Chefs de France, thumbs down!!!

[luckytobeme88]

Bad service can happen anywhere, anytime...it should have been addressed with the manager. How was the food?

If service is bad but food is good that is no reason to cross a place off your list

Roger that.
I have rarely hear people vow not to return to a restaurant because the service was great but the food was bad. It is always the other way around.

 

[Tbelle1976]

I also told them upfront about the TIW, I have always done this and never had a problem. Next time I know not to say anything.

You pretty much just contradicted yourself with that statement. Is the 18% gratuity on the regular price, or the discounted price? If it's on the regular price then that is why you are being charged that 18%. That would be because people don't understand that it's proper to tip BEFORE the discount.

 

[luckytobeme88]

We have to keep in mind that the servers in the WS restaurants are usually here on short term contracts from their prospective countries. They are by no mean your more seasoned waitstaff elsewhere.

 

[bsbrady]

You pretty much just contradicted yourself with that statement. Is the 18% gratuity on the regular price, or the discounted price? If it's on the regular price then that is why you are being charged that 18%. That would be because people don't understand that it's proper to tip BEFORE the discount.

How did I contradict myself?

 

[SoloFriendly]

I am sorry to hear about your experience here. That's just not cool. I wouldn't blame Chefs de France though, just that particular waiter. You said yourself that the tables around you had a different waiter, and they were receiving everything they needed in a timely fashion. So it's obviously not a restaurant-wide problem. I completely agree with you about gratuities. If you want to start a petition, I'll sign it. I hate automatic gratuities.

I absolutely agree with the other posters about speaking to management, too. A local restaurant here in my area put a sign up in the window recently to the effect of "We hope you have a great experience in our restaurant, but if you find the service or cleanliness lacking, please let us know. We'd rather you tell us so we can fix the problem than read about it in a review a week from now, when it's too late to make you happy."

Good advice.

 

[bsbrady]

This is true. How do I start a petition, I would love to do that.

 

[PinkPrincess4Ever]

in the future ask for the manager and tell them your experience they can remove the 18 percent tip off the bill and you can tip what you would have liked, I have seen it done! I had experience this last year 3 times when I was in a group of 7 and tip was auto included ...you could tell they knew it and didnt care ..no refills bad clearing of the table just horrid sevice took the order and never came back except to give us the bill someone else even delivered the food he didnt even come back to check if the meal was good I was like that gets how much percent tip YUCK! good thing it was only 3 out of 10 days worth most our servers where good.

 

[Finally08]

Bad service can happen anywhere, anytime...it should have been addressed with the manager. How was the food?

If service is bad but food is good that is no reason to cross a place off your list

Yep, it sure can. We had a horrible waitress at Tusker House last fall, and just an all around bad experience with the character situation there (which really...the waitress was part of the problem). The manager even came out and spoke with dd because she was in tears, which made my mom cry too, and really, nothing came from it. He made her take a photo with him, so I do have a photo of the manager of TH...but um...who cares?

And as much as that shouldn't make us hate a restaurant, I truly never care to go back there. Our first time there the kids loved it...it was a fave of the week. But the second trip just ruined it.

 

[OrlandoMike]

Unfortunately there are servers out there who once they find out you are on a plan that includes the gratuity tend to slack off on the service. I never mention that I am on any sort of plan till the end of the meal.

 

[yitbos96bb]

A few things...

1) Please don't blame the restaurant for 1 person's terrible service. It is a pretty good place and most people on here have positive stories on service there.

2) Was it busy?

3) Did you EVER ask for a manager the entire time you were at dinner? You had to ask 3 times for a drink refill, no bread... I certainly would have been asking for a manager pretty quickly... at the very least, once I got my check before I paid, I would have asked for the manager. The manager could have removed the tip and might have even comped your dinner. The ONLY way bad service improves is by talking to the manager. Otherwise, the problem continues.

4) How did the waiter know that they were going to get tipped? Did you tell them you were DDE at the start of the meal? I never have told them and just give them the card once we are done with Dinner.

I never really like to give a bad review but I have to here. This was the worst dining experience I have ever had at WDW. It wasn't so much the food, which was at best OK, it was the worst service I ever had.

Our server was the worst. He took our drink orders and then disappeared for about 15 minutes, and then came back and took our orders. We received no bread & butter, no water, he never came and checked on us. I finished my drink before the food arrived and I had to ask 3 times for a refill. And to top it off, the tables around us had a different server and were getting all of these things. When he asked if we wanted desert, even though I did, we didnt want to give them any more of our business. I will never go there again!!

The crux of this issue is, I have the DDE(Tables in Wonderland) and I believe that this waiter knew he was going to get an 18% tip so he didnt need to work for it. When Disney announced that they were going to add the gratuity into the DDE, I really didnt care, because I would have left a tip anyway, but this is the perfect example of why this policy should be changed.

A gratuity is something that is left by the patron to the server for acknowledgment of good service. It is not required, it should be at my discretion. Now I feel it is just a surcharge. If I were not using the DDE, I would have left a $1 tip, which signifies poor service. I felt trapped and that waiter got something he did not earn.

 

[Tbelle1976]

Unfortunately there are servers out there who once they find out you are on a plan that includes the gratuity tend to slack off on the service. I never mention that I am on any sort of plan till the end of the meal.

Your completely wrong and have no idea what you are talking about! How about there are just some people who have a bad day at work and the fact that not everyone can handle being a server. Like I said before, a server works for their money just like anyone does. Do you go into work and slack off on purpose just because you know that you will make a certain amount? Why would you accuse others of doing so?
I also have to comment again on the fact that there was never a complaint made to the manager. Whether or not you were going to be late to get somewhere something should have been said. If something was not said at that time then just suck it up. The restaurant, manager and server don't know about bad service (or anything else that might be lacking) unless something is said. Unless of course your 18% tip was because they may have been psychic and knew that you were not happy without anything being said!

 

[smcabee]

Interesting that the theme here is that the waitstaff can have a free pass but the cooks can not. In my opinion, every restaurant Ive been too gets 3 chances. The chefs may have a bad day, the servers may have a bad day but the third time to me means the restaurant is bad. Of course everyone elses own opinions is what matters to them.

 

[yitbos96bb]

Sorry about your bad experience. We had lunch there earlier this month, and had the most charming, attentive waiter imaginable. He was fantastic, as was our meal.

We used to have the DDE and loved it. Now that there is the automatic 18% gratuity, I'm not interested. It's not that I don't give good tips, but I tip on a sliding scale depending on the service I receive. Like you, I don't think I'd get the best service if my waiter knew he was getting 18% no matter what he did.

You do know that you can ask for a manager and get this removed if you want to?

 

[yitbos96bb]

Actually Tbelle, you are wrong and your response was rather rude. I can tell you anecdotally... I HAVE several friends who are Disney waiters... I know for a FACT one of them does slack when he knows he has the automatic tip and the others know people who do it as well.

OrlandoMike, NEVER said all waiters did it. He said it happens sometimes and he is 100% right. Your response was incredibly rude and you should apologize.

Now your point on the manager is correct. But assuming that some servers DON'T slack off on the automatic tip tables is as ridiculous as assuming all bad service is due to a bad day or someone not being able to handle the job. Some of it yes... all of it. NO!

Your completely wrong and have no idea what you are talking about! How about there are just some people who have a bad day at work and the fact that not everyone can handle being a server. Like I said before, a server works for their money just like anyone does. Do you go into work and slack off on purpose just because you know that you will make a certain amount? Why would you accuse others of doing so?
I also have to comment again on the fact that there was never a complaint made to the manager. Whether or not you were going to be late to get somewhere something should have been said. If something was not said at that time then just suck it up. The restaurant, manager and server don't know about bad service (or anything else that might be lacking) unless something is said. Unless of course your 18% tip was because they may have been psychic and knew that you were not happy without anything being said!

 

[yitbos96bb]

Interesting that the theme here is that the waitstaff can have a free pass but the cooks can not. In my opinion, every restaurant Ive been too gets 3 chances. The chefs may have a bad day, the servers may have a bad day but the third time to me means the restaurant is bad. Of course everyone elses own opinions is what matters to them.

Actually I think that is fair. Artist Point has 1 strike with me for truly abysmal service on Christmas Day. While I understand that Christmas is busy and I will cut some slack, this was one of the worst services I have ever had. The food was ok, nothing to write home about. I'm willing to give it another go though and chalk it up to Christmas rush.

 

[MarkinNM]

...

 

[SoloFriendly]

This is true. How do I start a petition, I would love to do that.

I wish I had the answer for you, but I don't. Sorry. Maybe if you Google "online petitions" something would come up on how to create one?

 

[Skylarr29]

I didn't care for Chef's last time I was there either. I don't think I would return.

I also never mention my TIW/DDE card until the end and have never had a problem.

 

[mmmears]

You do know that you can ask for a manager and get this removed if you want to?

Yes, but I don't want a hassle. I would have to take extra time from my vacation to complain and justify why I wouldn't want to tip them that much... etc. If you listen to the Podcast, they are basically saying the same thing, plus that if there's an auto 18% then that's all they are getting. I think that it unfairly rewards bad service as well as unfairly punishes great service.

It's not a big deal to me, it just means we just don't buy the card anymore.

 

[Joshua_me]

Good waiters/servers are worth their weight in gold, they don't get their due. A good waiter/waitress can *make* a dining experience memorable.

^ Never forget it....

I've waited tables in dives and in 5 star restaurants, and the one thing that should never change is the level of service you provide to your customer.

There's NO excuse for poor service.

I'm sorry the OP had a bad experience.