Regular customers. First time Poor Service, Food and overall experience

I would have talked to a manager while there and insisted on some
comp.

I doubt it could be done, but if possible use nonsmoking servers for
your nonsmoking section. There's nothing worse than requesting a
nonsmoking section and being waited on by a server who reeks of
tobacco. Personally when dining out we request the farthest table away
from the smoking section. Coming from a nonsmoking person I can tell
you that not only does it irritate the sinuses, burns your nose but it
absolutely makes you nauseous when being around a smoker when you're
trying to eat.


Maybe they could hire people who don't breathe either just for you?
Get a life. What this girl does on her break is none of your business,
maybe your perfume was gagging her. Maybe she was waiting on tables in
the smoking section. Sounds to me as if you're just way to picky and
need to stay at home and eat so no one else offends you. Oh wait, we
can't get free food like that can we?

From the tone of this letter, in all likelihood, you are just a snob
(which I am *sure* you will mis-guidely take as a compliment) and hold
everyone else in the world to a much higher standard than you hold
yourself to. I mean, you called the server a liar. Who do you think
you are? God? Just because your husband builds homes does make him an
expert on windows. I can you from personal experience that sitting
next to a cold window WILL make you cold and the air coming from the
ceiling can feel cold. If the outside is cold, due to the most basic
physical law and since glass has a fairly low specific heat the window
will become cold rapidly and maitain that cold until the outside warms
up signifigantly and it only makes sense that the air blowing would
feel cold to you because unless the air is VERY warm it will still
feel cool to you for a bit. When my heat at home is on, if I put my
hand over the register, it feels cool, not that warm, however, the
home does warm up from using the heat. And then you go on to suggest
that she is playing some kind of a game by making the air really hot
and then really cold. Paranoid, much? In most public establishments,
especially those that are part of a major franchise,the thermostat is
locked behind a plastic cover mounted over it and can only be accessed
by the manager with his or her key. I also find it suspect that you
refer the the typical "burned smell" of the heating system. This only
happens when the system has been off in the warmer months and is
turned on for the first time. Seeing as how this happened in March,
the heat has probably been used consistantly for several months.

It's obvious you are not a very nice or sensitive person judging by
the way you called the sever a liar and then made a joke about
Alzhimer's. I kind of wonder if this is jealous wife situation? Maybe
the female server was really cute and you did not like it? It has all
the classic charcteristics of that type of situation with the
grandiose accusations and the anger and venom towards her with no
proof of her tampering with the thermostat since you never mention
seeing her.

And seeing Waiting and thinking that all servers are like that? I bet
you have never worked at this kind of job in your life. Most of the
servers I have worked with are good, honest people who just want to do
a good job.

I hope they throw your letter in the trash.

This one is so simple.

Vanessa, when you spoke to the manager what did he say?

You did speak to the manager, right?

A letter like this should only be written when you speak to the
manager and the manager is rude. You see, a letter written after the
fact to corporate does very little good. At best, corporate will
forward you letter to the local manager. Who will write or call you
and say "I'm sorry. Had you let me know, I would have corrected the
situation immediately."

If you didn't even ask to speak to the manager, then there's very
little that can be done by writing corporate.

The other thing with your letter (other than your offensive reference
to people with Alzheimers) is you admit that you are a regular. While
this was clearly a VERY bad night, it should be clear to you that this
is now how this particular location normally operated. It was a bad
night. It's not fair to you. But this tells me that, in general, the
place is well managed. Perhaps there was a new manager. Perhaps the
manager was sick. Perhaps the cook quit. Perhaps the waitress just
found out that her husband is leaving her.

Don't write-off a place as being bad because they had one bad night.

One last thing... I can't seem to let this one go. Your statement
"Does she have Alzheimers?" is uncalled for. This is a serious
medical condition. I've seen, first hand, what it does to families.
I've seen how it destroys a person. It's not funny. Would you ever
say "What's up with the waitress? She got cancer or something?" or
"The waitress was late. What, was she raped?"

If I got this letter, even if it was otherwise valid, I would
discredit you as an idiot simply because of your choice of words.

I know you didn't mean any offense. But when you are writing a letter
to a business (especially about a lack of professionalism) and use a
life destroying diseases as a joke, you are showing that you do not
care about other people. Nor do you understand what being
professional, adult, and respectful really mean.

You have some valid complaints here that could have been addressed
when you were there. If you're not happy with where you have been
seated in a resturant then MOVE. Its not hard simply tell the
waitress/hostess and they will be happy to move you. I can promise you
Olive Garden does not want you to be miserable.

As far as the entrees were concerned Its a little ridiculous that
based on ONE movie you wont send back your entree. You are completely
entitled to your little phobia but dont make it OG's fault-they would
have heated it for you.

I dont get this part:"She leaves and returns with a to-go box and an
empty breadstick bag. She takes my plate to empty the entree into the
to-go box and hands me the bag so that I could put the 3 breadsticks
that were in the bottom of our dish/trash pile to take with me. This
was the final straw, we asked for our check, paid and quickly left."
What does that mean? It made you mad that she didnt put the
breadsticks in the bag for you?

As far as the smoke goes, your assuming something here. For all you
know the waitress was serving tables in the smoking section. That
would account for her absences as well as the smell of smoke.

I hope next time you're out you speak up when things dont go your
way-you're pretty much guaranteed a quick and satisfactory response.

While I think you had some valid complaints, I don't quite understand
why you didn't address them right then and there.
Ask to be moved.
Ask to speak to a manager.
Ask for another server.

"Waiting" was just a movie. I've worked in the service industry for
quite awhile, and while I've sometimes had the desire to "season" a
certain customer's plate, I have yet to see anyone actually do so.

The smell of smoke on a person doesn't bother me even though I'm not a
smoker. But what does bug me is the 8 spritzes of cologne/perfume you
put on before you go out to eat. Now--that DOES bug me!

Im bored right now, so I read all of the comments that other people
have wrote so far.

I just wanted to throw this in at you...how did you know that your
waitress only had two tables? You stated that in reply to someone's
comments, but even if it was a Monday, she could have been waiting the
tables in the bar area, or helping hostess too. Waitresses don't just
stand around in the back and talk trash about you when you arent being
waited on. They are helping other waitresses get food together,
helping other patrons decide what to order, making sure that the heat
gets turned on for people that are cold, making sure the air
conditioning gets turned on for people that are hot, telling their
manager that they have a hot table, where the patrons are complaining
about anything that isnt perfect, getting salads and drinks ready,
delivering food, helping clean tables, and yes, in this time they too
might take a break. If you dont think that she deserves a three or
four minute break while you are eating your food, you should apply for
a job at this restaurant. Im sure you could do ten times better, and
yes, you dont need to take breaks! Your customers are more
important!

Looky here! You can even apply online:

http://www.olivegarden.com/employment/hourly/


Did you ever think that she might have been helping deliver some food
in the smoking section of the restaurant, or maybe even getting some
drinks from the bar for her only other table? You don't know if she
was smoking, she just smelled like the death sticks.

Oh, and I take personal offense to you saying that she has
Alzheimer's. My mother has early onset Alzheimer's and if you were to
actually spend, oh, maybe five minutes with my mom, you would easily
see the difference between Alzheimer's and forgetfulness. My mother
can't even do simple, orderred tasks, like going to the grocery store
to get three items. She might come back with fifty items, and none
were on the list. She forgets to take her medicine, though she is
supposed to take it every single day. She forgets what she is doing
at most all hours of the day. She's taken cold showers because she
forget how to turn on the hot water. Oh, and the worst of it all,
sometimes she doesnt even recognize me, one of her own children!

So get your facts straight before you want to disrespect your waitress
because she asked you twice about a salad. She's doing her job and
may have had a bad night, but she definately doesn't have Alzheimer's.


If I were your waitress, and you had the same holier than thou
attitude that you do in the letter as you did when I was serving you,
I would have probably acted the same way.

The draft could have been from the opening of the front door when
customers walk in. Oops, my bad, Vanessa was dining that night, Olive
Garden should shut it's doors, kicked all other customers out, and
devoted it's entire staff to make sure the temperature was comfortable
enough for her.

So you are never again going to request your meal to be corrected
because of some movie you saw? I never heard of the movie "Waiting",
but the fact is it's just a movie. If the food wasn't hot enough for
you, you should have had them heat it to your liking instead of being
a martyr. If this movie had that much of an effect on you, it sounds
like you're going to have trouble eating out anywhere.

No matter where you live, freezing is 32 degrees, not 40/50's. Do you
realize how ridiculous it sounds for you to be accusing them of
continuously switching from heat to air-conditioning? Here's how it
works. The blower is on, and the heat goes on and off periodically.
When the heat is off, the air from the blower feels cooler, but it is
not air-conditioning. Then the heat goes on, and it warms up. I
thought everyone knew that. You knew you were uncomfortable before
you even ordered, so you should have asked to be moved away from the
vent. I've done that many times, and it's never a problem.

Why not start a writing campaign to your representatives to ban
smoking in public places. I am extremely sensitive to smoke and am
thankful every time I go out that my state has such a law.

You "have always had excellent service from this establishment", but
because you didn't request a different table or your meal to be
corrected, you "never want to return again". That's your choice.

If you knew the name of your server, check number, table, etc., what
was the point of itemizing the check?

When I worked in a restaurant during college, people were always
trying to debate electrical and plumbing details with me.

I am not a mechanical person and know nothing about these types of
situations. I doubt the waitress does either. The management staff
was constantly giving the employees reasons for heating, cooling,
plumbing and electrical problems and, when we would explain the
situation to a disgruntled customer as it had been explained to us, we
would have to endure the experts lecturing us as to what was or wasn't
possible.

My suggestion is to leave out the accusation of lying. It isn't nice
and, for all you know, she may have believed that's what the problem
was. As JuliePie pointed out, she could have been told that.

Focus only on what the waitress is likely to be able to control.

Why didn't we send it back? Considering the waitress we had I wouldn't
have dared send it back. Have you seen the movie "Waiting"? No idea
where you live but as for cold temps. yes that's cold for us here in
East Tennessee in the Smoky Mtns.

Trust me, I have worked in multiple restaurants, and the servers do
not defile your food. A lot of this movie hits close to home, but the
tampering with food...well, that's just an urban legend.

Then again, I don't know what those cooks are doing behind the
line...LOL.

Just because you don't want to send it back doesn't mean you can't
bring the problem to the manager's attention.

Freezing is when water turns to ice, roughly around 32 Degrees
Farenheit, or 0 Degrees Celcius.

If it was in the middles 40s (you say 40-50), thats not freezing.
That's brisk, cold, but no water can ever freeze at that temperature.
Impossible.

So, you were cold. You had just been outside, and you sit down. Then
the air comes on, making you feel even colder.

I am presuming, though, that it is not the air conditioning, but
rather an air vent in order to keep air circulating and fresh. You
seat twenty to thirty patrons in a room together and lo and behold,
the air could get stale rather fast. Be glad that you and your
husband were the first to get a breath of the fresh air.

You should have asked for a manager. Even before you ordered, you
should have asked. It would have made the rest of your dinner out a
lot better experience.



And, if you want to feel real freezing temperatures, come to where I
live in Wisconsin. It was 38 degrees on Sunday, and that was one of
the warmest days we've seen since November. My husband and I went out
for a walk. It can stretch all the way down to 20 below at night and
in the early morning, so I would gladly trade for some 40-50 weather
anyday.

All your complaints are valid, however, I have some suggestions for
you:

I've said it before, I'll say it again: SPEAK UP. Let the manager know
of problems! Send your food back! The best time to resolve a problem
is when it happens.

Rather than calling the waitress a liar, you might take into
consideration that the window/draft excuse is something the managment
told her. Managers do not like having to go to the controll panel
every time someone complains. You were complaining you were cold, but
I'm sure there was someone elsewhere in the restaurant complaining
they were hot. Next time something lke this happens, ask to be moved
to a different seat, away from a vent.

It was not nice to ask if the waitress had alzheimer's. Alzheimer's is
a horrific, debilitating disease with no cure. That's like throwing
around "retarded". Overall, your whole letter could have been a little
nicer.

And, last, but not least: if only non-smokers were allowed to work in
the non-smoking section, restaurants would be very short-staffed in
that area. I'm not even a smoker, and I smoke at work. The customers
drive me to it.

I would seriously hope that ONE incident like this wouldn't keep you
from ever going back to Olive Garden again. Everyone has a bad day. I
hope your letter gets a response, good luck to you.

Why didn't you send your meal back if it was cold? Or ask for a
manager to discuss the heating/cooling situation?

If you think temps in the 40's or 50's (after dark even!) in March are
"freezing" I wish I lived where you do!