Don't Be A Jerk: There Is A Right Way To Complain At Restaurants

It's happened to everyone before. At some point or another, you've been out to eat and they got something wrong with your order. Now unless you wanna show up on NotAlwaysRight, or look like a psychopath, you better complain the right way.

For me personally, I almost never send anything back. Only if it was like waaaaaaaaaaaay wrong, like, I ordered chicken and this is fish. And then, I still might go ahead and eat it and not say anything, cos, hey, fish is good too. But I've seen people just lose their everloving minds over this stuff, so check yourself a bit and follow the guidelines.

1. Stay Calm.

Flying off the handle won't get your order fixed any faster. It'll just make your server hate you, which won't help. So it's best to take a deep breath, and remember that mistakes happen, even at NICE restaurants.

2. Act Fast.

Meaning, don't wait until you're halfway done with your meal before you tell the server there's something wrong with it. As soon as you realize something's wrong, let them know. Or if you're just too hungry, shut up and eat it.

3. Be Specific.

For example, don't just shrug your shoulders and say your food tastes "weird." Give the waiter something to tell the chef - like it's overcooked, or it's undercooked. Whatever. Just give them a reason.On the other hand, if you order something that's a little risky, and it turns out you just don't like it... then that's kind of on YOU.

4. Trust the Server.

Don't badger them. If you ask for a new steak, you should expect it to take ten minutes. So there's no point in asking every TWO minutes. With that said, a good waiter will stop by the table once or twice with updates. Also, don't start asking for free stuff. If it's a BIG mistake, like they make you wait an hour for your food, hen the manager should OFFER you something for free. But little mistakes don't usually equal free food.

5. If They Still Don't Get It Right, Follow Up with an Email.

But wait until a few hours after dinner, or until the next morning when you've calmed down. The manager won't take it as seriously if it's filled with spelling mistakes and grammatical errors, all because you sent it from your phone while you were driving home angry. In fact, the best way to complain is to send a handwritten LETTER. Apparently restaurant managers take them much more seriously than emails.

So there you have it. You gotta maintain some sanity and calm when things to wrong. Well, that might be too much to ask for some people.

Have you ever had something go wrong in your eating out experience? Wrong order, they didn't fix it, anything like that?

Orderingly yours,

Behka