Ever been ignored at a restaurant?

[bcla]

Yes. We walked about after 15 minutes. Small neighborhood l family run restaurant. I Yelped it and got an apology from the owner who said several other customers had called to her attention our lack of service and departure. But since then have learned ....from reading Yelp and from my neighbors that they are kind of know for amazing food, and lousy service.

I would give them another chance but my wife is of the school of thought "one strike and you're out" when it comes to businesses.

When there's slow service in general it's one thing. When someone else gets an order taken 1 minute from being seated while we've been waiting a half hour, then it almost feels like we're being singled out for the silent treatment.

It certainly can't be of any benefit for a business to treat any customer like this, whether or not it's intentional. One starts telling friends, and even if they profiling customers based on their perceived future tip, they just lost other customers. I'm not necessarily one to go that far, but I've certainly heard of others who will go out of their way to name a place that they feel did them wrong.

 

[tvguy]

When there's slow service in general it's one thing. When someone else gets an order taken 1 minute from being seated while we've been waiting a half hour, then it almost feels like we're being singled out for the silent treatment.

It certainly can't be of any benefit for a business to treat any customer like this, whether or not it's intentional. One starts telling friends, and even if they profiling customers based on their perceived future tip, they just lost other customers. I'm not necessarily one to go that far, but I've certainly heard of others who will go out of their way to name a place that they feel did them wrong.

The owner pointed us to a table. Never got menus. Never got water. Never saw anyone again. But I am gathering from some of the regulars, this is a bit of the charm of the place and they just plan of making an evening of it when they go. They seem to be doing just fine. But a neighbor who is a contractor says they are a bit casual in all their practices. He has bid the same project for them every year for several years and they just never get back to him until they realize that way much time has passed for them to expect him to honor the last bid.

 

[rlk]

We've had this happen twice at Disney World. The first was at Be Our Guest for dinner. We were seated at a corner table in the West Wing. There was a large party already seated at the table next to ours. The waiter was busy with them, running back and forth to the kitchen. He did pass our table at least three times while we waited. We weren't sure if he was our waiter as we tried to flag him down and he ignored us. Finally, after 20 minutes, I went to look for a manager. The manager and that same waiter apologized. The waiter's excuse was that he thought we were with the large party. His excuse annoyed me more than the wait. When I asked if he thought we were with the other table, why wouldn't he have taken our order when he took theirs. His blank look was priceless. We were comped dessert and given an anytime fast pass.

The other time was at Crystal Palace. Since it is a buffet, we weren't too concerned about our waiter's performance. We were quite perplexed though. Our waiter came over quickly when we first sat down, but once we were seated, we watched him run out of the restaurant through a back door. Eventually, we need to ask a different waiter if we could get our drinks and some plates cleared. A manager came over to apologize. When we finished our meal and were about to leave, we saw our waiter return through the same door. He was all sweaty as he came to our table to apologize. We were not upset, just curious.


edited- My husband just reminded me we weren't comped the meal, just dessert.

 

[NHdisneylover]

We've had similar things happen a few times---usually comes down to no server being assigned to the table or some such. it IS extremely annoying.
Depending on how much we would like to dine where we are, we either walk out, or we find a manager and explain the situation (in which case it has always been fixed asap)

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

It happened to me when my kids were really young. We walked into a restaurant at lunch time. There were three of us. A few minutes later four guys in business suits came in, and they were seated ahead of us. This was a Dennys, so no reservations. I am pretty sure it was because the server wanted the tip. The other time, again at Dennys and a little late, my young kids and I were served and the server disappeared. We were the only ones in the restaurant, and the server never did come back. Servers were all in the back kitchen chewin' the fat with the cook/s.

The funny one was when a group of us went to a bar on a cruise ship - there were about 10 of us. We waited and no one came by. We saw a server go past and asked if he could serve us, and he said it wasn't his section. So we got up and moved ourselves to his section. BEST SERVICE the rest of the cruise. He was tipped rather well each night, lol.

 

[teller80]

Happened to us in Vegas this past Mothers Day. Seven of us went to a buffet at one of the Caesars resorts, because it was Mothers day it was $38 per person. The restaurant was half full, they had no clean plates (we used soup bowls to get our food), and a server NEVER once came to clear our table. Because you can only put a little food in a soup bowl we had a massive amount of dishes. Food was lousy too. Worst meal of the whole trip by far, but we laughed about it then and still do.

 

[bcla]

Since it is a buffet, we weren't too concerned about our waiter's performance. We were quite perplexed though. Our waiter came over quickly when we first sat down, but once we were seated, we watched him run out of the restaurant through a back door. Eventually, we need to ask a different waiter if we could get our drinks and some plates cleared. A manager came over to apologize. When we finished our meal and were about to leave, we saw our waiter return through the same door. He was all sweaty as he came to our table to apologize. We were not upset, just curious.

Division of responsibilities does seem to helps sometimes. I've been to buffet places where they have different staff to clear the tables. Perhaps busboys also bring water, although servers are in charge of other beverages. If it's self serve beverages then there's nothing really creating an issue.

I've had great experiences at buffet places, although typically it was at something like a casino where there basically was no other place where a child was allowed other than a restaurant. Even if we were there for 3 hours, they didn't seem to mind.

 

[prprincess]

It's happened to me twice and we waited 30 minutes both time. Once in Phoenix. We were seated in a back corner and the restaurant was busy, but still. Even after telling the hostess no one had come by to greet us, nothing. Another time here in Jersey at a Jamaican restaurant. We were seated and nothing, yet a couple came in afterwards and placed their order and were served drinks.

 

[jo-jo]

The other time was at Crystal Palace. Since it is a buffet, we weren't too concerned about our waiter's performance. We were quite perplexed though. Our waiter came over quickly when we first sat down, but once we were seated, we watched him run out of the restaurant through a back door. Eventually, we need to ask a different waiter if we could get our drinks and some plates cleared. A manager came over to apologize. When we finished our meal and were about to leave, we saw our waiter return through the same door. He was all sweaty as he came to our table to apologize. We were not upset, just curious.




edited- My husband just reminded me we weren't comped the meal, just dessert.

How did you get only dessert comped? It's one price for the whole meal.

We were at Ohana about 6 yrs ago and the food was coming out fast. We had just gotten the meats and the server comes by and says "ready for dessert"??? We said no. We finished eating and waited and waited and waited. We were saying among ourselves, we didn't mean we never wanted dessert.

At this point, I don't remember the outcome. I mean we got dessert, but maybe it was with a different server. Maybe the first one was clocking out or something.

 

[rlk]

How did you get only dessert comped? It's one price for the whole meal.

We were comped dessert at Be Our Guest.

 

[jo-jo]

We were comped dessert at Be Our Guest.

Ohhhhhh, I missed that.

 

[Hrhpd]

I'm normally pretty patient, but I kind of lost it yesterday. Had the day off and it's just myself and my kid in San Francisco. We thought of just having good clean local tourist fun at a fairly busy restaurant in Fishermans Wharf. There was a decent wait for regular tables, but the bar area (about five tables plus the counter) was open seating and there were unoccupied tables. It's also Happy Hour only at the bar area, which was a plus.

So we get there to a table that needs to be cleared, and we've got electronics to keep us busy. One employee comes up, clears the table, and hands us menus. I know exactly what we're going to order, but he kind of walks away and I don't think it was his assigned table anyways. In the meantime we see other people come in two tables over and the same employee who cleared our table and handed the menus is taking their order. Boom - they've got drinks and are talking to the group next to us. That group next to us leaves. Still waiting. After a while, we've been waiting about 25-30 minutes. A group sits down at that table, and someone takes their order immediately. I'm OK, thinking maybe we're next, but the server just walks away. I pounded my table in frustration and then flag down the server who just walked away, telling her that we've been waiting a half hour. She says she just got there and she's there now. I didn't berate her or anything, but I wanted to express my frustration about being ignored.

I know it's a busy restaurant and sometimes customers get lost in the chaos of running a busy place. But it gets really frustrating when there are over a dozen employees milling around and myself as a customer doesn't get acknowledged. I thought that restaurant staff are trained to notice if a table looks like it's being ignored and that it's supposed to be a "team effort".

I've been to a place with my wife where we were given menu and water, but where we waited about a half hour for nothing. Then a couple seated at the next table just sits down and gets their order taken immediately where the server just walks away. That was one of the few times we've just walked away.

Happened once to us..

In Disney of course, that place of impeccable service (note the sarcasm)

We were seated quickly and our order was taken.

We waited

and waited

and waited

and waited

watched two tables get food, eat, pay and leave

asked our server several times if there was a problem

finally asked for a manager

waited some more

finally manager came out and said our ticket got lost in the kitchen, our food was never prepared and the server was waiting for a call from the kitchen that the food was done which is why he said there was not a problem. Said it would be another 15 minutes to prepare our food.

We walked out and went off site to a fast food place since we were starving by then. And this was one of the many things that went wrong including a glass of water where the glass was cracked all the way through around the middle with just a hairline still attached. It was just waiting for that last piece to connect before it split in half.

We never returned.....
To the restaurant
and Disney as a family.

 

[DVC-Don]

Yeah at a local steakhouse for our 25th anniversary. Show up 15 minutes early for our reservation. Hostess said "Wow, you're an hour early, please take a seat in the waiting area". Showed her my confirmation that said 6:15 not 7:15. Sorry, still had to wait. Finally seated at 7:30, waited 15 minutes and server came to take our drink orders. Waited another 15 minutes, no drinks, no food order taken. Walked out. Manager chased us out and offered to comp our meals. We kept walking. Drove to a Cracker Barrel and had a very attentive server.

 

[22Tink]

A couple of times and we walked out. I have better things to do with my time than sit in a restaurant and be ignored.

 

[superme80]

First time the waitress went on break and never came back. My dad hunted down the manager and I think we might have gotten a discount. The 2nd time a bunch of us from a show I did went to Denny's. The server took our drink orders and disappeared. My friend went around took everyone's order and turned it into the kitchen. They thought we were joking. We ended up getting banned from that Denny's because "You have too many people and you expect us to accommodate you". We would call in advance and let them know we were coming. We offered to be in separate sections and smaller tables, but they didn't want us. The other Denny's was thrilled to get our service. Majority of actors tip very well in theater.

 

[Domo]

I call it "waiter syndrome".

Sometimes, you just can't catch their eye. No rhyme nor reason you just can't. You could let off fireworks and yet every waiter and waitress would be looking elsewhere.

Doesn't make it right though. I mean, you are a paying customer and everything. I'm sorry you had to go through that.

 

[hegsag]

I didn't have the same experience as you. However, one time my husband and I went to a restaurant and the waitress came over and took his drink order (didn't even look at me) went and got him his beer and then looked at me and asked if I decided what I wanted to drink...

 

[bcla]

I've waited an hour after I ordered, and I was comped. I never got an explanation of why, but the manager came out, apologized, and gave me a $5 gift certificate. It wasn't an expensive place though, and I was a grad student with a low course load and plenty of time to waste at the time.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

Similar to others, a handful of times I walked out of places after being ignored for about 15 minutes or so.

One time was particularly frustrating. At a Bob Evans one day for breakfast, my wife and I were seated in a booth. A few minutes later another party was seated in the booth behind me. The waitress went to their table first. Then she went to the booth behind my wife to see if they needed anything else. A few minutes later another party was seated at the table next to us and the waitress went to that table while still ignoring ours. I asked if she was our server and she said she'll be right with us.

A few minutes later she brought out the food for the booth behind me and ran back into the kitchen. When she reappeared a few minutes later she brought the check for the booth behind my wife and started to walk away. My wife had enough and spoke loudly enough for conversation to stop at the tables near us. "Do you ever intend to take our order?" That brought the manager to our table. We explained what was happening and he apologized and offered to comp our meals, but we were in no mood to stay. As we got up and left DW celled the waitress an "incompetent feckless word."

 

[CynBeth]

A few years ago we went to a Johnny Rockets at an outlet mall near our house after a movie. It was crowded and were told they only had space at the counter. We just sat there with no one coming over to take our order or even ask if we had been helped. After 15 or 20 minutes we flagged someone down who was passing by who ended up being the manager who was horrid. She did not apologize or offer to take care of us just made excuses that a few people called out among other things. If she had taken our order at that point she heard we were not receiving service or said she would get someone immediately we would have stayed but she acted like she could not be bothered or cared. We were starving so decided to leave and just went to the food court.