So what’s the worst thing that you’ve had happen that caused somebody/some company to give you something for free to make up for it?
For example, I once stayed at a hotel for two nights and found scorpions in my room both nights. We complained and the manager didn’t charge us for the room.
I found a latex glove in a big bowl of crab salad, on a buffet line. Its was during a Sunday brunch at a really nice hotel, $35.00 a person…needless to say mine was free. But its not like I could actually eat anything after that.
Oh that’s gross 
I called Sears Optical the other day to see if my glasses were ready…they told me one pair of the two I ordered was ready. We were just across the street at another store, so we zipped over…only to find out the sunglasses weren’t really ready. So the clerk gave me a big box of 60 Lens Wipes…sorry…Pre-Moistened Lens Cloths…because I’d driven all the way there for nothing. I didn’t have a chance to tell her we’d been only across the street…and I only live 6 blocks away. It seemed to make her happy.
That’s it. That’s the best I’ve got.
Years and years ago, probably around 1985, we had a small surprise birthday party for my Mom’s birthday.
My dad went to the Tim Horton’s in Smiths Falls, Ontario, and got 2 chocolate cream pies.
As everyone was being served dessert, my Dad let out, what I can only describe as a yowl, then threw up all over the floor.
What was in the chocolate cream pie that he just sunk his teeth in to?? A WHOLE cigarette. 
He rooted through the other pie to find 3 more cigarettes in that one, and 2 more in the first one. gag
I remember my Dad calling the TH. I was 13, and I had never heard my Dad yell like that. They tried to refund his money.
I believe there was some sort of settlement with TH. My Dad didn’t sue, but boy, did they grovel!!
About a decade ago, while on vacation in Cozumel, Mexico. It was at an all-inclusive resort hotel- everything paid for in a beautiful area. However, when we checked in, we found that we were in a tiny room with two full beds (rather than a king, or at least a queen). The view out our one window (no patio) was of the building’s air conditioners, which was apparently where the staff hung their laundry out to dry.
Well, whatever… it’s not like we were going to be in the room all that often, anyway.
Then, that afternoon, they started painting the hall outside our room. Paint fumes made us both absolutely miserable, and we hardly got any sleep that night. In the morning, I went down and raised holy hell- there was no way we could stay in that room any longer.
They said that they didn’t have any more rooms available at that moment, but one should be clearing up later in the day.
Holy crap- the room that opened up must’ve been called the “Make the Rich Gringos Happy” room. It was on the top floor, and must’ve been at least four times larger than our previous room. Hell, the outside *balcony *(with hammocks and an incredible view of the ocean) was larger than our previous room. We even had a microwave and a fridge. And let’s not forget the king-sized bed…
That was the best hotel room I’ve ever stayed in.
… but we’re still paying for those scorpions!
::d&r::
I waited patiently for my check in a restaurant:
I kept catching our waitress’s eye, and she kept giving me “I’ll be right with you” signals back.
Finally we decided to walk to the register and request our check there.
She met us halfway informing us that our order would be out momentarily…“Umm, you already brought us our order, and we ate, and we just need our check”
“Uh, oh…well I’ll box it up and yo can take it home.”
“No, that’s OK”
“But I’ll get in trouble if you don’t!”
“Well, OK then…”
Manager then sees waitress boxing up our (redundant) meals, and goes to speak with her. We can’t hear conversation, but it is safe to assume she blames kitchen.
Manger: “I’m sorry about our screwup. This lunch is on us, and I hope you’ll give us another chance.”
Meanwhile waitress is cowering behind manager.
So free lunch and supper, all for not demanding our check in a timely manor.
Free food is free food, and the waitress didn’t get fired…still I was far from happy about the situation.
When my boiler blew up the company that made it sent me a bunch of flowers. Very nice of them. And I got a few days free rent from the landlady as I had to leave the apartment for a few days until it was repaired.
After an hour I still hadn’t received the pizza I ordered to be delivered. When I called, they said that it was just going out. I called in another 30 minutes, and they said that the delivery person said there was no such address. I’m hardly ever a jerk to people in the service industry (hey, I’ve been there), but I gave them a piece of my mind, saying that they had my address on file, they’d been there many times before, yadda yadda yadda, then slammed the phone. I was hungry dammit, my cupboard was bare and now everything was closed.
The manager called back about 15 minutes later, said he’d found the error, and apologized profusely. That must have been a hard call to make because he probably thought I’d bite his head off. The manager delivered the pizza himself next time, no charge, and again apologized.
You know, I cut a lot of slack if all someone says is “I’m sorry, we screwed up, it won’t happen again.” I think the pizza place (it rhymes with “Rominoes”) went above and beyond, and kept me as a customer.
A friend and I were staying in a motel. The room was pretty crappy, and tiny, and there were stains on the wall. It was a smoking room, and also one of the cheapest that they had. The couple next door got into a huge argument, and I’m sure that there was violence. I called 911. We then went to the front desk to say that my friend didn’t feel safe there. They moved us to the only other room where smoking was allowed, which happened to be the handicap room. It was huge, and had a hot tub and fireplace.
I was out to dinner with about a dozen frineds for my birthday a few years ago. On eof my friends was from the Republic fo Georgia. Her mother was visiting for the month and she took it upon herself to make a rum cake. Mind you she spent a good portion of the day on it. So they brought the cake to the restaurant and we asked them to serve it to us after dinner, which they were more than happy to do. So we are waiting for our table when the manager comes over and explains that somebody had dropped the cake on the floor in the kitche and apologized profusely. My friend’s mother, who didn’t speak a word of english was mad and confused and wondering what kind of country this was :). So we are eating, ordering wine and such and at the end of dinner the waiters start bringing out desserts, like three desserts for everybody, cake, ice cream, fancy cookies, etc. All gratis of course, and then they also comped all the wine, which ended up being 6 bottles. Dinner wasn’t on the house, but I think they made up for their accident adequately.
I know I’ve told this story before. My wife and I were staying at a Hyatt for a convention and Friday night we decided to just have dinner at the hotel restaurant. We were seated at a table against a wall where there was room to park my wife’s scooter nearby, but were not given menus. After a little while someone came by to fill our water glasses, and we asked about menus. It took another five or ten minutes before we got them, with the explanation that they had “assumed” that we were having the buffet which had been set up in addition to the regular service at the request of the convention. :rolleyes: Service was terrible after that, and by the time we finished our meal we opted to skip dessert because my wife was tired and just wanted to get back to our room. Then it took forever to get the check. When I went to the desk to pay it I commented on the wait and poor service, and got an apology from the cashier.
Shortly after we got to our room the phone rang. It was one of the hotel managers, who apologized profusely for what had happened. I think I said something about our decision to skip dessert, because she asked what we would have gotten for dessert, then sent it up to our room at no charge. When it arrived, there was a note along with it again apologizing, and included with it was a card good for two Sunday breakfast buffets…not the standard buffet, but the fancy champagne buffet.
Did that one come with extra spit?
On our very first visit to Hawaii, we stayed at a nice hotel in Maui. Apparently, we timed our visit at exactly the same time as some type of “spring break” or the equivalent for Japanese high school girls. Most of the hotel was overrun with shrieking, giggling 15 year olds. The room next to ours was obviously a party room, and the jet lag factor meant that the girls were up all night long creating a din. We bitched to the management and said we’d take it up with American Express and not pay our bill because our vacation was going to be ruined. They instantly kicked us up to a much better room in an entirely different wing. It must have been the no-schoolgirl wing, because we didn’t see a single one over there. We had a very nice stay!
The only one I can think of was the time i was in the living room while Mom prepared supper (tacos, though they would up being rather bland in the end), and suddenly I heard her yelp. When I went to look, I found tomato sauce on the ceiling. Apparently when she punctured the can, it started spraying out.
We got ten $1 off coupons from the company, good for any of their products.
Once I made myself a salad from the salad bar at my work cafeteria. I took it up to my desk to eat it, and a spider crawled out. They graciously refunded my money and asked if I’d like another. Ummm… NO.
About two years ago I stopped at the local Gas Station/Convenience Store one mile from my apartment, right next to the freeway. The same one I stopped at every day, Pinky!
Got $25 in gas at the pump, then walked in to pay. Told the guy the pump and after he said “Twenty five dollars”, I asked for three lottery tickets. Laid out $28 on the counter (a $20, a $5 and three $1’s), said “That’s all the money I have in the world”. Took my tickets and went home first, then the other direction to the Post Office.
When I got home from the PO, I had a police officer’s card stuck in my door asking me to call him. No idea what that was about. I call him. He says that I drove off without paying for my gas. I say No, I did not and agree to meet him at the station.
I get to the station, identify the guy who took my money, who turns out to be the Assistant Manager, and the register used. I also inform the officer that I work as an Armed Courier and that merely being charged with the theft means the end of my job, that I don’t do that shit, that I may end up pressing charges against the station.
The ASSMAN (as I now call that ASSistant MANager) was very surly and disrespectful. He has a clerk cash out the register. At the end of the counting, the register is something on the order of $26 OVER what it should have. The ASSMAN decides to count it himself. When he finishes, he refuses to give the total, saying that he won’t know the real number until the store closes. Walks off in a huff and refuses to discuss it any further.
At that point, the police officer tells me that there will be no charges against me and that I can go home.
Upon arriving home, I immediately went to the company website and wrote a letter of complaint. Not angry swearing, but just the details, how my livelyhood had been threatened and my trust violated.
The very next day I got a call from the District Manager, apologizing to me. We discussed and I asked about cameras behind the counter, since they were not visible. Yes, they have them and they point straight down on the counter. Good, look at the incident and you’ll see me lay out the cash. The day after that, I got an apology letter, a full book of car wash coupons, and a gift card for $25.
It was more than six months before I could bring myself to go there again. I never used the gift card or the coupons because they felt like a bribe for being fucked.
So yeah, I got something free, but I never used it and it held no value for me.
That’s not where I work now, is it? :eek:
It was just post 9/11 and I was in Vancouver BC on business. I got back to the hotel and there was a letter under the door.
A letter under the door of your hotel room is never good news.
The water heater in this building (this hotel has 4 interconnecting buildings) had burst and it would be at least 24 hours before it was fixed. I hate packing in the middle of the week to change rooms, so I thought I would tough it out, and take a cold shower in the AM. Then I went to get a drink of water. It was black there was so much sediment in it. :eek:
So I packed up and headed down to the desk to get another room.
I joked with the desk clerk that he had done this on purpose, and he was going to put me either in a janitor’s closet or a maid’s room.
He kept tapping away as we joked, and finally he said, I think you might like this room.
He gave me directions to one particular elevator, and told me I had to use my room key when I got in.
I found the elevator, and used my room key. 18 lit up without my pushing any buttons. When the elevator arrived, I got out and looked at the little folder they write your room number in. It said 4. I found the door and went in. It was a 900 square foot 2 story penthouse, complete with full kitchen, laundry, living room with big screen TV, two bathrooms and four, count them four balconies. The master bedroom and bath were built for orgies. The tub was one of those bathe with a couple of friends and save water types.
About 10 minutes later, I got a call from the desk clerk wondering how I liked the room. I said “I know a room like this must come with hot and cold running blonds, I just can’t find where you store them.”
I think this was without a doubt the nicest $69/night room I have ever stayed in.