Question about restaurant complaint shop

Hi,

I did a restaurant shop last night where I was supposed to offer a specific complaint about the meal. I said my dish was too salty. The server took it away and said she would see what they could do about it. The manager brought back the dish prepared with less seasoning.

How do I answer:
Was a replacement dish offfered?
Were you charged for the original dish?
Were you charged for the replacement dish?
Was the replacement dish satisfactory?

NA is not a choice. There are yes/no radio buttons. I will explain in the narrative, but I'm a little stumped. I feel like I should say I got a replacement because they fixed it. But then I run into the charging problems.

Thanks!

Create an Account or Log In

Membership is free. Simply choose your username, type in your email address, and choose a password. You immediately get full access to the forum.

More About Restaurants

Yes, you were offered a replacement. You were charged for the replacement and not the original, otherwise 2 charges would have shown up on your bill. Whether it was satisfactory is your call.

You said the server took your dish away. Did she ask you if you wanted a replacement? If so, there you go!

I think they want to see if the manager comped your meal

Thank you everyone! She did not ask if I wanted a replacement. She said, "Too salty? Let me see what we can do." Then I heard nothing from her until the manager shows up with the same dish, but cooked without the spices. So I got a new dish, but I was not "offered a replacement." They want to know if offered a replacement, an apology, if comped, if offered a mid course, if offered free dessert, etc. I took part of Chigirl's advice. I said I was offered a replacement, checked that I was charged for the original and that I was not charged for the replacement. I was a little taken aback because the way the form was worded, I was expecting them to ask if they could get me something else instead. Of course, I explained everything in the narrative.

I also had to choose from a list of specific complaints. My dish was not too salty, but the other complaints were too obvious to check, like this is too mushy, etc.

Thanks again!

Well, I think what happened satisfies the spirit in which the word "replacement" was used. They replaced the "too salty" dish with one less salty.

**Disclaimer: I don't do restaurant evaluations, and I don't know the MSC or client you are working with here, so take my advice with a grain of salt. But just one grain. I don't want you sending it back because it's too salty.

If they took away your meal and gave you another one, that's replacement.

Not my circus - Not my monkeys @(*.*)@

~Polish Proverb~

how are you supposed to determine if the charge was for the original or the replacement? if it was all just one bill--with the items listed---i would say i was charged for the original..but if they gave separate bills--i would say the replacement.

or does it say what time the items were ordered?

GMNJ, yes, that was the problem. It was the same dish both times, all just one bill, with no times on it.

In my opinion, if you were charged for 2 meals you were charged for the original meal and the replacement meal. If you were charged for 1 meal you were charged for the food you actually ate which was the replacement meal.

Rainy, I was also thinking that if I have a legitimate complaint about my meal and have to send it back, then my evening is sort of ruined because I sit there and watch my friend eat alone. Then my new meal comes, and they watch me eat. If my new/replacement meal is more expensive, I would hope the restaurant would charge me for the less expensive/ original dish, since it wasn't my fault they served me bad seafood, etc. Or it could work the other way. If the replacement dish were cheaper, I should then be charged for that one. It's complicated! :-)

Roxie, I think if there is ever a problem with a customer's meal the restaurant should discount or comp the meal, give a free dessert, or something! If I get a bad meal, watch my companion eat alone while I wait for a replacement, eat alone myself, and so on, and that is good enough for the restaurant, I consider that poor customer service and I would be much less likely to return.

I recently went to a Bob Evans (not on a shop) simply because they have buy one meal get one free email coupons that the manager sends out that are valid for that day or the next day only. When they are not busy enough, he can dispatch them at will. At that price and no report, it is worth it to me.

I ordered the beef tips and they were raw the first time, recooked and served as crunchy black rocks the second time. The manager took the cook off the line and had another cook prepare my dish the third time and asked that we order pie and comped the entire ticket. I will go back again due to the way the manager handled the situation. I don't think I will see that line cook again as he did not return to the open kitchen after the manager took him in the back.

Kudos to that manager. That's how a customer service issue should be handled.

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

Click here to login

Question about restaurant complaint shop

Create an Account or Log In

Official List of Mystery Shopping Companies

Mystery Shopper Magazine