1 EAGLETON NOTES: Fatuous Statements

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Monday 18 July 2011

Fatuous Statements

I decided to have my annual fix of chips (fries) for dinner last night.  I just fancied some.  Crisply battered fish and chips seemed the best bet on the menu.  To quote one of my favourite movie lines (from Pretty Woman) ‘big mistake’.  The batter was just a soggy mess of semi-cooked flour and water (given that it was brown I assume that it had been frozen and heated) and the fish was tasteless and over-cooked.  The chips certainly wouldn’t have passed any test on Master Chef.

In these circumstances I feel that the management should always have such short-comings drawn to their attention.  However on this occasion I couldn’t be bothered until the waiter asked if the meal was OK.  He got both barrels from me and as CJ’s ‘mashed potato’ wasn’t mashed he got it from CJ as well.  They offered us free desert and coffee instead.  By that time despite having had no lunch and no dinner I’d lost my appetite and I rarely eat desert anyway.  The waiter could see no resolution so I asked to see the Manager.  He was busy.  Well could he please unbusy himself from the office (unbeknown to us he was the person who had been standing a few yards away serving behind the bar when all this had started) and come and sort it out.  He emerged to offer to re-fund the money for our largely uneaten meals but not without saying “Well we’ve served over 200 meals this evening without a complaint.” 

And the relevance of that fatuous comment is….? 

5 comments:

  1. I think that's the comment taught to everyone in the catering industry. It would certainly have been my response if I'd served 200 pints and then someone had complained about one. I guess people have different standards and presumably the locals are used to the food.

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  2. Oh dear. I really hate it when the decision is finally made to have fish n chips, a rare decision, and then it is poorly cooked/ prepared. Very annoying.
    As for those fatuous comments.................do they not realise you are not commenting about the other 200, only yours. One bad meal makes for one bad experience and one bad memory, and possibly not your patron again.
    Their loss.

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  3. And how many of those patrons would like to have commented as you & CJ did? He may never know, but lost customers will bite him down the road, for sure!
    Better day tomorrow!
    :)

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  4. Helen: I think you are right but there is a difference between pints drawn from the same barrel and meals. All the other meals may have been excellent. Though the odds when two out of two were bad doesn't inspire confidence.

    Yes, Jaz and Lisa, they've had our custom before but this will have been the last time.

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  5. good for you! I feel like an old b...h when I comment about food that is poorly cooked. But I venture out seldom and want my money's worth!

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