Do you care enough to file a complaint?

rachemn

I have a coworker who prides herself on the fact that she will call and complain if she doesn’t receive good service somewhere. Fast food restaurant, the grocery store, nail salon, wherever. She also does it here at work. If someone here does something she feels is out of line, she’ll complain to the manager. A lady was out of dress code once; she took the time to find out what department she worked in, and told her manager. Granted, there are some instances when it may be necessary to report an issue, but EVERY time? C'mon!

Personally, it has to be something really horrible for me to complain about it, to the establishment anyway. The few times when I have spoken up about something, it was pointless. For instance, a group of us were having breakfast at 59 Diner. When our food arrived, everything was cooked unevenly, bacon burned, pancakes raw in the middle, etc. Called the manager over to show her, all she said was “humn, I don’t know what the problem could be, we cooked everything like we normally do” Clearly the food wasn’t prepared right. She didn’t offer to make the food over or anything like that. So, I just vowed to never go there again…but that’s just me.

What about you? Do you feel that taking the time to file a complaint is worth the effort?

Do you work in a hospital? I do and people are always calling someone else's manager to complain if they're unhappy. It's ridiculous. I will complain on occasion...bad service somewhere, bad product, but I wouldn't dream of calling someone's manager to complain that they're not complying with dress code! Seriously?? Why would you really care that much? That's just spiteful.

wannabesexymama

I have only ever complained TWICE in my life Both times I was pregnant and they brought me uncooked meat!! I asked the waiter to take it back and have them throw it back on the grill for like 10 more min I couldn't eat it like that I was Pregnant! One of the 2 times I was at a Chili's and the Manager came and apologized and offered to comp the meal but I told him it wast necessarily its an honest mistake, He still didn't make me pay for my Stake though and I got a few drinks on the house as well! A $60 meal cost me $24 and some change!

reese66

Wow, it sounds like you work with my sister. Went to lunch one day everything was fine, we paid our bill and was ready to leave but before we did I finished my drink and she did too, as we were leaving she stopped and spoke to the manager and complained about how we never got refills, she complained to the point that they refunded the money. I was so embarrassed.

Our mom went to the hospital having a stoke, they had to find a vein that they could put th iv in, mind you my mom has small ceons and this can be a difficult task on a good day. They were able to get the iv in on the right ARM, later that day when my mom kept moving her right ARM she kept messing it up and my sister had the nerve to get on to a different nurse about their choice of arms to put the iv, geez...

quichebradford

I will occasionally if the situation merits it but I always try to be polite and friendly. If I don't make them defensive I usually get better service and I've always had my situation remedied.

I want to ask, do you care enough to give a compliment? If I get exceptional service I make it a point to say so. I once e-mailed the corporate office of a restaurant chain just to tell them how exceptional the service was at one of their restaurants (we had a large, loud group). I got an email back thanking me profusely and telling me that all they ever get are complaints so my comments were very refreshing. Then they mailed me gift certificates for the restaurant and my DH and I got to go out to dinner for free.

In the words of Nancy Drew, "Courtesy counts!" (Sorry, I have four kids and one of them is obsessed with Nancy! lol)

Yes, I actually do! There is a lady who works at the taco Bell by my job. She ALWAYS is nice to me. I wanted her manager to know, so I called and told them. He was surprised to hear a compliment, just like you said!

agwilker

I always feel bad when I complain. Even if they did my order wrong. For instance if I say "potato, no butter". I will say something, because otherwise I won't eat it. Never been a fan of butter on potatoes.
However, if it's they forgot to put mushrooms in my whatever. I won't say anything.

I was a server at weddings for several years, so I think I over-sympathize. I hate for them to get in trouble, when in all likelihood it was the cook's fault. I had a lot of people send back their silverware if it had any spots, while I had 8 tables to look after. I think some people just like to find something to complain about.

Though, I can't STAND when I hear someone else complaining about everything at a restaurant. I notice two trends in that: A)They are generally older They will get free food/reduced bill. Hm.

binary_jester

Personally I dislike people who will complain at the drop of a hat, but will fail to compliment when warranted.

Hellbent_Heidi

I want to ask, do you care enough to give a compliment? If I get exceptional service I make it a point to say so.

Same here...I've actually stopped to tell the manager at several restaurants on occasions where I had a particularly good waitress/waiter.

Hellbent_Heidi

Though, I can't STAND when I hear someone else complaining about everything at a restaurant. I notice two trends in that: A)They are generally older They will get free food/reduced bill. Hm.

My brother once cooked at a high-end steakhouse and they had a guy who came in every Friday, ordered a filet, ate half, then said it was undercooked. He's send it back, wait for it, eat the rest and then say it was overcooked and he wasn't paying....so I'd have to disagree with the concept that the "customer is always right". Sometimes the customer is just a big fat scammer!

VeryKerri

Well this one time...at band camp...

Kidding, but I really did complain one time about a restaurant. My church's youth group was having a fundraiser at a local mexican food place near my job. I rounded up a group of 20 of my co-workers and planned for a lunch time outing. I phoned ahead to the restaurant and asked if they would accept a reservation. I was assured that I was 1) speaking to the manager and 2) my reservation was accepted. My group of 21 show up at our designated time and find that our table was given away 5 minutes before our scheduled time. Not only that but the hostess was completely rude to me and told me that she could not help me and that I should have gotten there sooner and that they dont take reservations at lunch time. I asked to speak to the manager and he came and lied and said he had never spoken to me. It was him, I am sure of it as he had a very thick accent. We did eventually get sat however we only had 1 server for a party of 21 which made things much slower. Our 1 hour lunch turned in to 2.5 (which we later were chastised for from the VP) Everyone did tip accordingly as it wasn't the servers fault. After I got back to work, I emailed their corporate offices and received a call back 15 minutes later to apologize and say they were aware of issues at that location. He offered to buy my group lunch again, but I turned him down. The apology was all that was needed as we never got one from either the hostess of the manager.

Johnnyswife

Personally, it has to be something really horrible for me to complain about it, to the establishment anyway. The few times when I have spoken up about something, it was pointless. For instance, a group of us were having breakfast at 59 Diner. When our food arrived, everything was cooked unevenly, bacon burned, pancakes raw in the middle, etc. Called the manager over to show her, all she said was “humn, I don’t know what the problem could be, we cooked everything like we normally do” Clearly the food wasn’t prepared right. She didn’t offer to make the food over or anything like that. So, I just vowed to never go there again…but that’s just me.

What about you? Do you feel that taking the time to file a complaint is worth the effort?

Yes...Not to the extent your coworker does, but yeah. If I was in that resturaunt, I wouldn't pay for the food unless they fixed it. If I can't eat it, I am not paying for it.
If I get crappy service with attitude, I stand up for myself and make a complaint. If the service is great or even just normal, I will make sure the manager knows they did a good job. I figure it evens itself out.

♥_Ellybean_♥

It takes pretty bad service for me to call and complain, or even call a manager over.

The last time I called and complained was at a McDonald's when the manager on duty REFUSED to give me a bandaid for my nephew who got hurt in their play place! I was so livid, I did wind up calling corporate office

LaDiablesse

I'm more of a compliment giver. I never send food back..(Ever see the movie Waiting?) Small tip & no return visits to a restaurant when it's horrible.

That co-worker of yours seems to be a miserable person.

coatsie79

If I receive bad service I will complain, because if I'm paying my money I expect to have good service in return.

If I receive good service I will always leave a good tip in a restaurant or take time out to complete those online or voice questionairres that you get when you contact a call centre.

Tree72

If I'm at a restaurant and my order is wrong, I will usually ask to have it fixed (unless it's something really minor). There's no reason to be unpleasant or rude about it; it's usually not even the server's fault. I'm lucky to live in a very "foodie" town. If the service is bad or the food is not good quality, word gets around and that place doesn't last long. So most restaurants here actively want to provide a good experience. It's not often that you have to take it up to the manager to get any problems addressed.

These days it's very easy to send either complaints or compliments as many restaurants have websites where you can give feedback. So if you have a terrible, or a wonderful, experience at a particular location, it only takes a couple of minutes to send off an e-mail to someone who probably cares.

macpatti

There's a difference between complaining and tattling. First of all, I will always "report" something I feel morally obligated to do. I have complained about service before, but not in an effort to get anything free and not in a rude/snobby way. I also give feedback on great service. Now, if someone I work with is not in proper dress code and I'm not that person's supervisor, that's none of my business.

mommared53

you gotta choose your battles

Exactly what I was going to say.

maidentl

If the situation is bad enough, i do complain. For example, on Monday I purchased a jar of peanut butter and got it home to find that the eat by date was THREE YEARS ago. I took it back to the store and got a refund, then I emailed both the peanut butter company and the store's corporate office. Sorry, but I think three year old product is inexcusable.

La_Amazona

Nah, unless it's something that's happened more than once (but then again, why would you go back?) or if it was something serious like being harrassed by a worker or something.

I do however go out of my way to tell supervisors, bosses, etc when I've received good customer service. Or I'll tell the worker how much I appreciate them.

k2quiere

There are two reasons to complain and two ways to do it. Some people just do it because they feel entitled and are mean. Other people would like to feel more comfortable or have better service and they can do it in a respectful way. I had a friend in college who everywhere we went she complained, she was just nasty to everyone! The checkout girl, the waiter etc. I finally sat her down and told her, "look when you are being rude and negative it reflects on me and I don't like it. People work hard and treating them with a little respect isn't too hard to do." Later she got a job in retail and found out what it was like on the other side of the coin. She told me she appreciated me pointing it out to her because she didn't realize she was like that and now she saw how it felt.

I've always thought everyone should work in a customer service job at least once in their life. :bigsmile:

THIS^^^

cabaray

I usually deal with things myself. If I'm in line at a retailer and the cashier is busy talking to someone else (not work related conversation), I will interrupt them. I worked in retail before. Having a personal conversation in front of a customer is plain rude. As far as restaurants go, I let the tip do the talking. A couple of times I have had such poor service, I left a penny. I also tip very well when service is good.