What is fair compensation for waitress drink spill?

[Peter Pirate 2]

It's quite obvious that a lot of people feel quite entitled and that's sad.

But we don't know what really happened, we don't know how the staff really reacted, we don't know what kind of attitude the victims might have copped but more importantly Disney isn't 5 star dining, it' DDP dining and people should feel very happy that they get anything from this money grubbing company in times of distress. They aren't worried you won't come back, you will. They aren't worried you'll go to non Disney restaurants, you won't. They don't care that their prices are high and the quality of food and service is mediocre because we're lemmings and still believe that Disney stlill deals in magic for some reason.

If this incident would have happened at their only true 'fine dining' establishment V&A's we would never have heard this complaint. They still know how to do things properly, they just choose not to.

 

[KYMickey]

Did the sweatshirts say this?

I got dumped on at Disney World and all I got was this lousy sweatshirt!

Might as well have, because that's the story that everyone is going to hear from this family. If it happed to me at a local restaurant, I would expect a comped bill and dry-cleaning paid. The manager should have comped the bill and arranged for CP tickets on an alternate night, since this lady should not have had to spend the rest of the night with sticky hair - yuck.

The manager dropped the ball on this one.

This is certainly the appropriate and expected IMHO compensation for this incident especially under the circumstances.

 

[LMN]

I thought about this--

Pure class would have been--since this was EPCOT--that the manager call and see if a room was available, temporarily only (an hour or so), at Boardwalk or Beach Club. Offer the lady a room for an hour or so to shower and clean up. She would have access to a blow dryer then. Provide antiperspirant, etc. Send her with the shirt vouchers. Offer to have her clothes cleaned when she returned to her resort.

Let the guest decide yes or no to these options. Let her feel important and a cherished guest. This would provide good feelings on the side of the guest and would probably make the server feel better, too. Would not cost Disney much at all, but would provide TONS of goodwill. Creative solutions do not have to be expensive.

WDW should overdo the guest with kindness--go BEYOND expectations, never below. Don't tell me that this is not a good business model--this is what Disney was built upon. Otherwise, why do they train other businesses in "the Disney way" of customer service?

I may be totally naive, but I don't think that people would fake something like this that would cause discomfort or would take so much time away from their expensive park time.

This is what I believe Walt Disney himself would have done. Unfortunately, I did not know him personally, but from what I know about him, I believe he would have "gotten" the fact that these guests were on their way to CP and so this incident, while an unfortunate accident, affected not only their meal but the rest of their evening as well. He totally would have used out-of-the-box thinking (like having them shower/clean up at a nearby hotel) to make sure that their evening wasnt completely ruined.

 

[si-am]

This is what I believe Walt Disney himself would have done. Unfortunately, I did not know him personally, but from what I know about him, I believe he would have "gotten" the fact that these guests were on their way to CP and so this incident, while an unfortunate accident, affected not only their meal but the rest of their evening as well. He totally would have used out-of-the-box thinking (like having them shower/clean up at a nearby hotel) to make sure that their evening wasnt completely ruined.

I don't know. Showering and cleaning up at a random place? For me, that would require a WHOLE new outfit AND makeup (moisturizer, foundation, concealer, mascara, brow pencil, blush, lip stick). Way more trouble than it's worth.

If someone spilled a drink on me, I'd be happy with the sweatshirt, throw my hair in a ponytail, and go about my day. Sure, I'd be annoyed. And a comped meal would be nice.

But... expecting anything more is kind of crazy for such a small incident.

 

[BriarRosie]

1) Let's slightly change the scenario.
. . . you, as a guest, are walking past the table
. . . you bump the waitress and she spills the tray
. . . you cause people to get splattered and wet
. . . you are plainly and clearly at fault
2) By this reasoning
. . . you should apologize
. . . you should pay $500 for the other guests' meals
. . . you should pay for two new sweatshirts
. . . you should pay at least $100 for the next visit's meal
. . . you should have about $700 of your vacation money drained
3) Exactly where does compensation stop?
4) I guess, like many opinions
. . . everyone has one
. . . they are different based upon where you are standing
. . . also different whether you would pay or someone else would pay
5) As a further scenario
. . . you attend a party at the neighbor's
. . . you get something spilled on your clothes by another person
. . . should you automatically get free clothing?
. . . should get you comp'd for the food/drink you contributed?

NOTE: I personally believe we need to not be a society of "Gimmie",
and start to accept what is reasonable. People have said "because it is
Disney". Why should it matter.

Because, Rusty, you are not Disney. Plain and simple. You didn't have to go through Traditions and get some sort of training for going "above and beyond" the way Disney cast members are trained. They are allowed to offer compensation the way they see fit.

And if the spill was caused by someone else, but the Disney cast member spilled on you, you probably would appreciate the generosity of the cast member offering you sincere apologies and appropriate guest recovery.

 

[DDM101]

Wow, considering the "events" that took place, I believe the party should have been comped dinner in full in addition to any clothing needed by the parties affected by the spillage. Yikes.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

This was not at a restaurant in Walt Disney World but a couple of months ago my family and I were at an Applebee's in Toronto area and our dinner was comped because it took forever for our food to come out and because people who sat down a long time after us had already got their food. Basically after we told our server where is our food she went to the kitchen when she realized what happened, then when she brought it out said the manager we would by to speak with us. So we assumed he might offer us a free dessert or something to make up for what happened and that would have been enough for us. Well to our surprise he said the meal would be comped.

Now I realize it's not fair to compare a local Applebee's restaurant to a restaurant in Walt Disney World. However if their manager can give us a free meal because it took forever to get our food and we didn't complain, then if someone gets food spilled on them the restaurant should give them a free meal, no matter if it's in Walt Disney World or anywhere else.

 

[emmysmommy]

I've had meals comped for less than a drink being spilled on me so I would at least expect that the meal would be taken care of for the person that got doused.

 

[disneynutz]

Accidents can happen but Disney is missing the mark on this one. Strictly as a PR gesture from a company who advertises their Magic, free shirts, comped meals and a pass for CP on a different night would not be out of the question IMO. The food and shirts cost Disney a fraction of the retail price so their OOP would be minimal and they could have turned a negative into a positive.

Bill

 

[cymbaldiva]

Just out of curiosity, has the OP ever come back to say how her friends actually felt about the way things turned out?

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

I don't know. Showering and cleaning up at a random place? For me, that would require a WHOLE new outfit AND makeup (moisturizer, foundation, concealer, mascara, brow pencil, blush, lip stick). Way more trouble than it's worth.

If someone spilled a drink on me, I'd be happy with the sweatshirt, throw my hair in a ponytail, and go about my day. Sure, I'd be annoyed. And a comped meal would be nice.

But... expecting anything more is kind of crazy for such a small incident.

I know what you mean...but if I had choice of being sticky and disgusting, or clean and without makeup, and I know I'll never see these people again...I might choose to be clean. Either way, I won't be looking my absolute best.

Edit: I would have also appreciated the gesture.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

I think a profuse apology by the waitress and an offer to pay the cleaning / laundry bill would be enough, although the voucher to purchase sweatshirts is more practical, since you're at a theme park and can't really be expected to go home and change clothes or anything. Maybe more if items in her bag were ruined due to the dousing - like a phone or makeup or something.

I don't think I would have any expectations beyond an apology, no matter where it happened. I would not expect them to give me my meal for free in addition to other compensation like the clothing. I think people are so entitled.

Seems it was just a accident, these things happen !............I totally agree with the above!

AKK

 

[Tara922c]

A long time ago, when I was a sever, I sat a plate of food down in front of a man and the drawn butter on his plate jumped up and landed on his lap. I immediately went and grabbed wet and dry towels and got my manager. The manager comped his meal, and told him that we would compensate his dry cleaning for the pants. I felt HORRIBLE! The man's bill would have been about 30 bucks, and he left me a twenty dollar bill.

I worked in the industry, serving and management, for many years. If one of my servers spilled an entire tray of drinks on a guest, I would get towels to clean up and offer a new shirt, and I would comp the guest's meal. (not the entire table's bill) Yes accidents happen, but as a manager, it was my job to keep everyone happy and customers returning.

If that happend to me, I would expect the server and manager to appologize and see what they could do to make me more compfortable. I wouldn't expect a free meal, but I would expect for the manager to do more than a simple "sorry". I would be a little ticked if I had to walk around all night with my hair and clothes soaked from margaritas!

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

I'm not sure what I'd expect - probably reimbursement for drycleaning if it was an outfit that couldn't be washed in the regular washer (or in this case, laundering since I wouldn't be at home to wash the outfit). Maybe the meal comped, but just for the person spilled on, not the whole table. I think the sweatshirt vouchers were a good idea, although I agree that I'd be uncomofortable walking around with sticky messed up hair - I likely would've just wanted to go back to the room at that point. So I guess in that case, since this was a special package with CP seating, I probably would want my meal comped if I wouldn't be taking advantage of the CP part of it.

 

[Otter49]

Yes, accidents happen - and the entitlement mentality makes me cringe. But sometimes entitlement is warranted.

Having been in hospitality for a very long time, two comped meals would almost be an industry standard.

 

[kelleigh1]

I can believe that the husband had to seek out the manager. Imagine being that waitress - would you immediately run to your manager and tell them that you spilled a tray of drinks on a guest?

And I agree that a $65 dinner shouldn't be fully comped. I think the sweatshirts were justified. And if you think about it, we are hearing the story from "someone who knows someone". Chances are pretty good that the story has been exaggerated. We all do it. You start to tell the story and without even realizing it, you embellish a bit here and there to make it sound even more exciting, catastrophic, whatever. It's just human nature. I'm thinking that she wasn't sitting there looking like she had just stepped out of a Cola Shower because if that was the case, I would think that there would be no way that I would just go right to Candlelight Processional. I would want to go shower off.

 

[Senator Tressel]

1) Can Rusty please come on and list the name and address of his establishment(s) or PM me the list? I want to make sure to avoid what is surely an insufferable and customer unfriendly place.

2) The person's meal who got soaked should have been comped. I don't see how it's even a debate. Having an entire drink tray spilled over you is humiliating. Comping one meal is the least any respectable place would do.

 

[Senator Tressel]

What is a "sweatshirt", exactly? What I am picturing a sweatshirt being is not something I would wear in public, let alone a Disney one, but I'm a male, so maybe it's different. It seems to me these people were having a nice dinner in preparation for a nice evening, so I'm picturing one of them moseying around in a sweatshirt sticking out like a sore thumb from what everyone else would have been wearing.

 

[si-am]

What is a "sweatshirt", exactly? What I am picturing a sweatshirt being is not something I would wear in public, let alone a Disney one, but I'm a male, so maybe it's different. It seems to me these people were having a nice dinner in preparation for a nice evening, so I'm picturing one of them moseying around in a sweatshirt sticking out like a sore thumb from what everyone else would have been wearing.

The sweatshirts at Disney run about $50! No one dresses up for the CP. Everyone is wearing theme park gear.

 

[emcclay]

More compensation would make sense if the waitress spilled a tray of hot beverages on a guest. Soda and water are no big deal. Cold drinks won't ruin a night, unless you allow them to. Burns from hot beverages, on the other hand, could definitely change plans around. There are sinks in bathrooms to wash up. Humans make mistakes. Nothing is perfect!

On a side note, sitting outside during an event that takes place during the evening in Florida does not equal freezing. I could see if WDW was up north when the nights consistently average freezing temperatures.

Apology + free Disney sweatshirts =