Was I wrong in complaining to the restaurant manager?

Question

Last night I went on a date to Buffalo Wild Wings. It was pretty busy and we got seated at around 9:30. We got our drinks a few minutes later and we ordered our food a few minutes after that. We were told that food took an hour to make since they were so busy, but it has died down, so it would take less than an hour. We said ok and proceed to talk, watch the screens, etc. After around 30 minutes, we noticed that the restaurant was a lot less full than before. Our waiter told us our food would be out in 'just a minute'. 15 minutes after that we watched the waiters serve food to everybody in the restaurant except us. Seriously, everyone that we could see had food except us and the restaurant was less than half full. I know for a fact that there were other people that came in after us. After an hour has passed we complained to the manager, who acted like we should have understood cuz they were so busy and that we have an attitude problem. Should we not have complained?

Answer 1

Its sounds like the food service was bad, not the waiter. The kitchen might have had problems with your order. I would make it clear the service needs to improve or you will never come back.

Answer 2

There's nothing wrong with complaining if you received a lousy service and/or food!!! You're just entitled to!! You're paying to be served and taken care of, and if this isn't fulfilled then you have all the right to complain to whomever you need to. I think the manager was too soft -- he should have made you not pay for the meal. Still, at least he offered something -- there are some places where they won't. I once had this lousy waiter who tried to rip me off when having dinner with my mom..... he offered the "day's special" which was made up of 2 different dishes from the menu (of course the size was not that of 2 dishes but just regular, with a bit of the 2) ........ so he brought it and I ate it..... but when the bill came he charged me as if I had eaten the 2 dishes separately, instead of charging for the 1 dish I had...!!!!! I complained to the manager and he did give me my meal for free. My mom just tipped 10% to or so the moron (I personally wouldn't have given him a dime), but at least I got him reported. There was this other time at a big restaurant with a friend where the service was about the poorest I've ever received.... we complained but the manager didn't do anything.... So we tipped 0, zero, nada. Sometimes that's the only way to really express your dislike of the service.

Answer 3

Oh you should have complained, and if the manager didn't do anything to resolve your complaint, its time to take it to the next level of management. I would call in the morning and speak with the General Manager. They will want to know why their guests aren't happy and they will do what they can to make sure you come back. They want your business, and being busy is no excuse for waiting over an hour for your food when others are being served. It sounds like a waiter problem and the management should be alerted! Thats the only way the restaurant can be sure that they are giving each and every guest the best experience at their stores they need to know there is a problem and they can fix it.

Answer 4

it is discretionary.

I have been where you are as a customer; and years ago I have been in the position of being a server where things do get messed up in a variety of ways. Even post-peak, the kitchen can still be recovering from a wallop; especially if certain things have run out, need to be thawed, etc.

But you went there to spend money, and you deserved to be treated with respect and decent customer service. You did not, get that, clearly, thus you were not wrong to complain. The manager should have agreed with you, and offered a means to rectify the situation (or at least make your next visit better, if for no other reason than to avoid bad word-of-mouth). Based on the manager's reaction, I would not go back again.

Answer 5

Complaining to the manager? Not a bad thing in that time span. Complaining to the manager on a date? Not the best idea. If you had seen other people who had come in a certain amount of time after you then it's understandable - like twenty minutes or more. But if a party of two sat done only a couple minutes later then you and ordered something different then you and your date and got their food prior to you then their food was quicker to make and was served first because of that. If that was the case you might have overreacted just a bit.

Answer 6

You have my sympathies. I've been in a BWW myself and the service is a nightmare. It took them 40 minutes to come tell me that they didn't have a veggie burger. (It WAS listed on their menu.) It's the first time I've ever complained in a restaurant and not had at least an apology. The manager acted as though it was to be expected in a place like this. An hours' wait is not to be expected for the type of food that is being served there. We'll never go there again.

I think you did the right thing to complain. How else are they to know that their service is bad without feedback. It's just a shame that they don't care.

Answer 7

The manager doesn't sound professional, because a manager should be a pro at dealing with customers and calming a situation down. Instead your manager seemed to be defensive. Plus, the manager shouldn't have thought you have an attitude problem.
You should have gotten up and left. I've done that before. We had the free water and maybe bread, but after waiting so ridiculously long we got up and left.
Someone once told me another story similar where them and a few other friends were eating at a restaurant. They ate the food and had a pleasant experience, but they never got the bill. They waited and waited for the waitress to give them the total/bill and it never came, so they walked out and never paid one penny for all the food they ate. In my opinion, that's not stealing exactly. If the waitress was that stupid and careless, then she deserved to have no money.

Answer 8

Pointing this out to the manager was certainly well within your "rights" as a patron. I do hope you were respectful and didn't make a scene as in "I was wondering, we have been here an hour and everyone else seems to have been served. We know you are busy but is there some other reason for the delay?"

The manager would apologize for the delay and look in to the matter. I see absolutely no reason for the manager to "accuse" you of being uncooperative even if you did have an attitude. Even mediocre managers know that that is not the correct approach.

There may have been many reasons for the delay, that as a patron you wouldn't know. Your part in the exchange is simply pointing it out. Their part is to see if there was an oversight somewhere and making it right with the customer.

If you truly believe the manager was out of line report them to their district manager. Companies cannot fix a problem they do not know exists.

Good luck.

Peace.

Answer 9

If you were advised of the long wait before placing your order, you certainly should have been more understanding. However, any place that has issues of this nature and has a wait time that may be unreasonable to some people should advise that before customers have made ANY charges, so that the customer could leave if this was an issue. However, you had previously been made aware that your order could take up to an hour, so it really was a bit inappropriate to report this to a manager, as you had already been advised of the situation.

Answer 10

I think that it sort of also depends on what you ordered. But if you ordered something that takes a long time to cook and the table next to you ordered soup it would be expected that they got their food first.

Personally I would have said something. Maybe your waiter/waitress put in the order and the cook miss placed it or something. Some times that happens too.

Answer 11

You most definately should have complained. If people that got there after you were already being served, it probably means that they forgot your order. I understand that they were busy and mistakes happen but there should be some measure of control to keep things like that from happening. The only way the resturant can improve is by getting feedback from their customers. Maybe from your complaint they can reevaluate their kitchen staff or operation and improve it so it doesn't happen again. I know it is probably wishful thinking but sometimes it does happen.