Is it worth losing a customer over $5?

[Marseeya]

I've gotta vent!

We live in a small town with very few restaurants. There were these people from NYC who came several years ago and opened a small cafe and they recently expanded to a larger restaurant. We've been frequenting the cafe since it opened and we've been friendly with the owners -- no first name basis or anything, but chit-chat type of friendly when we see them. We started going to the restaurant since it opened. DH and I have been going to breakfast there every Saturday morning, and dinners occasionally (about twice a month). The food has been going steadily downhill, but we still like to go there because we like to support our local businesses. We've also noticed a decline in customers on Saturday mornings too.

Well, today I ordered an omelette with green peppers, onions, bacon, and a small amount of cheese. It came smothered in cheese, but I didn't say anything because I figured I could scrape it off. I took one small bite off an edge and it tasted fine, but then I cut into an end that had green peppers and it tasted really nasty, sort of sour. I flipped back the top of the omelette and it was soaked in greenish gray GOO. The peppers were rancid and nasty and left a gray liquid in the egg! The peppers were actually disintegrating. Also, and I wouldn't have complained about this, but the bacon was left whole slice instead of chopped, and the onions were cut in large chunks.

I almost never send anything back in restaurants, but this was flat-out inedible, so I sent it back and asked the waitress to bring me back just a scrambled egg. She looked at it and seemed to agree with me that it looked bad.

We ate, and then the check came. I was charged for both the omelette and the scrambled egg. No big deal, I thought, we'd just straighten it out at the register. I asked the girl who rang it up to take it off, so she went to get the owner. The owner came out and said the omelette was half eaten, so she was charging me for it.

HUH???

I explained to her politely that I only took two bites and told her how I flipped back the top of the egg, which might make it look like it had been eaten, but she just stood there completely stone-faced cold and said, "Your waitress brought it back to me and said that it looked half eaten and I looked at it myself. You ate half of that omelette!" My jaw just dropped, so I did argue with her and told her she was wrong, and that it was inedible. She slammed open the register and took $4 out and threw it at me. I told her that I couldn't believe she was going to treat me like that instead of apologizing for the food, and she said, "I'm sorry YOU didn't like the omelette."

OMG!

We go there every Saturday and spend at least $25, and was that little tiff worth losing us as customers??? Now I see why there were no other customers there.

I'm just stunned at her attitude. I could understand if I've complained in the past or if she'd never seen us there before, but geez!

 

[bicker]

It's hard to know the full context, not hearing from the restaurant owner. As we see very often in these boards, one of the biggest problems with Disney is that they don't apply policies consistently. You may have just been an unintended victim of reaction to a trend (with regard to the behavior of other patrons) that the restaurant owner was dealing with. On the other hand, there's always the Soup Nazi phenomenon...

 

[Meriweather]

That is totally unexceptable.
I would not be going back either....and yep, that is why customers are going away.
I am a HUGE believer in good customer servie.
Can't believe that attitute!!

 

[Jeafl]

That is ridiculous. I would just simply not go back.

 

[SeaSpray]

You were right, she was wrong. Period.

We go out to eat fairly often too, and we also like to support local businesses.


It sounds like she knows her business is failing.

 

[N.Bailey]

Not only should they have taken the omelette off the bill, they should have picked up your tab for your entire portion of that check at minimal and at max, they could have picked up the entire check.

It looks like you need to find a new restaurant to go on Saturday mornings. I would NEVER go back.

 

[Stacerita]

Not good customer service at all. I would not go back there.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I would also never go back! Yikes, what terrible customer service.

They should have taken the omelette off the bill without you even asking and the owner should have stopped by your table to apologize. That's no way to treat even an occasional customer.

 

[lindakmonty]

I would not go back. If they're going to conduct business like that...they can depend on income coming from someone elses wallet! She was very unprofessional to say the least.

 

[momof2inPA]

I would have said to the owner, "No wonder your business is falling off."

 

[daisyduck123]

I would've told her "We won't be back".
I can't believe it.
What was that restaurant owner thinking? I'm surprised she's stayed in business for that long.

 

[MsLeFever]

Disgusting - both the omlette AND the attitude!

 

[Marseeya]

It's hard to know the full context, not hearing from the restaurant owner. As we see very often in these boards, one of the biggest problems with Disney is that they don't apply policies consistently. You may have just been an unintended victim of reaction to a trend (with regard to the behavior of other patrons) that the restaurant owner was dealing with. On the other hand, there's always the Soup Nazi phenomenon...

LOL, no omelettes for you!

I'm just speculating, but I don't think people would typically behave that way at her restaurant. It's by no means upscale, but it's more expensive, so I don't imagine the type of customers who frequent the restaurant would do that. The customers are usually middle-aged, upper middle class. I was born and raised here, so I recognize almost everyone.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

Wow!!! I wouldn't be going back either, not to mention I would be worried about seeing Round 2 of the peppers. BLECH!!!!!!

 

[Marseeya]

I would have said to the owner, "No wonder your business is falling off."

I never think of things like that in the heat of the moment! I was just so stunned that she took such an attitude with me.

I can forgive bad food, but I can't forgive bad service, especially from an owner.

 

[Marseeya]

Wow!!! I wouldn't be going back either, not to mention I would be worried about seeing Round 2 of the peppers. BLECH!!!!!!

I do feel sick, but I told DH it's probably psychological because I only had a bite of the nasty peppers.

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.

 

[disneymom3]

Well whether or not you were the unintended target of her frustration with other customers is irrelevant if you ask me!! She was inexcusably rude to you and NO way would I return to her restaurant again. I would send a letter stating that and letting her know that you will be letting your local friends know about the horrible customer service in that restaurant.

 

[grlpwrd]

Well, today I ordered an omelette with green peppers, onions, bacon, and a small amount of cheese. It came smothered in cheese, but I didn't say anything because I figured I could scrape it off. I took one small bite off an edge and it tasted fine, but then I cut into an end that had green peppers and it tasted really nasty, sort of sour. I flipped back the top of the omelette and it was soaked in greenish gray GOO. The peppers were rancid and nasty and left a gray liquid in the egg! The peppers were actually disintegrating. Also, and I wouldn't have complained about this, but the bacon was left whole slice instead of chopped, and the onions were cut in large chunks.

Ewww. I would be irritated with how she treated you, but also ticked that the green peppers may have been spoiled or old. One has got to wonder about health department issues there, too.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

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!

 

[Micca]

That's a shame. There was an opportunity for the mom and pop to do something better than the big company and they drop the ball. They probably know they are on the way out and have some bitterness and disappointment about the business. No reason to take it out on a loyal customer though.