Do You Send Your Food Back?

Not if you’re British, says the received wisdom. We’re more likely to whinge to our partner, write a scathing review online or simply never go back to the restaurant concerned. But recent research from YouGov Omnibus sheds some more light on our perceived national reluctance to ‘make a fuss’.

Almost four in ten people (39%) say they would feel uncomfortable sending food back if there was something wrong with it but that still leaves 55% who are happy to send it back if warranted (6% don’t know). The survey also presented 11 different scenarios of things going wrong and asked respondents how likely they were to send the food back in each:

You got the wrong meal (92% would send it back)
Food undercooked (90%)
Plate not clean (79%)
A hair in the food (78%)
Part of the meal missing (73%)
Food too hot or too cold (60%)
Food overcooked (51%)
Specific request not followed (42%)
Didn’t like the food (16%)
Poor presentation (10%)
Portions size too small (10%)

And the scenario that caused the biggest divergence between the groups that would and wouldn’t feel comfortable sending food back -- overcooked food. Two thirds (66%) of people that are comfortable sending back food would return overcooked food to the kitchen compared to just 34% amongst those who feel uncomfortable.

Have you ever sent your food back? Tell us more...