What is fair compensation for waitress drink spill?

[maxiesmom]

Right, so you comp the meal in exchange for ruining their meal. I don't see how a reasonable person can disagree with that.

By comping the meal instead of giving them clothes you allow the guest to stay in the parks and enjoy the rest of the night. So you don't ruin the whole night. Comping the meal still leaves the guests all wet and unable to enjoy the rest of their time.

 

[Sammie]

I think it was plenty, accidents happen.

 

[Sammie]

1) Can Rusty please come on and list the name and address of his establishment(s) or PM me the list? I want to make sure to avoid what is surely an insufferable and customer unfriendly place.

2) The person's meal who got soaked should have been comped. I don't see how it's even a debate. Having an entire drink tray spilled over you is humiliating. Comping one meal is the least any respectable place would do.

I was not aware Rusty owned any restaurants.

 

[Senator Tressel]

By comping the meal instead of giving them clothes you allow the guest to stay in the parks and enjoy the rest of the night. So you don't ruin the whole night. Comping the meal still leaves the guests all wet and unable to enjoy the rest of their time.

It's not a matter of one or the other. You comp the meal when the person's meal is ruined. It's pretty black and white customer service.

 

[Senator Tressel]

I was not aware Rusty owned any restaurants.

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.)

 

[maxiesmom]

It's not a matter of one or the other. You comp the meal when the person's meal is ruined. It's pretty black and white customer service.

Why is it not one or the other? You can call it industry standard, but we all know that Disney does not opperate it restaurants and resorts in the same manner as off-site restaurants and resorts. Or would you demand that an off-site restaurant offer you clothing as well? That would make things equal.

Giving a guest clothing allowing them to carry on with their day has as much if not more value then just comping a couple of meals and forcing the people in question to leave the parks to get new clothing.

 

[Senator Tressel]

Why is it not one or the other?

Why would it be? That seems nonsensical.

 

[autismmom1]

A friend of mine just announced on facebook that while she was eating in The Walnut Room of Chicago's Macy's, a waitress spilled coffee and milk all over her lap.

A personal shopper went and picked out a few items, brought them back to her to choose (she chose a Michael Kors top and Miss Me jeans) and then Macy's comped her meal as well.

I don't think she even made a stink about it. This was just something they apparently do in these cases....I'm thinking about tripping a server while I'm there this summer to get a free outfit Joking, of course....

 

[Agri]

I would think that shirts would have been fine - if this had been A DRINK.

This was an entire TRAY of drinks. Drinks that likely were not in soft bouncy plastic cups but in glasses that could have really hurt and done some damage. A manager should have been out there ASAP making sure that they were okay and seeing exactly what the damage was and what they could do to make it better. Disney sells sweatpants and hair things, too, so they could have done more towards their comfort as well.

The difference for me isn't just that this is Disney, but that these people are there to enjoy a special event in the parks. It wasn't like that they could go "Oh shucks, guess Soarin' will have to wait an hour or two while we go clean up." If it had happened to me, I know the evening would have been cut short - especially if the service had been that appalling.

Furthermore, the problem is with a bad experience that is not handled well, people will talk and it will discourage others from visiting that establishment. When accidents are dealt with appropriately - or MORE than appropriately - it makes people feel much more comfortable giving an establishment a chance.

I like the menu at Coral Reef, but I'm not sure I want to eat there again now that I know if something goes REALLY wrong (aside from the horrible slow service) it won't be dealt with in a way that makes me comfortable risking my evening there.

That's the other thing with Disney - their customers trust that their vacation will be magical "Here are some sweatshirts for a tray of dumped drinks" isn't magical.

 

[maxiesmom]

Why would it be? That seems nonsensical.

As I pointed out earlier, you don't expect every restaurant outside of Disney to provide both clothing and a comped meal. Maybe a few do, but it is not the standard you keep talking about. Most places only do one thing, but suddenly if the accident happens at WDW, that is wrong. You expect both.

Why the double standard?

Agri--All we have to go on right now is what the OP was told by someone else. We have no facts direct from the source. No idea how many drinks, what kind of glasses, or what they were. So all any of us can do is assume what really happened. You think it was a tray full of glass, and not only did the guests get wet, that there was real possibility of injury. I believe that if it was a big accident, complete with noise and shards of glass, the manager would have been their right away. I do still have faith in Disney's service standard, rightly or wrongly. But for all any of us knows it was 2 to go kiddie cups and the guests barely got wet.

 

[kshattuck]

While my sister and her family were dining at 'Ohana, the waiter accidentally spilled a pitcher of water down her back and into her bag -- with two little kids, you know that bag was packed! Her camera was also in there, thankfully in a waterproof bag.

They received several apologies, but expected nor received any sort of compensation. We visit Disney a LOT (especially my sister) and it never even occurred to us that she should be compensated for what was an accident. No one was hurt, things were wet, but nothing was ruined. Sounds like the same situation described in the OP.

If another guest accidentally spilled a soda on you while you were waiting for a parade, for example, would you go back to your room or expect that person to purchase something for you? I guess there is a difference, in that one person works for Disney and the other is visiting, but comping meals, purchasing items for guests, and then wondering what else could/should have been done smacks of entitlement.

 

[EPCOTatNight]

As I pointed out earlier, you don't expect every restaurant outside of Disney to provide both clothing and a comped meal. Maybe a few do, but it is not the standard you keep talking about. Most places only do one thing, but suddenly if the accident happens at WDW, that is wrong. You expect both.

Why the double standard?

Agri--All we have to go on right now is what the OP was told by someone else. We have no facts direct from the source. No idea how many drinks, what kind of glasses, or what they were. So all any of us can do is assume what really happened. You think it was a tray full of glass, and not only did the guests get wet, that there was real possibility of injury. I believe that if it was a big accident, complete with noise and shards of glass, the manager would have been their right away. I do still have faith in Disney's service standard, rightly or wrongly. But for all any of us knows it was 2 to go kiddie cups and the guests barely got wet.

Because one restaurant is inside of a resort that most people spend thousands of dollars to vacation at. It's a multi billion dollar company that can afford to spare what probably is about $10 worth of food to try to make the customer happy.

 

[maxiesmom]

Because one restaurant is inside of a resort that most people spend thousands of dollars to vacation at. It's a multi billion dollar company that can afford to spare what probably is about $10 worth of food to try to make the customer happy.

And how do they "afford" all of this? By raising the rates on everyone. Not a good trade-off, imho.

And sense when do we decide what an incident is worth by how much money the company has? Would you then say a spill at McDonalds is worth $$$$$ but a spill at Joe's Diner down the block is only worth an "I'm Sorry"? If the person who sued for the hot coffee spill and got millions had had the same thing happen at a local pub, the should have just accepted some towels and a "there there"?

Also according to the OP it was a few hundred dollars worth of food. Not $10.

No wonder Disney has an army of lawyers. People are beyond greedy.

 

[disneynutz]

And how do they "afford" all of this? By raising the rates on everyone. Not a good trade-off, imho.

And sense when do we decide what an incident is worth by how much money the company has? Would you then say a spill at McDonalds is worth $$$$$ but a spill at Joe's Diner down the block is only worth an "I'm Sorry"? If the person who sued for the hot coffee spill and got millions had had the same thing happen at a local pub, the should have just accepted some towels and a "there there"?

Also according to the OP it was a few hundred dollars worth of food. Not $10.

No wonder Disney has an army of lawyers. People are beyond greedy.

Disney's cost for the food is a fraction of what they sell it for.

Bill

 

[Juliet25]

I don't think this is an "I am entitled" or "gimme, gimme" thing. It's more of a "make things right" situation.

The manager gave them 2 sweatshirts to send them away. How would that solve their wet pants??? The proper solution would've been to help these 2 people who got soaked get cleaned up, so they wouldn't have to go outside with stained, wet clothes. How uncomfortable they must have been. Also maybe comp 2 out of 5 dinners, simply because their dinner experience was ruined and they have been inconvenienced.

That's all. I don't think helping these people get cleaned up and making their overall experience better is unreasonable. Just the right thing to do.

I agree. It's not "entitlement" to expect a bit of customer service in an unusual situation. Certainly this isn't something that happens everyday, so anyone who deals with people knows this is hardly your run of the mill complaint. I think a comped meal in addition to the sweatshirts was in order (for those spilled upon). This seems pretty standard in the real world.

 

[lizabu]

I've worked in fine dining restaurants for years and in a situation like this the minimum a guest could expect is the manager to come over, an apology for the accident from both the waitress and the manager, a comped meal (usually for the whole table), some drinks and us picking up the dry cleaning bill. In this case they gave the guest a voucher to buy a couple sweatshirts...great....if it was me I'd be going back to the hotel to wash and change rather than walking around wet wearing a dry sweatshirt. I think Disney should at least try to meet minimum standards found in establishments outside Disney. The problem is they know they have a captive audience. Even if one person has a bad experience someone new will come and fill their place. In a local restaurant they live and die on repeat business. Disney doesn't have to worry about that so much.

 

[Peter Pirate 2]

I'm really surprised that no one has called for the firing of the incompetent server! I think the meals for the entire restaurant should have been comped since everyone had their big buck Disney experience tarnished by this despicable incident.where does it end?

 

[D&R love Disney]

We had our wedding reception dinner at YSH back in 2004. A server carrying my mothers meal tipped the plate slightly and the juice from the lamb went right onto her beautiful new suit. Server and manager apologized profusely, they had the suit picked up the next morning and cleaned. The stains did not come out. They gave her $200 towards the damaged suit. She was more upset over losing the suit than what happened. Disney did it right that time.

 

[Juliet25]

I'm really surprised that no one has called for the firing of the incompetent server! I think the meals for the entire restaurant should have been comped since everyone had their big buck Disney experience tarnished by this despicable incident.where does it end?

Really? I haven't seen any indication that anyone thinks this was anything other than an unfortunate accident.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

I was not aware Rusty owned any restaurants.

1) Yep.
. . . 50% of a fine dining
. . . 49% of a breakfast and luncheon "diner" *
2) Both in Cleveland.

* Daughter is a pastry chef and runs it.
She was also in the Culinary Intern program at Disney.