Olive Garden Ruined Our Night Out

Funny... aren't you the same Kenny R. that got fired there and who
"conveniently" just had a baby too? Hmm?

Understanding that all food handlers should wear hair nets, there are
other employees who they come in contact with who do not...a hair can
fall from anyone's head and happen to drop into someone's food.

While I too would have been very upset at a hair in my food, I would
have accepted the managers gracious gesture and left the restaurant
while accepting his apology.
Accidents happen...if anything it was the servers fault for not
checking the food before it was presented to the patron.

Have you ever thought that rather that the people next to you weren't
looking at you like dog crap, instead they were looking at you as
they've been wanting to know what the problem was. That's all.

Well, I have to at least give you credit to you and your wife for one
thing: Not asking for free meals.

Is it me?? I have read and re-read this letter..for the life of me..
except for the hair (and this happens, unless you purposefully hire
bald staff!) .. everything was handled perfectly!

The server brought you the manager..the manager was going to comp your
meal (which is what 99% of diners want).. and all was done very
quickly! I'm impressed!

The time to negociate is when the manager is there..not afterwards in
a letter to HQ

I would have been very impressed that the waiter took my food and
promptly brought a manager without me even asking. When the manager
was saying he didn't know how this happened, he was trying to explain
that this does not normally occur. He DOES want you to continue
visiting his restaurant so he is, in a way, saying it shouldn't have
happened in the first place and it will never happen again. I don't
think he was accusing you of anything, but unless we have mind
readers, the world may never know. Then he offered you the meal free,
which of course is expected. But that isn't what you wanted. You
wanted another plate instead. And I feel very confident that HAD YOU
SAID THAT, he would have been more than happy to accomodate that
request as it is nearly identical to his solution (comping the meal).

You are being ridiculous. Next time, if you have a "better" solution
in mind than what is offered to you, just tell them so. What is the
big deal? As for the hair in your food, yep your right, it's
disgusting.

Accidents happen; the employees DO wear hairnets in the kitchen and it
is Impossible to hold any person accountable for the mystery hair.
Spotting a single hair in a dish out of hundreds served in a single
night is like finding a needle in a haystack. You should have let the
GM know what you wanted up front, that perhaps you would have been
happier to have recieved a replacement meal instead of having your
bill comped. And FYI, Smokey Bones and Olive Garden are both owned and
operated by the same company - Darden Restaurants. The only difference
is their hair is bbq flavored.

Oh, one more thing. I think YOU ruined your own night out. Not Olive
Garden. (Hair-free) food for thought.

Wow, Kenny, I have some advice for you. Become agoraphobic. Because
with your thin skin, you just shouldn't ever leave the house.

People weren't looking at you because they suspected you had put the
hair in the food yourself; they simply were curious as to what the
problem was that the manager had to get involved. Paranoid much?

So you want two free meals? The one that got removed from the bill,
and then another plate of food? Do you want three free meals (add
your wife's to that list)?

The other complaints you have like the server asking how many are in
your party, etc. (come ON, dude, what if you had friends parking the
car or who were in the restroom?) are absolutely ridiculous.

Chill. And get way the hell over yourself.

...

...

...

You're really upset enough to write a letter about this?

None of this sounds like that big a deal. The hostess didn't look at
you, who cares? The manager even offered you a free meal for the meal
with the hair on it, what is the problem? I really don't understand
what you're upset about.

Here is something to think about. the hostess didn't look you in the
eye. My kid rarely looks people in the eye. He has a form of autism
and this is very difficult for him. Does this mean he should never
work? Trust me, he is listening to you and knows you are there, even
if he cannot bring himself to look you right in the eye. Try to have
some understanding. Maybe this person was dissing you but has some
sort of issue or maybe they are just shy or rude. But in the big
scheme of things, does it really matter that much. I think it detracts
from the rest of your sorry letter.

Sounds to me like you had a chip on your shoulder from the second you
walked in the door. The hostess did not look up at us.....oh please.


The manager was trying to let you know that they do have a plan in
place to keep foreign objects (hair) in their food, but sometimes it
happens.

See this is what really ticks me off. If you try to explain something
to a customer they say you are making excuses....if you dont explain
it, you are told you dont care, etc etc.

Sounds like you were in a bad mood to begin with.

I better get to my waitressing job early this Friday night! You know,
so I have time to scrub in.

Dear Olive Garden, Your manager offered to compensate us for a subpar
experience at your restuarant. For some unknown reason we refused his
offer, and now we are complaining. That is all.

These things do happen from time to time in any food establishment.
The explanation and offer to comp your meal would sound like a
reasonably plausable solution to the average "patron". Did the
servers, hostesses, and management employees at Smokey Bones present
themselves all in hairnets, sterilized gowns, latex gloves, and
hermetically sealed pens and order tabs? Have you given any thought to
where the change and bills you handle may possibly have been, what all
possible uses for them are, and what germs you could possibly be
treansferring to your mouth?

Yes, a hair in food is not appealing, but it dosen't rise to the level
of a total overhaul of the restaurant, you have gone there before
without incident and this one time did not ruin your whole "we" time.

I guess I have to ask: What, exactly, did you feel the manager should
have done for you?

Maybe I'm missing something here, but it seems to me that he did
everything right.

Also, the point of the letter was the hair in the pasta. The other
comments about not being looked at by the hostess and the waitresses
comments just make you seem petty.

Kudos to you not asking for freebies, though.

Kenny, What color is your hair?

Just a little tidbit of information... Smokey Bones and Olive Garden
are owned by the same company.

Healthy people can shed about 50-100 hairs a day. It's impossible to
never come across a hair somewhere, although I agree it is not
pleasant to see in your food.

The manager DID try to accomodate you. He did offer to take it off the
bill.

Kenny R., I do have some sympathy for you. I'm sure I'd be horrified
to find a hair in my pasta. But you've started your letter off on a
note of hyperbole: "our night was ruined!" and that automatically
makes me take your letter less seriously.

A hair in your pasta did not ruin your night. Getting run over in the
parking lot would have ruined your night. Perspective: it's a good
thing.

The hostess not making eye contact is not the optimum in customer
service; that should have been addressed with the hostess or the
manager on the spot. The server placing your food on the wrong table
for a matter of seconds is such a minute, non-issue that it really
makes you seem petty to have even brought it up.

Now as to the hair. Again, it's very upsetting to find hair in your
food. The manager seemed to have been deeply apologetic about it.
Short of turning back time so that the incident never happened, what
else could he possibly do other than apologize and offer reparation?
If you wanted a new dish, why on earth didn't you ask for it? Quite
honestly, most people who complain in restaurants are asking for free
food; I don't blame the manager for making the comp offer first.

If you find it appalling that the manager would apologize profusely
and offer to comp your bill, I'm not really sure what he could have
done to please you.

There should no have been a hair in your food. The manager did all
that he could to try and atone for this error. You ruined your own
evening by dwelling on every little detail that didn't go exactly as
you imagined it should.

I see you have a baby. I can assure you, many things in your life
will not go the way you imagine! Best get used to it now.

Kenny,
I've worked a few complaints in my day and I must say that in each I
attemtped to read what would satisfy the guest and result in a Win /
Win outcome.
Your refusal of the manager's offer to comp your meal implies to me
that you were sstisfied with simply bringing the issue to his
attention.
However, that was evidently not the case and it was your
responsibility at the that time to stand up for yourself and state
what would make things right. This did not happen and you left.
As far as you feeling embarassed..that can only happen if you allow it
to happen.
I fail to see how his leadership abilities have anything to do with
how a hair, and it could have been yours', got in the food.
Next time you have a legitimate problem with a service or product
state the problem and hold your ground.
BillR.

I'm going to have to agree with the others - if you'd wanted another
dish, ask for it! If not, then I can't really see what your complaint
was about, other than the general manager not bending over to kiss
your posterior.

The next time you run into the situation, say something; don't expect
the manager to anticipate what you want.

I agree with the other posters, if you wanted something else or didn't
think the manager was handling it properly, you should have spoken up.
The manager is not psychic. Unfortunately, even with the best of
handling, something foreign can end up in your food.

What did you want the manager to do? Offer you his first born?

Why didn't you ask him if you could have a fresh plate made up if that
is what you wanted? Maybe he assumed because your wife had stopped
eating too, that neither of you were interested in finishing your
meals. Sometimes you have to ask if you want something. Restaurant
managers do not have ESP.

Also, this made me laugh "the servers should wear hairnets because of
their intimate contact with food." I sincerly hope that whomever is
serving my food doesn't have intimate contact with it before they
bring it to my table!

I agree with Ahsha, and had to add this:

The hair may not have been from the server if it were "tangled between
[your] pasta." If it were from the server, wouldn't it be on top of
the food?

The manager handled the situation and you should have spoken up if his
offer wasn't what you wanted.

In my opinion, the manager handled the situation. He apologized, did
not charge you and seemed concerned. I do not think he was offering
excuses, just trying to reassure you that the restuarant follows good
precautions.
If you wanted another dish, you should have asked. The manager cannot
read your mind. He probably thought your appetite was ruined after the
experience. Mine would be!