Complaining in the UK
Discussion
I'm not one to complain, but I'd had enough.
The dog next door's empty house had been barking incessantly for a couple of hours and Toastgirl was late back from work.
As soon as she was back, we headed out for peaceful sanctuary and food.
The first place had no free tables, the second had no parking spaces so we settled on a nearby gastro (ish) pub.
The landlord greeted us, asked where we'd like to sit and sent a waitress over who took our order and brought some drinks.
A good start. Piss slowly reducing to a slow simmer.
We waited 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 minutes before the food came, it was good and almost worth waiting for.
20 mins after we'd finished the plates were wordlessly carried away and we were left alone.
Another 20 mins and I went to the bar and paid the bill.
The landlord grabbed us as we were leaving and asked how it was.
On may occasions, I'd have said it was fine and left but this time I told him the truth.
'Good food but slow, sloppy service. We were never asked if we'd like desserts and the bill never arrived'
He apologised and thanked me, which made me feel guilty.
We got home and next door's dog was still barking.
I gave in and texted my neighbour and asked him to do something with the dog.
10 mins later, he'd come home and knocked on our door apologising profusely and thanked me for letting him know.
Peace at last.
Logically, I think I've done the right thing to complain so why do I feel like a salted slug now I've done it?
The dog next door's empty house had been barking incessantly for a couple of hours and Toastgirl was late back from work.
As soon as she was back, we headed out for peaceful sanctuary and food.
The first place had no free tables, the second had no parking spaces so we settled on a nearby gastro (ish) pub.
The landlord greeted us, asked where we'd like to sit and sent a waitress over who took our order and brought some drinks.
A good start. Piss slowly reducing to a slow simmer.
We waited 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 minutes before the food came, it was good and almost worth waiting for.
20 mins after we'd finished the plates were wordlessly carried away and we were left alone.
Another 20 mins and I went to the bar and paid the bill.
The landlord grabbed us as we were leaving and asked how it was.
On may occasions, I'd have said it was fine and left but this time I told him the truth.
'Good food but slow, sloppy service. We were never asked if we'd like desserts and the bill never arrived'
He apologised and thanked me, which made me feel guilty.
We got home and next door's dog was still barking.
I gave in and texted my neighbour and asked him to do something with the dog.
10 mins later, he'd come home and knocked on our door apologising profusely and thanked me for letting him know.
Peace at last.
Logically, I think I've done the right thing to complain so why do I feel like a salted slug now I've done it?
Doesn't always work though.
About five years ago I took the family to a local pub, part of a small chain along the lines of Harvester. Nothing flash bit ok for when we're running late, forgot to defrost something etc. Same story as the OP, s
te service, slow, bad food. We complained and left.
Two years later amid much fanfare the pub was re-opened under the management of a new chain so we decided to give them a second chance. We didn't even get to eat. Waited 40 minutes, none of the waiting staff came near us once we'd ordered so we walked out. Didn't see any staff between our table and the car park. For all I know there are still four plates of food sitting there (if they were ever dished up).
About five years ago I took the family to a local pub, part of a small chain along the lines of Harvester. Nothing flash bit ok for when we're running late, forgot to defrost something etc. Same story as the OP, s
te service, slow, bad food. We complained and left.Two years later amid much fanfare the pub was re-opened under the management of a new chain so we decided to give them a second chance. We didn't even get to eat. Waited 40 minutes, none of the waiting staff came near us once we'd ordered so we walked out. Didn't see any staff between our table and the car park. For all I know there are still four plates of food sitting there (if they were ever dished up).
toastboy said:
Logically, I think I've done the right thing to complain so why do I feel like a salted slug now I've done it?
When it comes to sub-standard goods or service I always complain. More than once I've told people that as my money isn't sub-standard, I don't expect sub-standard service or goods - it always works.toastboy said:
He apologised and thanked me, which made me feel guilty.
As a related business owner, I'd far rather hear from you than have you say "fine" and never come back. Mistakes do happen, staff are shoddy/bored/a waste of space etc. and it's really difficult to keep an eye on each and every constantly changing facet of the business and make sure there consistently great. Don't feel guilty at all. You did him a favour.This is in contrast, however, to people who just f
king moan about anything and nothing... They moan about things that are either totally out of our control, purely a matter of personal taste or just plain inaccurate. s. 
My sister was over from Canada in the summer so we went to a quayside pub in Poole, we waited an hour even after i politely asked twice when our order would be ready at 35 mins and 45 mins as we were sitting outside and i saw people who had arrived and ordered after us eating.
My sister told me not to cause a fuss - bks to that, the food turned up and was cold, we'd clearly been forgotten about, so demanded a refund including drinks, which in fairness they gave.
Wouldn't go back tho'.
My sister told me not to cause a fuss - b
ks to that, the food turned up and was cold, we'd clearly been forgotten about, so demanded a refund including drinks, which in fairness they gave.Wouldn't go back tho'.
Complaining got me nowhere today.
Put £2.50 in the ticket machine in Gatwick to pay for my parking ticket of £2.40. It registered £1.50. Great.
So I cancelled the ticket expecting £2.50 to pop out and only £1.50 did. Shoved the ticket back in and then got charged £4.00 because whilst scratching my head a few seconds ago had pushed me over the time limit. Great.
I complained to a very unhelpful man who said he could give me a number for customer enquiries, which no doubt was an 0845 number anyway, but there was nothing he could do.
Put £2.50 in the ticket machine in Gatwick to pay for my parking ticket of £2.40. It registered £1.50. Great.
So I cancelled the ticket expecting £2.50 to pop out and only £1.50 did. Shoved the ticket back in and then got charged £4.00 because whilst scratching my head a few seconds ago had pushed me over the time limit. Great.
I complained to a very unhelpful man who said he could give me a number for customer enquiries, which no doubt was an 0845 number anyway, but there was nothing he could do.
I had an incident in a restaurant this time last year.
I took the other half out for a nice meal at a reasonably 'swish' pizza restaurant. On arrival there were about 15 occupied tables (out of a possible 30) which seemed ok given that it was only 7.00pm on a friday (always taken into account how busy a place is to see if others are enjoying/returning). We were seated (hardly greeted), handed menus etc and ordered a bottle of red.
After what seemed like an eternity (30/40 mins) our order was taken by a very straight faced lady. Pizza's arrived 30 mins later and were absolutly awful (not that well made, soggy, not well cooked etc), both of us managed 1/3 each then gave up forcing it down, looked around for waitress, none to be seen.
Que complaining - Waitress (turns out she was the restaurant owner) came over and looked surprised that we had harly eaten a thing. She didn't say anything as she was picking up the plates so I piped up with "I believe it is the done thing to ask how the meal was, is it not?!" to which she gave me a smug look whilst edging away, realising she had no intention of asking, I then let her have it with both barrels "As you have rudely failed to ask, I will tell you what that meal was like, it was under cooked, soggy and barely fit for consumption" then she went on the defensive and replied "that was freshly cooked" to which I replied "freshly cooked when exactly?". After a couple of minutes of simmering debate, I'd had enough at which point I refused to pay for the meal, but since the wine had been very nice I was more than happy to pay for that, unless that she'd like to offer it to us as a gesture of good will for the rubbish food. She then told me that I'd have to pay for everything otherwise she would call the police, to which I invited her to do as I am sure they would love to hear how my evening had been ruined by having a crime scene served up on a plate!
Anyway, ushering my other half to the door (after leaving the money for the wine) the lady ran upto the door and REFUSED TO LET US GO!!! :YIKES: I lost it and told the whole restaurant how awful the evening had been (by this time other customers are trying to get in), making sure I said it loudly enough so the people outside could here aswell, turning on their heels!
Eventually she had the phone in her hand dialling the police at which point I thought I cannot be bothered to waste my time with this woman any longer, took the money out of my pocket, threw it on the floor, told her where to stick her food and here restaurant, barged past her and left, never to return..
Wasted £55 at that place, everybody I speak to has had an average meal there and I take pride in advising people to steer well clear!
I took the other half out for a nice meal at a reasonably 'swish' pizza restaurant. On arrival there were about 15 occupied tables (out of a possible 30) which seemed ok given that it was only 7.00pm on a friday (always taken into account how busy a place is to see if others are enjoying/returning). We were seated (hardly greeted), handed menus etc and ordered a bottle of red.
After what seemed like an eternity (30/40 mins) our order was taken by a very straight faced lady. Pizza's arrived 30 mins later and were absolutly awful (not that well made, soggy, not well cooked etc), both of us managed 1/3 each then gave up forcing it down, looked around for waitress, none to be seen.
Que complaining - Waitress (turns out she was the restaurant owner) came over and looked surprised that we had harly eaten a thing. She didn't say anything as she was picking up the plates so I piped up with "I believe it is the done thing to ask how the meal was, is it not?!" to which she gave me a smug look whilst edging away, realising she had no intention of asking, I then let her have it with both barrels "As you have rudely failed to ask, I will tell you what that meal was like, it was under cooked, soggy and barely fit for consumption" then she went on the defensive and replied "that was freshly cooked" to which I replied "freshly cooked when exactly?". After a couple of minutes of simmering debate, I'd had enough at which point I refused to pay for the meal, but since the wine had been very nice I was more than happy to pay for that, unless that she'd like to offer it to us as a gesture of good will for the rubbish food. She then told me that I'd have to pay for everything otherwise she would call the police, to which I invited her to do as I am sure they would love to hear how my evening had been ruined by having a crime scene served up on a plate!
Anyway, ushering my other half to the door (after leaving the money for the wine) the lady ran upto the door and REFUSED TO LET US GO!!! :YIKES: I lost it and told the whole restaurant how awful the evening had been (by this time other customers are trying to get in), making sure I said it loudly enough so the people outside could here aswell, turning on their heels!
Eventually she had the phone in her hand dialling the police at which point I thought I cannot be bothered to waste my time with this woman any longer, took the money out of my pocket, threw it on the floor, told her where to stick her food and here restaurant, barged past her and left, never to return..
Wasted £55 at that place, everybody I speak to has had an average meal there and I take pride in advising people to steer well clear!
I understand from a similar thread on here that you are not obliged to pay what you are asked for a meal, merely you pay what you think it was worth. Idly musing about it, I can't imagine the feds would have had you at the top of their call out priority list for a Friday night. Plus surely you could have countercharged her with false imprisonment. Having gone as far as you did I would have been tempted to get her to ring the police.
R300_PM said:
I had an incident in a restaurant this time last year.
I took the other half out for a nice meal at a reasonably 'swish' pizza restaurant. On arrival there were about 15 occupied tables (out of a possible 30) which seemed ok given that it was only 7.00pm on a friday (always taken into account how busy a place is to see if others are enjoying/returning). We were seated (hardly greeted), handed menus etc and ordered a bottle of red.
After what seemed like an eternity (30/40 mins) our order was taken by a very straight faced lady. Pizza's arrived 30 mins later and were absolutly awful (not that well made, soggy, not well cooked etc), both of us managed 1/3 each then gave up forcing it down, looked around for waitress, none to be seen.
Que complaining - Waitress (turns out she was the restaurant owner) came over and looked surprised that we had harly eaten a thing. She didn't say anything as she was picking up the plates so I piped up with "I believe it is the done thing to ask how the meal was, is it not?!" to which she gave me a smug look whilst edging away, realising she had no intention of asking, I then let her have it with both barrels "As you have rudely failed to ask, I will tell you what that meal was like, it was under cooked, soggy and barely fit for consumption" then she went on the defensive and replied "that was freshly cooked" to which I replied "freshly cooked when exactly?". After a couple of minutes of simmering debate, I'd had enough at which point I refused to pay for the meal, but since the wine had been very nice I was more than happy to pay for that, unless that she'd like to offer it to us as a gesture of good will for the rubbish food. She then told me that I'd have to pay for everything otherwise she would call the police, to which I invited her to do as I am sure they would love to hear how my evening had been ruined by having a crime scene served up on a plate!
Anyway, ushering my other half to the door (after leaving the money for the wine) the lady ran upto the door and REFUSED TO LET US GO!!! :YIKES: I lost it and told the whole restaurant how awful the evening had been (by this time other customers are trying to get in), making sure I said it loudly enough so the people outside could here aswell, turning on their heels!
Eventually she had the phone in her hand dialling the police at which point I thought I cannot be bothered to waste my time with this woman any longer, took the money out of my pocket, threw it on the floor, told her where to stick her food and here restaurant, barged past her and left, never to return..
Wasted £55 at that place, everybody I speak to has had an average meal there and I take pride in advising people to steer well clear!
Whereas I totally understand why you paid the £55, I personally would have waited until she finished her call and if the police were going to turn up then explain to them exactly what the problem was.I took the other half out for a nice meal at a reasonably 'swish' pizza restaurant. On arrival there were about 15 occupied tables (out of a possible 30) which seemed ok given that it was only 7.00pm on a friday (always taken into account how busy a place is to see if others are enjoying/returning). We were seated (hardly greeted), handed menus etc and ordered a bottle of red.
After what seemed like an eternity (30/40 mins) our order was taken by a very straight faced lady. Pizza's arrived 30 mins later and were absolutly awful (not that well made, soggy, not well cooked etc), both of us managed 1/3 each then gave up forcing it down, looked around for waitress, none to be seen.
Que complaining - Waitress (turns out she was the restaurant owner) came over and looked surprised that we had harly eaten a thing. She didn't say anything as she was picking up the plates so I piped up with "I believe it is the done thing to ask how the meal was, is it not?!" to which she gave me a smug look whilst edging away, realising she had no intention of asking, I then let her have it with both barrels "As you have rudely failed to ask, I will tell you what that meal was like, it was under cooked, soggy and barely fit for consumption" then she went on the defensive and replied "that was freshly cooked" to which I replied "freshly cooked when exactly?". After a couple of minutes of simmering debate, I'd had enough at which point I refused to pay for the meal, but since the wine had been very nice I was more than happy to pay for that, unless that she'd like to offer it to us as a gesture of good will for the rubbish food. She then told me that I'd have to pay for everything otherwise she would call the police, to which I invited her to do as I am sure they would love to hear how my evening had been ruined by having a crime scene served up on a plate!
Anyway, ushering my other half to the door (after leaving the money for the wine) the lady ran upto the door and REFUSED TO LET US GO!!! :YIKES: I lost it and told the whole restaurant how awful the evening had been (by this time other customers are trying to get in), making sure I said it loudly enough so the people outside could here aswell, turning on their heels!
Eventually she had the phone in her hand dialling the police at which point I thought I cannot be bothered to waste my time with this woman any longer, took the money out of my pocket, threw it on the floor, told her where to stick her food and here restaurant, barged past her and left, never to return..
Wasted £55 at that place, everybody I speak to has had an average meal there and I take pride in advising people to steer well clear!
It would be a lot more embarrassing for her to have police in her restaurant trying to sort out her own bad service.
NiceCupOfTea said:
I understand from a similar thread on here that you are not obliged to pay what you are asked for a meal, merely you pay what you think it was worth. Idly musing about it, I can't imagine the feds would have had you at the top of their call out priority list for a Friday night. Plus surely you could have countercharged her with false imprisonment. Having gone as far as you did I would have been tempted to get her to ring the police.
+1 with the payment of the meal or non payment so to speak MrV said:
NiceCupOfTea said:
I understand from a similar thread on here that you are not obliged to pay what you are asked for a meal, merely you pay what you think it was worth. Idly musing about it, I can't imagine the feds would have had you at the top of their call out priority list for a Friday night. Plus surely you could have countercharged her with false imprisonment. Having gone as far as you did I would have been tempted to get her to ring the police.
^^^ What he said. If I was in the restaurant situation I would have absolutely gone nuts as well and refused to pay although throwing money on the floor was a nice touch. I can't stand st service.Gassing Station | The Pie & Piston Archive | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff