No Service - What would you do?

[MichaelB]

Well put.
I had a really odd experience a number of years ago when we went to the best restaurant of its type in our city for dinner on a Friday evening. Welcomed, seated, and ordered. I was impressed that the waiter didn't write anything down, he just (supposedly) remembered what we ordered.

Time went on, and eventually he brought our drinks.
Time went on, and after about another 15 minutes he came by again and asked me what we had ordered. Told him, and he nodded and left.

Another 15 minutes and we went through the same thing again, "What did you order?".

Another 15 minutes and once again "What did you order?"
At that point we got up, and I tossed enough cash on the table to cover my beer and my wife's glass of wine.

Walking through the main section on our way out, the owner asked how everything was, and I told him why we were leaving. No comment, just, "Sorry about that."

When we got to the parking lot, our waiter came running out after me, and told me I hadn't left enough money, he needed another 85 cents for the bill.
Totally flabbergasted, I happened to have that much in change in my pocket, so I tossed it at him and we left, watching him gather up the coins.

Needless to say, we never returned to that restaurant.

That is amazing. At least you told the owner.

 

[Koolau]

Yeah, I have on occasion walked out for lack of service - especially when it seemed we were being ignored. YMMV

 

[yakers]

Memory from long ago, was in a restaurant and waitress took my order and nothing came. After quite a while I complained and it turns out the waitress quit and walked off the job, not telling anyone, had not turned in the order.

 

[Scrapr]

Memory from long ago, was in a restaurant and waitress took my order and nothing came. After quite a while I complained and it turns out the waitress quit and walked off the job, not telling anyone, had not turned in the order.

That is what is known today as "Quiet" quitting

 

[Flyfish1]

If I have had a particularly bad experience I will leave a negative review on Yelp, Google and Open Table or Resy if applicable. It's been my experience that restaurant owners are very dialed into their online reviews.

 

[Flyfish1]

Memory from long ago, was in a restaurant and waitress took my order and nothing came. After quite a while I complained and it turns out the waitress quit and walked off the job, not telling anyone, had not turned in the order.

Sounds like my DMV experience last year.....

 

[Walt34]

Memory from long ago, was in a restaurant and waitress took my order and nothing came. After quite a while I complained and it turns out the waitress quit and walked off the job, not telling anyone, had not turned in the order.

That happened to us once too, must be 30+ years ago now. The manager did at least comp us one-half on the meals, which we accepted.

 

[MC Rider]

Rant loudly about age discrimination!

Actually I would leave, never to return.

 

[CO-guy]

I started the previous topic you referenced and I agree with your logic. I would have walked out and have done so in the past for exactly the reason you provided. Even if they take my order, it's behind some giant group of people, so best to find somewhere to eat rather than wait.

 

[tutan]

DW for one reason or another has on many occasions requested to be seated at a different table from the one we are initially seated. I often wonder that we may just switch ourselves to a section attended by someone who is on break or about to. I believe it did happen but only once. Phew!

 

[FindingForward]

DW for one reason or another has on many occasions requested to be seated at a different table from the one we are initially seated. I often wonder that we may just switch ourselves to a section attended by someone who is on break or about to. I believe it did happen but only once. Phew!

yes - it's usually not too relaxing when you're seated in a section where the server is about to close out and you're their last customer.

They often rush you through, bringing courses one on top of the other and dropping off the check without even asking about coffee or dessert. This has happened a few times.

Some are much better than others at hiding their impatience.

For those who are still professional, friendly, etc, I cut them some slack: most are kids, eager to get to their hot date or the party after a long shift. I remember those days. I'll usually close out the tab faster so they can leave, but still sit and relax for a bit.

 

[aimee750]

Would have done the same thing.

 

[Koolau]

yes - it's usually not too relaxing when you're seated in a section where the server is about to close out and you're their last customer.

They often rush you through, bringing courses one on top of the other and dropping off the check without even asking about coffee or dessert. This has happened a few times.

Some are much better than others at hiding their impatience.

For those who are still professional, friendly, etc, I cut them some slack: most are kids, eager to get to their hot date or the party after a long shift. I remember those days. I'll usually close out the tab faster so they can leave, but still sit and relax for a bit.

Yeah, I appreciate it when the server tells me that they are leaving and so-and-so will be taking over. I always offer to PAY at that time to insure that the server gets the gratuity. YMMV

 

[iloveyoga]

We have found that being ignored when you first sit down is a bad omen. We have done the same thing as you described before.

 

[athena53]

I had another thought on this- not restaurant-related. When my son was little he and I went pretty much everywhere together on the weekends because the Ex was a pain to live with. I can think of 3 businesses (a Toyota dealer and two high-end stores) where we went in and just stood there, completely ignored by sales people standing around. You'd have thought I'd brought in a pet monkey on a leash. I did walk out. Their loss. In one case I bought a new car from another dealership, in the case of one of the stores I went to another store where I was actually acknowledged and bought a $300 (in 1990s dollars) dress (St. John Knits).

I always dressed casually but neatly on the weekends. Too bad if I didn't look rich enough to buy their products.

 

[CO-guy]

I had another thought on this- not restaurant-related. When my son was little he and I went pretty much everywhere together on the weekends because the Ex was a pain to live with. I can think of 3 businesses (a Toyota dealer and two high-end stores) where we went in and just stood there, completely ignored by sales people standing around. You'd have thought I'd brought in a pet monkey on a leash. I did walk out. Their loss. In one case I bought a new car from another dealership, in the case of one of the stores I went to another store where I was actually acknowledged and bought a $300 (in 1990s dollars) dress (St. John Knits).

I always dressed casually but neatly on the weekends. Too bad if I didn't look rich enough to buy their products.

Interesting. I had a similar experience at a dealership in the early-2000s. I had recently sold my first investment property, landed a lucrative position as a defense contractor, my clunker had become unreliable and so I decided to treat myself to a new (or recently off-lease) vehicle: Something sporty and fun to drive.

WIth a bit of time, I tried Audi, Volvo, Mercedes, Infinity, Lexus and BMW. At every dealership, someone came right up, we chatted for a bit, they'd ask "cash or financing," and then we'd be on a test drive within 10 minutes. All except for the Jaguar dealership. At that dealership, I wandered around an empty showroom for about 15 minutes. Someone eventually came and found me while I was adjusting the seats and mirrors in the model vehicle I wanted to test drive. He introduced me to his manager standing next to him, who told me I was in the wrong place. So, I left.

 

[Koolau]

Interesting. I had a similar experience at a dealership in the early-2000s. I had recently sold my first investment property, landed a lucrative position as a defense contractor, my clunker had become unreliable and so I decided to treat myself to a new (or recently off-lease) vehicle: Something sporty and fun to drive.

WIth a bit of time, I tried Audi, Volvo, Mercedes, Infinity, Lexus and BMW. At every dealership, someone came right up, we chatted for a bit, they'd ask "cash or financing," and then we'd be on a test drive within 10 minutes. All except for the Jaguar dealership. At that dealership, I wandered around an empty showroom for about 15 minutes. Someone eventually came and found me while I was adjusting the seats and mirrors in the model vehicle I wanted to test drive. He introduced me to his manager standing next to him, who told me I was in the wrong place. So, I left.

Yeah, I'd be tempted to drop by the dealership in your new car. When they swarm you to offer to sell you a new Jag, you can simply say "No thanks, this IS my new car and you missed your chance."

 

[CO-guy]

Yeah, I'd be tempted to drop by the dealership in your new car. When they swarm you to offer to sell you a new Jag, you can simply say "No thanks, this IS my new car and you missed your chance."

Cheeky! Honestly, they saved me some time. The Jaguar wasn't high on my list to begin with based on performance specs. While the leather might have been the softest when I sat down, the dash and other controls looked dated.

 

[Koolau]

Cheeky! Honestly, they saved me some time. The Jaguar wasn't high on my list to begin with based on performance specs. While the leather might have been the softest when I sat down, the dash and other controls looked dated.

Heh, heh, only Jag I ever wanted was an E-Type ca 1963 or so.

 

[JohnRM]

In a recent thread, "Bad Service: What would you do?", I said I'd get up and leave. Well, that's exactly what happened today. A bit different than other times, so wondering what you would have done.

DW and I sat down and no one came to the table for long enough that we decided to get up and leave. In this case, we weren't upset. We just decided it was best to leave. It looked like a big group was there and near as I could tell, they must have asked to take the group and sit outside. I could see the activity of breaking down the tables and moving the waters and condiments outside. DW looked out and saw that the two waitresses were taking orders. Enough time had passed that we were getting antsy and when we realized that it was probably our waitresses tied up with this group, plus that our order was likely to get put in after theirs, we decided to leave.

The interesting thing, and this is the first time this has ever happened, as we were walking out, the owner saw us and asked if anything was wrong. I just said that it looks like you're too busy and kept walking. She followed us to the door, asking that we stay and even offered to comp us dinners. Sorry, we understand that it's not your fault, but it just seems like you're too busy. No hard feelings. Thank you. And we kept walking.

I'm thinking we may go back there next Sunday and let her know there really are no hard feelings. I've eaten there before and nothing like this has ever happened. It certainly wasn't my objective to get a free meal. That one surprised me. But hey, policies are policies. We got the bad vibe and we left. What would you have done?

How hard would it have been to acknowledge that you are there? It would make all the difference, no?

 

[Jerry1]

How hard would it have been to acknowledge that you are there? It would make all the difference, no?

I’m not there to make myself known. Call it introverted or whatever, but I’m not there to make a fuss or make myself uncomfortable. So, at some level, for me personally, it would have been difficult. For others, maybe not.

Beyond that, me and DW have determined that once we get a bad vibe it’s best to just leave. No hard feelings but not interested in being part of a restaurant during a time when they’re struggling, for whatever reason.

 

[ArmchairMillionaire]

In a recent thread, "Bad Service: What would you do?", I said I'd get up and leave. Well, that's exactly what happened today. A bit different than other times, so wondering what you would have done.

DW and I sat down and no one came to the table for long enough that we decided to get up and leave. In this case, we weren't upset. We just decided it was best to leave. It looked like...We got the bad vibe and we left. What would you have done?

I was at an antique shop this past week and the same thing happened to me. I only had one item at the checkout counter. As I was walking up to the counter, there was a gentleman behind the counter but he walked away just as I was arriving at the counter. After a few minutes, I got the feeling that nobody was coming to the register to ring me up. I don't know exactly how long I was at the counter, but it got to a point where I looked at my watch and told myself that I would give them three more minutes. (most antique shops have a vintage bell to ring at the register but not this place) After three more minutes (maybe 6 or 7 total) I just set my item down on the counter and walked out. I didn't need it that badly, I guess.