. . . how would you handle this?

[Janmac]

Okay, I'm curious. I saw a thing on Yahoo about three girls having a meal at a sports bar who refused to pay their $25 something bill when they saw at the top of their receipt that they'd been identified as "fat girls".

This sort of thing is apparently not unusual, as the article mentioned other incidents of less than complimentary identifications on receipts at other retailers.

So . . . how would you handle this? Ignore the jerk server - what goes around comes around and he'll get his? Or hers. Eventually.

Or at the other end of the spectrum, complain to the manager, refusing to pay any of your bill - despite multiple offers of discounts - and never eat at that restaurant again?

Jan

[faline]

How awful!! I don't blame those girls for refusing to pay their bill. I would most certainly complain to the manager.

About a year or so ago, we returned to a restaurant (part of a chain) after having had a poor service experience. Since we generally had enjoyed the restauarant in the past, we chalked it up to an aberration. We were seated. In the process of ordering drinks, our server was quite insulting though I think he thought he was funny. He insisted on seeing my ID (At this stage of my life no-one would mistake my needing to produce an ID to order a drink) which I chalked up to his being overzealous in asking to see everyone's IDs. Once I produced it, he made an insulting comment. When he returned my ID to me, I discovered he had NOT made my husband produce his ID (He had placed his order while I was in the restroom). We decided to leave. The host literally chased us out of the restaurant and I told him I would not be treated the way our server treated me. We have not been back to that restaurant (or to others in the same chain) since.

[Ms. Mode]

If I ate the food, I pay the bill.
I do NOT leave a tip.
I do NOT ever go there again.

[SBETigg]

I would have paid the bill, asked the server what was up with that, let my tip reflect my feelings on it, and complained to management. Then depending on management response, if it was poor, I might have called them out on social media sites as well.

But of course, a lot of people would be intimidated and not complain to management at that point. When your self-esteem takes a hit like that, you might just walk away. But not paying the bill isn't an option. Refusing to return to the restaurant and skipping the gratuity are options.

[minnie04]

Oh man!!! I would have called the manager over showed them the bill. If they are a good manager they would most likely comp the bill and handle the employee. In a manner that would never let this happen to anyone else. Or I would ask for the owner of the restaurant’s name, email address and maybe even phone number to call right then and there to ask why they would allow this to happen (probably wouldn’t get the owner on the phone, but it would be worth a try) I’m not the type of person to go all out crazy, loud, rude, but this would not be tolerated!! :thedolls:

Oh and I would never go there again!!! I would let it be know to anyone who asked "how is that place" not to try it!!!

[TheDuckRocks]

Asking to see the manager would be my #1 thing to do. If no satisfaction then if it was a chain restaurant I'd be taking names and time and contacting the main office. Most chain restaurants do not want be be hearing from customers and will do most anything to solve the problem.
But......... I'd not be looking for free food and would pay my bill if I had no complaints with the food. If the manager offered to comp the bill I would accept though.
As for a tip, you-know-where would be frozen solid before I'd do that!

[Dragongirlx]

I would have asked to speak to the manager and put in a complaint. I would have paid for the food but left no tip. I would have also written a letter of complaint to the restaurant (or head office if it was a chain).

[SBETigg]

Ah, just caught up with the news story. So apparently, they did complain to the manager, and the manager was kind of a smirky jerk about the whole thing, not very sincere in his apologies. They were offered a discount on their check, that they found unacceptable accompanied by the manager's attitude, and the manager eventually comped the meal and apologized on the restaurant's FB page plus the server was suspended (which, at that point, was simply damage control since the story had gotten out).

If I complained about this sort of thing and the manager did not have the right attitude/sincerity, I would certainly tell people about it and never go back. I think the customers in this case handled it well.

[Janmac]

This is more info than the story I saw which did not expand on the manager's attitude. Thanks, Sherri.

Since my niece has been manager of a retail store, I have had a bit of change in attitude regarding customer service.

One thing I would do would be to complain - perhaps at the time in person - but definitely I would complain in writing to both the manager of the specific location, as well as corporate offices, if the business were a chain. With a copy of any relevant paperwork.

Often it's all about documentation. With the recent posts on other threads here at Intercot regarding poor customer service, I'm thinking that on subsequent trips to Disney I'm hoping to remember to get CMs names and document, in writing, the bad as well as the great service. We can't get better service unless the supervisors and managers are aware of their employees' actions. It's up to us to make them aware, tho we don't have a lot of control over what they do with that info.

Jan

[BrerGnat]

What would I have done?

I would have thought of some equally insulting way to describe my server. I would have written that down on the receipt along with a note explaining my decision to tip $0. I would have paid for the food. I would never go back to that place.

I wonder, though. Would this have been a problem if the descriptor was "thin girls"?

[TheVBs]

I read that article. I never ask for discounts or comped food, but in this case I don't blame them one bit for not paying. Paying at a restaurant isn't just about the food, it's also about the service and experience. What they experienced was humiliation. No one deserves that anywhere, let alone from a place they're paying at. They see that on the receipt, then when they approach the manager he thinks it's funny and is just as disrespectful? Who in their right mind thinks that's ok?! I'm glad they didn't pay for their food and I'm really glad these two employees were shamed in the media. Bad form doesn't even cover it.