Can you be pressured to order food you don't want?
By ladym33
@ladym33 (10979)
United States
August 12, 2010 1:40pm CST
Here is the scenario you are at a reataurant you have had a couple of minutes to look over the menu and you know what you want. Then the server comes over who is a real pushy grandmotherly type. She pretty much insists that you get the special of the day she won't stop about it and when you mention what you would like she tells you that is not a good choice the special of the day is so much better. You think the special of the day sounds kind of good but not as good as what you wanted to order. Do you give in to the pressure and get the special of the day or do you stick to your guns and get what you wanted to order all along?
4 people like this
15 responses
@pastigger (612)
• United States
12 Aug 10
I would not be pressured into ordering what I didn't want. I would order what I wanted and if she was too pushy about it I would probabaly ask that my table be moved or asked to speak to a manager. I figure when I go out I am paying for the food that I want and I can go where I want. It would really put me in a bad mood if I was pressured. I am a pain and I know it I order things the way I want them. Its just the way I am.
1 person likes this
@thorgrym (675)
• United States
14 Aug 10
I chose the restaurant, I will choose my meal. If the server doesn't want to place the order as I want it, I will choose another server. The server is paid by the patrons, they need to attend to the wishes of the patrons and not push their own agenda. Now, if it were a situation that I had not even considered the special as I was unaware of it and, when I was ready to order, she informed me of it...well, then I might take some extra time to decide if - and only if - the special seemed at all desirable to me. A gentle suggestion of another option is one thing, forcing her hand is a completely different thing - even is she is a grandmotherly type.
No, I do not give in to pressure.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
30 Aug 10
I have been in that situation and I insisted on getting the dish that I had chosen. The waiter got rude and unfriendly when he wasn't able to persuade me and he slammed down the plate on the table when my dish was ready and walked away without a word. We would have complained to the manager if there had been one, but it was his own restaurant and there was no one to complain to. We are never going back to that place again.
Despite this experience I would exactly the same thing if it happened again at another restaurant. It is my money and it is my decision. I don't intend to pay for food that I don't want. I understand why it is more convenient for the waiter to sell the special of the day, but if I don't want it, I don't give into the pressure.
@marie2052 (3691)
• United States
2 Sep 10
I usually know what I am going to eat if I am going in to familiar restaurants.
If its a new one I will listen to the waiter or waitress and their specials but then i always look through the menu.
Unfortunately I can NEVER finish a meal anywhere and always have to have a doggie bag ready for me LOL
So I usually try to look for lesser priced items as I can never eat a whole menu item.
So even the specials are usually not right for me in restaurants.
@Catana (735)
• United States
13 Aug 10
If I hadn't made up my mind yet and the special sounded good, I might choose it. But the cost would also influence me. I don't have a lot of money to spend, and I'm not going to choose something that's more expensive than I can afford. If I decided I didn't want the special and she kept insisting, I'd make it very clear (but politely) that I don't appreciate being pressured and that she needed to back off.
@carmelanirel (20942)
• United States
12 Aug 10
This happened to you? I'm sorry but that isn't right..Sure she probably was told to try to get people to buy the special, but I wouldn't give in, I'd buy what I wanted.
@tess_quinain (1149)
• Philippines
13 Aug 10
I would order what i wanted to order. I don't want anybody choose the food for me. But sometimes, if i want to try something different, that's the time i might ask what is the most delicious food they have and that is not so expensive. Lol
@sender621 (14894)
• United States
13 Aug 10
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@offkey (313)
• United States
12 Aug 10
I would order what I want to order, I am very picky and when I have my mind set on something that is what I'll have, no pushy waitress is going to make me order what I want to eat, Also that would lower her tip, the only way I'd order her "suggestion" is if I didn't know what i wanted and the special sounded good to me.
@ReViewMeMedia (3785)
• United States
13 Aug 10
I always get the food I want because eating something I don't want at a restaurant is silly. I usually try to get something I know I'll like.
@AutumnGold (1056)
•
12 Aug 10
Hello Ladym. I would only consider the waitress's recommendation if I was unsure what to order. Sometimes I look at the menu and I'm torn between a few different meals, other times nothing jumps out at me and I'm stuck for what to order. If I'd made my mind up and the waitress tried to change my mind I'd stay with what I'd decided, after all it's her job to take our orders, not order for us...unless the special of the day was free of course ![](/Content/images/emotes/lol.gif)
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@cbar86 (80)
• United States
12 Aug 10
I understand wanting to appease the waitress/grandmother, but I would not pay for a meal that I did not enjoy. That makes no sense. She's just pushing a meal that they are trying to get rid of because they are over-stocked. I would rather tell her to come back in a few minutes, no matter how insistant she is, and decide for myself what I wanted to eat. I might also speak to her manager, if she's bad enough, and let them know what I thought of the staff.
@Tresaqwe (376)
• United States
12 Aug 10
Of course not! I would always choose what I want to, unless the special of the day sounds better. Anyone who pressures me into eating something is probably just trying to make me spend more money or something and I don't really like that idea. I would just say no thank you and tell them I really want what I wanted to order, and then stop talking to them aside from "no, that's what I want."
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