Restaurant Situation - WWMMD?

[MixedBerryJam]

So I went to a restaurant today with my two teenagers. We ordered an appetizer and three entrees. The restaurant manager (not the waitress) delivered the meals, and one was incorrect. I explained that he had brought the chicken version of the dish, but I had ordered the shrimp version of the dish. We had about a two sentence conversation which ended with him saying, "So, you wanted the shrimp instead of the chicken" and I agreed. Leaving the table he said, "Enjoy the chicken." It was a perfectly pleasant exchange; he wasn't being snarky or rude or anything. Perfectly pleasant.

My older son turned to me and said, "Don't eat that; they're going to charge us for it."

So I explained that when the manager said "Enjoy the chicken" he was saying that rather than take it back and throw it out, he's leaving it for us and it will be free. So we Ate it. The shrimp came and we ate it, too. So we ate both entrees.

When the waiter brought the check, both the chicken AND the shrimp were on the bill (so we were charged for four entress plus the app.) I was surprised, but didn't want to make a scene, and didn't want the waiter to have to pay for the comped meal out of her own pocket (this was her first day). My younger son thought we should pay for the meal because we ate it. Can't argue with setting a good example, so I paid for the meal.

Would you have expected the incorrect meal to have been comped? Even if you ate it? Would you have eaten it?

[casmgn]

It absolutely should have been comped and you should have asked them to take it off.

[Deleted]

I would have assumed, since they left it on the table, that it would be comped and I'd only pay for one entree.

[MixedBerryJam]

You're all validating what I thought would have happened, so I'm not crazy! I do sort of wish I had said something, but I really didn't want the waitress to get in trouble on her first day. I'm such a ... whatever the word is ... what's one level up from doormat?

My son saying "We ate it; we should pay for it" did kind of warm my heart though. I like that they're thinking about right and wrong, even if I don't agree that not paying would have been wrong!

[blackcat]

It's very strange that the manager said, so you wanted the shrimp? and you said yes, then he told you to enjoy the chicken. What the crap. I would have said something, but I am not nice like you are. lol.

[bostonmichelle]

I agree they shouldn't have made you pay for 2 entrees. Most likely if they had brought it out back they would've had to thrown it out, at least in my experiences they tell me this will happen and hence why they leave it at the table for you. Next time speak up, but at least your son thought you were doing the right thing in paying for what you ate.

[livinitup]

Your kid is sweet.

But in the real word, when staff give you food you did not order AND LEAVE IT ON YOUR TABLE, no, you don't pay for it.

[MadamePresident]

It was nice for her to leave it, but you shouldn't have had to pay for that additional entree. What if it was something you couldn't eat and she left it on the table? Would you have still felt the need to pay for it then?

[Deleted]

Well, that's a good way to up sales. Just bring people things they didn't ask for and make them pay for it.

[steph96]

You said she was new--did she maybe forget to take it off of the ticket?

[MixedBerryJam]

Jan 26, 2013 20:38:33 GMT -5 MadamePresident said:

I actually thought about this, too. If it had been something we wouldn't/couldn't eat and it sat on the table UNCONSUMED I would have definitely said something. But we ate it AND we enjoyed it, so the lesson to the boys seemed the right way to go.

it was PF Changs, btw, and really good.

[pacificrules]

Jan 26, 2013 19:35:03 GMT -5 MixedBerryJam said:

You're all validating what I thought would have happened, so I'm not crazy! I do sort of wish I had said something, but I really didn't want the waitress to get in trouble on her first day. I'm such a ... whatever the word is ... what's one level up from doormat?

My son saying "We ate it; we should pay for it" did kind of warm my heart though. I like that they're thinking about right and wrong, even if I don't agree that not paying would have been wrong!

You're definitely not crazy. Even if you ate the chicken entree, they shouldn't have charged you for it since you didn't order it. (If they would have taken it off of the table, they probably would have just thrown it away.) And, since the manager already knew of the problem, you shouldn't have had to ask to have it comped. He should have done it at the same time the shrimp entree got rung in.

[M]

I'm sure they just forgot to comp the chicken off the ticket. You should have just reminded them and they would have taken care of it without question. Sometimes managers have so much going on that they forget.

[vegas]

Jan 26, 2013 22:27:27 GMT -5 M said:

I'm sure they just forgot to comp the chicken off the ticket. You should have just reminded them and they would have taken care of it without question. Sometimes managers have so much going on that they forget.

That's what I was thinking.  Makes sense since it was her first day.

[ESF]

Its perfectly reasonable o have it comped.

FYI, Places can't take a wrong order out of someone's pay. That's especially true where deducting it would have them making less then minimum wage. I'm not saying it never happens, but if you think it's the kind of place that would mistreat employees and not pay them fairly, just don't eat there. In other words, if your reason for not speaking up is because you don't want the employee to have to work for free for three hours to pay off their mistake, why are you eating there? Mistakes happen, and normal restaurants build that into their cost model. You don't have to pay for them, and neither do the employees.

[mskitkat]

As a former server, you should have spoken up. The mistake meal would not have come out of her pay. Lord knows some nights I would have ended up in debt if that were true. Some places will make the server cover a dine and dash, but that isn't too common. I'd be shocked if PF Changs did. She probably intended to have it taken off and gotten so flustered she forgot.