Is it worth losing a customer over $5?

[Marseeya]

Well, this is what I was wondering about the peppers -- can they come canned? That's what it seemed to me, that maybe they were canned and they were supersoft. I've cooked peppers to death and haven't had them that bad. Or it could be that she had frozen them and tried to thaw them in the microwave? I don't know, but I can't imagine how the peppers ended up that way. And they were cut in larger chunks, like 1-2" rather than diced.

 

[Stepharoonie!]

I personally would never go back after that. An omelette with gray goo? Someone needs to call the health department.

 

[Planogirl]

It sounds like she lost her regular cook and she can't get the food prepared properly any more. That's still no excuse for her behavior and I would avoid the place from now on. Its days are probably numbered.

 

[crazy4disney01]

I wouldn't go back either!!! Obviously the owner didn't value you as a customer and they don't look at the food when they are putting it on the plate or cooking it for that matter. When they go out of business, it shouldn't be a shock. I think I would call the health department-not out of spite but to save someone from hurling that lovely gray goo.

 

[kimber79]

Don't you ever wish you could go back and let people have it with zippy comebacks after the fact? I'm full of them now.

I am so like that ~ I can never come up with anything good at the time!

I probably would have threw the $4 back at her stating that she is going to need it more than you as she just lost two more customers! Customer service is any businesses number one priority ~ and this one sounds as if it is more than failing in that department....no wonder their customer base is dropping. She best hurry up and figure out that word of mouth is HUGE, and by losing just the two of you as customers will likely be way more than that in the long run once your friends hear about this!! Put a letter to the editor in the paper!!

Hope you find a nice new local restaurant to frequent!!

 

[Marseeya]

She's the one who usually cooks the food, and I know she was in the kitchen this morning cooking.

Speaking of calling the health department, that's kind of ironic. People have always had bake sales in town on the main street. They served hot foods and it took away from her business, so she called the health department to complain and the health department came and said that nobody could have hot foods at bake sales anymore without some sort of permit. As a result, hardly any group has bake sales, and it was a real money maker for some of them.

She ticked a lot of people off with that. It was even in our small-town newspaper.

 

[momof2inPA]

Oh wait, I see you're in SW PA. What was the restaurant? PM me with the name if you don't want to post it.

 

[lucyanna girl]

I would have told her that is "eggs-acually" why we will not be back!

 

[N.Bailey]

I agree with the poster who said to write her a letter. I'd personalize one, but then I'd print this thread out and mail it along too.

I worked in the restaurant business for 13 years and I fully believe this one should go out of business if they feel this is the appropriate way to deal with their guests. It's fact that if a person is served bad food (not rotten, just improperly prepared) they'll normally give you a 2nd chance if they've received good service and feel that their problems were dealt with properly. It's also fact that for every 1 customer you tick off, 10,000 people will hear about it till it's all said and done. A good business makes sure there aren't many who leave unsatisfied. I do think we can all conclude however that there are some people out there who just can't be satisfied. One would hope that word of mouth coming from them is taken with a grain of salt. In a small town, word of mouth can make or break you. If I had my money on the line, I wouldn't have chosen the path that this owner seems to have chosen.

 

[Keli]

People like that are cutting off their nose to spite their face. Doesn't she realize what a small town is like? You treat someone that everyone knows is a reasonable person badly and word will spread around and you'll lose a lot more business.

If your small town is like my small town then people will remember the incident and it will hurt their business.

 

[kbmoo]

How Terrible. Sounds like she has a failing business and going to close down any day so she really does't give a rip. I remember going to a resturant that I had loved, but it just kept getting worse and worse. They closed a week after the last horrible meal I had there. I ordered chicken, it looked more like the size of a robin, not a chicken. The eggs they used for sunny side up eggs looked like xx small. Hardly any yoke at all. So don't be surprised if the resturant is closed next week. Even if it's not I would look for a new place to go.

 

[disney4us2002]

I have to ask: why a rotten pepper? I mean even the most unseasoned cook can identify when a pepper has gone bad. Why on earth stick one in someone's food?! Blech again!

Just a guess, but since it was in an omelette, perhaps the owner/cook didn't think it would be obvious it was bad. Sounds like she was trying to cut cost at her diner's expense. I'd cross that one off the list for Saturdays.

 

[arminnie]

The customers are usually middle-aged, upper middle class. I was born and raised here, so I recognize almost everyone.

And I hope you spread the word to those that you know. No need to be abusive or vindictive about the owner. I would just calmly explain to others that they were serving what appeared to be "bad" i.e. rotten or spoiled food and to be careful.

I had a boss from hell one time. The meanest, most offensive person in the world who could come off as a sweet little grandmother when she wanted to. She got a big demotion and was desperately trying to find a job in our company. I had been there for years and had many, many friends. I didn't call up people and describe what an absolute witch she had been and condemn her. I just repeated a couple of "incidents" that she had been involved in. She just kept getting turned down for job after job.

I know that is a passive aggressive approach, but if I had taken the active aggressive approach that she deserved I would have gone to jail.

 

[slk537]

My God...when she said "You ate half the omelet" my first thought was you should have said, "Considering it was probably covered in bacteria, you'd better hope I didn't!!!

Sheesh! Definitely sounds like a restaurant on the downslide.

 

[zurgswife]

Don't go back.

 

[panfan]

Okay....have to chime in here too!

Let me preface this with the fact that my family has owned a small "family type rest" for 24 years and the major portion of our buisness is locals eating brekfast. I would never...ever....ever...ever....ever treat someone like you would have been treated !!! And you would not have paid for your replacement egg either. Even if someone simply "does not like it" ...we don't charge and will replace it for them...we are all about trying to make customers happy and looking for repeat buisness.

Now for the peppers....I have cooked many an omelet in my time in our tiny place ( thousands I'm sure...urg!) I'm thinking maybe then get their peppers already diced. You can get almost any fresh veggie diced /sliced etc from the food supplier...that is why sometimes the lettuce at Mc'Donalds is sometimes "funky" The problem is that the bell peppers sour extreamly quickly once the bag is opened. ( We slice our peppers fresh by the way)
On the subject of the "grey goo" ..the combo of sautee onions and peppers mixed with the cheese in the omelet sometimes will turn grey...so a sour pepper will make it all the worse!

Anyway...
Hopefully you don't return to that place.

 

[Marseeya]

Panfan, thanks for the explanation of the gray goo! I couldn't imagine why it looked like that. I could have probably poured off at least 2 tablespoons full of that liquidy stuff. I'd never seen anything like it. I think it's cool that you own your own place. I bet you get some really loyal customers. DH and I are very loyal to some of our local businesses and it saddens me to have to cross this off my list, but he and I both agree that she was so far out of line that we'd never go back in. What makes it worse is that we're both a couple of non-assuming people who would never raise a fuss about anything. It was just the way she confronted me and made me feel like a liar and a cheat that really shocked me like it did. I'm still shaking my head at that.

After reading some of the other responses here, I'm starting to agree that maybe she knows the end is near and it's probably getting to her. The restaurant has only been open a few months and I bet that's a huge disappointment to them. Who knows, maybe they're blaming the customers.

 

[scraptoons]

Why would the owner think a frequent customer who eats their food EVERY Saturday morning without a problem, would suddenly try to start scamming her with a half eaten omelet?

It would have been a sign to me that the omelet really did have something wrong with it.

She is more concerned about her profit loss than customers at this point.

 

[mssocks]

And grape jelly in an omlette will turn it green. Not saying I eat that but if I did it would taste wonderful and be green.

I think I live near you thinking back on various posts. Would you PM me the name of the place so I don't go there? Not that I would order peppers in anything except as a garnish!

 

[Micca]

There's only one thing to do: meet at Panfan's restaurant and have breakfast. I just mapquested,and it's only 1,309 miles from my house.