Your consumer rights also apply when you are eating food and drink in a restaurant or other food outlet. Food and drink purchased in a restaurant must be as described and of reasonable quality. This means that the food should not be cold, burnt, contain any foreign objects and all ingredients stated on the menu as being included in the dish should be provided.
If you discover an issue with your meal stop eating straight away and make the waiting staff aware of what the issue is. It is likely you will be offered a replacement meal which you should accept.
With any problems that arise during your visit, many restaurants will seek to resolve them there and then. They may offer an apology, a replacement meal, a free drink/dessert or a reduction in the bill. Unless you genuinely feel that what the restaurant is offering is not good enough then you should accept this.
If you are unhappy with the solution you can ask for the dish in which you experienced an issue to be removed from the bill. However, you cannot do this if your problem is with the service instead of the food.
Another option is to ‘pay under protest’. This is when you agree to pay the bill in full however you are unhappy about doing so. Explain to the restaurant staff that you are paying the bill under protest and write on the back of the bill “paying under protest”.
Make sure to keep a copy of the bill as this will be useful to have for any possible claim against the restaurant. You should also take photographs of poor quality food. It is also a good idea to leave your name and contact details with the restaurant to demonstrate that you are not simply trying to avoid paying.
Afterwards, write a letter to the owner or manager of the restaurant explaining that you paid under protest, detail exactly what the nature of your complaint is and explain why you believe you should receive a refund.
What if I end up with food poisoning?
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 states that restaurants must prepare food with reasonable skill and care. If you fall ill with food poisoning due to eating food prepared by the restaurant they have breached their contract with you.
You may need to prove that it was the food you ate in the restaurant that caused your food poisoning. It will be easier to do this if you were dining with other people and they also fell ill. The restaurant may also admit to causing food poisoning.
You should also report this to your local environmental health office. They could carry out an inspection of the premises.
It is also a good idea to let the restaurant know that you have suffered food poisoning after eating there. They may be able to trace other people who dined there at the same time and find out if they have also fallen ill.
If you are simply looking for your meal to be refunded you should contact the restaurant directly. The restaurant may also offer compensation in the form of a voucher or a free meal. However, if you intend to claim compensation through the courts you should not accept this.
If you intend to claim compensation for the illness caused or for loss of earnings if you had to take time off work you will need to claim this through the courts. You will need to provide medical evidence that you suffered food poisoning.
What if the problem is with the service?
Although the food in a restaurant may be delicious, you may still experience a problem with the service.
When turning up to a restaurant where you have booked a table only to find that the restaurant has double booked and cannot accommodate you, your meal may be cancelled. If this is the case you are entitled to claim compensation for the cost of travel to the restaurant. Equally, if you book a table that you no longer wish you should let the restaurant know. If you have paid a deposit you may not get this back unless the restaurant finds someone else for your table. They must make a reasonable effort to do this.
If you experience an unacceptably long wait for your food or even rude staff you should mention this to the manager. In this case, you can refuse to pay any service charge that is added on to your bill.
If the waiting staff spill something on your clothes you can claim the cost of having these cleaned. Most restaurants will usually offer this anyway.
Can a restaurant bribe me to leave a good review i.e on Tripadvisor or Trust Pilot?
There is nothing wrong with a restaurant letting customers know that they have a page on Tripadvisor, Trust Pilot or another review website and encouraging them to leave some feedback.
However, restaurants should not offer customers an incentive such as a discount, vouchers, free dessert/coffee etc in return for a 5-star review. This breaches the rules of most review sites who will take action against restaurants (and any other businesses) that post or encourage false reviews.
It is also illegal to submit or encourage fake reviews. The Office of Fair Trading has confirmed it will investigate any reports of restaurants bribing customers to leave positive reviews and will take action if rules are broken.
The same also applies to restaurants who offer incentives for customers to remove negative reviews.
