My girlfriend and I were recently out to a pricey French restaurant to celebrate her promotion. We ordered a pretty expensive bottle of champagne at $100. When the waitress was seating the couple next to us, the wife of the other man, was walking in between our tables and was wearing a long trench coat. Her coat brushed up on our table and knocked over our bottle of champagne. When I addressed them about it, they said that it was an accident , but they refused to replace the full bottle of champagne, which we hadn’t even drank from yet. I thought it was rude, How should I have handled this??
2007-02-21 01:57:08 · 22 answers · asked by Jennaba9048 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Etiquette
I think the restaurant should have replaced it
2007-02-21 01:59:14 · answer #1 · answered by Sooner 4 · 6⤊ 1⤋
You should have asked to speak to the manager of the restaurant, and asked them to replace the champagne. If a member of the staff had done it, then the restaurant would definitely replace it. It is really the restaurant's fault, because you never leave an open bottle of champagne on the table like that - it should be in an ice bucket, which when full of ice would never tip over like that. The restaurant should have replaced the champagne, either at its own cost, or by charging the other people who knocked it over. If I were you, I would have refused to pay the restaurant bill.
You should send a letter of writing directly to the restaurant manager to complain about the poor service. The waiter should have replaced the champagne at no cost to you - or at the very least offer a couple of glasses on the house to replace the spillage. Accidents happen all the time, but it is the waiters job to make sure that accidents don't ruin a customer's meal and to make sure that the customer leaves satisfied. If you're lucky, you may get a free gift certificate out of it (I've gotten them before), which can offset what you paid for the champagne.
2007-02-21 10:03:04 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
Accidents happen but if caused by a person, then the person causing the damage should pay. If a child causes the "accident" the parents should pay.
If she scraped your car with her purse which would also be an accident, that would not excuse her responsibility to pay for the damage.
She should have replaced the champagne she caused $100 worth of damage. The restaurant is not responsible for replacing the wine as their staff did not cause the damage; however, it would have been a very nice gesture on their part.
If this happens again, I would agree that it is an accident; however, replacement should be made by the person causing the accident. Insist on it, publicly if necessary.
2007-02-21 10:43:39 · answer #3 · answered by Pacifica 6 · 3⤊ 1⤋
I agree that the restaurant should have replaced it. Ideally, the couple could have been gracious enough to do so, but businesses should (and usually do) set aside a portion of their annual budget to cover such mishaps. If you feel comfortable doing so, you might call and speak to the manager; maybe you can get a voucher for a future visit. Good luck, and I'm sorry your date was affected.
2007-02-21 10:01:11 · answer #4 · answered by nerdygrrl130 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The people who knocked it over would have paid for it if they had any manners. I probably would've demanded to see the manager and if that didn't get me anywhere I would have refused to pay for the bottle and definitely not left a tip. I doubt they would call the police, it would bring bad publicity to their fancy restaurant over something that they should have taken care of.
2007-02-21 10:01:52 · answer #5 · answered by Monica 3 · 3⤊ 1⤋
The Restaurant should have replaced the Champagne FREE of charge(Out of Common Courtesy!)
Maybe you should have addressed this with the Manager!
2007-02-21 09:59:35 · answer #6 · answered by J. Charles 6 · 11⤊ 0⤋
I think you should have spoken to the manager and explained the situation. If the couple continued to refuse, the manager might have offered you another free bottle anyway for goodwill purposes. By the way, I'm appalled they were so rude about it!
2007-02-21 10:01:01 · answer #7 · answered by Bzl1 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋
you should have spoken with the restaurant manager. i am sure that he would have atleast gave you a discount knowing what had happened. you should have not had to pay full price for a dumped bottle of Champagne.
how fancy could this place have been, if the table are that close together?
2007-02-21 10:00:57 · answer #8 · answered by mmh 4 · 5⤊ 1⤋
Tell the manager of the restaurant to replace it, they put the tables too close together.
2007-02-21 10:00:16 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
You should have spoken to the waiter and let the waiter speak to the front end manager..it should have been replaced by the person who knocked it over.They must have had no class.
2007-02-25 08:21:49 · answer #10 · answered by little3nikki 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I guess told the waiter maybe he would've given you another bottle on the house. What else can you do? Get into a rumble in the restaurant?
2007-02-21 09:59:30 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋