Would You Ask For a Free Meal?

Terronium-12

Terronium-12

For My Mom, Always
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KR_Viper
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I'm having a "discussion" with some fine folks on imgur (unfrown your face right now) about dining ethics. What ethics, you ask? Oh, nothing too complicated just the act of finding plastic in your chicken tender. And I don't mean a small piece that you'd look at, go "WTF?" and continue on and/or go up and ask for a replacement. I'm talking this:

.

Now, the discussion is whether or not you'd go up to the counter and demand a free meal or walk out and never eat from this place ever again. For some reason or another, I'm the weird one because why would I want a free meal....from a restaurant whose food almost inflicted me with asphyxia? I'm letting emotion rule my decision-making here because it's a 1 in 10,000,000 chance or something of that nature.

Despite my strong feelings on the matter, don't let it steer you one way or the other because that's why I'm here: what would you guys do? Would you get the free meal or would it scare you away? I'm genuinely curious and if you could explain why (we're talking the same restaurant, not going off to another one in a different location) that'd be even better! So, have at it.
 
My Wife would would go ballistic. She'd get the money back, post a message on whatever social media that restaurant are on, send a letter to the company and call their headquarters. Me? Too disgusted to mince words. I'd dump the tray and leave. No money back or anything. Count my losses, but tell people I know, what happened.
 
I think I’m just gonna go up to the cashier and ask for a replacement, if that ever happens to me IRL. Going to another restaurant is too troublesome for me, and it’s not likely that I’ll get asphyxiated by it; it’s too large to go through your cavity unnoticed. Will it put a dent in your desire to visit the restaurant again, though? I think so, but even then it’s gonna be a relatively small one. It’s not uncommon for fast food chains here to make these types of mistakes, and hygiene (I think) is not affected here.

If there’re insects found inside my food, then that’s another entirely different story, but even then it depends on the severity of the violation; a tiny little fly or ant, I might be able to tolerate it and visit that restaurant again. Anything larger and it’s a foul. :ill:

Of course I’m not gonna eat the part of the food where I found the insect, no matter large or small.
 
If I reported the incident and they are polite to admit to their mistakes, and replaced my order then I would happily eat there again. But if they insist its not their fault and not replace my food voluntarily. Then I would just leave and will not eat there again. Most of the crew have extended shifts at very low wages. I won't give them any trouble by making a fuss over it.
 
Tough call.

Depends on how often you frequent the place.

A regular dining outlet of mine; I’d not pay/ ask for a refund. It’s negligence but I’d weigh that against the good meals I’d had at the particular place.

A place I’d been for the first time; I’d refuse to pay outright/ get a refund. If they’re apologetic I would never go back and call it quits.
If they kick up a stink I’ll do my best to make sure nobody goes back there, and I’d give them hell.

My response would also depend on how many beers I’d had prior to the meal. Hell hath no fury like a drunkard deprived of fried chicken.
 
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I would ask for a refund and never eat at that particular restaurant again unless it is a well established local restaurant.
 
Give them a chance to make it right. The people at the restaurant don't package the food, they just unpack it and dump it into the fryers. That tender probably arrived at the restaurant that way. They should also pass the complaint up the chain.

No reason to be shy about asking for it to be made right. And no reason to "punish" the restaurant, unless you are going to rule out all of their locations forever.
 
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I'm not sure if "demand a free meal" is how I'd put it. I'd speak to the manager, ask for a replacement, and let them know that they've got at least one employee who caused this mistake which could've been very dangerous and they need to straighten it out. They would probably be appalled to begin with and I wouldn't have to be too assertive - sometimes my temper gets the best of me and I think I need to be a hardass but then when I confront the person they're very understanding. It's Zaxbys - mistakes happen but obviously that company isn't in the business of making mistakes, and unless that location is notorious for problems - at which point me and everybody I know would send numerous complaints to corporate - then I'd assume somebody made a mistake and didn't catch it. But that's not good enough.
 
Keef
I'd speak to the manager
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Is Keef really a Karen, a Kareef if you will? :eek:

:P

Jokes aside though, I'd probably just inform the staff and see what they'd be willing to do. Pretty much any manager worth their salt is going to absolutely make it right and refund your money because of the potential bad publicity over it. If they don't make it right, I'd go ahead and put them on blast and then never eat there again.
 
Asking for a refund gives the restaurant a bit of an out, and puts you in a position of possibly needing to report that they refunded you. If you're outraged enough to go on a social media tirade about it, you might want to forgo the request for a refund just so that you don't have to say you got one. It all depends on how much damage you want to inflict on the restaurant, and what kind of person you are.

If you're the kind of person who realizes that mistakes get made, and that we don't necessarily have to burn the place down (and that it might be wasteful to do so) just because a mistake was made, then ask for a refund, or a replacement, and skip the social media brigade.

If you're the kind of person who realizes that some mistakes are unforgivable, and that if it's dangerous enough, it can't even happen once, then maybe skip the refund, show every customer in the establishment what happened. Show the manager, show the employees, and post it online.

Me personally? I probably just ask for a replacement. If I've been put off my appetite enough, I might ask for a refund.
 
Simple. I'd go up to the counter and show them the problem. I'd certainly not demand or ask for a free meal. I'd not ask for a refund, only warn them about this problem.

I have been in a few of these situations and the worst was a dead spider, which my father found on his plate when having lunch. I warned them, showed them the spider and specifically told them that I was not looking for a free replacement (it was a plastic bag with frozen vegetables). But they insisted and I got a free replacement.
 
wfooshee
Give them a chance to make it right. The people at the restaurant don't package the food, they just unpack it and dump it into the fryers. That tender probably arrived at the restaurant that way. They should also pass the complaint up the chain.

No reason to be shy about asking for it to be made right. And no reason to "punish" the restaurant, unless you are going to rule out all of their locations forever.
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More or less exactly what I was going to post last night then got sidetracked and forgot to with the addition of yelling at the person behind the counter is just cruel as they almost assuredly had nothing to do with any process of the meal preparation besides handing it to you when it was finished.

But Xenu help you if my replacement comes out and there's more plastic. NOW we've got a problem.
 
Nasty.

If I've eaten there before or go on the semi-regular, I'd ask for a free meal.

If it's the first time, I'd ask the boss wife how her food is, if she likes it, I'll take it as a one off and ask for a free meal.

If it's the first time and she didn't like her food either, we'd probably just leave ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


Jerome
 
1. I don't see any issue with asking for a refund, or being comped a meal. That's the least they could do, and should offer it without the customer even asking. That's standard practice for successful businesses.

2. If it propells you to take it to the internet in an attempt to take down a giant chain, lmao. Get over yourself, people.

3. If you go bat 🤬 over the mistake in the restaurant, you don't deserve to come back. That's ridiculous. Grow up. Mistakes are made, and it's not likely the fault of someone there (according to another post in this thread... I don't know much about this place).

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Personally, I'd stop eating the moment I discovered the flaw and ask for the full meal to be replaced. I'm fat. Gimme more food.
 
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kolio
1. I don't see any issue with asking for a refund, or being comped a meal. That's the least they could do, and should offer it without the customer even asking. That's standard practice for successful businesses.

2. If it propells you to take it to the internet in an attempt to take down a giant chain, lmao. Get over yourself, people.

3. If you go bat 🤬 over the mistake in the restaurant, you don't deserve to come back. That's ridiculous. Grow up. Mistakes are made, and it's not likely the fault of someone there (according to another post in this thread... I don't know much about this place).
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👍

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kolio
Personally, I'd stop eating the moment I discovered the flaw and ask for the full meal to be replaced. I'm fat. Gimme more food.
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Except this.


You're not fat. You're just joking, right? Sarcasm, right?
 
kikie
You're not fat. You're just joking, right? Sarcasm, right?
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Does it matter? Half the western world is ‘fat’ to some extent. Having a layer of fat ain’t no big deal, being obese is the real threat to health.
 
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W3HS
Does it matter? Half the western world is ‘fat’ to some extent. Having a layer of fat ain’t no big deal, being obese is the real threat to health.
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Isn't that the same? Fat and obese?
 
kikie
Isn't that the same? Fat and obese?
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Not really. Women get fat when they’re pregnant. Men might get fat when bulking up to build muscle. I get fat around my gut because of beer.
Obesity is an excess of fat to the point where it’s unhealthy.
Synonyms of fat might be: large, big boned, podgy, tubby, busty, rotund, etc…
An obese person is one you might look at and think “Wow, how does a person get that big!?”. Usually reserved for people who dietary challenged and exercise averse.

Fat:
upload_2021-5-17_19-31-2.jpeg


Obese:
upload_2021-5-17_19-31-59.jpeg


Of course, it’s not always the case. I’ve known obese people who have become that way because of illness. I’ve also known large, fat people that just could never be ‘slim’ because of their body type.

Im not a doctor so don’t quote me on this, but ‘fat’ is usually a bit of excess fat, obese is beyond the normal limits of the body.
 
W3HS
Not really. Women get fat when they’re pregnant. Men might get fat when bulking up to build muscle. I get fat around my gut because of beer.
Obesity is an excess of fat to the point where it’s unhealthy.
Synonyms of fat might be: large, big boned, podgy, tubby, busty, rotund, etc…
An obese person is one you might look at and think “Wow, how does a person get that big!?”. Usually reserved for people who dietary challenged and exercise averse.

Fat:
View attachment 1011531

Obese:
View attachment 1011532

Of course, it’s not always the case. I’ve known obese people who have become that way because of illness. I’ve also known large, fat people that just could never be ‘slim’ because of their body type.

Im not a doctor so don’t quote me on this, but ‘fat’ is usually a bit of excess fat, obese is beyond the normal limits of the body.
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I thought that it was the same. I thought that a fat person is someone with too much body fat which is also called obese. I also thought that someone with a serious unhealthy amount of fat is a really, really fat person or morbidly obese. It seems that I was wrong.
 
kikie
👍

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Except this.


You're not fat. You're just joking, right? Sarcasm, right?
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I use the term loosely to describe that I like to eat. In reality, I'm probably about 20 pounds over what my healthy weight should be for a person my size.
 
I'd get my money back and go elsewhere. An experience like this would be the last time I set foot into that establishment.
 
Breaded plastic.

Yuck.

I'd definitely be vocal about it. Would I want more food, or a refund? The former, maybe; depends on if I like the place/have been there often/other factors, the latter, probably, or at the very least, some kind of compensation, because, that's not cool.
 
kolio
I use the term loosely to describe that I like to eat. In reality, I'm probably about 20 pounds over what my healthy weight should be for a person my size.
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Same here. I'm at least 15 pounds over my normal weight.
 
I'd probably just continue to eat the breaded plastic tender, that sounds delicious.
 
I'd ask for a replacement. No big deal. There are other ways that could be less obvious and more dangerous.

About the fat discussion, I always joke that I have that Boomhauer body 'cause I look thin but I have a gut.
 

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