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How long to wait before getting up & leaving a restaurant? Now with 10²% more pauxl!

How long would you wait before getting up and leaving a restaurant?

  • < 5 mins

  • 5-10 mins

  • 11-15 mins

  • > 15 mins

Results are only viewable after voting.
weirdichi

weirdichi

Diamond Member
It was Sunday towards the end of brunch with about half the restaurant full. It's not a fancy restaurant, just a run of the mill bar/grill that has brunch on Sundays. We were seated promptly, but there was nobody that came by to ask us for drink orders. We waited for about 10 minutes and still nobody came, even though there were enough staff walking around the restaurant. There was a waiter watching another waitress bringing drinks to other customers two tables away. I flagged him down and ask if we could get service and he said to wait a minute. By this time, the girlfriend had enough and we left. I would've waited about 5 more minutes, but when the lady who hasn't had her coffee yet says to go, you go.

How long would you wait?
 
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I would wait 5-10 then leave.

One time i was out and waited over 30 min to get the bill after finishing the meal, asked waitress for bill twice. Even stacked the empty dishes into a pile 2 feet tall on the end of the table to get attention. After we asked for the bill the second time we waited 10 min then left without paying, figured they really dont need the money if it takes them over 30 min to get a bill together.
 
10-15.

Usually they're smart though; they get you a drink quickly so you can't leave then they leave you to brew for a half hour. Had a waitress do this to me once, I tipped her 38 cents... with my credit card. 😀
 
We've walked out a few times from various restaurants. Probably 10 minutes with no service while watching waiters wander around aimlessly. 15-20 if drink order came out and then no service.

One thing we've learned is to NEVER sit at a table served by the bartender. You always get shitty/no service this way, and the hostess always tries to sit you there. We always make sure we sit down nowhere near the bar.
 
Scouzer said:
10-15.

Usually they're smart though; they get you a drink quickly so you can't leave then they leave you to brew for a half hour. Had a waitress do this to me once, I tipped her 38 cents... with my credit card. 😀
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Oh I still leave. I always keep 10-20 in cash on hand. First, I never know when I want a drink at work and the vending machine doesn't take debit cards, and second, you never know when you just want to throw down some cash and leave.

I was at a local pub/restaurant with my wife where we sat for 10 minutes with nothing but our drinks (which the host got us when he sat us down). I tossed 3.00 on the table and walked out. I don't know the cost of their drinks, but that's the breaks.

I also tweeted about the ordeal and the owner looked at security footage and gave me a free coupon to come back.
 
sourceninja said:
Oh I still leave. I always keep 10-20 in cash on hand. First, I never know when I want a drink at work and the vending machine doesn't take debit cards, and second, you never know when you just want to throw down some cash and leave.

I was at a local pub/restaurant with my wife where we sat for 10 minutes with nothing but our drinks (which the host got us when he sat us down). I tossed 3.00 on the table and walked out. I don't know the cost of their drinks, but that's the breaks.

I also tweeted about the ordeal and the owner looked at security footage and gave me a free coupon to come back.
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For the 2 - 4 times we've walked out of a place after getting drinks, I've never left a dime. If they're going to waste my time and annoy me into getting up and finding another place to eat, they can cover the $ 0.15 or so it cost them to fill my cup with Coke.
 
zerocool84 said:
People here would have stayed and even tipped double.
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What people like you need to understand is that being a waiter is a real career that deserves a living wage whereas McDonalds should not get a living wage because it's mostly young people who work at McDonalds :awe:

I would need to be seated immediately (unless there is a line). Service should be within 5-10 minutes of sitting down. If either of these conditions are not met, I'm pissed as fuck. So basically every time I go to a place like Boston Pizza I end up being angry as fuck because that place sucks so god damn much. The people at McDonalds don't fucking ignore people who are trying to order things so why does Boston Pizza??
 
I usually wait about 10 - 15 minutes before I leave / consider leaving. If there is a large group of people in my section, or if the server is busy I'll wait.

But if their are servers standing around not doing anything, I'll usually leave within 5 - 10 minutes.

At a birthday party a couple of months ago, we waited 30 minutes before the whole group left and went somewhere else - 30 minutes and the servers did not even have our drinks out.
 
depends on how hungry I am but if it's more than 5 min I'd probably leave. This of course depends on how busy they are and how nice is it. Also if I'm really hungry I might wait upto 10 min because it would take at least that long to get somewhere else.
 
I left one yesterday.
There is a sandwich shop down the street that opens at 6 AM. That's too late to stop on the way to work so I called them at 7 and ordered a breakfast sandwich.

They said it would be ready in five to ten minutes. I waited ten then left (about a 5 minute drive). I stopped at the ATM next door to get some cash then went into the shop. They hadn't started my sandwich yet.

She started on the eggs as I sat down. Five minutes later I had no sandwich so I left. I hit the drive through at McDonald's, just down the street.
 
HardcoreRobot said:
after a few minutes, grab someones attention and let them know no one has been by.
get service.
profit.
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you're assuming they care. they don't.

I've stopped other waiters, hostesses, etc. to state that we hadn't been served/can they send our waiter over. Still nothing. When people don't feel like working, they're not going to work.
 
Jeeebus said:
you're assuming they care. they don't.

I've stopped other waiters, hostesses, etc. to state that we hadn't been served/can they send our waiter over. Still nothing. When people don't feel like working, they're not going to work.
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i eat out a LOT. this situation has happened many times, and every time it is a case of no one realizing the table is theirs. once they fix the confusion, service continues on as usual.

there may be cases where your comment applies, but that has never been my experience
 
This has happened a lot. If the restaurant seats me, and I don't have service and it isn't for an obvious reason, I give em one shot. I go back to the hostess that sat us and ask for service. If it ain't running out I'm outta there.
 
I've never had to walk out of a restaurant for not being served. I only eat out a few times a year though. I use to be really broke and I just got use to making my own food and whenever we could afford to go out to eat it was a luxury. I'm not as poor anymore but I've just kept the same mindset.
 
sourceninja said:
I also tweeted about the ordeal and the owner looked at security footage and gave me a free coupon to come back.
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I recently posted about horrible service at a restaurant which I had eaten at many times before (with better service) & the owner had the post removed immediately, without so much as an apology to me. I eat out fairly often. It inspired me to create a website for local restaurant reviews.
 
I really never cared. Any time I go out to eat, I'm with friends so we could be waiting a while and I wouldn't notice because we talk alot.

But if we want to get service, we ask for it. And I've always gotten service by simply raising my hands.
 
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