Take it back!

[Shorty]

How often do you send food back that you've ordered?

I'm usually pretty lucky in that if my order gets screwed up, it's not so terrible that I can't live with it. I've worked in food and cafes and I know that sometimes people just make mistakes and I don't like making them feel bad about it. My mom has no tolerance and will send something back, which is fine, because people want what they pay for.

How about you?

[Jinx]

Depends on what the mess up is, and how severe. Most of the time I'll just eat it. If it's covered in a ton of onions, I'll try to pick them out, but if there's too many, I'll say something. (Unless I forgot to order it without, then that's on me.)

Now, if I order something EXTRA and I don't get it, then I sort of throw a fit.

[Formalhaut]

I don't think I've ever sent anything back. I should be glad, to be honest.

[Pumpkin]

I rarely send things back, even in the case of the pie milkshake. I do remember once where I waited 45 minutes for a chicken quesadilla (quesadillas don't take that long) and there was no chicken in it. It was just cheese. And the chicken raised the price of the dish by almost double. So I sent it back and asked for one with chicken. 45 minutes later AGAIN, and it was a beef quesadilla. I sent it back and about 30 minutes later it comes back with just cheese and no chicken again. At that point I just left. They kept apologizing and offering it for free but I mean come on. I'm usually patient but that was just ridiculous.

If you ask most people I'm usually a little to patient with people. I normally don't bring it up when it's not very good or isn't what I wanted because the way I look at it, these are people and they might be having a rough day or something. I would feel terrible if I was in their place and I don't want them to feel bad or make extra work for them. That quesadilla thing though was absurd.

[Pike]

Never because I'm too beta for that.

The UK's favorite thing to do is to mess up my Subway sandwiches (probably because of my filthy Yank accent) in which case I just pick out the offending vegetables and eat it anyway.

[Quindiana Jones]

It's not your accent; they just hate filthy Yanks.

"Have some more TOM-AH-TOES, y'jerk!"

[Pike]

THEY PUT PEPPERS ON EVERYTHING and also only have one kind of cheese :confused: I have never seen any poor blokes more confused than when I asked for provolone. "Provo...what? Is that... normal... cheese...?"

[Calliope]

If it's wrong, you bet damn right I'll send it back, unless I'm in a hurry. Most restaurants are extremely accommodating in allowing me to substitute/edit menu items so that they can be made vegan, and I generally have very good restaurant experiences.

Once though, I was eating brunch at a place that prided itself on their vego options, and I was served a tofu scramble with chopped sausages in it, which is one of the most bizarre combinations I can think of.

[Unbreakable Will]

I only send it back if it's absolutely positively smurfed the smurf up. Like if I ordered a steak medium rare and it comes out well. Take that shit back, rape the cook with it and have him do it the right way.

:pissed:

[Sephiroth]

I don't think I ever sent something back. If I get the wrong pizza I eat it. I won't wait for it another 15 minutes and I know the one I ordered is gone already.

If I ever sent something back it was long, long, long, long, long, long, long ago.


I rarely send things back, even in the case of the pie milkshake. I do remember once where I waited 45 minutes for a chicken quesadilla (quesadillas don't take that long) and there was no chicken in it. It was just cheese. And the chicken raised the price of the dish by almost double. So I sent it back and asked for one with chicken. 45 minutes later AGAIN, and it was a beef quesadilla. I sent it back and about 30 minutes later it comes back with just cheese and no chicken again. At that point I just left. They kept apologizing and offering it for free but I mean come on. I'm usually patient but that was just ridiculous.


This sounds like me talking to the Sony Techno Service except I sent them my PS3, they did not do anything, never apologized, said different things in mails, began anew at one point as if they were robots and I never got anything for free. I did not even get my PS3 repaired in the end.

[Chris]

I am so disgusted by this thread.

All foods have feelings, tastes, and love, so to send anything back would suggest that you do NOT love food. I do not understand this kind of reckless thinking. Everything should be caressed and loved individually, and each and every item deserves your FULL appreciation. What kind of heartless witch could possibly perform this kind of discrimination?!

It is clear to me that I am the only person here who truly loves and cares about the feelings of food.

[Shorty]

If eating chicken feet and hearts means you love food, then I am a cold and ruthless hater.

[Chris]

you are a ruthless hater

[chionos]

Basically never, unless the food is somehow made disgusting or inedible by the mistake. Part of this stems from being a bartender/waiter for several years and part of it stems from being Go With the Flow (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcHKOC64KnE) in such situations.

[Formalhaut]

[QUOTE=Chris;3252784so to send anything back would suggest that you do NOT love food. [/QUOTE]

Bu..but, what if the food was going to make me ill and had all sorts growing on it?

[Chris]

There's an old saying: "If you can't take sausage, close all orifices."

[Agent Proto]

That sounds more like something you would say!

[Formalhaut]

There's an old saying: "If you can't take sausage, close all orifices."

But I need my orifices to breath and do.. other things. But mainly breathing.

[sharkythesharkdogg]

I am so disgusted by this thread.

All foods have feelings, tastes, and love, so to send anything back would suggest that you do NOT love food. I do not understand this kind of reckless thinking. Everything should be caressed and loved individually, and each and every item deserves your FULL appreciation. What kind of heartless witch could possibly perform this kind of discrimination?!

It is clear to me that I am the only person here who truly loves and cares about the feelings of food.


Meanwhile......



Believe it or not, I used to hate bacon, but now I love it.
I can understand that you hated bacon. Bacon is disgusting, and the only acceptable bacon to eat is of the turkey kind.

http://moonbattery.com/hypocrisy-meter.jpg

[NorthernChaosGod]

I've only sent something back once before and that was at a McDonald's drive thru. I ordered a Coke and they gave me a Sprite, wtf?

My food comes the way I ordered it most of the time or it's never a big enough deal to send back (like medium-rare when I ordered rare).

[The Summoner of Leviathan]

I only send it back if it's absolutely positively smurfed the smurf up. Like if I ordered a steak medium rare and it comes out well. Take that trout back, rape the cook with it and have him do it the right way.

:pissed:

*laughs* Yeah, try to take on a cook while they're in the weeds just try it. You will be on the losing end of that one. Though to be fair, if a cook messed up a cuisson that badly, then they are probably getting trout from the sous-chef or chef while making you a new one.

I don't think I ever sent things back. I will just live with the mistake. If you mess up royally enough, I will just pay and not come back.

Working in the restaurant industry you see weird send-backs though. Some customers are just smurfing crazy/stupid. The funniest is when the customer doesn't know their cuissons. "They ordered it medium" "It is a perfect medium" "They want no blood." "So well done?"

[NorthernChaosGod]

I only send it back if it's absolutely positively smurfed the smurf up. Like if I ordered a steak medium rare and it comes out well. Take that trout back, rape the cook with it and have him do it the right way.

:pissed:

*laughs* Yeah, try to take on a cook while they're in the weeds just try it. You will be on the losing end of that one.

Wtf does this even mean?

[Chris]

Okay, it's okay to hate bacon. It's piggish.

[Pike]

Bacon is great on hamburgers and sandwiches, though.

[The Summoner of Leviathan]

I only send it back if it's absolutely positively smurfed the smurf up. Like if I ordered a steak medium rare and it comes out well. Take that trout back, rape the cook with it and have him do it the right way.

:pissed:

*laughs* Yeah, try to take on a cook while they're in the weeds just try it. You will be on the losing end of that one.

Wtf does this even mean?

"In the weeds" is a common expression used in kitchens to refer to the fact that they are extremely busy. Put it this way, at my work in the summer we do around 200 covers on a busy night. That means we feed 200 people in one night. Now service is between 6pm-11pm, but most of these 200 people are being fed between 7pm-9pm. So yeah, that is a lot of food. It is high stress and high pressure. You are being called orders from all over, not to mentioned occasionally yelled at for whatever reason (sometimes deserved, sometimes not), the last thing a cook needs is a smart-mouthed client. My point is that when cooks are in the weeds, we are trying to get a lot of work done at once and are already stressed. Tempers run high and quick. And we have knives, sharp knives nearby. :p

EDIT: That's 200 who are usually having an appetizer and a main course. Some are having two rounds of appetizers and a main course. Some are having just three rounds of appetizers. Some are just having main courses. On top of that some people will be having desserts. Also, there are 6 cooks during those nights, the sous-chef or chef at the pass expediting and two dishwashers. It gets intense.

[Loony BoB]

I only take it back if it's not what I ordered. It doesn't happen often because most people who make a living taking orders know how to take an order. I can't remember the last time this happened to me, actually.

EDIT: Oh, it happens on rare occasions with takeaway places, now that I think about it. Normally it's a case of forgetting something rather than getting it wrong and they just come back with whatever was missing. I remember Danielle once got onion on her pizza which she didn't ask for and we got a voucher (and the right pizza) along with the right pizza, which was neat. It pays to complain if people get things wrong.

[NorthernChaosGod]

I only send it back if it's absolutely positively smurfed the smurf up. Like if I ordered a steak medium rare and it comes out well. Take that trout back, rape the cook with it and have him do it the right way.

:pissed:

*laughs* Yeah, try to take on a cook while they're in the weeds just try it. You will be on the losing end of that one.

Wtf does this even mean?

"In the weeds" is a common expression used in kitchens to refer to the fact that they are extremely busy. Put it this way, at my work in the summer we do around 200 covers on a busy night. That means we feed 200 people in one night. Now service is between 6pm-11pm, but most of these 200 people are being fed between 7pm-9pm. So yeah, that is a lot of food. It is high stress and high pressure. You are being called orders from all over, not to mentioned occasionally yelled at for whatever reason (sometimes deserved, sometimes not), the last thing a cook needs is a smart-mouthed client. My point is that when cooks are in the weeds, we are trying to get a lot of work done at once and are already stressed. Tempers run high and quick. And we have knives, sharp knives nearby. :p

EDIT: That's 200 who are usually having an appetizer and a main course. Some are having two rounds of appetizers and a main course. Some are having just three rounds of appetizers. Some are just having main courses. On top of that some people will be having desserts. Also, there are 6 cooks during those nights, the sous-chef or chef at the pass expediting and two dishwashers. It gets intense.

You'd shank some for being uppity? Chill, brah. :p

[Jowy]

Rarely, I make sure to order in great detail to prevent error! Although I was at a Vietnamese place and wasn't expecting mayonnaise to be on my sandwich. But they were nice about it and threw together a new one in five minutes.

[The Summoner of Leviathan]

I only send it back if it's absolutely positively smurfed the smurf up. Like if I ordered a steak medium rare and it comes out well. Take that trout back, rape the cook with it and have him do it the right way.

:pissed:

*laughs* Yeah, try to take on a cook while they're in the weeds just try it. You will be on the losing end of that one.

Wtf does this even mean?

"In the weeds" is a common expression used in kitchens to refer to the fact that they are extremely busy. Put it this way, at my work in the summer we do around 200 covers on a busy night. That means we feed 200 people in one night. Now service is between 6pm-11pm, but most of these 200 people are being fed between 7pm-9pm. So yeah, that is a lot of food. It is high stress and high pressure. You are being called orders from all over, not to mentioned occasionally yelled at for whatever reason (sometimes deserved, sometimes not), the last thing a cook needs is a smart-mouthed client. My point is that when cooks are in the weeds, we are trying to get a lot of work done at once and are already stressed. Tempers run high and quick. And we have knives, sharp knives nearby. :p

EDIT: That's 200 who are usually having an appetizer and a main course. Some are having two rounds of appetizers and a main course. Some are having just three rounds of appetizers. Some are just having main courses. On top of that some people will be having desserts. Also, there are 6 cooks during those nights, the sous-chef or chef at the pass expediting and two dishwashers. It gets intense.

You'd shank some for being uppity? Chill, brah. :p

If only we could, if only...

[Pike]

I only send it back if it's absolutely positively smurfed the smurf up. Like if I ordered a steak medium rare and it comes out well. Take that trout back, rape the cook with it and have him do it the right way.

:pissed:

*laughs* Yeah, try to take on a cook while they're in the weeds just try it. You will be on the losing end of that one.

Wtf does this even mean?

"In the weeds" is a common expression used in kitchens to refer to the fact that they are extremely busy. Put it this way, at my work in the summer we do around 200 covers on a busy night. That means we feed 200 people in one night. Now service is between 6pm-11pm, but most of these 200 people are being fed between 7pm-9pm. So yeah, that is a lot of food. It is high stress and high pressure. You are being called orders from all over, not to mentioned occasionally yelled at for whatever reason (sometimes deserved, sometimes not), the last thing a cook needs is a smart-mouthed client. My point is that when cooks are in the weeds, we are trying to get a lot of work done at once and are already stressed. Tempers run high and quick. And we have knives, sharp knives nearby. :p

EDIT: That's 200 who are usually having an appetizer and a main course. Some are having two rounds of appetizers and a main course. Some are having just three rounds of appetizers. Some are just having main courses. On top of that some people will be having desserts. Also, there are 6 cooks during those nights, the sous-chef or chef at the pass expediting and two dishwashers. It gets intense.

Has anyone else noticed that anytime we ever have one of those "describe your job" threads the people who work in restaurants are by far the most borderline insane/ready to snap?

[Jinx]

I only send it back if it's absolutely positively smurfed the smurf up. Like if I ordered a steak medium rare and it comes out well. Take that trout back, rape the cook with it and have him do it the right way.

:pissed:

*laughs* Yeah, try to take on a cook while they're in the weeds just try it. You will be on the losing end of that one.

Wtf does this even mean?

"In the weeds" is a common expression used in kitchens to refer to the fact that they are extremely busy. Put it this way, at my work in the summer we do around 200 covers on a busy night. That means we feed 200 people in one night. Now service is between 6pm-11pm, but most of these 200 people are being fed between 7pm-9pm. So yeah, that is a lot of food. It is high stress and high pressure. You are being called orders from all over, not to mentioned occasionally yelled at for whatever reason (sometimes deserved, sometimes not), the last thing a cook needs is a smart-mouthed client. My point is that when cooks are in the weeds, we are trying to get a lot of work done at once and are already stressed. Tempers run high and quick. And we have knives, sharp knives nearby. :p

EDIT: That's 200 who are usually having an appetizer and a main course. Some are having two rounds of appetizers and a main course. Some are having just three rounds of appetizers. Some are just having main courses. On top of that some people will be having desserts. Also, there are 6 cooks during those nights, the sous-chef or chef at the pass expediting and two dishwashers. It gets intense.

Has anyone else noticed that anytime we ever have one of those "describe your job" threads the people who work in restaurants are by far the most borderline insane/ready to snap?

Work in a restaurant during rush-hour when you've got 10 tables of 3-4 people seated, and a party of 6, and people keep asking you for things and you just want to cry.

THEN YOU CAN HAVE AN OPINION ON OUR INSANITY.

(I am never, ever working in the service industry again.)

[Pike]

Work in a restaurant during rush-hour when you've got 10 tables of 3-4 people seated, and a party of 6, and people keep asking you for things and you just want to cry.

THEN YOU CAN HAVE AN OPINION ON OUR INSANITY.

I wasn't having an opinion or judging the industry/workers, I was making an observation :p

[The Summoner of Leviathan]

There is a degree of insanity required to work in kitchens. No doubt about it.

[Setzer the Gambler]

I already sent back a dish 4 times once, but that was a bad case of "I'm not cooking your pasta right". Maybe the chef was mad that day. The food was cold, so I asked them to reheat it, when it came back, some of the pasta was stuck solidly together and felt undercooked, so I sent it back again. The third time, I realized there was no chicken in my chicken alfredo and lastly, I sent it back because there was little to no sauce left on the dish. In the end, I just told them my appetite was gone (blame it on the bread sticks on the table... grrr). :(

I also resend a sandwich from a restaurant 3 times because the person gave me the wrong sandwich 3 times, lol.

[Pheesh]

Usually it's just something small like onions on a burger, something that I can easily take care of myself. If it's a restaurant dish then I will usually trust that the chef has made the ingredient blend well with everything else on the plate, or if it's something I am sure I will not like then I just don't order that dish. The only no-no is an overcooked piece of meat or something that is brought out too cold.

[fire_of_avalon]

I don't think I've ever done this at all. Lucky me!

[chionos]

Lucky easy-to-please Megan.