Restaurant screws up your order. How hard do you expect them to work to make it right?

A couple days ago, I’m driving home after work and decide that I have no interest in cooking dinner. Pizza sounds like just the thing so I pull into a local chain place that I know is offering a special on two-topping pizzas. With a large sausage and mushroom pizza ordered and paid, I take a seat to wait for them to bring it to me. After a surprisingly short wait, they bring me the wrong pizza (sausage and peppers). I report the error to the manager on duty and after apologizing profusely, she offers the following: I get a choice, either I can wait 12 minutes while they remake my correct order or she can give me a coupon for one large pizza for free - my choice. Either way, I can keep the incorrect pizza in my hands. I didn’t really want to wait and eating two pizzas by myself seems problematic so I take the coupon and my peppery pizza and go on my way.

To my way of thinking, this was a perfectly acceptable resolution to this minor error. I’ve worked enough restaurant jobs to know that people screw up. I’ve done it and the situation is rarely helped by one or more parties resorting to screaming or abuse.

Upon related this story to a couple of people, the consensus seems to be that I let them off too easily. Some degree of displayed anger plus demanding the coupon and the remade pizza AND the peppery pizza made by mistake AND a call to the corporate HQ to complain is the appropriate response say some. I don’t have time for that and I don’t need a free (mediocre) pizza that badly.

How would you have reacted to this? If you’re interested, please share your stories of restaurants going above and beyond to correct their error.

I think their response was reasonable. They gave you a choice and you chose what must have seemed right at the time.

As you said, folks make mistakes and you didn’t go hungry.

At lest they didn’t say “No pizza for you, one year!”

The restaurant’s proposed resolution seems reasonable. Humans make mistakes and as long as the mistakes are not part of a consistent pattern of behavior, I’m fine with it.

The “couple of people” consensus response seems way over the top to me. In an ideal world, I prefer an offer of some kind of small discount for going with the “I’ll wait 12 minutes for the correct order” rather than getting the incorrect order for free since as you said, having two meals doesn’t necessarily do you much good. But overall, they offered you a way to get the order you wanted (either now or in the future), and in addition you got something of value as compensation for the extra bit of hassle; seems fine.

These people are lucky I don’t run their favorite pizza joint.

I’d be giving them a refund along with a GTFO and a DCB, and the mistake pizza would be going home with me, one of my workers, or a random passerby.

Nah, you’re right the offer was just about what is expected in that situation. Those other reactions sound like a lot of after-the-fact-tough-guy bullshit that people like to pretend they take no shit, and are the master of every situation, but never are when the situation show up for them.

I think that their soluation was absolutely acceptable. I’m a fussy eater, I often make special orders, and they do sometimes get messed up. It’s more frustrating when I don’t discover the error until I get home with a carryout order (or until after the delivery person has left), and “making it right” becomes a longer process at that point, but I do understand that mistakes happen.

I, too, think that the people who suggested that the OP should have made a bigger stink about it are overreacting, and that level of response is only warranted (IMO) if an error in an order is accompanied by a poor reaction by the restaurant (e.g., “We didn’t make a mistake, we made what you ordered, too bad.”).

That sort of “instant escalation” response is something that my mother-in-law will often do, making a scene over an honest mistake, and demanding satisfaction. She is, on the whole, an unhappy person, and takes it out on others.

Seems fine. I don’t think I’d get along well with the people who are telling you that you didn’t demand enough; they seem like entitled SOB’s.

If you are ok with the toppings on the incorrect pizza then taking the pizza and getting a coupon for a free pizza sounds fine with me. I’m a picky eater, so if I received a pizza with toppings I didn’t like, I would have waited around for the pizza I ordered and taken the free pizza coupon. I would also hope they might give me a small discount just for having to wait longer. I wouldn’t take the incorrect pizza unless there was someone at home that would eat it.

You’re right mistakes happen so I wouldn’t put up a big fuss and make demands.

For some reason, at my local McDonald’s 75% of the time I go through the drive-thru I have to pull over and wait because something that I’ve ordered isn’t ready. When this first started happening, they would bring the food out to my car and give me a coupon for a free burger or fries. Not anymore. They just apologize and send me on my way.

A loooong time ago at a sit-down restaurant, they screwed up my order. They apologized, took it away, brought me the correct order and then didn’t charge me at all for my food.

My whole family met at the local pizza restaurant for a birthday. MY MIL ordered a meatball sandwich. She was given a sausage sandwich instead. She wasn’t going to say anything!:confused: I told the waitress, who apologized and told her she’d get her the meatball sandwich. I think she left the sausage sandwich at the table. Everyone was close to being done eating and MIL still didn’t have her sandwich. I asked at the counter and was told it would be out soon. The waitress finally brought it and just apologized again. I thought she should have discounted the bill, but nope.

I agree with others that their response was pretty reasonable. Assuming you want a cooked pizza, they can’t possibly get it to you sooner than 12 minutes, and it’s also perfectly understandable that you wouldn’t be up for waiting. Assuming you could have use for a pepper/sausage pizza and that you’re down to try the restaurant again, you aren’t out anything at all. Your friends sound like maybe they’re the type to make a big scene and heavy demands over nothing.

Jimmy Johns once forgot bacon on my Club Lulu (I had used the drive-through). I made a tweet that I loved my sandwich, but was missing the best part (it was a very mild comment - I didn’t even mention JJ, as it was more of a joking post than a legit angry one). But they did see it, and told me to PM them for a gift card. I did and got $10. I was thrilled with how they handled it. I still got the original sandwich, which was perfectly enjoyable, and got my bacon-filled sandwich a few weeks later.

Your friends make me want to stab people.

is something you’re supposed to be largely grown out of by like 8 years old. Nauseating, but not surprising, that grown adults think this way. Explains a lot about much of the world’s current politics.

Nothing at all fair about that. You paid for X, they gave you Y, they have to take the loss on Y which means you get the choice to get X or dissolve the entire transaction…and since they can’t serve the Y you can keep it if you want.

Anyone who thinks a simple error is worthy of this level of escalation is probably psychotic.

I’m the timid sort who just goes along, perhaps not even mentioning the error! Though once a sandwich shop gave me a crab sandwich and I insisted on the tuna sandwich I’d ordered. The manager seemed peeved: “The crab sandwich is more expensive and we’ll only charge you for a tuna.” :smack:

Based on this I’m pretty sure your friends are from the Yewnited States of America. What do I win? :stuck_out_tongue:

The restaurant handled it reasonably. They probably have two issues because someone else got your order. If they’re apologetic and eager to fix the situation, I got no problem going back.

How about a story where the restaurant fixed my screw-up? Twenty-odd years ago, my wife and I went to our usual Italian place; we went there often. Very often. Thought we’d try something new to us. We ordered eggplant parm. Our families were always crowing about how wonderful it is. We both hated it instantly–one bite, hell, no. It was probably perfect if you like EP. Waitress came and I sheepishly asked if we could order something else and I insisted we would pay for the EP; not their fault we didn’t like it, they shouldn’t have to eat the cost. They apologized profusely and got us our replacements toot sweet. When the bill came, they did not charge us for the EP, plus they didn’t charge us for the dessert they offered. Twenty years later, we’ve moved back to the area and the first thing we do is head to our fave Italian joint. The same people own it, they’ve made improvements/expansion over the years and the food is just as good as it ever was (probably the eggplant parm, too, wouldn’t know :wink: ). They must be doing something right.

Restaurant’s reaction in the OP was reasonable. - We’re sorry & will rush a replacement or take what you have & get one on us next time.

Going the other way, one night when I was at the ambulance we called in an order for pickup. Now we always called it in under <Name of> Ambulance rather than the individual crew members; that way, if we got a call before we got there the restaurant would typically understand & at least keep our food warm instead of tossing it when we didn’t show up in a reasonable amount of time. Even had one offer to make our food again when we finally did walk in so we’d have fresh if we wanted to wait for it. They appreciated what we were doing & offered to ‘eat’ the first meal even though it wasn’t their fault that someone had a medical emergency that delayed our picking up dinner.

Anyway, we order under <Name of> Ambulance, drive over, walk in, in uniform, pay, get our food & drive back to our station. Only when we open the bag do we realize that we got the wrong order. Simple mistake, right? We call them up & tell them that we got the wrong order. Nope, they make us bring it back in & show them before they even start to make our replacement meal, w/o even giving us any discount/comp/coupon for next time! :mad: It was an extra 30-45 mins until we got to eat. We were hungry & sweating getting a call before we got to eat the replacement meal. I don’t think they owed us anything special because we were (volunteer) first responders, but, geez, could you at least start cooking the replacement meal when we called you rather than waiting to see the proof that you gave us the wrong thing???

I’ve never been back since & anytime someone suggests going there, I badmouth them & we go somewhere else. That little eff up cost them way more over the years than had they done the right thing.

Don’t we all have a few of them in our lives?

You can have my friends if you want them. Low mileage, high maintenance, delivery charges apply.

Indeed. JFC, what the hell is wrong with those people? The restaurant handled it perfectly. Every business is going to screw up every once in awhile. What’s telling to me is how they handle the screwup. Their response was textbook A+ customer service behavior from my point of view.

As is. No warranty, refunds or exchanges.

FWIW, OP missed a rare opportunity to demand, “Get Ze Manager!”, in an imperious German tone.

Sheeessss. Yes that was a very reasonable offer. Better than I would expect.

Though unacceptable if one is allergic to crab, or keeps kosher [seafood is not kosher, no scales as I recall]

I would go for the wait, I hate peppers on my pizza. If I was ok with peppers, I would take the take the mistake and get a coupon. Though I am normally mellow about some mistakes like sausage instead of pepperoni, or adding black olives instead of artichoke hearts. I won’t accept anchovies, peppers or egg plant [dislike] and can not have shrooms as I am deathly allergic to them. [I do ask to not have my za cut, they frequently do not wash the cutters if they are in a hurry.]

Always a pleasure to overhear the kid with the blue hair, facial scar, and 1 inch ear gauges say dryly, “I am the manager.” It’s even cooler when Becky turns to storm out and smacks her nose on the glass door.