Why Do We Put Up With Lousy Restaurants?

It's not often that I (the male of the team) turn the blog into a rant session. But sometimes it just seems I've got to get it off my chest. As RVers, we all "get out" a lot more than most folks. Sure, we eat in our rigs, but we like to patronize restaurants of all sorts. With that exposure, why is it that so many of us seem to put up with lousy food and service?

Witness a recent visit to a "fast food restaurant," an oxymoron if e'r there were one. After standing in line for about 20 minutes just attempting to reach the order person ("Well," says a fellow customer, "at the speed they're working, you know you don't have to worry about sweat in your food.") I finally managed to place my request. The actual wait for the food was blessedly shorter--only about five minutes.

Still, when I got our food to the table, low and behold, half of it was cold--apparently it had been sitting under a "warming light" (another oxymoron) for too long. I took it back. The counter guy tells me, "Well, you'll have to wait a while for us to fix you more." Under pressure, he agreed to bring the "fresh" food out to us. Back at the table, I had the joy of eating half my lunch, and tapped my foot waiting for the rest. 25 minutes later, I'd finished my food, consumed my desert, and was still waiting.

On returning yet again to the counter, this time I was greeted by a "manager," who in a belligerent tone demanded to know, "What's your problem?" Folks, that's not a good way to respond to a customer who does have a problem. Holding my heated up emotions (warmer than the food by a long shot) in check, I explained the problem. No offers of apology. I finally suggested I wanted a refund--thinking for the cold food I never did consume, but had presented back to them. Shaking his head, yet another manager opened a til and refunded the amount for the entire meal. I did actually thank him, and he simply stared at me, perhaps as one might a bug whose extinction was in the planning stages.

OK, it was a fast food place. But one week to the day before, we joined a group at a popular steak house. While we were fed in "shifts," part of us receiving our food early-on, others waiting until long after the first had finished, once again, the last orders arrived cold. Of course, the waitress did a vanishing act, and I was left to cart a cold plate of steak and spuds back up to the register to once again, ask somebody to do their job.

Why do we get such lousy service, with such regularity? The distaff side of this blog says it's simply a sign of the days we live in: People are more "me" oriented than in looking after the needs of others. And that's probably true. But part of it, I think, is because we've simply grown accustomed to lousy service. We don't want to make a fuss. I'm not one who endorses shouting, swearing, or threatening those who do give us sub-grade service, but if you pay for something and you don't get it, by not asking for a correction, I think we're all asking for more of what we get already--with interest.