Is this lady over-reacting?

[SAHDad]

I'd have kicked the woman out of my restaurant and told her to never come back. After all, the odds are that she is lying about the entire thing and trying to shake down the restaurant.

We used to have a guy who would come in every couple of months, and insist that we had packed his 21-piece bucket with nothing but wings. We would apologize and give him a new bucket (though we knew he was lying) because it was easier than arguing with him.

Until we got a different manager, that is. The new manager looked into the bucket, pulled out a wing, and asked the man how we had managed to serve a (cooked) wing that was not just frozen, but had a severe case of freezer burn. The liar left in a huff, but never came back.

 

[NHdisneylover]

If they actually bread the chicken wings themselves, then they should have caught it, and I would expect some significant compensation. If, however, they are like KFC, Hardees, McDonalds, etc, then the wings (or other assorted chicken-based processed nugget foods) arrive pre-breaded, frozen, and in bags that weigh five or ten pounds.

As someone who has worked in a certain, eouthern-based, chicken based restaurant, I can assure you that we did not look at every single wing we cooked. You dump a bunch into the basket (easy to miss a breaded head in that mess), and then lower the basket into the fryer. Fry oil isn't the clearest thing in the world (not for long, anyway), and you would only see the pieces on top. When the timer beeps, you pull the basket out, gently shake it a couple times (to remove some of the excess oil), and they get dumped under a warming lamp. During rush, you can have people trying to grab wings (or nuggets, etc) out of the basket as you are trying to get it to the lamp - or mobbing it as soon as they're out. The metal tongs hide a great deal of detail, too - so you could snap down on the head, and not be able to see it clearly due to the tongs. And, to be honest, once you have it in the carboard box, you don't look at it again - you're too busy counting out the correct number of wings, or closing the box and getting the rest of the order.

I could see it happening as an honest mistake. Doesn't mean I wouldn't be asking for a refund and a couple extra orders of wings though.

I have never worked in fast food, but just from seeing them dump fries in when I am at the counter this is pretty much how I pictured it. I do not see that missing this indicates the place is not clean as some people have stated.

 

[design_mom]

I would have been grossed out, although I don't like wings anyway. I would have wanted reimbursement for my meal (which it sounds like they gave her). I would not have cared about a "good will" gift card because I probably would not patronize that restaurant again anyway, but that would have been nice to offer -- maybe in an amount similar to the value of the comped meal. I would not expect anything for my "pain and suffering," although >gak!< I would have suffered!

I do think the restaurant handled it poorly by "passing the buck." They served it to the customer, so they should take responsibility and trace the chain of fault backward themselves. I am not surprised that the line cook would not have noticed, especially if the wings were sold by weight rather than by piece (where someone would have had to count each one)... however, to suggest that "parts are parts" when it comes to chicken is ridiculous.

 

[NAB]

I'd have kicked the woman out of my restaurant and told her to never come back. After all, the odds are that she is lying about the entire thing and trying to shake down the restaurant.

This is my guess too. I have worked in two plants that cut up chickens to be sent out to McDonalds etc. No way Quality Contol would miss a head. Heck we got in hot water for missing a wood splinter( chickens eat the crates when they are shipped off to get killed) Now that is small. There is a big paper trail too to find out exactly when, where and who was on Quality contro at that time.

Heck the guys like to scare the girls down the line with the darn things. They do not look like a normal chicken parts so it would not be missed.

 

[cluvsdisney]

I think they manager messed up in telling her to contact the distributor. That is just odd to me.
I think he should have simply apologized, refunded her money on the wings and maybe thrown in a gift card (10-20 dollars) as a good will gesture, thanked her for bringing it to his attention so that HE could contact his supplier and left it at that.

I was going to say the same thing. I would be really grossed out if that happened to me but I would be even more angry that the manager was pretty much dismissing me and telling me to handle the problem.

 

[Tinkermommy]

Maybe it was the "surprise" that came with your meal. Or a good luck thing, kind of like finding the baby in a King cake.

Or maybe that was the promo that day. "Buy a pound of wings and get a head for free!"

It's all in how you look at it.

 

[Tink9721]

I would definitely be grossed out and wouldn't have eaten there again.

(She sat and ate a pound of wings? That sounds like a LOT of chicken... is it?)

I was thinking that too

 

[Piglets Mommy]

We used to have a guy who would come in every couple of months, and insist that we had packed his 21-piece bucket with nothing but wings. We would apologize and give him a new bucket (though we knew he was lying) because it was easier than arguing with him.

Until we got a different manager, that is. The new manager looked into the bucket, pulled out a wing, and asked the man how we had managed to serve a (cooked) wing that was not just frozen, but had a severe case of freezer burn. The liar left in a huff, but never came back.

That is great! Busted!!!!

I think they just handled it poorly. They gave her $$ back and apologized, which would be enough for me. But I would have been upset if they told me to call the supplier. THEY should call the supplier to insure that THEY never get a chicken head in their wings again. Why should she have had to do that. (and as the supplier, I would be pretty ticked off that they gave her my number, because now she is even more tivked off that she has to handle this.)

A simple refunding of her money and an "I'm sorry. We will call the supplier and make sure this never happens again" would have been a much better way to handle it.

 

[dislaney]

I don't know that I would have expected anything from them but I definitely would have been grossed out and probably never eaten there again!

 

[Darsa]

Then I would walk out of the store and get myself a big *** burger from somewhere else. I wouldn't be able to eat another chicken wing ever again because I would be scarred for life. After I gained so much weight and developed heart problems from eating burgers instead of chicken wings from then on, I would sue the restaurant and the supplier for millions of dollars because somebody has to be responsible and I know it wasn't me because I didn't order a chicken head!

Haaahahahahaa!!! EXACTLY!!


Oh, and "breaded head" had me cackling as well. Oh, this is the best thread ever!!

 

[Kies99]

I've been in this exact same situation before (just not a chicken head). It was handled the exact same way.

I think it was handled properly, including telling the woman to contact the supplier.

Nowhere in the article does it say the manager admitted fault and nowhere does it say the manager wasn't going to contact the supplier as well.

My guess is that just due to the number of parties involved as well as the amount of space the reporter had to write the article, some information was left out.

 

[onelilspark]

First, I find it odd that the article points out that Sysco is the distributor, but doesn't actually give the name of the supplier. Really there would be a bigger problem if Sysco did know that the case had a chicken head in it as it would mean that they were opening up every case before sending them out... If there's a quality control problem (which this is) Sysco then contacts the manufacturer/supplier of the product in question. Many times the Supplier's Rep then will give the customer (as in the restaurant, not the customer who buys from the restaurant) a free case to make up for either the damaged or not up to quality item.

Personally, the blame lies in the Restaurant Fry Cook for not noticing the head (and/or whoever packaged it up to go) and/or the Supplier, not Sysco. No wonder the poor guy has been dodging this woman's calls!!

Second, who eats 2 pounds of chicken wings??

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

I am going to guess that it was an inexperienced manager. The first thing they teach is you is never admit fault. You can apologize without actually admitting fault and that is what you should do. Once you admit fault, you open yourself up to lawsuits. And this is a sue happy world we live in. The manager could have answered better than call the distributor but like I said, he was probable inexperienced. Bet he never does that again though.

I had that conversation with a young relative at a funeral once. "No, the fact that I just said 'I'm so sorry that your grandfather died' does not mean I'm a murderer".

A simple "I can imagine how surprising that was, I am so sorry and will look into it myself" is all I wanted.

Parts is parts, and a refund of my money would be a valid response if I got a thigh instead of a breast, and I threatened to sue because I only like white meat.

 

[Kim♥DISNEY]

I'd have kicked the woman out of my restaurant and told her to never come back. After all, the odds are that she is lying about the entire thing and trying to shake down the restaurant.

I hate to say it ... but this is what I think. If she found it in the wings she ate there then so be it.

I also would be disgusted and not eat the food, never to return to the restaurant, and spread what happened to anyone that wanted to hear it. However, suing and expecting something from it just goes a little too far IMO.

 

[Magpie]

Just in case anyone is wondering how the chicken head could be "staring up" at the lady, here's the picture that came with the story on CNews...

The URL for the pic actually reads in part, "heady_goodness.jpg".

CNews is having fun with this one...

Honestly, though, I can kind of see how the fry cook might miss that in a big pile of wings. It has the approximate shape of a thigh, kinda. And it looks totally tee'd off.

 

[Tink9721]

The URL for the pic actually reads in part, "heady_goodness.jpg".

CNews is having fun with this one...

Oh man that's great!

 

[donaldbuzz&minnie]

I was eating a crab salad at a very reputable seafood restaurant once and almost took a bite of a great big (dead, of course) grasshopper. Didn't get much of an apology either, nor did I make a big thing of it. Haven't been able to eat there since, tho.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

I admit it would have been disturbing and probably turned me off wings for the rest of my life. (not a bad thing if you are eating a pound of wings in one sitting). But the offered compensation would have been enough.

I was at a Buffalo Wild Wings when I discovered a purple thing with accompanying goo in the bottom of a basket of buffalo chips. I had already eaten about half off the top. It looked like a lozenge that had maybe fallen out of somebody's mouth. The manager promised they would check the batch after acknowledging they didn't know what it was or where it came from and compensated me for the chips. They did offer replacement chips but I declined as I wouldn't have eaten them (I was full). To me that was acceptable, but it was clear that the restaurant was checking into it.

 

[Disneycrazy!!]

Chicken wings, chicken heads, chicken feet...what does it matter? It ALL taste like chicken!!!!

 

[bumbershoot]

And does anyone else think there's something kinda awesome about getting a surprise chicken head in with your wings?

Being a long-time vegetarian, I'm to the mental place of parts are parts and animals are animals (barring philosophical stuff...after all, I gave up meat slowly, starting with the non kosher animals and going from there). So in a way I can't really understand the emotional impact of a head vs a leg.



But they should have been nicer about things. After all, it was part of an animal they did serve, and was more obviously something she got there than if she came up with a tiger paw or something.

And goodwill is nice. We go to a place here that has kitchen, counter, and seats in a tiny little box of a place. They have a drive through with an open window, and they often have the front door open. So...twice now I've ended up with a dead fly in my salad. Both times have been when we've gone for takeout, and I generally pour the dressing in then shake it up, so I haven't found the fly until I've eaten half the salad.

Both times DH has gone back up there, they apologize, offer to make a new salad (both times I've refused b/c by that time I'm NOT hungry and am feeling ill), and then put our names on a list for x number of salads for free for the future. After a month or so I'm OK with the thought of a salad from there, and we'll start going there again. If they'd dug in their heels, saying that the fly couldn't come from there, we wouldn't go back. But they are realistic, and know it likely did (though it could EASILY just be in their lettuce, after all, I've found a dead fly in a romaine lettuce bought from Costco before, so it might not even be their exact fault), and so they've had our business for upwards of 10 years now.