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vozveratu
New member
Username: vozveratu
Post Number: 564
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, March 24, 2006 - 10:11 am: | 
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So hear this out and tell me what you think.
Couple goes through the whole night without a problem. Everything is hunkie-dorie and the foodrunner brings out the dessert. He knocks over the glass of white wine, which was about an ounce left, but the customer was not drinking it, she had a cappacino.
Our procedure when something like this happens is to send a manager over to the table. Well, our luck was the manager was close by when it happend, so she went over to the table, talked with the table while she and the foodrunner cleaned up the area. Customer was fine and the manager gave the customer a business card for possible dry cleaning expenses.
Manager came to us (team service) and explained what happend. The front wait went back to the table and chatted, everything seemed fine.
Check, paid, left.
Well, the tip was 20%, which was nice, but they left a note on the comment card.
"Server Assistant spilled wine when delivering dessert. Would have been nice if the restaurant would have bought something for the spill."
Thoughts before I give my take on it... |
jenaclaree
New member
Username: jenaclaree
Post Number: 344
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, March 24, 2006 - 10:55 am: |
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Maybe you guys could have offered to replace it with a new glass of wine. I know their was only an ounce left but it was still her wine. However, if she would have said I would have left it at that and not purchased her dessert of cappucino. After that it is not my problem. |
westley
New member
Username: westley
Post Number: 1
Registered: 03-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, March 24, 2006 - 11:15 am: |
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I agree that something should have been done. Even though it appears that there was no loss - they weren't drinking the rest of the wine, and you didn't damage anything else, etc - the point of going out to dinner is to enjoy a nice relaxed meal as opposed to the work and effort of making it yourself. I'm sure they were surprised and jumped a bit when the glass went over (before they realized how little was in it), then you are cleaning up the table while they are trying to enjoy their dessert, so their "dining pleasure" was disrupted - that's part of what they are paying for. Free dessert would have been appropriate.
I also think this is the manager's responsibility, and it appears that the people at the table did the appropriate thing by NOT penalizing the server on his/her tip. |
tipqueen
New member
Username: tipqueen
Post Number: 23
Registered: 03-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, March 24, 2006 - 01:11 pm: |
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take the clothes to the cleaner... they offered to buy that, if they want/need something for free.
if anything, I'd of taken the cheapest thing off the bill...not the dessert, but rather the cappucino. An ounce or 2 of wine, couldn't of made that big of a mess, it didn't spill INTO the dessert, making them having to wait for a new one to be made, so all in all, it wasn't that big of a disruption.
If they seemed OK and not upset (accidents happen!) and from what I read they did seem OK, I don't think too much "kissing up/apogolies" need to be taken to the farthest need.
Meaning it was a "small spill", not a big ordeal an apology was made, a dry cleaning was offered... I think the managers did what was appropriate for "this particular situation".
Why give them the whole cow, when they seemed to have been fine with just a glass of milk. 
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vozveratu
New member
Username: vozveratu
Post Number: 566
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, March 24, 2006 - 01:27 pm: |
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Hehe, nice analogy tipqueen and that was my take on it. I wasn't involved with it and the front wait was a bit surprised at the note being left when the manager told us that everything was ok.
Since I wasn't looking at the customer when the spill occurred, I'm unable to judge the situation and get an idea if we should have bought the dessert, coffee, or wine.
I think since the manager did offer the dry cleaning, I found it strange for the customer to comment on getting something for free. I guess some people feel that a mistake warrents free stuff. Seems a bit crappy for customers to think this way, but oh well. Nature of the biz.
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steadyservin
New member
Username: steadyservin
Post Number: 46
Registered: 02-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 27, 2006 - 01:04 am: |
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That sounds alot like my manager. Offering to pay the dry cleaning is quite enough. |
linda
New member
Username: linda
Post Number: 267
Registered: 02-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 27, 2006 - 09:34 am: |
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Remember one thing though....yes the restaurant will pay for the dry cleaning....but...the customer has to make a trip to the dry cleaners...to drop off and pick up. Then a trip to the restaurant to give them the bill.
Accidents do happen. Giving a free dessert/drink/etc...to compensate the customer for their time and gas money...is the right thing to do. |
teleburst
New member
Username: teleburst
Post Number: 1318
Registered: 06-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 27, 2006 - 10:23 am: |
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It's pretty obvious what happened here. The manager misread the guest, and actually, it was probably the guest's fault. They probably gave off the vibe that "Hey, no big deal at all...just an oz of wine we weren't going to drink anyway and it only got on the table - no harm, no foul". That's the vibe that Voz says that they gave the front wait as well.
That's the one downside of waiting in fine dining. The expectations are so much higher and spilling a glass of wine, even in this instance, is a breech of standards that is usually tolerated in a more bustling atmosphere (but hey, accidents can happen anytime and anywhere).
When they gave off the vibe of not *seeming* to care, the manager did what he or she thought was the best, not putting emphasis to what happened by offering a free dessert. Most times, that would probably be the best thing to do, since you don't want to actually create a problem that doesn't exist in the mind of the guest. However, it's hard to be a mindreader, especially when a guest masks their true feelings so well.
As to the free dry cleaning, that wasn't really something "free", if it turns out that they get home and find that wine did actually get on their clothes somehow.
I don't think that the manager did anything "wrong" in this case, and yet, it doesn't seem to me that this isn't exactly a "I want something free mentality" either. I think it's just a reflection of the high expectations that one has when they go to an expensive restaurant and they were simply speaking their mind after the fact (with the understanding that if they put their name and address on the card, then they probably *would* get some sort of small gift card or an appetizer on their next return). I think that if they were really angling for something free, they probably would have been more forthright with their "annoyance" at the spill.
The other side of the coin is that in fine dining, there is less of a tendency to give stuff away for free because the *clientele* is so much more sophisticated and they aren't as likely to be "bought off" by free stuff for things that more casual dining would have to buy off.
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tricky
New member
Username: tricky
Post Number: 142
Registered: 05-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 27, 2006 - 10:24 am: |
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I think what the manager did was appropriate. The guests are being ridiculous. If they felt that what was offered was inappropriate, they should have commented when the dry cleaning was offered. |
tricky
New member
Username: tricky
Post Number: 143
Registered: 05-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 27, 2006 - 11:02 am: |
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This reminds me of the day when I served grilled tuna to a young lady. She'd ordered it "Rare". I noticed that it was "Medium". I commented that I saw that her tuna was overcooked offered to replace it or take it off of the check, and she declined.
Then she did not tip, writing on her comment card "Server should have replaced my overcooked tuna." |
vozveratu
New member
Username: vozveratu
Post Number: 567
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 27, 2006 - 11:11 am: |
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Teleburst has a knack of hitting nails with the hammer. Very accurate.
I believe this to be true and on top of that I would like to stress to you that our clientel do have the knack of getting upset when we DO buy something for them.
Many times a customer will comment that the food was ok, or it wasn't that great, but they ate it anyway. We always tell the manager when these comments are made and sometimes the manager will comp it off.
Some customers have gotten mad with this action. An action that doesn't feel very good when your trying to do something right.
This customer did blow it off as no big deal, but it confuses me on when they decided that they were not treated the way they thought they should have. Maybe during the ordeal and the manager talk, they assumed they were going to get something for free due to the problem.
Then the check is dropped. Bam! Nothing comped, nothing deducted. Now they are pissed and with all the interaction of the manager and server is in the past, they decide to comment that they should have gotten something for free.
I think this is basically the story. |
tricky
New member
Username: tricky
Post Number: 144
Registered: 05-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 27, 2006 - 11:31 am: |
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The other side of the coin is that in fine dining, there is less of a tendency to give stuff away for free because the *clientele* is so much more sophisticated and they aren't as likely to be "bought off" by free stuff for things that more casual dining would have to buy off.
I agree completely. My experience in fine dining has been that the guests who are comfortable in the environment are often offended if something is bought for them; that is how I believe the manager read them... |
trevorparsons
New member
Username: trevorparsons
Post Number: 27
Registered: 05-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 27, 2006 - 11:32 am: |
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As a server gone manager, let me tell you one thing I've noticed about these sort of situations. No matter how upset a table is or isn't about a problem, 99% of the time they are rather passive to the manager's face, especially if that manager's visit was not specifically requested by the guests.
It's very difficult to determine the proper thing to do based off someone's description of the event (especially 2nd hand). We all know every table is different. In my opinion, any restaurant company that uses "play books" for these kinds of situations has completely missed the boat.
If I'm asked to visit a table, I always ask the server what the situation is before I do. The only reason I do this is to let me know to what extremity I'm in for. But, before I approach the table, I do my best to forget what I've been told entirely and let the guests do the explaining.
My point is two-fold. One, you cannot determine the correct course of action in these instances simply based off 2nd hand information:
I wasn't involved with it and the front wait was a bit surprised at the note being left when the manager told us that everything was ok.
Since I wasn't looking at the customer when the spill occurred, I'm unable to judge the situation and get an idea if we should have bought the dessert, coffee, or wine.
And two, no two situations are exactly the same because the people are always different. The exact same thing could happen to two difrent tables and I might simply drop my card and offer to cover the dry cleaning bill on one table while I buy the whole check on the other one.
Apples and oranges. |
oldwiseuncle
New member
Username: oldwiseuncle
Post Number: 3
Registered: 03-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 27, 2006 - 03:48 pm: |
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Well put TrevorP, table visits and complaints are like snowflakes....no 2 are alike. My course of action when managing would have been the standard: 1)Apologize and try and crack a small joke to lighten the situation, but nothin crazy ("I'm so sorry about that ma'am, I told your server to stop throwing drinks at the customers")....I know, lame as hell, but suprisingly effective. Most people really are understanding of those types of accidents(although a few see it as an opportunity to drop the "F-Bomb"....F as in "FREE STUFF".
2)I would offer to pick up the dry cleaning tab and replace the wine. If they seemed content, that would be it, if not.....then explore the possibility of comping a dessert or coffee. Won't know until I assess the situation.! |
pokervixxen
New member
Username: pokervixxen
Post Number: 77
Registered: 06-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, March 29, 2006 - 12:04 am: |
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If it were my call I would have replaced the wine.
That's it. |
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