Proper compensation for a waiter's "oops"

Was chatting with a friend at lunch and she was telling a me about a family outing they had at a local, highly thought of establishment in the highlands where she had a glass of red wine spilled on her by a waiters misstep. The waiter was very apoligetic, and the manager came by and said "we'll take care of this for you". Their idea of taking care of it was comping 6 cokes (4 of which were kids drinks) and replacing the glass of wine. It's doubtful that the wine will come out of the clothes she had on. The whole thing took her aback to the point that she just quietly paid the bill, and left (she really isn't the type to make a fuss, but the more she thought about it the madder she's become).

I myself think that this place, at a minimum, should have knocked a % off the tab, and then offered to pay the cleaning bill.......

Am I being to harsh? Would love to hear what others have to say.

Something like that, you have to pick up the cleaning bill. If it were anything but wine, you might get away with only comping a few meals, but the wine is an instant cleaning bill. I would also comp at least part of the meal (entree, starter, or dessert, something). Mistakes happen, but so does graciously making up for them.

Your friend has a right to be upset.

I agree, Bill. At the very minimum they should have covered her dry cleaning expenses. It's possible that there was an unexperienced manager that night that didn't think of it.

In my opinion--cleaning bill, food, drinks, apology, the works! Accidents happen, we all know that, but, the fact that it was an accident, doesn't allow the management to be as non-reactive as they seem to have been.

[Robin Garr]

Joining the choir: Pick up the cleaning bill is a MUST. Covering dinner or drinks would be an extremely appropriate gesture. This is not a minor "oops."

If I were manager that night, it would be the cleaning bill and 50% off the entire tables food and beverage.

Thank you all for chiming in.....glad to see we're pretty much in agreement........

I had a double dose of red wine dumped on my back by a waiter (followed by a loud "fu**" from the waiter) at one of our favorite locally owned spots. By the time I left the manager still had not offered a cleaning (nor would I have accepted it at that point - too ticked off). I always bite my lip when I tell this story not to give the restaurant name.

[Robin Garr]

I always bite my lip when I tell this story not to give the restaurant name.

Anyway, most of the old-timers likely remember.

Hopefully the search feature is turned of on the old board by now!

When I owned my place in MO, we comp'd the meal, paid for the cleaning and invited the guest back again on me. She still took us to small claims where we had to replace the entire outfit. Mis-step on wine cost me $1000!
You may want to cll back and talk to the owner, I am sure they will do what they can.

Hopefully the search feature is turned of on the old board by now!

Think again. I use that still functioning feature quite frequently.

We recently dined at one of our favorite spots in the Highlands (a favorite of regulars here on the forum), ordered a nice bottle of wine, and then one of the wait staff knocked it over, spilling some of the wine and breaking a water glass. No wine spills on us, but still, spilled wine. Apologies were immediately extended of course. But no other reparation. No replaced wine, nothing. I was pretty surprised by that. It's one of the nicest restaurants in the area. Of course we'll go back. We love the place. And while the apologies were swift and sincere, I was a little disappointed it simply stopped at that. If it were my place? I'd have replaced the bottle.

Having done something similar when I was waiting tables years ago (only it was a whole bottle of red on a guest) I'm pretty familiar with this type of experience. Comping soft drinks is nowhere near adequate. Regret needs to be expressed in a demonstrable way. I'm on the same page with most everyone else. At a minimum, I believe they should have comped the entire meal for the person who was spilled on and picked up the cleaning bill.

This does bring up another thought though - what kind of tip, if any, a waiter should get in this situation?

any accidental spillage should be replaced at the cost of the restaurant or server, be it a bottle of water or a bottle of wine. if the spillage causes stains (the afformentioned red wine) then picking up the cleaning is a must, and prep for potential outfit replacement, if stain removal is a failure. I would also expect the individuals dinner to be comp'ed but not the entire table. for the table, desserts.

thats just my feeling.

the only thing Ive ever had spilled on me was some au jus, my meal was free, and they gave me one of their souvineer Tee Shirts.