Should I Complain? BTRBBQ question.

[ChloroformSdxn]

On our trip last week we had our first chance to have dinner at BTRBBQ. Unfortunately, my kid got a little too enthusiastic about the sausages, choked a bit on one which stimulated his gag reflex and he threw up all over me, the bench, and the ground. I told my dining companion who was sitting on the other side to flag down someone to get us some towels to wipe off the bench which I took up to the washroom to clean up. We were in there a good 15+ minutes since I had to rinse my dress off in the sink and try to do some impromptu laundry, clean up the kid, etc.

I came back to the table. Nothing. My friend had flagged down two servers, both of whom wandered off and never came back. I finally managed to flag our original server and eventually someone came. In the meanwhile though, all 4 of us had to sit on the other side and wait for the bill since I wasn't that keen in eating anymore.

I'm happy to clean up after my kid, and if they had even just left cleaning supplies I would have been ok with that. But to just ignore it? In my efforts to avoid my son's vomit, I also managed to knock over a glass of milk that spilled into the aisle. The servers just stepped over it repeatedly and the other guests were forced to do so as well. I'm a little grossed out now since while I had always figured Disney to be pretty on top of cleaning, but maybe not at that restaurant.

 

[bumbershoot]

You should have found the manager *then*; they could have made a difference for you at that time. Sure, write in now, but it won't be as powerful as if it had been done at the time.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I agree with that if you wanted to follow up with a manager, it should have been done when you were there at the restaurant, but I don't consider it a big enough incident to follow up with after your trip. I think it's fine to get up from the table, and hunt someone down in the circumstance to get things cleaned up. We've had spills in different restaurants throughout the years (even at Disney), and I typically go and ask for a towel. Sometimes they give me one, but more often they clean the mess up themselves.

Sorry to hear that your child had that happen, though. I hope he wasn't to distressed afterwards.

 

[ChloroformSdxn]

I probably just should have followed up with a manager. I was just so tired and covered in vomit with nowhere to sit and no staff member that I just wanted to pay the bill and leave. They did eventually give us the bill, but... ugh. I've never had a kid throw up in a restaurant before, but we have had spills and it's never taken more than a few minutes to get it cleaned up. Certainly not being ignored for close to 30 minutes.

 

[taniahappy]

I would also have done it at the moment

 

[RemainSeatedPlease]

As you may or may not know, that restaurant is closing down in January to make way for Star Wars Land. Perhaps the servers there have stopped caring as much as they normally would due to this (though I would think they get moved to other places in the park, but maybe not?). Also, because of the closing, they have been booked solid for these past couple of months, so maybe they are overwhelmed, and training new servers to help out wouldn't be worth the investment. I agree that I probably would have said something at the time, but now that it's passed and the restaurant will be closing anyway, I probably wouldn't bother.

When I was there about a month ago I also noticed that service wasn't as great as it used to be. It took longer to get refills and even though we told them right away what dessert we wanted (it takes about 30 minutes to prepare the cookie bakes), they seemed to ignore this and asked us if we still wanted that dessert after we were done eating, so then we had to wait quite a while for it to come out.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I'm not sure what following up now will accomplish, unfortunately, especially since the restaurant is closing permanently in just a few weeks anyway.

It sucks when something like that happens in a restaurant. That happened to me with dd in downtown DC once. Not fun. Sorry you had to deal with that at Disney. If you are ever in that situation again, though, I would just get up ad find someone then. Dont wait for them to come to you...get yourselves taken care of first, absolutely, but then find someone ASAP if they aren't around already.

 

[Love Tink]

As you may or may not know, that restaurant is closing down in January to make way for Star Wars Land. Perhaps the servers there have stopped caring as much as they normally would due to this (though I would think they get moved to other places in the park, but maybe not?). Also, because of the closing, they have been booked solid for these past couple of months, so maybe they are overwhelmed, and training new servers to help out wouldn't be worth the investment. I agree that I probably would have said something at the time, but now that it's passed and the restaurant will be closing anyway, I probably wouldn't bother.

When I was there about a month ago I also noticed that service wasn't as great as it used to be. It took longer to get refills and even though we told them right away what dessert we wanted (it takes about 30 minutes to prepare the cookie bakes), they seemed to ignore this and asked us if we still wanted that dessert after we were done eating, so then we had to wait quite a while for it to come out.

You can't assume anything based on just your personal experience though. We had dinner there last Saturday and had some of the best service we have ever had not just at a Disney restaurant, but at any restaurant. Our server had so much fun with my three boys, and we had multiple people bringing our food and drinks very quickly.

But I would never assume that everyone there got awesome service. Service is dependent on a lot of factors. I just felt like we got lucky to have such a great time. Sounds like the OP got unlucky.

 

[Malcon10t]

My last visit, I had a similar incident happen. One of my companions choked on a piece of chicken. That is where the similarity ends. While the other companion and I were chatting, we did not notice she had gotten up and ran to the bathroom. Our server did, let us know, promptly got the manager and a female server to check on her (I went in also.) They continually checked on her, once she returned to our table, she was still unable to eat, the manager comped her meal since she had only had a couple bites. He also comped us a dessert. They checked back several times to make sure she was fine. (It is a physical issue for her, happens every now and then, so had nothing to do with the food there.)

 

[Indiana Scott]

No, I would not complain.
In fact I would call and commend them for going above and beyond to take care of the "situation", which is very out of the ordinary and time consuming for the staff that's on hand. They probably had to find someone who is bio-hazard certified and that probably took even more time.

 

[ChloroformSdxn]

No, I would not complain.
In fact I would call and commend them for going above and beyond to take care of the "situation", which is very out of the ordinary and time consuming for the staff that's on hand. They probably had to find someone who is bio-hazard certified and that probably took even more time.

I'm asking in all honesty - why would ignoring our request for a towel or mop for almost half an hour be going "above and beyond"? You don't need any biohazard certification to hand someone a could cleaning supplies. I worked in service for years, and unless something changed drastically? If anything, a wet floor surface is usually cleaned up immediately because it's a workplace hazard (less so there, obviously.) I did on one occasion sew a kid throw up outside of Thunder Mountain Railroad, and the regular staff just came and clean it up within about 5 minutes.

 

[SMD]

I'm asking in all honesty - why would ignoring our request for a towel or mop for almost half an hour be going "above and beyond"? You don't need any biohazard certification to hand someone a could cleaning supplies. I worked in service for years, and unless something changed drastically? If anything, a wet floor surface is usually cleaned up immediately because it's a workplace hazard (less so there, obviously.) I did on one occasion sew a kid throw up outside of Thunder Mountain Railroad, and the regular staff just came and clean it up within about 5 minutes.

That's not how I've ever seen vomit handled. The CMs cover it with towels and/or stand next to it until custodial comes and puts powder on it and then cleans it up. Then they use disinfectant spray after all the powder is cleaned up. They leave it for custodial instead of wiping up immediately so they know where to disinfect. It would be pretty disgusting if guests just wiped up vomit with a towel and that was all. I would hate to think of the next guest eating at that table if you had just tried to clean it yourself.

When sending a complaint letter you have to think about what outcome you want. A free meal? Replacement clothes? It's too late for those. As PPs have said, so,e issues need to be addressed in the moment. From your original post it seems like you left to head to the bathroom, so you actually don't know what efforts your friend made to flag anyone down. It seems like your complaint if you send it is going to be that servers did not bring you cleaning supplies that you wanted to clean up vomit. That's not their job. Did you get up and go to the hosts or registers where they have phones and radios and can call for clean up? What outcome do you want? That in the future servers handle cleaning supplies and you be allowed to clean up your own mess? I don't really see that happening.

 

[ChloroformSdxn]

That's not how I've ever seen vomit handled. The CMs cover it with towels and/or stand next to it until custodial comes and puts powder on it and then cleans it up. Then they use disinfectant spray after all the powder is cleaned up. They leave it for custodial instead of wiping up immediately so they know where to disinfect. It would be pretty disgusting if guests just wiped up vomit with a towel and that was all. I would hate to think of the next guest eating at that table if you had just tried to clean it yourself.

When sending a complaint letter you have to think about what outcome you want. A free meal? Replacement clothes? It's too late for those. As PPs have said, so,e issues need to be addressed in the moment. From your original post it seems like you left to head to the bathroom, so you actually don't know what efforts your friend made to flag anyone down. It seems like your complaint if you send it is going to be that servers did not bring you cleaning supplies that you wanted to clean up vomit. That's not their job. Did you get up and go to the hosts or registers where they have phones and radios and can call for clean up? What outcome do you want? That in the future servers handle cleaning supplies and you be allowed to clean up your own mess? I don't really see that happening.

We tried 3x to ge
t someone's attention. The first two times they said they would and no one came. I don't care if they clean it up or if I do. All I wanted was at the very absolute minimum, to be handed a cloth so I could sit down. We had three children under 5, one with special needs and had nowhere to sit. Their job is to deal with messes, however that is. No one needed special equipment, and I don't blame it if they wanted to avoid it themselves, which is why I would have been fine to clean it. Normally in the service industry you're expected to clean it up well before the half hour mark has passed. If they needed to radio someone, that's on them. I don't have access to their communication networks. I've had juice spills that were cleaned up in a few minutes.

I also didn't see anything special done - just a mop, bucket, and cloth. So that's what people were sitting on after. When I saw them clean up some else's vomit, there were no special considerations taken either.

I just woudl want them to let their Stagg know they need to be responsive. If they need to get someone special (which they didn't), communicate what the wait is.

 

[NannyBeBe]

A place like Disneyland should always have absorbent powder on hand to clean up vomitus. It turns the liquid dry and can be swept up. I would bet that the restaurant had it but the employees either did not know where it was or chose not to help.

 

[Stacy O]

I think that someone should have assisted you. Places like Disneyland are fully prepared to deal with biohazard. It takes people less than five seconds to pick up a candy wrapper on the ground.... The servers and workers In that area simply failed to do their job

 

[Gisele]

Ahhh..... the importance of chewing your food 20 X.

 

[GeneralTso]

I agree with others---it's too late now. Let it go.
What type of response would you expect?
I'm sure other diners around you were none to thrilled but anyone with kids knows stuff like that happens.
I've seen Disney comp meals for diners that were near "situations" like yours, but not the family that had the problem.

 

[4Mickeys]

I don't think the OP is expecting to 'get something' by making a complaint to DL about this. I would go ahead and do it at the very least it alerts them to an occurrence that was not handled well and that the staff may need further training in how to respond to a vomiting incident.

 

[Kittyskyfish]

That's not how I've ever seen vomit handled. The CMs cover it with towels and/or stand next to it until custodial comes and puts powder on it and then cleans it up. Then they use disinfectant spray after all the powder is cleaned up. They leave it for custodial instead of wiping up immediately so they know where to disinfect. It would be pretty disgusting if guests just wiped up vomit with a towel and that was all. I would hate to think of the next guest eating at that table if you had just tried to clean it yourself.

I agree. The only thing I can fault Disney for in this situation is their lack of expediency in cleaning up the mess. Their custodians should have been there much faster! But it would be Disney's policy that no waitstaff should ever touch biohazard - and yes, that includes gag-reflex vomit from a healthy child. Their hands are capable of transmitting infectious bacteria and viruses to dozens of dining customers. Wiping down the vomit yourself removes the solids but leaves behind organisms that can cause harm, which is why they stop DIY cleaning jobs. Special custodians have to be brought in to chemically treat the vomit and properly clean the contaminated surfaces. And they need to see where the vomit is in order to properly clean all the affected areas.

They're not in a position to decide what vomit is safe or a health-hazard. Policy that they follow would state all vomit must be cleaned in the same manner. It's just sad that they couldn't clean it up faster.

 

[Gisele]

Omg! I'm eating!

Lol.