If you’ve had a bad experience you might be tempted to avoid an awkward conversation at the restaurant and wait until you get home to complain.
Generally in the UK, customers prefer not to complain directly, says Sam.
“And when they send an email or leave a comment on social media, they’ll make a load of unreasonable threats such as ‘We’ll leave bad reviews unless you do X, Y and Z’,” he adds.
But Siba Mtongana, who runs many restaurants, says this does not allow the restaurant to fix the issue at the time and ultimately means it’s likely the problems will never be addressed.
“My plea would be to complain to the manager on the day because that is the right thing to do,” she says.
Complain in the moment, she urges. If it can’t be fixed there and then, salvage what you can from your evening and speak to head office or as a final resort leave an online review.
