Have you ever refused to pay/asked for a refund for food?

[mjtm610]

After listening to the podcast I was wondering why do we eat this food if it stinks?
My family usually eats only dinner in the parks. We often eat dinner off Disney property. Breakfast and lunch are usually what we make.
Does anyone complain though? Has anyone had the guts to ask for the manager and refuse to pay, or ask for a refund.
Speaking for me, personally, I don't do it either. Maybe we should. Maybe it would get better.
What are your thoughts?

 

[DeltaDiamond001]

Never at Disney, but yes. I have demanded refunds for the "food" served at some supposed "restaurants."

One that comes to mind is a "Japanese" restaurant in Breckenridge. It was pure and utter garbage. My udon noodles literally (and I watched this happen) came out of a cardboard container, purchased at any grocery store, and put in the microwave. My salad had (and I'm not exaggerating) two inches of rice wine vinegar sitting in the bottom of the bowl, which had not been mixed with anything else, so the salad was undoubtedly inedible. The sushi was rotten, and I even checked the cooler before leaving; the fish was growing mold.

This restaurant was "well regarded" in local publications... Needless to say, we pitched a fit and ended up going to Bubba Gump's down the street.

 

[WaltD4Me]

I have complained before...even at Disney. I sent back a sandwhich that came out on a rock hard croissant. I sent back a steak that was like shoe leather...uncuttable with a steak knife. Cold fries and soup have been returned and a truly disgusting plate of spaghetti. I was polite and each time a manager or chef came to talk to me and were very apologentic. I am not overly picky and don't send back food all that often, but if it's inedible I don't let that go.

 

[kaligal]

Nope. I don't send stuff back. I don't complain. If its bad enough, I just quit going there.

A waiter once set some HORRIBLY burnt fries down in front of DH. DH took one look at them and said, "If you'll eat these fries, I'll pay for them." He got new fries.

He wasn't rude, though. It was funny.

 

[LionKingRules84]

I regret to say at Disney I've never complained but I don't usually locally either I just end up not going back to that restaurant. Best thing we can do to reward or punish places is to just stop going there or going there often if it's good. I doubt at Disney that works though since someone will eat there even if sucks since basically it's there. I think if I go back to Disney World I plan on saying something if I get inedible food.

Ragland Road in Downtown Disney was bad enough I should have asked for something else but didn't. I had a similar experience at Flying Fish but again just ignored it especially since the Manager basically came out to talk with us(he was nice too). The effort to make things right was shown to a point that I let it slide but I don't think I will be repeating dinner again at either restaurant though if I return.

I thought Mama Melrose at Hollywood Studios was great when we went and I was expecting that to be the one I didn't like since I'm picky when it comes to Italian Places.

 

[zavandor]

I don't know if this counts because it's in France, but in Cafè Hyperion in Disneyland Paris I got my money back. It' a counter service restaurant where at the table you can watch for a show of Disney videos. They usually let you sit only after you purchase your food, since the service is very slow and it's not unusual to spend 20 minutes to get food (first good reason to not go there).
Last new year day they had not enough Cast Members at work to check for this, so tables were full of people just hanging there to watch the cartoons not eating and we ended up to eat our lunch cold and I had even to stand up the whole time.
I even argued with a family who had a chair occupied with bags, while I was standing.
I called for a manager and asked if he considered this a good king of customer service and he ended to give me back what we paid for our lunch.

 

[DisFanJen]

Yep, if it's bad I want it replaced or I wont eat\pay for it.

I've even done it at Disney once. It was at the Rainforest Cafe at AK. The food was lousy, the service was bad, long story short it was a total shambles.

Didn't get anywhere with the server in regards to the lousy food so we ate what was edible then I left exactly $1 tip to make it obvious I was unhappy (leaving nothing could be written off as just forgetting) then went straight to the manager and complained.

We got a full refund.

 

[Kimberle]

I did once. We were at a fast food place in the studios. My dd ordered a hot dog. It was terrible. The bun was so dry and falling apart. It was like it was sitting out in the sun for days before they used it.

Normally, I don't send food back. I've heard to many horror stories from people in the food business about what "they" do to food that is sent back. If a place isn't good, I just don't go back.

 

[LilyWDW]

Never had to send back food because it was bad. The only time I have sent food back was because I did not like it and I asked to order another entree WITH the intention of paying for both. I even told the server I would be happy to pay for both since it was ME who did not like it (was too spicy for me, but I know people who would have loved it). That was my fault because I knew it wouldn't be for me... but I talked myself into it.

Otherwise, I have never ordered anything I didn't like. A few things that were not my favorite, but that is not the restaurants fault.

 

[disprincessatheart]

Not quite the same thing but our order went missing at Earl of sandwich last night. After waiting twenty minutes to get two sandwiches, they refunded my meal.

 

[Tony NY]

I have never asked for a refund but I have seen food back. I did this last year I have waited over 1hr for a table at the Coral Reef for a party of 6 and waited another 1hour for the food to come; when the food came it was ice cold. To make matter worse the stake I order wasn’t even cooked they took back the food and they did not charge me for my meal and the apologized for the wait for the table and the wait for the food. He also gave us a yellow pass good as a fast pass for that day I think it was his way of saying sorry you had a bad experience in our restaurant.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

I definitely send food back. If I'm going to pay for it, I want it to at least be edible.

 

[Cotillard]

Nope. I don't send stuff back. I don't complain. If its bad enough, I just quit going there.

I've never had anything anywhere that was bad enough to send back or even complain about.

 

[pal-mickey]

I never have in Disney but I did at a local theme park. We were there for my dd birthday. A fast food dinner cost about $60 and was totally disgusting. I went to customer service and they refunded me the full amount
If you're paying for a service you should be satisfied with it

 

[mjtm610]

We have been pretty lucky eating at table service at the World. Our problem has been quick service. We're found that they are a little pricey considering what the quality is. We've never send anything back....but we have thrown food away. Then we cross that place off our list for future visits.
I think I make excuses for Disney. Like they're trying to appeal to a huge cross spectrum of the world, really. They serve a billion fast food meals, they're trying to get food out fast, etc, etc.
Maybe I should be writing a letter, or speaking to a manager or something. I really can't complain if I've never told them their food is crummy.
But then again.....the profit is the bottom line for any company.

 

[1Grumpy9]

I am with the PP, we usually eat at CS when at WDW, so I usually don't send anything back. Although, if I getr french fries and they are cold (like they have been sitting out for a while) then yes, I will ask for hot fries. If the meal is cold, then yes, I would send it back.

I have done this at local restaurants because of things being cold.

One story from my last trip in Oct. We were at Casey's for something quick before the Halloween party. They weren't overly busy, but they had a crowd. We ordered hot dogs, french fries and we got brownies for dessert (on the meal plan). I went outside to get a table while my friends waited for the food...Most of our food was ready so I knew it wasn't going to be that much longer for my friends to come out and join me. I waited and waited and finally my friends came out with our food. They explained to me that the CM behind the counter was getting upset with the cooks because there was no fries and he gave us an extra dessert (which we saved and didn't eat until later in the vacation) for making us wait. I thought it was very nice of him and he was as appologetic as anyone.

 

[Cherinva]

I've only had 2 bad meals at Disney, and I left without saying a word....I won't do that again though...there's no excuse for bad food...even if you are on the DDP

 

[WaltD4Me]

Normally, I don't send food back. I've heard to many horror stories from people in the food business about what "they" do to food that is sent back. If a place isn't good, I just don't go back.

Having been a server for quite a few years, I have to say, "they" aren't out to get you if your meal legitimately isn't good or isn't prepared correctly or is cold or whatever, at least anywhere that I worked...we wanted you to have a good meal and a good experience, we wanted you to come back. However, there is a HUGE difference between someone politely explaining their steak is raw (or whatever) and someone who is obviously trying to get a free meal or someone who is just a nasty person who wants something to complain about. I can personally say I never did anything to anyone's food, but I did see it happen a couple times in extreme customer from hell incidents. I'm not condoning it at all, but did want to say it doesn't happen as often as they make it seem. I was in the "biz" and send back food sometimes when deserved, I just do it reasonably and politely.

 

[lugnut33]

Never have had much luck with meals at Cosmic Rays, but the last time we ate there was easily the worst meal I've ever had. I actually tracked down a manager and had a talk with them about how bad our food was. I was looking for nothing more than to get our money back for the portion of food we couldn't eat because it was so bad. In the end she refunded us the cost of the two meals that were terrible. I was super nice to her and she was super nice back to me.

I have never done that before at any restaurant, inside or outside of Disney. However, the food was so bad and expensive I had to say something.

The meal itself was the ribs and chicken plate. We ate the chicken, which was OK, but the ribs were the worst I have ever seen or tasted. Both my portion and my daughter's portion were literally inedible. I know ribs are supposed to have some fat in them, but literally there was an unbreakable layer of fat on the top of the ribs. I couldn't even pull them apart, and I can bench press 350 lbs.