Miss Manners: Handling Poor Service and Apologies
A customer shares a dining experience at an upscale restaurant where a young server made several mistakes during the meal.
Customer's Experience
- Appetizers never arrived.
- Order was incorrect.
- Server offered a half-hearted apology that mostly blamed the kitchen.
- The server waited silently for the customer's response after apologizing.
Miss Manners' Advice
The response should strike a balance between outright criticism and dismissing the issue. Instead of harshly condemning the apology or ignoring the problem, the customer should respond:
“Thank you for your apology.”
This acknowledges the server’s effort, accepts the apology, and makes clear that the mistake was noted without being rude or confrontational.
Miss Manners points out that calling out the weak apology only wastes energy and won’t encourage better responsibility or work ethic from the server. Accepting the apology properly lets the server know the issue was serious and that she took responsibility.
Contact Information for Miss Manners
- Website: www.missmanners.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Postal Mail: Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106
Author’s summary: Properly accepting an apology for poor service helps maintain civility and encourages accountability without escalating the situation.