Would you like roach with that steak?
By dragonstar13
@dragonstar13 (1465)
United States
February 25, 2007 9:43pm CST
My daughter and I went to a popular steakhouse chain (no rules, just right) to celebrate our birthdays. This has been our tradition for probably ten years. Each time we each order a meal (appetizer, salad, entree, side dish) knowing we won't eat it all and take the left overs home for lunch the next day. It's the only way we can justify the cost of the meal.
Tonight, after we had eaten about half of our food and had the rest boxed to go, a roach ran across the table sending my grandbaby into near hysterics.
Of course we called the manager over to complain and her response was a very insincere, oh thats too bad.
I'm sure she saw us there in our casual t-shirts and jeans with the leftovers packed up to go and thought we were trying to get a free meal.
So I am wondering, what do you think? Should she have comped our meal? I don't feel we should have eaten for free, but I don't feel we should have to pay full price for a meal we only ate half of and will throw the leftovers away. Neither of us can imagain eating the leftover food after seeing that roach scurry across the table.
4 people like this
9 responses
@wmg2006 (5381)
• United States
2 Mar 07
I think you are right, she probably thought you were trying to get something for free. I have worked in this line of business for many years and yes you are going to see those little pesty cockroaches in a restuarant no matter what. You should have been firm about what you expected and demanded to get your money back. Rightfully the manager should have offered, but today people just do not care about the customers. I would make it known to the owner of the restuarant because I can promise you they DO care. Sorry you were treated this way, just make sure the next time you are the paying customer and they need you to survive.
2 people like this
@Y3110w (113)
• United States
1 Mar 07
First off I would like to say I hate cockroaches! They are the scariest things in the world. With that being said hell yes! You should have gotten your meal for free, I think. People go to restaurants to enjoy the food and environment then a cockroach comes running through, not only is that not sanitary it's just DISGUSTING! Another reason why I feel you should have gotten your meal for free is because the manager was rude with a capital "R". You should have that placed closed if it's that unsanitary.
2 people like this
@claudia413 (4280)
• United States
5 Mar 07
We've had that happen to us several times in different (nice) restaurants. We've always said something to the server and also asked for the manager. They need to be aware of what's going on, especially if customers are seeing bugs (yuck!). We've never even been given a free dessert by anyone. If it ever happens again, I will take into consideration the info posted here.
I was glad to read that they did the right thing in your case after an irate phone call.
1 person likes this
@Monkeymia (206)
• Australia
26 Feb 07
I would have demanded part of our money back.
Im surprised that she didn't offer to refund just to keep it quiet.
The service in restaurants hae fallen and they no longer care about their customers in my opinion.
I feel sorry for you and DD for losing your money.
@dragonstar13 (1465)
• United States
2 Mar 07
Thank you to everyone who responded. A little clarification and an update are in order. I did not insist on my money back or make a scene at the time because I have learned in the past not to deal with minimum wage flunkies. The young lady we spoke with obviously did not have the capacity to resolve the issue.
My intention was to shoot off an outraged letter to the corporate headquarters and call the health district first thing Monday morning. But I didn't get an opportunity.
My daughter called her husband from the car on the way home and he went off big time. He called the manager who, it turned out, was not the young lady we spoke to. My son in law read him (the real manager) the riot act about how traumatized his daughter was and that he was going to complain to the Health District and call the papers, etc etc etc. Long story short, the manager apologized and offered to send vouchers to cover the cost of our next visit. (We got $90.00 worth of vouchers two days later.)
The following day, he got another phone call from the manager. This time telling him they were reversing the charges on my credit card. To date, no charge has appeared on the card so I guess they did it.
1 person likes this
@lifeiseasy (2292)
• United States
1 Mar 07
How rude ...I would have raised a stink like the management had never seen before ...I would have gotten up and not paid for my meal ...then I would call or email the company and tell them just what happened as well ...no restaurant should have roaches ..and especially not this one ... if you can't get any response from those two things then call the Health Deptment and complain and tell them just what happened too ...that will get some action..
I hope you can find a solution in this matter ... I like this retaurant as well and now I don't want to eat at my local one either ...
2 people like this
@joanana (770)
• United States
4 Mar 07
Um eewww. I have a hard time believing that a roach would run across the table in full view in a busy resturant. Those suckers scurry at the sound of people. That said, the fact that it happened makes it even grosser. I would still call the health department. That places needs to be looked into regardless of the fact that you got vouchers and that they reversed your charges.
1 person likes this
@dragonstar13 (1465)
• United States
4 Mar 07
Yes, roaches do tend to stay out of the limelight, so I suspect it was on the padded folder with the check that the waiter had just set on the table. It probably ran across the table to get away from us and the light.
@enchantedleppard (1541)
• United States
4 Mar 07
I would be sending a letter to corp. offices quicker than I could leave that place. Followed up by a call to the offices. I cannot believe that! She surely should have done something to ensure that you were a satisfied customer. That is just so unbelieveable.
@Yestheypayme2dothis (7874)
• United States
2 Mar 07
I think that is terrible. She should have comped your meal and offered more comps! I would never eat there again. I am so sorry had to go through that. It must have been awful. Would you like to share what state and restaurant it was so we can avoid it?
1 person likes this
@Immadspicy (40)
• Philippines
3 Mar 07
That is pretty nasty, but you can imagine how a popular steakhouse will have plenty of free loaders that claim there is something wrong. But the worst part is when there really is something wrong. It's like calling wolf except you called it the first time and the other times were other people calling it fakely. I would however agree that you should get a reduced price on the bill instead of full. 25% off would be good enough for me.
1 person likes this
