Notes from my day job.

Before you make your next restaurant reservation, go read my latest Living With Less column over at MSN Money.

“Complaining 101: Make your gripe heard” shows consumers how to fight back — politely! — against long waits, indifferent service or flies in the soup.

(Do you suppose Kermit the Frog complains if there aren’t flies in the soup?)

Nobody wants to be that loudmouth who ruins everyone’s evening. We don’t want to be perceived as opportunists who want to get something for nothing. We’re brought up not to make a fuss, so we just let it go.

Don’t. You have the right to expect decent service.

Incidentally, I still can’t get over the anecdote about the waiter who took a cell phone call while the customer was in the middle of ordering her dinner. Unless you’re waiting for a kidney, turn off the blankety-blank phone while you’re at work!

If I’d been there, here’s what I would have been tempted to do:

• Whisk the phone out of his hand,
• Say into the mouthpiece, “Would you mind calling back later, please? He’s at work.”
• Hang up.
• Ask the waiter for the restaurant’s main number.
• Dial.
• Request that the manager be sent over to my table.
• And then leave, because no matter where I was reseated, somebody would be spitting in my food.

Or maybe I’m just cranky.

Tagged as: food, Living With Less, restaurants, social interaction