What is a good way to handle the following complaint from a restaurant customer?

Question

A client called and said he got a food born illness eating at our establishment. I should mention that the dish he thinks made him sick was prepared the same day and the restaurannt follows all rules of food safety. He hadnt been to the doctor and he is just following a hunch that what he ate at the restaurant was what made him sick. I explained to him that the restaurant follows very strictly the rules of food safety . . He asked me what we were going to do to make it up to him and i asked him what would he like us to do but he just got very annoyed and hung up on me. I dont know if there was a better way to handle it for a future incident. Let me know what you think.

Answer 1

I think that if the customer has a reasonable complaint than it is your job to compensate him or her becasue arter all how much are you loosing on a free meal or two? however frequent complainers are everywere and you have to be able to seperate the two. how believable is he or she. (I would just bit the bullet and give the customer a meal) becasue as you know all it takes is one bad customer to tell 5 of their friends who tell their friends and then you have lost out on many customers.

Answer 2

Sound like he was just venting and unfortunantly you answered! If he hung up obviously he didn't want anything more than to chew someone out!

Answer 3

You did fine. I love how people get sick and blame it on the food. I am a waitress, and one time an RN said she thought she got food poisoning from our restaurant, but she said she didn't get sick immediately, and that's how she knew it was our food. She said you get sick almost immediately from food poisoning. Now, my husband got sick in a restaurant once, he had to get up from the table and run to the bathroom. That's how quick it was. He said it tasted fine, but he just got sick quick. We didn't say anything, because at the time we didn't know this.

Once in a while, we'll get calls, but nothing ever becomes of it. Our boss will ask if they have been to a doctor, and they say no. So unless you've been tested, there is no way to be certain that it is from the food. The health food inspecter said that we have one of the cleanest restaurants in town. Our cooks know that if they wouldn't eat it, then they don't serve it.

But I think you handled it fine. Soo many people want a free meal. I think you should tell future complainers to have a doctors note before handing out free food or a refund.

Answer 4

I disagree strongly with the other response.

The customer is NOT always right, though a business should strive to make them feel as if they are.

Your asking what the person wanted was the correct way to go. If you speak with anyone from McDonald's (just as an example) they are inundated with people making false claims for everything from spoilt meat to slipping on a floor. They are scam artists frankly, and any business, especially a hospitality business MUST be vigilant over these claims. Some people do it simply because they want to see what they can get out of it, others are in effect 'professionals' at it.

Any claim of 'food poisoning' would need to be followed up with a Doctor's report before I would even discuss compensation. As you said, the restaurant follows the safety regulations strictly, so any such claim is suspect. If however, there is a problem, then having a medical report allows you to search out and remove whatever the problem might have been.

This is actually a very brief answer to your question. But, reality is, I have seen this far too many times. The customer hanging up on you, 'proves' to me that they were simply one of those trying to get free stuff.. for no reason.

Answer 5

I agree with Chad K

Answer 6

If he didn't go to the hospital , there is no way to know if he is telling the truth or not.  Also why didn't anyone else get sick? I could understand if 5 people that day had the same dish and ended up sick then you have a problem.  

I think you handled it well. I know I work in Customer Service and you can never make everyone happy.

Answer 7

You handled it correctly.  If the customer was at the restaurant and there was something clearly wrong, I would offer to take the meal off the bill immediatly.  Being he was home and unsure of where he got the illness, he was just trying to scam you and score a free meal.  You did a good job... don't let it bother you.  

As long as you're polite, a customer can't expect that you would just give out free meals.  That's not a restaurant practice/policy.

Answer 8

I think that you handled this situation appropriately. If he had been ill after the meal and had seen his doctor, you would have had a visit from the Local Health Authority. He could be trying you out for some freebie. If you offered him some compensation that would be a tacit admission of guilt and acceptance that your restaurant was responsible for his discomfort. Invite him to inspect your restaurant and from his behaviour you will be able to see how genuine he is.

Answer 9

Some people are just looking for a free handout. If you are sure your restaurant follows all food safety procedures, and if he hasn't even visited a doctor to confirm his suspicions, there was really nothing you could have done. Don't let it bother you!

Answer 10

I assume that not one else, including the staff, got sick from this dish.  He was just trying to get a free meal, idiots and con-men are a cost of doing business.

Answer 11

I think he was looking for a free meal, you handled it very well.

Answer 12

yeah, definitely don't say "what would you like us to do", lol ..... although they were really rude about it. but anyways, for future reference, you should probably just take it as a loss (possibly a customer or two), and at least offer them an alternative, ie: free meal next time they come in. this will open the door for them to give your establishment a second chance, although they might not take it, but at least you tried.

a lot of people will call up and say they have food poisoning, or even say they had a bad dining experience, just for the sake of getting free stuff. unfortunately, you'll never know who's lying and who's sincere. you can assume! and most likely you're right, but regardless. for future reference, offer the customer a way of making it up to them for their bad experience, and say you're sorry for the experience, etc. .... they may or may not appreciate your efforts, but all you can do is try!