What is fair compensation for waitress drink spill?

[Lucky'sMom]

One of my good friends is at Disney right now with her DH and 4 teenagers. I planned their trip for them. They were at Coral Reef last evening on the Candlelight Processional Dinner Package. The bill was about $500. The waitress spilled an entire tray full of drinks down over my friend's head, back and into her bag, soaking her. Only after seeking out the manager, did my friend's DH get them 2 vouchers for sweatshirts (hers and her daughter's were soaked). That's it. Don't you think at least her dinner should have been taken off the bill? Her hair and parts of her body were wet and sticky when they went to see the Candlelight Processional. I don't think 2 sweatshirts was enough, considering how it made her evening less than pleasant.

 

[Mikey'swife]

I think that dinner for that person should have comped. I had a similiar thing happen not at dw and no one seemed to care and I got nothing except mad.

 

[xrobx]

I agree, I would at the least have expected the meal to be paid for for something like that. On a side note, we don't eat at coral reef anymore. It's too dark and not very pleasant, imo.

 

[RMulieri]

I think the meal for the people that got wet should have been comped as well as the sweatshirts

 

[vicki_c]

I think a profuse apology by the waitress and an offer to pay the cleaning / laundry bill would be enough, although the voucher to purchase sweatshirts is more practical, since you're at a theme park and can't really be expected to go home and change clothes or anything. Maybe more if items in her bag were ruined due to the dousing - like a phone or makeup or something.

I don't think I would have any expectations beyond an apology, no matter where it happened. I would not expect them to give me my meal for free in addition to other compensation like the clothing. I think people are so entitled.

 

[Sweet Melissa]

I don't think I would have any expectations beyond an apology, no matter where it happened. I would not expect them to give me my meal for free in addition to other compensation like the clothing. I think people are so entitled.

Agreed. I do think that the sweatshirts were a good offer in lieu of the waitress (or the restaurant itself) being able to practically offer to pay for cleaning. Provided that nothing inside the purse was damaged in the accident, I think the restaurant did pretty well.

 

[MHSweb79]

I don't think I would have any expectations beyond an apology, no matter where it happened. I would not expect them to give me my meal for free in addition to other compensation like the clothing. I think people are so entitled.

In general I agree that people seem to expect a lot of compensation for pretty minor things, especially at Disney. But in this case, two people were DOUSED with a tray of drinks- it's not like their clothes were just splashed so they needed a new shirt. Their hair and skin were gross and sticky, which greatly affected their enjoyment of the Candlelight Procession. Since the dinner was a package just for this event, they should have been comped the dinners as well.

I think if I were doused in sugary drinks I would have had to cut the evening short and go take a shower. Ick

 

[MrsLS]

That happened to me once on Easter with my family and DHs family but not at Disney. It was a tray of mimosas but it was on half of me my bag and all over my DH. The waitress could have cared less. I asked for the manager and he never came. Because of the attitude of the waitress I just wanted to deduct her tip but since it was such a large party they wouldn't let me.
I didn't want to cause a stink anymore so when I got home the next day on Mon I called. I got them to pay to clean my leather bag and they offered a comp meal for me and my DH at another time. I was so disgusted that we didn't go back.
It really depends on how they reacted but 2 sweatshirts was nice. Probably a comp meal for the woman would have been good to since Disney is usually good about stuff like that.

 

[Rneighh]

I want to know what they possibly ate for 6 people that was $500.00 at the Coral Reef???

Renee

 

[patsal]

Tray of drinks spilled on my father at Chef Mickey's... we got an apology, that was all and really all that was expected.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

Agreed. I do think that the sweatshirts were a good offer . . .

1) This was ample.
2) No need for a comp'd meal.
3) Things happen, and they got sweatshirts. *
4) This allowed the guests to stay in the park.
5) Which is quite enough compensation.

* The sweatshirts are probably worth $35 each. How much more
compensation did the guests want? Certainly not the $65 the CP
Dinner Package costs, plus the sweatshirts. That would be $100
for a spilled tray !!! (IMHO, some people are just too greedy.)

 

[ccgirl]

One of my good friends is at Disney right now with her DH and 4 teenagers. I planned their trip for them. They were at Coral Reef last evening on the Candlelight Processional Dinner Package. The bill was about $500. The waitress spilled an entire tray full of drinks down over my friend's head, back and into her bag, soaking her. Only after seeking out the manager, did my friend's DH get them 2 vouchers for sweatshirts (hers and her daughter's were soaked). That's it. Don't you think at least her dinner should have been taken off the bill? Her hair and parts of her body were wet and sticky when they went to see the Candlelight Processional. I don't think 2 sweatshirts was enough, considering how it made her evening less than pleasant.

In cases like these, I like to ask myself....

Was there negligence or was it an accident? If it was an accident, I think anything for compensation would be sufficient. Including sweatshirts.

Perhaps the cost of dinner for your friend and DD but not for the whole table.

 

[DaisyMaisie]

I guess I would want to know why dinner was $500 and what caused the spill. Normally if it was the waitress' fault I would have expected her to be extremely apologetic and the manager to come out automatically and try to make things right. It definitely sounds like something was very off.

What I am getting at is that sometimes the customers can contribute to an accident, and some people exaggerate in order to get as much as they can out of a situation. If it was purely the waitress' fault and the damage was as bad as you were told, I would have expected replacement shirts and something on the house along with profuse apologies. I just wonder if this turned adversarial too soon. It reminds me perhaps of management that cannot admit to fault in an accident because they are afraid of being sued.

It is interesting that Disney always seems to go above and beyond when they are clearly NOT at fault, for example I have personally received free change of clothes for a child that spilled on himself, and have heard so many similar cases. If they were at fault here and offered nothing at all initially that is a shame.

I will also say that I have occasionally gotten attitude from CM's who thought I was trying to get something for nothing, when that was not the case. I think they deal with people who try to scam them all day long and get too defensive. (In one case I was at boardwalk with my elderly mother and the room was a really really long walk for her, when I asked if we could please change rooms I got the bizarre response "we have no upgrades available" when I made it very clear that I was not looking for an upgrade, and would also be fine with a downgrade, it was the distance that was the problem, her attitude changed and we ended up getting a suite.)(On another occasion at animal kingdom I asked if we could get a late checkout so my husband could sleep in while I was at a conference, I was told that there was absolutely nothing available, when I said that I would be perfectly happy to pay for the late checkout, something suddenly became available at no charge).

While the sweatshirts may well have been sufficient compensation, what is disconcerting is that the husband had to seek out the manager in order to have this offered in the first place.

 

[LilyWDW]

1) This was ample.
2) No need for a comp'd meal.
3) Things happen, and they got sweatshirts. *
4) This allowed the guests to stay in the park.
5) Which is quite enough compensation.

* The sweatshirts are probably worth $35 each. How much more
compensation did the guests want? Certainly not the $65 the CP
Dinner Package costs, plus the sweatshirts. That would be $100
for a spilled tray !!! (IMHO, some people are just too greedy.)

I agree 100%.

An apology and the sweatshirts is more then enough in my opinion. Accidents happen! My lord I swear people act as if the waitress did it on purpose!

 

[Minnesota!]

Agreed. I do think that the sweatshirts were a good offer in lieu of the waitress (or the restaurant itself) being able to practically offer to pay for cleaning. Provided that nothing inside the purse was damaged in the accident, I think the restaurant did pretty well.

1) This was ample.
2) No need for a comp'd meal.
3) Things happen, and they got sweatshirts. *
4) This allowed the guests to stay in the park.
5) Which is quite enough compensation.

* The sweatshirts are probably worth $35 each. How much more
compensation did the guests want? Certainly not the $65 the CP
Dinner Package costs, plus the sweatshirts. That would be $100
for a spilled tray !!! (IMHO, some people are just too greedy.)

Agreed. An apology is enough...but the sweatshirts was an awesome gesture.

I would have gone into the bathroom, wiped up with wet/soapy paper towels, pull a brush through my hair, put it in a pony, and went on my way.

Life is too short to worry about accidents.

 

[brown1442]

1) This was ample.
2) No need for a comp'd meal.
3) Things happen, and they got sweatshirts. *
4) This allowed the guests to stay in the park.
5) Which is quite enough compensation.

* The sweatshirts are probably worth $35 each. How much more
compensation did the guests want? Certainly not the $65 the CP
Dinner Package costs, plus the sweatshirts. That would be $100
for a spilled tray !!! (IMHO, some people are just too greedy.)

AGREED! Waitress is only human... accidents happen why does she need to be held to a different standard? What if one guest had tripped and knocked that tray onto another guest? Would you expect a guest to buy that other guest's meal?? Manager made sure everyone was clean and dry for the rest of the day which was a lovely gesture imo.

Greed is wrong...

 

[Lucky'sMom]

I'm surprised so many are questioning the $500. The CP package is $65 per person x 6 adults = $390. 18% tip for a party of 6 = $70.20. Total price = $461. So it was about $500. Disney is expensive, remember?

Anyway, my friend didn't ask for any dinners comped. I just thought hers should have been. You sit out in the cold air for hours at the CP with wet hair and clothes and see how comfortable you feel. That's all.

 

[dragonfly08]

Anyway, my friend didn't ask for any dinners comped. I just thought hers should have been. You sit out in the cold air for hours at the CP with wet hair and clothes and see how comfortable you feel. That's all.

But honestly, would a comped meal have made her any more comfortable physically? Making her "emotionally comfortable" by comping her meal certainly is a nice gesture but doesn't solve the actual problem. Dry clothing such as the sweatshirts (in lieu of cleaning) and replacing any items in her bag that may have been ruined does. Assuming this was in fact an accident, that plus an apology is all that should be expected.

 

[candielips]

I think something should have been taken off the bill. yes it was an accident and yes it could happen to anyone, but it happened to someone paying to dine in their establishment.
It is the restaurants responsibility to provide a safe place and they are 100% responsible for all accidents that occur in their restaurant. So offering a slight discount is just one way to keep your customer happy and prevent any further legal action someone might try to take.
Now, I am not by any means saying that legal action should have been taken, but you never know what a customer might do when they get home.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

. . . dinners comped. I just thought hers should have been . . .

1) I disagree.
2) In many high-end eateries, she would get a free drink or dessert.
3) Any, maybe, just maybe, an offer for cleaning.
4) A fully comp'd meal is excessive.

NOTE: We have a major interest in a diner and a fine dining eatery.
For spill accidents, we offer an apology, a drink and cleaning. That
is more than ample for an accident. (If not an accident, and the
server did it on purpose to an obnoxious guest, we fain apologies,
without drinks or cleaning, then laugh as we walk away.)