waiter that I had ordered a starter. He said OK and went off to order it. Another 10 mins pass, companion has long finished their starter, still no water. The starter arrived finally and I informed waiter that I was not paying for the starter, due to the fact that I had been in the restaurant for 35 minutes and hadn't eaten anything.

I also pointed out that we have received no water nor did I receive any bread as an apology for the starter taking 35mins.
He said "well i'm not giving it to you if you wont pay for it", I said fine and he took it back. Myself and companion then decided not to stay and left w/o main course. We were not charged for the starter we did receive.

What do people think - was the waiter wrong to take starter back after not giving me anything food/water for over half an hour or was I too hasty in refusing to pay. I wanted to do this upfront rather than disputing it at the end, and simply not tipping didnt seem adequate for the wait.
 
You did the right thing walking out. I wouldn't have paid for it. It is restaurants like that one that should go out of business but unfortunately it probably won't because it can fleece tourists in temple bar.
 
Similar thing happened to me twice in last few months.

Note both in Fast food area

First place, a brach of supermacs I put in order, said they would drop it upstairs to me, no food after 45mins, when I put in order place very quiet. Went down after 45mins and looked for a refund. Staff member just forgot order. Have not given this branch any business since

Second place put in order for main and dessert, got main and sitting their waiting for 20+ mins for dessert, staff member comes down do you want anything else, bascially forgot order, place was very quiet. Brach of eddie rocket

Both times I did not complain to Mang(In a sense did not want to get staff in trouble)

In both cases felt like staff members had little interest in Job and did not want to be their
 
I don't understand why you didn't bring the food up with you? Or if that was a problem ask after it had been put on the tray if someone could bring it up to you? I've never heard of ordering like that in a place like Mc Donalds/ Burger King/ Supermacs. Also baffled as to why you waited for 45 minutes. Staff are not robots and can make mistakes, in your case it would be easier to forget since you weren't actually present. I understand being told it wasn't ordered is obviously frustrating though. In your second story, yes the dessert should have been written down and brought out after the mains were cleared. I don't think you would have much interest in your job if that was you, personally I work in retail and I'm not chirpy, I am pleasant at all times except to completley unreasonable people shouting at me calling me thick etc.- but it CAN be difficult to be pleasant and smiley after a rough day, personally rude ignorant customers put me in a bad mood.
 

In supermacs branch where I went, It is quiet normal for them to take order and drop down to table when ready. The staff member knew I was going upstairs. I have seem that staff member forget other people order on a different day their as well. I did not go down earlier as it was a simple order, no que thier, and I gave them benefit of doubt.

In story two dessert was written down on order sheet

I am always polite to staff but that level of service is not acceptable
 
My pet hate at the moment is staff not writing down orders. Unless it's a top notch place, the order invariably gets messed up. Yet try suggesting to a waiter/waitress that they write your order down - Doesn't go down well!
 

Well, it sounds like the waiter was very badly trained, and didn't have a clue about customer service. In fairness, though, there should have been someone more senior on the floor dealing with situations and complaints and making sure things were running smoothly.

I remember being in Cocoon in the Hibernian mall a few years ago and ordering lunch. We were waiting for ages and ages and eventually asked the waitress, politely, how long our food was going to be as we had to be somewhere at 2.30. She informed us that if we didn't like the service we could leave - which we did without offering to pay for the glass of wine we'd each had while waiting. (It turned out the order had been lost and she gets my vote for the rudest waitress ever).
 
Why would someone sit upstairs in a fast food restaurant for 45 minutes waiting for their food to arrive? I mean, seriously, a little bit of cop on.

As regards waiting for 15 minutes for the second starter, that's not on. But I would have been on to them after no more than 5 minutes. It's a tough call re whether to pay for the "late starter". It may be that they might have offered complementary coffee or something at the end of the meal, which would be a decent compromise. but to take a dish from them, while saying you have no intention of paying for it, is going to rub people up the wrong way. I'm not surprised at their reaction to this.
 
I disagree - I think its better to be upfront about it as it would have annoyed me for the rest of the meal wondering were they going to charge me for it/give something as a concession as you said.
Based the fact that they brought no water or bread basket after I informed them that the starter was missing I didnt fancy waiting to find out. Anyone waiter worth their salt would bring you something small in the interim rather than have you there for 35mins with nothing.
 
Were you not out to enjoy yourselves? Why sit there getting cross without saying anything for 15 mins? When the mistake was made, why not ask for the bread? i.e. something that a) you want and b) you know that if you dont get it, you are going to get more cross. Especially when you know the waiter is useless. Seems a bit strange, like you were avoided taking any changes that might have improved your night. I dont deny that the waiter was useless, I just think that you could have helped yourselves a bit more.
 
TBH I was in a bit of a mood having attended Galway's trouncing by Kilkenny so I just ordered and waited. It wasnt a case of him not writing it down, I saw him do that!
 
Yes it was bad form. I worked in a restaurant and would never have left customers waiting that long for starters, water and bread basket.

You seat the customers with menus, ask for a drink order. On return with the drink order you also bring a bread basket with you. You ask if they are ready to order, if they are you take it if not, you let alone for a few minutes.

Most waiters have a certain amount of tables to look after for the night - usually anything between 5-10 at one time. You scan the room to check all customers are ok and not looking for attention, you can usually catch their eye if they want you.

If someone had complained to me about a long wait for a starter, I would have apologised, gone to the kitchen to suss it out, and had a word with the manager on that night about not charging. The majority of the time the manager themselves will agree not to charge and I would inform the customer of this when delivering the starter. Said customers would then be well taken care of for the night.

You did the right thing to complain, however I would have asked for a manager. Some waiters are only in it for a college job, etc. and do not have much interest/skills to re-act appropriately to a complaint.
 
Cheers, great post dmos87, TBH I didnt think of asking for a manager. Your synopsis of what a waiter would do is spot on with what I would think they should do.
 
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