The online restaurant booking service OpenTable, recently conducted a survey into the complaining habits of diners and restaurant customers.
With the help of 2,000 members of the dining public and 250 restaurateurs, the survey found that six out of ten diners would complain about a problem with their food or service, while 44% worried their food would be tampered with if they returned a dish.
Diners in the South of England are more likely to complain than in the North, with Coventry coming top of complainers, followed by Portsmouth. The survey also revealed some of the more quirkier complaints that have been received by restaurateurs.
“My champagne was too fizzy”, “the ice was too cold” and a complaint that an engraved prosecco glass did not match are just some of the remarks that were included in the survey. Another diner complained that the décor of a restaurant was not good enough for social media site Instagram.
Other oddball complaints were centred around food, with remarks regarding the colour of a plate clashing with the food, carrots not being sliced evenly, a gazpacho which was served cold (as the Spanish soup is supposed to be), and a tapas dish that was considered too small. Not forgetting the diner who returned a dish saying, ‘the fish was staring at me’.
Adrian Valeriano, OpenTable Europe vice-president, suggests diners leave feedback at the time to the management or waiting team, as most problems can usually be sorted out to everyone’s satisfaction very quickly. However, the temperature of the ice or the fizz of a champagne, served in mismatched engraved drinkware or not, may be something diners just have to put up with.
