Red Lobster Waitstaff Talking About Diarrhea Turns Into Free Meal And Smiles
Reader Wormfather had an unsatisfactory Red Lobster experience with waiters joking about "diarrhea" and wanting "hot" customers, but after mentioning it to the manager, the couple left with satisfaction and smiles on their faces. His story, inside...
Yesterday my fiancée and I were out and about with a lot to do in preparation of the upcoming wedding, our travels finished in Westchester County, NY. It was getting late and we were starving, we thought seafood would be great and we were close to a Red Lobster (yes, I know, I know) so we decided that we’d zip in for dinner.
Once inside we learned that there was a 25-minute wait, that was out of the question as it was already closing in on 9PM. With that said we decided to sit at the bar area that had no wait. It took a couple of minutes to get our food ordered which was fine and to be expected, hey, they were busy. Well we order our dishes, receive our drinks and then waited 20 minutes for our appetizer, after those aforementioned 20 minutes our entrées show up and we asked the server what happened to our appetizer he apologized and offered to go see, we decided that we’d skip it, finish eat our dinner and head home.
Now all throughout our meal there were waiters going back and forth between the kitchen, the bar and their respective tables, all the while they were cracking jokes to the likes of “Why cant I get a hot customer” and another waiter complaining about the fact that their table came $15 short of the required amount for a automatic tip to be added, both situations I can sympathize with. However as I was halfway through with my meal, two waiters passed by and were audibly joking about diarrhea, well enough was enough and my appetite was finished. A few minutes later I saw the Service Manager passing by and explained to him the situation regarding our appetizers and the professionalism of the waiters. The manager asked me if there was anything he could do, I told him that there was nothing (I know, we should have had a clear request of some sort), we were just grossed out and wanted to let him know what was going on. He apologized and then his eyes caught on fire, he started pointing at waiters and directing them to the back, we overheard a waiter say “All wait staff meeting in the kitchen and at this point my fiancée and I were satisfied, the manager was addressing the situation. We waited for the waiter to comeback and asked for the check and gave him the credit card. A few minutes later the manager emerged with my credit card and informed me that he was buying our dinner tonight, he explained that he was very embarrassed by the situation and had reminded his staff that they are always on stage and that nothing comes before the customer.
Needless to say we left with a smile on our face and despite my fiancée’s concerns about a potential retaliation from the staff, we’ll be back to the Scarsdale Red Lobster next time we’re in the area.
And that's why it's always a good idea to speak up.
(Photo: Simon Goldenberg)
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Comments:
@downwithmonstercable: Seconded. Also, it's nice to hear the OP be understanding about the first two complaints - when I started to read it, I was afraid the whole situation was over not having a hot customer.
Though number 3, diarrhea, I can understand that.
ugh i work at a chain restaurant and things like this happen ALL the time. the servers like to talk about their recreational drug use and things, loud enough so customers could hear them. i worked at a high end place before working and this chain, and it baffles me. luckily, know one has complained about any wait staff conversation that resulted in a free meal (to my knowledge), but i feel like it's bound to happen. this is a story i could print and bring into my job to teach them something. thanks consumerist!
Diarrhea — cha cha cha!
Diarrhea — cha cha cha!
[/Beavis & Butt-head]
Mandatory Red Lobster bashing in 1..2..3:
If you can stomach Red Lobster, I'm surprised anything can take away your appetite.
Wormfather, first, congrats on your wedding! You are brave to consider going back next time you're in the area.
1). Potential sabatoge to your meal.
2). It's Red Lobster
I love it, there must be so many cases of the squirts at Red Lobster the waiters came up with the term "hot customers".
I don't get why people rip so much on Red Lobster. I think the food is good and the one I go to always has stellar service.
This is a really good example of a reasonable customer just providing good, actionable, solid feedback to a manager. As a manager, I know I always appreciated that sort of feedback--especially when it wasn't tied to a dollar amount or free something-or-other.
If a customer gave legitimate feedback about a poor experience, the right thing to do is to offer some sort of compensation in return. I know people here are big on having a request in mind when they make complaints, but I don't think that's necessary, and it can hurt your cause. When I received feedback that ended with, "what are you going to do for me?" my response was usually, "apologize profusely, sir" and that's about it. People expect compensation WAY too much.
I can't stand unprofessionalism whenever I am at a place that works for tips. If you want a $10 tip from me, earn it. Otherwise you'll get the $5 and change or maybe even worse. Unfortunately it seems that a lot of servers are the type of people who like to socialize to their friends loud enough for everyone to hear, intentionally because they think they are cool. Btw servers, guys are usually there to score brownie pts with their woman. It's HER night reguardless of how informal the night is. Quit trying to flirt with me as it only fucks the night up. It has gotten to the point where I'm relieved when I get a male server.
Red Lobs Turd.
All the while they were cracking jokes to the likes of "Why cant I get a hot customer?"
I guess you're not a good look. But yeah, joking about diarrhea is a definite deal breaker.
@halo969: I don't get it either. I've never had a bad meal there. I really like their house salad and delicious Cheddar Bay Biscuitsâ„¢.
I would recommend NOT going back there, those waiters might "remember" you...
I refuse to go back to a TGI Friday's because someone in our party sent back their food twice (first time tastes "bad", second time "cold")... I had actually walked in w/ a friend and saw the same waitress who had us before and decided we should go somewhere else.
I saw Waiting...
@halo969: If you're in a coastal area, eating at Red Lobster is borderline criminal. Local places are better 99/100 times.
However, when I was living in the upper midwest, Red Lobster was the closest thing to "good" seafood I had that wasn't insanely overpriced.
Universally though, the biscuits are great.
@downwithmonstercable: Yeah, I'll never walk into a restaurant less than 45 minutes before closing after seeing that...
@snoop-blog: even at a place that ISN'T tip oriented, a degree of professionalism is expected if it's an establishment to be taken seriously. If your employees don't care, why should I?
As someone who has worked as a server and as a manager of a chain restaurant, I think this is the perfect way to make a complaint. Most servers who act this way are woefully oblivious to how customers view them. A calm complaint that does not seem like a personal vendetta against the server, or an attempt to get free stuff makes the biggest impact. If you start off with a demand for compensation most people will think you are a liar who wants to scam the establishment out of money or goods. If you make ridiculous, outlandish claims about the waitstaff instead of sticking to what was wrong about the service it makes your whole complaint look sketchy. If someone announced that my waitstaff were "useless morons who never should have graduated from Highschool" I have already lost respect for anything they are going to say after that. Ask to speak to the manager and tell them where the service is failing. They will compensate you, and the waitstaff will take the complaint seriously, understanding how their behavior is upsetting customers.
@ilovemom: Actually, I like Red Lobster for all of the two times I've eaten there so far. Last time I was there the people in the booth behind me were having a very loud conversation, which I found disrespectful, but it still wasn't bad. Food was good. Not gourmet, but good for the price (and, FYI, I'm a culinary arts graduate).
Then again, I was at the Atrium on Bay (Bay and Dundas) location, in the downtown Toronto core... in Canada. So maybe Red Lobster doesn't suck so bad up here. I dunno.
@Nik in NOLA: Don't I know it. I like Red Lobster enough, but that's because I live in Toronto and my choices are saaaad. No one here knows what an oyster burger is, and all they have is (inferior, IMO) Atlantic salmon.
I was born and raised in coastal communities in British Columbia, Canada. I'm an island girl through-and-through, descended from generations of island people. My marine technician dad would get his tips paid by his customers in salmon (Sockeye, if we were lucky).
@halo969: Blasphemy! How dare you question the hive mind by liking something mainstream! You will be re-educated!
No, seriously, I agree. I live in Arizona, so it's not like we've got a lot of good seafood options and Red Lobster fits the bill. They're a chain, sure, but as chains go, they're pretty good, and I've always had good service and good there.
@snoop-blog: Damn, Snoop, is flirting *that* big of a problem for you? Maybe stop wearing all those blingin' gold chains?
My neighbor ate at Red Lobster and got food poisoning bad enough that it screwed up her whole immune system. She died less than a year later of complications of that immune system screw up.
I'm not sure what "Wormfather and his fiancee" were complaining about but seafood chains usually provide terrible service. If the service is adequate, the quantity or quality of the food suffers.
@ilovemom: So I'm assuming you pay a cook to personally serve your family? What about Red Lobster makes it nauseating?
Their cheese buscuits are delicious; but the last time I ate there, I got the worst heartburn/acid reflux. I actually had to call in to work the next day.
@Ihaveasmartpuppy: Damn that's sad, she must have also had a pre-existing condition that also excarbated things.
Nothing is as bad as sea food that is off though.
@snoop-blog: Damn Snoop, that's a problem I wished I had. Sounds like you should probably change the dizzle, and turn it down a little when it comes to your charm.
@HClay: I can only think of one Red Lobster location in Toronto's downtown core, so I'm going to make a wild assumption and surmise that you live in the outer Toronto "area", and not downtown Toronto.
Being a seafood lover, I can tell you that there are plenty of great seafood places in Toronto: Rodney's Oyster House, Oyster Boy, Big Daddy's Crab Shack, Zee Grill, Chippy's (for good 'ole fish and chips) and not to mention super-affordable and tasty Chinese restos (I'm a fan of Rol San's.)
Please go out and expand your mind (and stomach!)
@missdona: I really adore their cheddar biscuits, even though they're basically cardiac arrest bombs. Aside from a tendency to oversauce everything, if you're going to eat at a chain restaurant, Red Lobster isn't bad at all. I usually enjoy it a lot.
@Kloud: It's not that you need a personal chef, it's that Red Lobster/Olive Garden is the worst example of a pre-packaged monoculture food chain in this country. The two (they're owned by the same company) exist outside every mall in America. They serve pre-packaged food that their "chefs" heat before serving to you. They're tacky and you're liable to get better and fresher seafood from someplace locally-based at a similar price.
The Cheddar-buns are delicious though.
I would be apprehensive of vindictive behavior if I were to return there.
At the very least, the client may find somebody noting his 3-digit bank no. off his cr card next time, and stealing his ID.
As for what goes on in the kitchen, well...
@halo969:
I grew up in Indiana. Eating at Red Lobster there, I feel, is fine.
I now live in Maryland, and can't understand why anybody goes there. As has been mentioned already, you can get fresh seafood and a hundred local spots that's much better.
But, people like their chains. That's why Outback has a 3 hour wait, while the local steak place is putting 2 for 1 coupons in the Entertainment book.
There are way too many decent Mom & Pop restaurants in this world for me to give some of these places a second thought. They all seem to continually strive to under impress, after one bad experience after another I've resigned myself never to eat in a Red Lobster again, I even had vouchers for a free meal after my last fiasco.
queenlizzie, you're right. Whenever I complain, my point is not to get a free meal but to relate my experience to someone who can hopefully make sure others don't go through the same.
@Jaynor: Aw, food elites are cute. No. No. Just annoying.
Don't like a restaurant? Don't eat there! No need to tell everyone OMG WE SUCKKK! because we happen to like a restaraunt you don't. The world will not end, promise.
@halo969: 'cuz there is always several somebodies who have to rip on people so they can feel better and smarter than them.
After seeing the movie Waiting, I think they did a good job speaking up AFTER their food arrived...