Dear Vi,

In February my niece was in town for a short visit and on her last day we decided to take her out to dinner. There was a group of nine. We ordered our drinks and sat back to what we thought would be an enjoyable meal with the family. The waitress brought the drinks and accidentally spilled them all over my poor niece. The drinks included an Irish Coffee and Bloody Mary. She was soaked almost to the skin. The manager apologized and aid he would pay for the dry cleaning. The trouble was she had to leave that afternoon for California.

We told him we would have to replace her clothes because otherwise she would have nothing to wear on the flight home. He said he would reimburse us for the cloths. We all remained calm but our visit was ruined. We then proceeded to wait an overly long time for out food. We think the waitress was avoiding us! We spoke to the manager again, this time about the time wasted waiting for our food. It was definitely cutting down on the time to shop for replacement clothes. When the bill came, my niece's meal was not even deducted.

Should we have been more vocal about our displeasure? Should we have tipped the waitress? Should my niece have gotten her meal free? Should we have asked for another waitress? Should the manager have done this for us and for her?

It took us over two months to be reimbursed for the cloths. We don't intend to ever eat in that restaurant again. We really didn't know what to do at the time but decided we were too nice. We just sat there waiting for our food and getting madder and madder but yet not wanting to make a scene. I hope we never have such an experience again. What should the restaurant have done?

Sincerely,
Deborah Varson, Upper Marlboro, MD

Dear Deborah,

Whew! Sounds like some afternoon. Your situation demonstrates the hands on nature of our business. The ability to employ people skills and think on your feet is part of every day reality in the operation of a successful restaurant. If the restaurant used teamwork, s/he easily could have replaced your main waiter with another person strong in customer satisfaction. This would have saved face for everyone. Interactive communication is the next step. Someone should immediately inform the kitchen of the problem and your table speeded up. In other words, there should have been no opportunity for another error. It was right of the manager to offer to reimburse the value of a new outfit, given the situation, but you should realize that this is an exception to the norm and drycleaning expenses should suffice. Since the manager offered to pay the cost of replacement clothes, expected reimbursement is at 30 days, as with most accounting activities. A kind note from the manager or waiter expressing their concern and inviting you back to the restaurant at their expense should have been written immediately. This would have, potentially, made you a friend of the restaurant and offered the opportunity to put the unpleasant experience behind you. As far as the meal deduction, I am of two minds. Part of me says yes and part of me says no. I would be interested to hear how other readers would have responded. More vocal? I find that a written complaint, with a c.c. to the owner, is far more effective than angry vocal complaints, providing you the opportunity to think before you act.