I had lunch at a Bob Evans' restaurant with a former co-worker yesterday. (I love Bob Evans because I am usually one of the youngest adults being served.) Although I had never been to this particular Bob Evans they are usually much alike so I ordered their cobb salad with tea and banana bread. The bread was good and I asked for a second piece...not good of me but I am weak. The salad tasted like it had been made and allowed to remain in the refrigerator until it collected all the various tastes from what ever it happened to be near.

I did not eat it, but after all my banana bread and tea, I was not hungry. The waitress was slow, of body and mind, and I was just going to forget about it because she had such trouble getting the ticket right, even charging me for the second piece of bread. As I was paying at the register the manager asked me how everything was. I told her, very briefly. She said, "You had trouble in here last week, didn't you?"

I saw red...and I although I did not use any "rough" language I "put her in her place" as my Mother would have said and she charged me nothing.

If the manager had not implied that I do this all the time, I would have let it go.

What would you have done?

That manager's comment was highly unprofessional. She needs a different job. You never blame the customer.

I would've done what you did, I suspect. What did you say to her?

You did the right thing. The manager should take the hint if people are complaining more than once then something is wrong with the food!

Well, it would all depend on HOW she said it as to how I would respond.

If she was merely commenting that I had had trouble there last weekend, meaning that I was not satisfied with the service or the food, and if she was NOT being rude or mean, I would just have told her, "No, it must have been someone else, because this is the first time I have ever been in this particular restaurant."

If she was implying that I was there complaining last week also, I probably still would have told her the same thing, a bit more forcefully.

If she was being rude & mean, then I would have responded likewise & asked for a supervisor.

Sometimes people speak harshly and don't mean anything by them, its just the way they talk, so you have to pretty much determine how they truly meant it, and hope you don't handle it rashly.

I think that the manager should be embarrassed at the quality of food or service that a customer is complaining twice in two weeks' time, not to point it out to the customer. The fact that you had voiced a complaint before, in no way negates what happened with your salad this time. That shows the manager's poor management and people skills.
I think the salad sounds pretty nauseating, if you ask me. Yuck. And why charge for the bread at all? Is bread considered an appetizer, if it is not garlic bread? How cheap can they be? I would start voting with my wallet on this place, and write the corporate address! They hate that!

I'd have done the same thing you did Estrajean, you handled it impeccably.

She wouldnt have asked me at the register, because I would have sent the salad back. I have no problem returning things (ask my husband!).

Her comment would set up red flags for me too. Seems to point out the food/service must be consistently poor. It sounds like you handled it beautifully.
I'll bet with this place there is more than meets the eye...probably poor management and low employee morale. They dont seem to care much about the food or the customers.

You handled it well. The manager should never have said or infered that you were a complainer. I would have been very angry.

Gross...I've had the kind of stayed-too-long in the fridge food you spoke about. Ice cubes, too. Hate that. I think she was quite impertinent. So long as you are not a chronic complainer and menu-returner, she should have graciously said, "I am so sorry, please consider this on the house and we will make every effort to make your next experience a good one."

I would've sent the salad back w/o getting upset or anything, and asked for something else. I've done that before, I refuse pay for food that is bad or cooked wrong, or whatever. I've sent WINE back b/c it was served too cold. Service is service and it should be to your standards. At least you didn't have to pay for the food in the end. After THAT comment, I would've said, with a smile, "Thanks and I won't be back".

Oh, gosh . . . I can't even begin to write how this may have ended, had I been involved. All depends on my mood . . . I am not at all shy about creating a scene . . . if I'd felt like doing that, I would have. I may also have asked for the numbers and e-mail addresses of corporate headquarters . . . might also have told every customer walking in, what had just taken place . . . and warned them, NOT to order a Cobb Salad . . . I give you credit, Estrajean, for handling this like a lady.

It's a wonder that I haven't yet, been murdered. btw: I would NEVER eat at this particular Evans restaurant, again . . .

Thank you.
As far as what I said...after a pause while maintaining eye contact...(I am sure she thought I was being hostile but it has been my habit since I grew up a little to pray before I speak my mind, so actually, I was just using eye contact to keep her engaged while I talked to my "Boss".) I told her this was the first time I had been in her Bob Evans and that I frequented the chain because I can always depend on consistently good food and service, that I had never been charged for extra bread before...but if that was their policy I would abide by it because I am a rule follower, that there was one Bob Evans I go to in Ohio that has such excellent service and food with a staff so superior it is "like going home" and I always email the company after a visit there to compliment them on that store because I so appreciate extra effort and care and that her store did have good banana bread.
Her responded by saying "Thank you. I will take care of your check."


I am glad you agree. I was brought up not to create a "scene" so situations like this are always uncomfortable for me.


That is very wise. Sometimes it takes a long time to learn that.


I was amazed and have no answer other than that it has never happened before. But it was really good banana bread.


Ah, Besotted, that is exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you.

Sometimes, shock value is the best approach: in this case the moron in charge was not going to get it anyway, so I'd have gone with "The salad tasted as if it had been used to rub the feet of an athlete foot sufferer and the bread looked like it had been scrapped out of a petry dish full of Candida albicans. Now I know why I never set foot in here before today and I'll be sure to spread the word. Expect an unscheduled visit from the board of health anytime."

Does your husband mind it when you return things? I am very aware that some people would never do what I did for fear of upsetting the person who is with them.



It was the injustice of the thing that got to me...I'd had to suffer through a lunch that should have been enjoyable and then she tried to make me the bad guy.

Impertinent is exactly what she was! I find I no longer handle impertinence. The salad was bad, but that I could have handled...I think I'll look for a shirt that says "I don't take no IMPERTINENCE!"


That would have been a wise thing to have done.


I am sitting here laughing out loud thinking of myself warning customers not to order the cobb salad. It would be something to see.

Shock value, CV, would surely have worked well for you...for me, no. Perhaps it is a a generational thing. It would have upset me even more than the salad and being identified as a return complainer. I don't even know what "Candida albicans" is/are.

I don't like to return stuff but if it is bad, inedible or not to what I'd expected, I will.
I see no reason NOT to complain to a manager...that is why they are there--to ensure good service, good staff and a return visit from customers. How will they know something is wrong if no one says anything.

Good job!!

Well done. If I were you I wouldn't go back to eat at this resturant again. The last thing you want to do is peeve someone off who serves you food. Personally if the food I order in a resturant sucks I NEVER send it back to the kitchen or reorder a different item from the menu. Resturants hate this and I having worked in resturants I have seen what can happen to peoples' food when a customer appears to the staff as difficult. I get them to take the item off the bill and off I go.

If you had tried to "shock" I think you would have lost credibilty. Your poise, and the intelligent manner in which you voiced your complaint, made the manager take you seriously. I think she learned something and tried to make it up to you.

QUOTE (Laemco @ Jun 30 2006, 01:50 PM)

Well done. If I were you I wouldn't go back to eat at this resturant again. The last thing you want to do is peeve someone off who serves you food. Personally if the food I order in a resturant sucks I NEVER send it back to the kitchen or reorder a different item from the menu. Resturants hate this and I having worked in resturants I have seen what can happen to peoples' food when a customer appears to the staff as difficult. I get them to take the item off the bill and off I go.

You are right! In my 20's, I used to work the graveyard shift Fri & Sat in a motel-restaurant. It was a well known place with a band in the club, and everyone usually went to the restaurant to eat after the band closed up the bar....even the band went there.

I got to see what the cook did to the food that was sent back to him. I told him from now on, I am not going to eat when you are cooking or else I am going to watch you cook my food!

It's not a pretty sight. It's a fungus, the kind one usually refers to as ....ahem....vaginal yeast....(I warned you)

Same thing happens on airlines, which is why I bring my own food. I got deathly ill after asking a flight attendant to heat up my dinner again. Coincidence? And to think these flying waitresses can now have you put on a Federal Do Not Fly list based on whim!

I have sent things back on a few occasions, and am horrified to think that someone may have spat on my food or otherwise did something inappropriate just because of that. A couple of times, the dish was fine, it just wasn't to my liking. Once it was undercooked. I'll keep that in mind next time I go out to eat though!

BTW I always phrase my request is a very nice way, so it is not upsetting to the wait person. I have never had them react badly to my request.

For the most part, its not the waitress. For some reason, the cooks get REALLY offended when you return their food for ANY reason.

I saw the cook drop the burger on the floor & put it back on the bun! I don't know what else he would do, it would disgust me!

It could have been returned because it was not warm enough, not cooked enough, whatever the reason.

I think good classy chefs are above that kind of stuff, but who knows? Some of them can be such "prima donnas" too! I just don't trust them.

Ick! I'll never send food back again.

Just the other day the waitress brought me steamed broccoli instead of the broccoli and cheese soup that I ordered. I asked her to bring the soup (I wasn't rude) and I was ill later that day. I wonder what was put in my soup?

Guess I won't go back there.

I believe it was the TV show 20/20 that did a segment a week or two ago about what happens to your food when you send it back. Funny - 100 years ago, my mother told me, "If you send a steak back, the chef will throw it on the floor, spit on it and send it back". I pooh poohed her. She wasn't too far off.

I think if you hassle or "abuse" the wait staff, you really open yourself up to a can of worms (no pun intended).

Where is Piegan Jane? Maybe we could ask her to get us the first hand scoop on what REALLY happens. She must know lots of chefs and cooks.

Looks like she deleted her account.

estrajean - you handled it perfectly. I know when I have to have this sort of confrontation, I tend to go over it in my head alot for several days afterwards - I think it's the adrenalin rush. Don't worry, the whole thing is over and you never have to go into that restaurant again.

I'd have smacked her upside the head with my cell phone.

Don't EVER send food back, to the kitchen. Take your chances with it, the first time . . . if you've made complaints, or are unpopular with the help . . . CHOOSE ANOTHER RESTAURANT, or eat at home.

Well, probably I wouldn't have thought of this on the spot but as an armchair philosopher, I might have said: "Oh, was there a problem last week? No, it wasn't me. What happened last week?"

Estrajean, you handled it well, dear.

I DO return inedible food, but don't let them bring me anything else, as I've had much experience with what goes on in a restuarant kitchen, and I don't want to eat something revolting that some awful person will put on my food, out of revenge.
You know, it's bad enough when your food is awful or the service stinks, but when the manager gives you grief and insults you...it's beyond stress inducing. Not with what food costs in so-called nice restaurants, these days.

It's too bad there seem to be so many crummy people working in restaurants.

My husband doesn't mind if I send back/return things. He's used to my assertiveness.

I've only had to send back food twice, tho. The first time the manager showed up at my table and offered me anything else on the menu gratis. It worked out OK, this was at Red Robin if anyone wants to know.

The other time was when my mini pizza arrived with shards of glass on top. Whatever else they could have served me couldn't have been as bad as that!

Wonderful!!

Estrajean, you handled it beautifully. Instead of coming down hard on the manager, you talked about how much you like *other* Bob Evans restaurants and how often you communicate that to corporate headquarters. The subtle implication there is that you're someone who reports your experiences back to headquarters, but you did it in an entirely positive way. That's hard to do. My hat's off to you.