What is fair compensation for waitress drink spill?

[BGK]

1) Let's slightly change the scenario.

How about not? There is a specific scenario everyone began discussing here. What you're doing is the rough rhetorical equivalent of the "ticking time bomb" scenario, where one can justify any outrageous action by positing a worst-case scenario. You can bend the situation many different ways to make the guest demanding satisfaction look like a grasping idiot, and that's just so much sophistry.

About ten years ago, my parents were eating at Liberty Tree Tavern. At the time, it was a character meal. Chip comes bounding over to give my mother a hug and fails to notice a server carrying a tray of root beer floats. My mother ended up wearing most of those root beer floats. The manager came over immediately. After making sure no one was injured, the manager offered my mother replacement clothes (which she declined because the idea of changing anywhere outside of the hotel room is terrifying to her). He told them he'd call over to Old Key West, where they were staying, and make sure the soiled clothes and shoes would be picked up that night and returned clean in the morning. He gave them their entire meal gratis, and his card and a promise to deal with any follow-on issues. My parents were/are ("were," as my father is presently dead) low key people, and asked for none of this. They were very, very impressed at how quickly and professionally this was handled. Every time my mother tells the story, she always mentions how well the cast handled it. Which is exactly the point of the manager doing what he did: guest goodwill.

Now, it seems, what my parents had been doing all along was running some kind of short con. In the interest of being upright citizens, they should've refused the free items and taken their lumps. After all, it was Disney magic.

 

[cluvsdisney]

I don't think this is an "I am entitled" or "gimme, gimme" thing. It's more of a "make things right" situation.

The manager gave them 2 sweatshirts to send them away. How would that solve their wet pants??? The proper solution would've been to help these 2 people who got soaked get cleaned up, so they wouldn't have to go outside with stained, wet clothes. How uncomfortable they must have been. Also maybe comp 2 out of 5 dinners, simply because their dinner experience was ruined and they have been inconvenienced.

That's all. I don't think helping these people get cleaned up and making their overall experience better is unreasonable. Just the right thing to do.

I agree with this. I know if a tray of drinks was spilled on me, I would be done for the night and my plans would be ruined. I would be angry, uncomfortable and embarassed. I wouldn't go anywhere wearing wet & stained clothes. I am not going to stay out with my hair wet, clumpy & sticky from beverages. I would need to shower to wash all the drinks off of me and I would just call it a night.

 

[corgi_monster]

If I accidentally damaged someone's belongings, whether it be in a personal or professional setting, I would EXPECT to replace it for them. If I bumped a kid and he spilled ice cream all over his shirt, I would gladly buy him a new shirt, a new ice cream, and apologize. If he were wearing something outrageously expensive that I couldn't afford to replace, I'd still try to do the best that I could. To me, that's taking responsibility for the accident and trying to make things right.

That being said, I think that yes, your friend is owed more than just an apology. I'm not sure if "expect" is the right word, but I think it would be FAIR to ask Disney to replace, repair, or clean items that was ruined due to the incident. You can't replace an experience (Candlelight Processional), but perhaps vouchers for another night would have been nice.

When the spill happened determines whether or not her meal should have been comped. If the drinks were spilled after she was done eating, technically the spill didn't ruin the food she was charged for. If the drinks were spilled on her food, then yes, the meal should have been comped. And if they were spilled before the meal and she chose to sit through the dinner all wet and sticky (yuck), then that was her choice and no, the meal should not have been comped.

 

[gillenkl]

I agree 100%.

An apology and the sweatshirts is more then enough in my opinion. Accidents happen! My lord I swear people act as if the waitress did it on purpose!

totally agree! It's spilled drinks folks - accidents happen - get over it!

 

[loganpaulsmom]

As someone who works in the industry i will tell you that accidents DO happen.. It may be a bit different for me as I want my customers to continue to come to back so I would bend over backwards to make sure that they left happy.. If I was the waitress I would probably make sure that my manager was generous in trying to make the customer happy.. however, I think that more than probably, managers and staff at restaurants at Disney don't really care about the customer as they know 1. they probably won't ever seem them again.. 2. someone else, another customer will fill their spot when they decide they never want to go back again..

 

[mickeysbestfriend]

happen to me at Disney over the 40 years I have been going there and the Disney people have always been very good about responding.

The first was at the Coral Isle Cafe before it became Kona. A waitress for a table next to ours set up a sissor table and went to place a large heavy tray of beverages on the table. Unfortunately the strap holding the table open tore and my brothers and I were drenched with sodas, malts, floats and the like.

Before the last glass hit the floor the manager was there offering apologies and heaping towels on us to help clean up. It was bad timing as our food had just been delivered and the flying beverages had made them inedible. He promptly asked our waitress to resubmit the orders to the kitchen and offered to comp us deserts. We were on an all inclusive package and told his so, so he offered us drink coupons for the Tambu lounge (2 each). He also asked our room numbers and told us that they would send someone by later on to pick up our clothing so it could be cleaned.

This was all proactive! Other than letting him know that the complimentary deserts weren't a big deal, I can't imagine him doing any more to remedy the situation.

To be honest, my brothers and I were laughing through the whole ordeal and felt sympathy for the poor waitress who spilled the tray. It wasn't her fault, it was an accident.

 

[nkereina]

Didn't read all the replies. IMO, people shouldn't EXPECT a free meal for something like this -- but it should be given to them without hesitation (free meal for the victim, not the whole party). When you factor in Disney's cost for the food and cost of the sweatshirt (their actual cost - not their markup cost with profit which is what we pay), they would only lose a minimal amount of money and it would be worth it for them to do this in the name of customer service. Now these people most likely hate Coral Reef, will never return, and will tell all their friends. NOT comping the affected person's meal has a bigger negative domino effect than if they had. If they had, these people might be inclined to let others know how the restaurant rectified the situation.

If a restaurant burned my food or it was cold, I'd expect them to fix it but not give me anything for free. This incident was a horrible accident by the waitress which left the person sticky and uncomfortable the rest of the night. Plus their bag was probably gross the rest of the trip, and if they are like me and re-use clothes on vacation, then they are out an outfit too. Comping the person's meal is not so outrageous.

 

[eliza61]

I think the sweatshirts were a good compensation. Maybe the one dinner comped but that's it.

Accidents happen

 

[disneymom06]

An apology is paramount and the sweatshirts were probably the only dry clothes that the customers had available for the night.

I ask how many of you have had a tray full drinks poured on you? While accidents do happen, when you are in the park, returning to your room to shower and change really ends the evening and that is where Disney has to go the extra mile. That is what Disney prides themselves on, quality of service.

My youngest daughter was about 5 and had a tray of 6 large ice cold beverages were poured on her at Hollywood and Vine. (FYI, she was sitting still and patiently waiting for her drink.) She was soaked, sticky and shivering. While I believe that the waiter was new, and I was not unkind to him, someone in management should have come to help us out. The only statement that the waiter made was I will get another tray of drinks.

Luckily, I had a change of clothes in the car, where my eldest went to retrieve for his sister. I took her to the bathroom and washed her down as best I could. I had to request another chair when we returned to the table.

Did I feel that this was handled poorly? Yes. I spoke to a manager and she stared at me blankly. Maybe she was new too. I was not looking for anything but felt an apology was in order. A soapy towel and a dry towel to clean her up and a dry chair to sit on were just common courtesy.

We did not return to Hollywood and Vine although we have returned may times to Disney. We are also VERY attentive to the arrival of the tray of beverages. Accidents do happen but it is how one handles the next step is a test of character.

 

[hockey mom]

I once spilled an entire jug of coffee cream on a customer in our casino. He was covered in it and that stuff is not only sticky but stinks.

I apologized profusely and got my manager. We offered him a free meal and a new shirt along with dry cleaning bill.

He declined all. His response- "**** happens".

Accidents happen.

 

[CarolynU]

Like most other people on this board if I add up the total time I've spent in WDW over the years it amounts to many months, and have some things gone wrong? Yes sometimes. Have I ever had anything comped ? No, nor would I expect it.
However, this was a whole tray of drinks which soaked two people from head to foot plus their posessions.
Of course it was an accident, but Disney usually considers guest recovery a top priority. Personally, I don't think that disinterest by a manager, and two sweatshirts when leaving, which doesn't address the remaining clothing issues as well as the discomfort of being sticky and wet, sufficient guest recovery to turn an unfortunate accident around into a more positive experience.
At the very least they should have been offered completely dry clothing or sufficient money comped off the meal, so that they could buy dry clothing and or an offer to pay for the cleaning of the clothes.
Unless the posessions were damaged the guests would then leave the restaurant not disadvantaged from the state that they had arrived in.

 

[Bob NC]

1) Let's slightly change the scenario.

We already have a scenario, why change it?

Maybe to make it so your flawed logic would make sense?

 

[hockey mom]

I like his logic. He is pointing out that if it happens to them they should be entitled to this and that. If they are the cause of it happening to someone else then it was an accident.

 

[EPCOTatNight]

1) This was ample.
2) No need for a comp'd meal.
3) Things happen, and they got sweatshirts. *
4) This allowed the guests to stay in the park.
5) Which is quite enough compensation.

* The sweatshirts are probably worth $35 each. How much more
compensation did the guests want? Certainly not the $65 the CP
Dinner Package costs, plus the sweatshirts. That would be $100
for a spilled tray !!! (IMHO, some people are just too greedy.)

WHAT?! "Allowed" to stay in the parks? With dirty clothes that you now have to carry? With nasty hair? They PAID for the right to "stay" in the park when they bought the ticket. Being able to walk around Epcot with a new sweatshirt and sticky hair is NOT compensation.

 

[englishteacha]

At Busch Gardens last February, I sat in a seat where the previous occupant had spilled something red. I was wearing light khaki shorts. A cast member apologized, and my husband asked where the nearest shop to buy something cheap to wear was, and she gladly directed us (first time EVER I didn't pack extra clothes in the car!). It was a complete accident, and we went on with our day (though I was horribly embarrassed to walk across the park in red stained shorts, I assure you.). In the OP's scenario, though, they were at a nice, sit down restaurant for dinner, with plans to attend a nice event that evening. The manager should have come over without the guests needing to fetch him/her, and the offer of a place to clean up (with proper towels!) would have been very, very kind. The sweatshirts were a nice gesture, but I think the bigger issue is getting clean before putting on the new sweatshirt. I've had lots of things spilled on me (I'm a klutz and I am a magnet for accidents) and it's miserable to be sticky and smell like someone else's drink.

 

[kamik86]

I agree that accidents happen. However I expect to have to make accidents I cause right. So should the restaurant. AT they very least I would expect new versions of any clothing item that is soaked for the night. (If it dumped on her head her paints are wet too) and to pay for dry cleaning.

If I spilled stuff over someone as a guest I would expect to do the same. However I would have to guess on the amount for cleaning as the logistics would be harder as an individual verses being disney.

I agree that unless the meal itself was ruined that they didn't need to comp meals. They still ate the food.

 

[gina2000]

2 dinners should have been comp'd. Two sweatshirts given. Drycleaning offered. And if the bag was permanently damaged (leather stains), compensation for a new bag.

It's all about making the customer feel good about the mishap....so that they will return again.

I wouldn't return otherwise.

 

[Pangela]

We had a bad experience this past October at Coral Reef. We had a disinterested waitress that was just rude from the moment we sat down. The high chair we had ended up being wet (cloth high chair) and my DD was soaked and wouldn't sit. The were out of high chairs so we were giving a booster seat that toppled over in the booth when my DD reached for her fork. The waitress wasn't concerned about anything that happened. I half expected at least an apology about the wet high chair (who knows what it was) and she didn't say a word and was annoyed that we asked for a new one.

I wanted them aware of the wet chair so it was cleaned and not given to anyone else and she just walked away. The waitress left DH really mad and annoyed which never happens. DH asked for a manager to tell him what happened and about the waitress. We didn't want anything, just to make him aware. The manager comped our meal since we had to leave and DD and I didn't get to eat. We didn't ask for it, nor did we expect it. We asked to pay for at least the drinks and the manager wouldn't let us. It was nice that our meal was comped but in no way did we expect anything.

 

[nkereina]

I once spilled an entire jug of coffee cream on a customer in our casino. He was covered in it and that stuff is not only sticky but stinks.

I apologized profusely and got my manager. We offered him a free meal and a new shirt along with dry cleaning bill.

He declined all. His response- "**** happens".

Accidents happen.

Accidents do happen and what your manager offered is fair compensation. If your customer declined, it's his own business. It doesn't mean people with a similar experience shouldn't be compensated the same way. The only thing a restaurant can do, since they don't have showers or dry cleaning services, is comp the meal of the affected person.

1) This was ample.
2) No need for a comp'd meal.
3) Things happen, and they got sweatshirts. *
4) This allowed the guests to stay in the park.
5) Which is quite enough compensation.

* The sweatshirts are probably worth $35 each. How much more
compensation did the guests want? Certainly not the $65 the CP
Dinner Package costs, plus the sweatshirts. That would be $100
for a spilled tray !!! (IMHO, some people are just too greedy.)

$35 is what WE the consumers pay for a sweatshirt - not what Disney pays. Disney's cost is maybe $5-$10 if that? It wasn't much off of Disney's bottom line to give these folks the sweatshirts, and it also wouldn't have cost them much to comp a person's meal. Your estimate is overexaggerated.

 

[creativeamanda]

I know when I had a terrible meal, I emailed Disney.

All I wanted was an apology.

I got my meal comped at the price from the DDP. I would email and see what Disney can do. They could at least get an apology, which is what I would want more than anything.