Sometimes if there’s been a mistake or a customer is unhappy with their order at a restaurant, the server “comp” (short for complimentary) the item from the bill. That means the restaurant will eat the cost of the dish or drink, and the customer doesn’t have to pay. But if a server warns the customer about the item, and they proceed to order it, should the restaurant be responsible?
Arizona-based server Saydie (@realslimsaydie) often shares content about her life in the restaurant industry with her 14,000 followers. In a TikTok with over 42,000 views, she recalls her co-worker’s experience with a comp request.
“Do you guys think if an item gets sent back but the server warned them about it should be the restaurant’s responsibility to comp it?” she asks.
A spicy dish leads to a comp request
“The reason I’m asking this is because this happened to my co-worker. The same exact scenario,” the content creator explains. “Customer orders the spiciest taco on the menu. The sauce on the taco is a ghost pepper chili sauce.”
Sporked reports that the ghost pepper is one of the spiciest peppers. It is reportedly 100 times hotter than a jalapeño.
Saydie says her co-worker emphasized that the taco is the spiciest menu item. However, that didn’t dissuade the customer from proceeding to order it.
And sure enough, the customer couldn’t handle the heat.
“Then, they asked for it off their bill,” she says, tapping her finger and enunciating each word for emphasis. “For the first time ever, I saw a manager step up and tell the guest ‘no.’”
“‘Unfortunately, I’m not taking it off your bill because we intended that item to be spicy. We let you know it was gonna be spicy, and we delivered on that,’” she recalls the manager saying.
The Daily Dot reached out to Saydie via TikTok comment and direct message.
Viewers side with the server
“What do you guys think?” Saydie concludes.
Viewers shared their thoughts in the comments.
“Comps should be rare, if you order something and don’t know if you will like it or not that’s you taking the risk of having to pay for something you didn’t enjoy,” one viewer wrote.
“No cause if you’ve warned them, then you’ve done your job. You can always offer the sauce on then side, but if the guest continues it’s not the houses fault that the guest couldn’t handle it,” a second remarked.
A third added, “I’ve seen disclaimers on menus before saying they won’t comp food for spice levels.”
Servers also shared their own, similar experiences.
“I have this issue in my new town. People will order drinks and then not enjoy them, ask for me to take them off after drinking half,” one user shared.
“We literally have stated on our menu that we won’t comp things that are made properly but ppl will still be like ‘i just don’t like this’ and it’ll be taken off sooo idk,” another revealed.
Should restaurants comp spicy food?
According to Toast, a meal being too spicy is not a valid reason to comp a dish.
“If a guest ordered wrong and didn’t like a dish (even though it was prepared correctly) … don’t comp,” it notes. “It’s impossible to wow every single guest, and if you start giving away food and drinks to people who just didn’t love a dish, your profits will take a big hit.”
@realslimsaydie Especially when the item is prepared exactly how intended and customer is aware that it is prepared like that!!!
♬ original sound – Saydie 💌🪩💫
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