Upset by P.F Chang's Discrimination

Maybe if you had mentioned you were a nurse and worked with kidney
foundations everything would have come to a screeching halt and you
would have been taken care of before all the people who were there
ahead of you.

You stated that you first decided to wait for take-out. After half an
hour, you decided to dine in instead. Therefore, it would make sense
that you were not put on the wait list for dine in when you first
arrived. That would explain how some people who arrived after you
were seated before you. Regarding the couple you spoke with, perhaps
they came in before you arrived, had themselves added to the wait list
and found out it would be a two hour wait, left to grab a drink or run
an errand or whatever (not wanting to sit and wait in the restaurant
that long), and then returned (when you saw them) to sit out the
remaining half hour of their stated two hour wait. I've often done
the same when faced with a long wait.

A long wait and less than enthusiastic staff do not equal
discrimination.

It was foolish to assume good service for a walk-in on Valentine's
Day.
That said, make a call to the corporate office with the specifics
(names, dates, etc.). If you can actually prove discrimination took
place, you have a basis for a law-suit.
Try another PF Chang's and if it's a holiday, get a reservation. Good
luck to you!

Maybe you were discriminated against, maybe you were not. Maybe there
are racist servers who with the help of the host are trying to avoid
black people because they think you will be cheap with the tip. Just a
thought....

1. The original poster was part of a walk-in and chose to wait for a
table.

2. At least an hour after the poster arrived, another walk-in couple
arrived and chose to wait for a table.

3. The other couple was seated before the original poster and her
dinner partner.

4. The only difference between the two couples that the restaurant
could have observed is race. The second couple was white; the
original poster (and possibly her dinner partner) is not.

5. Therefore the original poster and her dinner partner were given
worse treatment due to racism.

She addressed the issue with the manager at the time, and was not
satisfied with his response. He seemed to think that this was an
innocent mistake (as some posters here have suggested), but she does
not think that it was just an innocent mistake because at least one
other couple who arrived after she and her dinner partner did was
seated before her. (I don't see any evidence, though, that the second
couple definitely did not have a reservation.)

As evidence for premise #4, the original poster points out that she is
a professional who has a lot of experience in places where most people
are white and she is accustomed to being treated in pretty much the
same way that well-off white professionals are treated. In addition,
this information makes the point that "I don't go around accusing
people of racism all the time over tiny imagined slights."

I don't think the length of the wait time is directly relevant to the
argument -- although it might be evidence for the innocent mistake
hypothesis, because it shows that the restaurant was slammed and the
host(ess)(es) may have had a hard time keeping track of all the people
waiting.

I've said before that I think people should explain why they believe
they have been discriminated against if they think that. "I wasn't
treated as well as I thought I should have been; therefore I have
been discriminated against" just isn't enough. But I don't think
anyone should be expected to provide absolute proof, because in most
cases things are more nuanced than that. And I do think that in this
case the original poster has provided a pretty clear explanation of
why she thinks this was a case of discrimination and not just a
misunderstanding. Although it is possible that P.F. Chang's could
provide more information that would make me think that it really was
an error that had nothing to do with racism, I think she's made a
really good case here.

Even if there was some kind of confusion going on and there was no
discrimination, I imagine it was an extremely unpleasant incident.
I'm white and disabled, and I know that when it seems clear to me that
I am being treated as "less than" people who walk and/or talk it has a
pretty big impact on me; I cannot imagine that it has any less impact
on people who face other kinds of discrimination.

I hope that she is given at least an apology for how her concerns were
addressed that night, and either additional evidence that this was a
mistake on the restaurant's part or information that would show that
the white couple that arrived after she and her dinner partner did had
a legitimate reason to be taken before she did.

Wait... what? I'm not exactly sure where discrimination comes in
here. Valentine's Day is INSANE in the restaurant business, if you
have no reservation, then don't expect to be seated without at least a
45 minute wait. While the manager may have been a little rude, you
overstepped your bounds.
And why bother telling us about the kidney foundation? That is
totally irrelevant.

What does being a nurse and working with kidney foundations have to
do with anything?

Also, what on God's green earth made you think you were going to walk
into ANY restaurant on Valentine's day without a reservation? You
should make a reservation next time or plan to go out on a night that
isn't going to be so busy.

You went to a sit-down restaurant on Valentine's Day. One of the
busiest days there is for restaurants.

And you're upset over a 30 or 60-minute wait? I've waited longer than
that with girlfriends when eating out on Valentines Day. Next time
make a reservation, like the people who got seated before you probably
did.

Also, consider your race card declined, since you have given no
evidence of poor treatment due to racial prejudice.

i don't see any.

And.... I thought the same thing... The other party may have called
for a reservation.


You were a walk-in and felt they should wait longer than you, even if
they had a reservation....?


That's not how reservations work.


Perhaps next time you'll call ahead too?

for your discrimination allegation here. It was a crazy, chaotic
night because of the holiday and it is very likely that there WERE 2
lists: one for reservations and one for walk-ins (although I would
never DREAM of trying to do a walk in at any kind of dine-in
restaurant on a number of holidays, such as V-Day, Mother's Day or
here in the North, Sweetest Day in October!)

It's just too much to expect to have a reasonable wait when that many
people are converging on the place!

You say you talked to the other couple and they had been waiting
longer than you. So, that would tend to indicate that they would
probably be seated before you, right?

Other than having to wait an unnecessarily LONG time to eat there, I
really don't see how they discriminated against you.

From your letter, it doesn't appear that there is discrimination.
There does appear to be poor management of the waiting list, as well
as poor customer service. The confusion and the way they handled you
is sufficiently bad that you don't need to jump to conclusions that
discrimination was at play.

This said, I've always found places like PF Changs to be unapologetic
about customer service issues, especially for things like what you
describe. Why? Because they have lines out the door! If a customer
is upset and leaves, that's fine, because they can't (especially on a
day like you describe) possibly handle the crowds anyway. I find that
the Cheesecake Factory is another example.

In short: they have more customers than they can handle, so they don't
care about you or need you. That's unfortunate, but in all the years
that PF Changs and the Cheesecake Factory have been open in my area
(near each other, I should mention, in the malls in my area), I've
seen this questionable treatment of customers time and time again.
And I've seen wait times of 2-3 hours standard. On a Thursday night!

Until they start losing customers to the tune of them having empty
tables, I don't see them making changes to "accommodate" anyone.

Related, years ago, I requested a reservation at PF Changs for a
corporate dinner (about 20 people). Despite my offer to put down a
deposit and the promise of being a corporate event (where plenty of
appetizers and drinks would be ordered), they said "no reservations."
(This policy has since changed, I've heard). When I pressed, they
told me exactly what I told you: they can fill tables easily and
therefore don't need to lock up 20 seats for hours. They were clear:
we don't need you.

I actually find the wait time acceptable, if you take in to account
that it was Valentine's Day. I once waited 4 hours to be seated at a
restaurant on Valentine's. They also had multiple lists going and
apparently did not properly train the staff on how to rotate those
lists. We were initially told the wait would be 1 1/2 - 2 hours, but
it literally took them 3 to 4 hours to sort things out and get the
right lists going. We were with another couple though and took it all
in good fun. Figured it was a story we could tell later on...

In the case you've described, I can honestly say that discrimination
doesn't necessarily come to mind. I'm thinking it's more likely they
got their lists out of order. I'm also curious about the woman you
spoke with about her wait. Is it possible that she had been waiting 2
hours, not that she had just been told her wait would be 2 hours?
Either way, I still say that and honest mistake may have been made.

Personally I dislike P.F. Chang's anyway but no matter where I am I
would never have waited as long as you did for take out or to be
seated.
If its a matter of reservations required then the host/hostess should
have told you in the beginning that you may have a long wait maybe
more than 1hr then you can decide if its worth waiting or not.

I have friends who just love P.F.Chang's and go there at least every
10 days. I find it very expensive for the quality and quantity of
food...it reminds me of prepared/frozen entrees that are microwaved.
And, I have gone with friends a few times and they did not seem to
mind waiting more than 45mins- 1hr for a table even with a
reservation, I however found that totally unexceptable without
explaination.

P.F. Chang's owes you an apology and needs to re-educate their staff
into handling all customers in a timely manner.

Who waits 30 minutes just to order take out? You DO get to bump to
the front of the waiting list to make it clear you just want to order
food, not wait for a table.

What does being a nurse and working with kidney foundations have to do
with a darn thing?

When a restaurant is obscenely busy it's very easy for mix ups to
happen and they aren't going to be willing to discuss it in depth with
you as you create yet a longer wait for those around you. I see
nothing in your description that suggests your "appearance" had
anything to do with it.

You go out on a Saturday Valentine's (the Saturday night from hell for
the restaurant industry), have no reservation, and then get upset
about your wait and the fact the restaurant was swamped and may have
made a mistake. The staff was polite to you (I don't know, ma'am you
will just have to wait.") You conclude they discriminated against
you, and after waiting an hour and a half (!) you left.

You mentioned it may have been your appearance - were you wearing your
nursing shoes?

maybe because she goes to many functions, events and fund raisers for
this foundation and has never been treated so badly.
But I think she allowed herself to be treated like this and instead of
walking out and going somewhere else she stayed there and let them get
the upper hand albeit it being valentine's Day or not.