PFB Latest Headlines (1-26-09): When Restaurants Run Out Of Food

what Boones Farm is to wine. Who cares if they run out of low grade
gristle filled pieces of dead cow.

GROSS.

I tried this dump once, and I would rather eat at my mother in law's
house... and all she has is 2 yr old nutra system and slim fast
shakes.

They run out just to tick everyone off.

Trust me, I'm sure they wish they had it more than you do.

Ok, here's my thoughts. :) I'll try to be brief.

While I generally tend to agree with the commentary below stating that
there is "no good excuse" for running out of a core menu item or
multiple menu items, I've worked in customer service for too many
years to ever give a definite opinion on that matter. Without any
feedback from the GC management, we have no way of knowing when / why
/ how they ran out of foods, which would help make this a much more
educated discussion. While I can understand why they might withhold
the information (particularly if it was a health or safety issue), it
definitely doesn't help their case.

Given that we don't know, I'll start by playing devil's advocate to
the prosecution. It is possible that something completely crazy
happened. Maybe an entire fridge / freezer went down, and they didn't
realize until they went to pull food from it to cook and it was unsafe
for consumption. Maybe some of their grill / cooking equipment went
down, and they couldn't cook the food anymore. You get the picture -
it is possible that something completely off the wall happened and
they really did have a good excuse for running out of food. And in
either situation, there's a possibility that they didn't realize how
bad it was until it was too late.

Also, while getting in touch with a nearby GC restaurant might have
helped, we don't know that those other restaurants were fully stocked
and able to give up the necessary foodstuffs to fix the issue. I'd
rather that ONE location was short, than to end up with 2 + locations
in trouble. Plus, if there are that many that close, can't the
customers with their hearts set on it just buck up and drive a little
bit?

To play to the other side, however, I will admit that there are better
ways to handle this. Once you realize that you're running out of food
- let everyone know. Right away. While I wouldn't necessarily
advocate immediately refunding everyone's money, I would be all about
vouchers for EVERYONE (those who already are eating and those who show
up) to come back and have a free meal another time, as a show of good
faith. If a customer comes to you and is adamant about a refund, do
your best to oblige them - at least refund the buffet fees from their
check.

To go back to the point of view of defense - I will say this - there
are few things more frustrating than someone who cleans their plate
and then complains, wanting you to fix it. To me, anyone who came in
before a certain time and had ample time to eat the steak and foods
that were out at that time should honestly grow up and be happy they
got it, and thrilled if they get some type of coupon or voucher.
Again, I am a firm believer in being responsible adults, and
recognizing that sometimes, we have to remember the big picture, and
not focus on minor inconveniences. No one was going to starve, and no
one got food poisoning.

I don't know whether it was bad planning on the part of the manager or
there was a failed delivery or if everyone in this particular region
suddenly wanted a Golden Corral Steak, but all the steaks didn't just
disappear at once *POOF* from the cooler. There must have been some
indication that supplies were low. Such as supplies getting low. But
you have to do something and just doing close your eyes to the
problem. It's called being proactive.

Either way, it boils down to the fault of management. This isn't an
ancillary menu item ~ this is a staple of this particular restaurant.


At the end of the day, an excuse is still an excuse.

It's too bad the article didn't give the reason for the restaurant
running out of food. I'm curious as to how that happened.

I understand Greg's point about steak being a core menu item, but I do
think there are very valid reasons why a restaurant would run out of a
particular item one day. In addition to the reasons listed below,
another reason would be that many items cannot be kept in a restaurant
indefinitely, particularly the perishables ones. So restaurants try to
order as close to what they think they need because if they
over-order, much of the food needs to be thrown out.

That's why I'm curious why the restaurant ran out. If it was because a
delivery was late, and it was a one-time problem, than I'm more
sympathetic. But if it's a continual issue at this location then I'd
say this restaurant has a problem that needs to be resolved STAT.

I do think the management handled the situation as best they could,
but they should've given that customer a refund. I'd be pretty bent if
I spent $50 on a buffet that wasn't fully available. However, I
wouldn't call the police; I'd just write a little nasty-gram via PFB.
:)

Just out of curiosity Greg, how do restaurants base their orders of
food? Is it based on the suspected business level for that particular
week or is based on what the business did the year prior?

I do get disappointed (never upset) about something not being
available on a menu. Many a time I have gone to a certain restraunt
just to get that one food item that only they make to perfection...and
its not available. But I think most customers understand that it could
be due to circumstances beyond the restaurants control.
Sometimes delivery is either late or does not arrive at all; they
recieved the order but it was not the amount ordered or the food item
was spoiled; they had an unusual amount of customers ordering that
item...etc.
So I think the majority of people should be understanding of these
circumstances...but I think they are not.

On the subject of Starbucks - personally I do not drink coffee nor
have any reason to purchase anything from this place - they should
keep a pot of decafe brewing for those who want it. They are a coffee
shop and should have coffee available for those who want it decafe or
regular.

We eat at Golden Corral at least once a week...have NEVER had any item
on the buffet not not available. But if something was not I would
chalk it up to one of the above reasons and get on with my meal. Its
no big deal.

I've never even heard of Golden Corral. Is it some local place?