People in the food service industry, what do you think of people who always send their food back?

I work in the food business and i can tell you that the public can be ridiculous when it comes to ordering their meals.Did you ever see the movie 'WAITING', its about a restaurant and customers. I get people sending food back all the time for ridiculous things, but i can tell you in my 20 yrs. i have never seen a cook do anything bad to a customers food. when i get people that i know are the type you are talking about i just grin and bear it, remember they are still the customer even though they are giving us a hard time. i really think their deal is that they are just unhappy and need to be a pain in the buttocks.

The key words in your question is "always sends their food back"--implying that they dine there often. Well...if I know that a certain customer has a "habit" of sending their food back just because they can (meaning they got it the way the asked for it the first time) I usually talk to the cook and explain exactly what they want and make sure that they get it that way--therefore they can't complain. 99.9% of the time this works. It's so much fun to watch the disappointed look on their face when I deliver their food and say, "Before I leave the table I want to make sure this is exactly what you wanted. You wanted it this way... Did we get it right for you? Yes, great. I'll check back in a few minutes. Enjoy." I walk away chuckling to myself because you can actually see the disappointment on their face that we got it RIGHT. Usually people that do this are looking for anything wrong so that they can get their meal for free. I've actually had regular customers that after a while of them getting their food right, they've moved on to complaining about the temperature of the building or the lighting in the bathroom...just anything they can think of trying to get a free meal...after a few tries at this they usually get it...no more free food...then you stop seeing them as often.

the only time i send my food back is when i get steak and waitress will say how do you like it i ways say burnt that way atleast it should come back the way i want, but there is still blood coming out . i don't do bloody meats.

It's hard to judge a forest by one tree. Many people have legitimate complaints about food-- taste, temperature, not what they ordered, etc. When I worked in a restaurant, I sympathized with these people. If you are going to pay for a meal, you should very well get enjoyment and money's worth out of the experience. And, especially if the meal is not cooked properly, not sending the food back could result in food poisoning. As per people who are finicky... well. It's their money, and they are entitled to food they find palatable. I find there are few of these people, thankfully. Just an anecdote: I once had to throw out a $15 chicken dinner because a woman couldn't have the end of ONE drumstick (not the other three pieces, mind you) touching mashed potatoes. Good grief!

MANY times people don't know what they ordered. So when they get there dish it isn't what they expected. So times they get their temperatures wrong. And some times some messes up. While we do get upset over miss ordered food, we try to fix the problem as fast as possible. But if the costumer made a mistake or is being rude then the staff gets mad. If a person or party usually sends food back then they will get poor service from the staff.

My boyfreind and I frequentt a place pretty often. When I noticed he was the type to send food back, I was pretty embarassed. But they never give us free food, that is not what he is trying to do. He just wants to eat what he is asking and paying for. I mean when you order a steak or burger a certain way, that is the way he wants to eat it. He wants it medium rare, so a little pink and juicy. A well done steak is like a whole differnt dish, it doesn't taste the same. It is the cooks that are messing up because they try to force the servers to take it to the customer, just to see if they will eat the wrong thing. But the servers need to MAKE it clear what the customer wants. Otherwise the server is NOT doing thier job. The server might not be able to see inside the meat, but they can see the type of bread they ordered, cheeses, etc... In short, if you don't like to be a sever, then don't, everybody has stress at their jobs. It is such a pain in the *** to have only one hour of lunch, and have to eat something you didn't order because the server or the cook is to lazy to do their job right. I am so sick of servers complaining about thier jobs. It is not rocket science, and yes you have to deal with people too. It is what you want to do, otherwise why are you there. The most sucsessful servers are the ones that want to be there--that's a fact.