Frigid In The Olive Garden

My bestfriend has a solution to issues like this...she is always cold,
we could be in 105 degree weahter and she would be cold...so she
carries a sweater or light jacket everywhere she goes! That way she
is comfortable and everyone else is not dying from heat.

Most restaurants seem to be fairly cold in the summer months and I
believe this to be fairly common knowledge. Furthermore, most
restaurants will set their temp somewhere between 70-74, which most
people find comfortable. I am someone who is always always hot and am
frequently hot in malls, other people's homes, etc yet I just deal
with it. I take care of myself by dressing in layers and sometimes
will carry outfits to change into if I am too hot and always have
extra clothes in my car to deal with different temp ranges.

You can't please everyone and everyone has a different temperature
that is comfortable to them. I would love to have my room temp be
about 65-68! My grandpa likes his house at 76-78. Honestly, you
letter seems to be a bit whiney and demanding-honestly a free meal?!
I think that is crazy. You said your food was fine so why should you
be reimbursed for food that tasted good? You could have ordered some
hot tea or put on a sweater to help.

I work in a nice restaurant deal with all kinds of requests and
think a free meal is ridiculous because you felt "cold" yet the food
was "good." It does take a while for the heat/AC to adjust and we
will turn it up/down for customers who ask. My restaurant is very
good at trying to make customers happy (recently gave a free
meal/re-made something else for a customer who ordered a fish sandwich
and then forgot that he didn't like fish...kinda silly but I was more
than happy to do it for him.) Just my 2 cents worth.

This is a perfect example where speaking directly to management would
probably have better served this complaint. At least at that time you
could have received an answer whether the temperature could be changed
or not or, possibly the manager could have re-seated you somewhere
that was further from the air vents.

In many corporate chains I am familiar with, the store or restaurant's
temperature is set by some person at corporate and cannot be changed
by local staff. I know, that's dumb. . . it's a matter of corporate
control, I guess. Regardless--did you actually ask the waitress if
she could please change the temperature, or if you could talk to the
manager? Or did you merely remark, "Gee, it's cold in here!" The
latter is unlikely to yield results.

I don't see what the ages of the people in your party have to do with
anything.

I've been in your position many times; I tend to feel cold when most
people feel comfortable. I bring a sweater or jacket with me to
restaurants, cafes, and movies, even and especially in the summer.

Temperature can be pretty subjective. My MIL (of a similar age to two
of the adults mentioned in the complaint) thinks 80 is a prime
temperature in her house, winter or summer. Add a bunch of people
visiting over there and it is stifling IMHO and perfect in hers. All
summer in our church newsletter it is printed that the a/c will be on
and it is impossible to please everyone. If you tend to be cool,
please bring a sweater. The temperature in large buildings cannot be
adjusted quickly.

Were you seated above a AC vent? Did you ask the waitress or did the
waitress suggest moving to another area of the restaurant?

During the summertime, I have this problem as well. More often than
not, I am cold in restaurants. This is generally caused by the AC
being on and drinking a lot of ice cold beverages.

As others have suggested, if you feel cold when you visit restaurants,
bring a light jacket to help with the situation.

I would like to be compensated for a meal that was not even enjoyable
due to the temperature in the building. We did mention it to the
waitress, yet it was not lowered.


Maybe this is why it was not corrected. You said that it is cold, and
you want it lowered? Ummmmm ok


Good Day

It takes a fair amount of time to heat up a building, especially one
the size of Olive Garden. If they had turned off the AC, it may not
have been noticeable during the course of your meal.

Was it extremely hot outside? For some it may have been refreshing. A
comfortable temperature is completely subjective. What I find
comfortable and cool may be freezing to you. Were there any other
complaints?

Also, is this a consistent issue or a one time thing?
If they messed up once, everybody makes mistakes. If it is consistent,
then don't go there or bring a sweater.

You are not due compensation because it was too cold. Absolutely no
way.

In the summer months, I take a sweater with me when I go to the movies
or out to eat to accommodate the frigid AC settings. I suspect that
sometimes, the whole restaurant is set to be cold so the cooks back in
the kitchen don't die of heat stroke.

I don't believe you're entitled to free meals because of the cold
temperature. I'm surprised the waitress did nothing--whenever I've
complained about the cold, or a draft, I've been moved, or a fan has
been turned off, etc.

In a case like this, I'd imagine every customer was suffering. The
manager should have known, let his staff know what the problem was,
and asked them to apologize to the customers. Better, the manager
should have been walking around saying to customer "I want to
apologize, but our AC is broken, so it's dreadfully cold in here.
We're working on getting it fixed. If you'd rather not stay, I
understand and invite you to come back at another time with this
discount. If you want to stay, I'd be happy to apply the discount
immediately."

None of this happened. Presumably, the manager had no idea that it
was that cold. Why?

Donno hit the nail on the head and I'd have taken it one step further
by asking for the manager when the problem persisted.
On the flip side of the coin looking at the time this occured I wonder
if they were trying to cool the place down in anticipation of the noon
rush.
BillR.

If once you were done with your meal, you felt miserable, you should
have asked to speak with a manager.

Once you ate the whole meal, paid for it, and left the restaurant, I
don't believe they will comp you for a cold room. If you were there,
the manager could look at the thermostat, and say "yep, you ate your
meal while the room was 68 degrees." Good luck though.