Red Lobster Has Not Only Lost My Business But Should Compensate Me

I do not work for Red Lobster, but would like to comment on your
wait.

Most chain restaurants watch their labor costs very closely. This may
be why you saw some servers leaving while a line up was forming.
Scheduling is another factor, as most places will base their schedule
on previous days business. Then there is the unexpected rush of
people that is totally unpredictable. Then there is the staff that is
late or dont show up at all, which hurts everyone involved. You
cannot schedule to cover all the bases.

I am a manager at a 4 star restaurant in Canada. Last week we
scheduled according to the occupancy in the hotel that the restuarant
is located. What we didnt expect was multiple tables of 8 and 10
people. A server can only handle so many tables at one time, so as
not to impact service. What we did was to let people know at the door
that there is a wait. This is standard. It is better to have you
wait a short time, then to overload the staff and have all patrons
suffer lousy service. This does not happen often and if this has been
an on going problem with the restaurant you were at, I would consider
brining it to the attention of the GM. Another factor is that most
people think that they can run a restaurant better, simply because
they eat at them. Not true. You can not run a restaurant from a
customers viewpoint and expect success, however you can impliment some
of their suggestions to make them happier. The customer is always
right...to a limit.

This is typical, but rediculous. I know this situation first hand.
Company policy states that servers are ONLY ALLOWED TO HAVE THREE
TABLES AT ONCE.so while it may look like the restaurant is empty, it
isn't. Learn how to be patient and learn that, well, s*** happens.

We write letters at this website to point out issues with the
companies we deal with, often on a daily basis. We want to make them
better, and in the end, we will enjoy better service from them and we
will ourselves benefit.
When your throw "compensation" into your letter you invalidated all
intent to help improve that business, and merely exposed your primary
reason for writing, GREED!

Even if this wasn't during a shift change, restaurants don't have
waiters for EVERY table, especially during slower times. 15 minutes is
not a long wait at all. Would you have been happier if they seated you
at a table and you had to wait for a server?

You had a somewhat valid complaint up until the compensation request.
You didn't spend any money there, you had no food! What do they owe
you for!


Reading this letter was a waste of my time, I want to be
compensated... LOL!

While I kind of agree that a shift change is a poor excuse for leaving
customers waiting, you do have to consider that restaurant servers
make their money primarily from tips. So while it may seem better to
have the current shift keep working until enough staff from the next
shift arrives, from the staff's perspective, they're putting in extra
time, but won't make any money from it if a server on the next shift
takes over a table in the midst of a meal, and ends up collecting that
tip. You don't say what time you were there, but you mention that they
weren't at all busy, so I assume it wasn't during lunch or dinner
rush. So at least it seems the restaurant tried to change shift during
the off hours. 10-15 minutes isn't an excessive wait. Still, I might
have taken your side, since you wrote a rational letter explaining
your grievance, and I do see how it looked from your perspective. But
you lost me with your demand for compensation. Give me a break. You
may not have liked their explanation, but they did tell you up front
there would be a wait, and you chose not to stay. That was your
choice, and they owe you nothing.

I don't know about you, but I've been next in the grocery store line
when they've put the "closed" sign up for a shift change. They aren't
going to make a server stay if they've already done their drop and
their shift is over. What part of "shift change" don't you
understand?! I agree with the other poster, you would have been upset
if they would have sat you with no server and you upset because you
were made to wait.

To demand compensation for your time is ridiculous!

I guess I just don't see what you should be compensated for. You went
to a restaurant, got told there would be a wait, and there was. You
got upset that there weren't enough waitstaff, and you went somewhere
else. I guess I don't see the big deal here. People call in sick.
People go on and off their shifts. Life goes on. How much exactly is
your time worth that an extra 10 or 15 minutes needs to be
compensated?

Complaint? Managing a resturant is a delecate balance. If they don't
have the staff at the moment you want to sit, no matter how many
tables appear to be open, then we would be seeing a complaint letter
from you on how long it took for someone to wait on you..

You completely lost any chance of the company even responding with
your request for compensation. Most companies realize that there is
an entire segment of people who complain just for the 'perks' and
they'll file you in that group.

I agree with previous posters that the excuse "shift change" is
totally unacceptable. I would prefer to hear the truth, i.e. 3
employee called in sick and the restaurant is waiting on some
employees who were called in on an emergency basis to get there. I
dine out at least 10 times a week and have for many, many years. NEVER
have I encountered a "shift change" that caused people to have to
stand around the waiting and wait to be seated. There have been times
when a manager or employee said "please bear with us, we are sorry,
but we have an unusually high number of people out due to
sickness/family emergencies, etc"...Well no problem, I think.

Your letter fails to state how long you waited, yet you are asking for
compensation. Heck, you did not even include such vitals as date of
incident, time of date, who you spoke with, etc. I am noticing a large
number of letters like that here at PF lately. The internet is chock
full of websites that provide good information on how to write valid
complaint letters that get results. Think about that the next time you
write a letter.

You may or may not have a valid complaint here. You don't specify
what time of day it was when you went in to the restaurant, and you
didn't say whether or not your wait time went past the 10-15 minutes
that you were promised.

The manager could have meant a couple of different things by "shift
change". Perhaps the day shift was leaving and the night shift was
coming in. If so, I could understand why it would take a few minutes.
The people coming in had to clock in, put on aprons, check their work
assignment, etc. This can take a few minutes and that is not
unreasonable, especially if you didn't have to wait past the promised
amount of time.

Or, if you came in right before the peak time, perhaps there was a lot
more staff scheduled to start in a few minutes. If this was the case,
the manager should have explained that to you of course. Please
remember that the same labor laws apply to these people's jobs as to
your job. The manager cannot force anyone to stay late or start early
on the spot.

If this "shift change" resulted in you waiting more than the promised
10-15 minutes, then I understand. But if not, then your complaint is
not valid. Although the manager could have seated everyone and
brought them menus and drinks to make it more pleasant.

I agree with you that this is not good service, but however, you
should not get any money. You did not spend a dime in their restaurat
and yet you want money from them. A 10 to 15 minute wait is not a
long time, but to wait 10 or 15 minutes because of poor scheduling is
bad customer service.

One more thing you mentioned that you have had good service from a
Darden restaurant. Well why don't you write about your good
experience. People are so quick to complain when they get bad
service, yet when they get good service they keep quiet, which is kind
of sad. You should take some time out of your life to write about the
other restaurant you went to. If you have the time to write a
complaint, you certainly have the time to write a compliment.

The other people were mature enough to wait patiently. Why could you
not wait. Also why do you want money back if you did not eat anything
there. It's not like you want money back because the food was
horrible, or the waiter spit in your food.

Compensated? For what? It's one thing to expect compensation when
you pay for and are served a bad meal. But to be compensated for time
spent waiting for a table - time that you were told would take and
that you agreed upon?

"Shift change" is one of the worst excuses for poor service, since it
is a completely predictable event. As a customer, I would much rather
be told that they were short-handed because of an emergency or
something like that; it would make me more sympathetic and less
frustrated.

Still, though, I don't have the vaguest idea why you feel entitled to
"compensation."

what kind of compensation are you looking for exactly? You need to
understand that at times people will not show up for work.

They could have seated you, but then you would have been waiting for a
waitress/waiter anyway.

So in the long run you actually helped the manager by leaving, that
was one more angry customer that he didn't have to worry about.

would you have been happier if they would have seated you at one of
the empty tables... no you wouldnr have because then you would have
been complaining that no one was servicing you.... each servers is
assigned a certain amount of tables, when all the servers tables are
filled, he he doesnt get new customers until someone else finishes up
his meal and leaves..... i thought everyone knew this....

as for being compensated for your time, thats a ridicilous demand...
you were told that it would be 10-15 mins before you would be seated
and you could have said no and left then,,, besides 10-15 mins really
isnt that long of a wait in a restaraunt...

They told you it would be 10 to 15 minutes and you agreed. Why did
the number of empty tables make a difference, especially if other
waiting customers weren't bothered?

Did it take more than 10-15 minutes?

I'm just not understanding why, if you agreed to wait the amount of
time they specified, the state of the restaurant was such a problem.

One could conjecture that there was supposed to be a midshift in there
somewhere that either called in sick, quit, was fired, or was delayed
in getting to work. The boss cannot prevent workers from leaving if
it's time for them to go.

Besides, 10 to 15 minutes isn't an outrageous amount of time to wait.
The other people had the right attitude by being patient.

I can't believe you waited 1 hour and 20 minutes with a ten month old
child on your lap. Did it ever occur to you to leave, especially
after the circus started?