When The Server Makes You Feel Like You're Wrong

[weinoo]

Last night I was dining at one of DC's nicer restaurants (Central) with my wife. Last minute, so we met there and sat at the bar. After a round of cocktails, we ordered some food, including the gougeres (which are really great), a crabcake and a burger, medium-rare. Now, there are 4 burgers ("ham," tuna, lobster and chicken) on the menu and I didn't specify the "hamburger," just a burger, medium-rare.

When I went to cut the burger in half, I immediately recognized that it was a tuna burger, not a hamburger, so I called our bartender over and pointed out that I ordered what I believed to be a hamburger, not a tuna burger. So rather than saying sorry and taking the dish away and having the kitchen make a hamburger, she said that she thought I said tunaburger. I said that I had said no such thing...that I ordered a burger, medium-rare. Continuing, she said that usually people don't order hamburgers "to temp." Really? Okay, whatever. Just bring my hamburger, please.

It got me thinking about a few things. If there are 4 burgers on the menu, how about making sure of what the customer wants...that would seem like the easy thing to do, no?

And I can't imagine at a Danny Meyer place, for instance (and I'd put Central at about the same price point as Union Square Cafe), any server ever giving a customer a hard time.

Do servers ever give you a hard time about a mistake - when it's not your fault?

[HungryC]

Oh, this is a pet peeve of mine. I don't want a debate, I don't want a lecture: I just want to enjoy my evening. The only acceptable answer is an apology and an offer to bring what the diner wants.

[weinoo]

The only acceptable answer is an apology and an offer to bring what the diner wants.

That's my opinion, too.

[jsmeeker]

People don't order hamburgers to temp, but they order tunaburger to temp? That was the servers logic?

[weinoo]

People don't order hamburgers to temp, but they order tunaburger to temp? That was the servers logic?

No, that was the server's bullshit story.

[Alcuin]

People don't order hamburgers to temp, but they order tunaburger to temp? That was the servers logic?

No, that was the server's bullshit story.

That's insane.

A new place featuring wellmade (they're pretty decent, but outstanding for this town) opened up. They make their own gingerbeer. A friend of mine new this, so asked for some of the housemade stuff with whiskey in a highball. The bartender then promptly opened a can of Gosling's gingerbeer and made the highball right in front of her. When my friend told her she wanted the housemade stuff, the bartender told her that that was what was in the drink though visual evidence clearly argued against this. She wouldn't take the drink back and insisted it was the housemade stuff: talk about the customer's not always right, even about reality.

[Holly Moore]

Master Stephen Porter's collection of books - "One-Upmanship," "The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship," and "Lifemanship" and servers, maitre d's and dining partners/adversaries will quickly bow to your superior knowledge and confidence.

[Special K]

Do servers ever give you a hard time about a mistake - when it's not your fault?

Only once.

[Meanderer]

Some people are constitutionally unable to admit to mistakes and I suspect your bartender was one of them.

[Dakki]

Do servers ever give you a hard time about a mistake - when it's not your fault?

Only once.

I like this reply.

[munchymom]

Last December we were having breakfast at a Hilton hotel in Orlando. My husband asked, "Is the orange juice fresh?" The server said it was, so he ordered a glass. When it came, he tasted it and it was obviously not fresh. The server insisted that it was. My husband said, "Well, I don't want it, it doesn't taste like fresh orange juice." The server took the glass away, then came out of the kitchen carrying the plastic gallon jug, brought it to our table, pointed at the label and said "Look, it says right here it's fresh!" It was at that point my husband saw a manager and asked for a new server.

[Tri2Cook]

While I do not subscribe to the idea that the customer is always right, it's also not ok to point out that they are wrong in most cases. I guess that means they are effectively always right but there is a difference, subtle though it may be. In this case, you were not wrong but even if you had been, they best thing to do would be to apologize and bring you what you wanted. Fixing a food order, no matter where the mistake or misunderstanding originated, doesn't come anywhere close to where I draw my personal line on the customer always being right.

[Toliver]

Last December we were having breakfast at a Hilton hotel in Orlando. My husband asked, "Is the orange juice fresh?"

Perhaps the question should have been more succinctly put "Is the orange juice freshly squeezed"? The word "fresh" does not imply "freshly squeezed" to those without the experience or common sense to know better, as you found out.

[munchymom]

Well, that's as may be, but even a server (at a fancy hotel in Florida, really?) who doesn't think that "fresh" orange juice means "freshly squeezed" orange juice should have the common sense to not argue with the customer and try to prove his case. I really didn't have any beef with him until he brought the jug out to the table.

[Holly Moore]

Last December we were having breakfast at a Hilton hotel in Orlando. My husband asked, "Is the orange juice fresh?"

Perhaps the question should have been more succinctly put "Is the orange juice freshly squeezed"? The word "fresh" does not imply "freshly squeezed" to those without the experience or common sense to know better, as you found out.

I think there are a number of restaurants and servers who define "fresh" as "not frozen."

[Twyst]

The situation in the OP's post is ludicrous!

while in college I used to work the bar in a rather famous New Orleans restaurant that prides itself on service. Even if it was OBVIOUSLY the guests fault when something went wrong, if we had acted in any manner that reflected we felt that way we would have been shown the door. Im sure that the attitude that the customer is ALWAYS right led us to have a lot more substitutions and recooks than many places, but we did everything in our power to make sure that the guest left happy. It led to great word of mouth advertising and this restaurant has stayed packed for decades.

Now I see a lot of kitchens saying no substitutions or complaining about recooks, then wondering why they are hot for a year or two then don't have any business.

I'm honestly curious to see how long someone like David Chang is going to be at the top of the new york restaurant scene. He's an amazing chef with fantastic food, but Im not sure how long you can continue to be at the top of the restaurant scene while openly treating so many customers with contempt. The people he talks about being idiots are probably idiots, but Im not sure how good of a long term business plan its going to be to tell them how stupid they are. I love eating in his restaurants, but I think its going to be interesting to watch how it all unfolds.

Edited May 13, 2011 by Twyst (log)