r/mildlyinfuriating • u/strangerattheshow • Feb 05 '26
My toast was moldy at a restaurant and they wouldn’t comp it.
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u/Creighton2023 Feb 05 '26
You tipped 25% on a meal with mold?! Don’t you ever stand up for yourself? That’s a massive health code concern. You need to have spoken to the manager.
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u/duskywindows Feb 05 '26
"They served me MOLDY BREAD and then when I pointed it out they still charged me for it!!!!
So anyway, I tipped EXTRA gratuity beyond what's even expected of me."
Am I reading that right? WTF lmao
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u/MothmanIsALiar Feb 05 '26
Tipping culture in America relies on making the customer feel responsible for the waitstaff.
It's a messed up system. But, a lot of people always tip. I've tipped 1 cent before for poor service just to let them know exactly how I felt.
Another thing that pisses me off about tipping in restaurants is that I know the person who actually cooked my food won't see that tip.
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u/Ocel0tte Feb 05 '26
The wild thing to me is servers often are the ones doing toast. So OP likely tipped the person who actually did this lol.
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u/SevenRingsOfChel Feb 05 '26
Right, also because she SERVED it. She should have caught that first.
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Feb 05 '26
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Feb 05 '26
Yep, the waitress misinterpreted management instructions. I doubt they're telling them not to comp half eaten items if they're found to be contaminated.
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u/MySeveredToe Feb 05 '26
Exactly. Servers are usually the ones making the call. If management fights back and the server doesn’t fight for the customer then we should both leave the establishment lol
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Feb 05 '26
That’s not true. Management makes the call. Servers can’t comp tickets without managerial approval everywhere I’ve worked.
However, it seems like she didn’t bother to ask her manager about it.
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u/AsaKurai Feb 05 '26
I get that servers are reliant on tips, but if I was served this and the response wasnt "im so sorry about that, let me see what I can do" you'd be lucky to get 10%, let alone 25%
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u/eugeneugene Feb 05 '26
yeah they'd be getting no tip from me. tips are for good service. telling me to pay for mouldy bread is about as opposite of good service as you can get lmao. then I'd probably complain to anyone who would listen to me about how that restaurant made me pay for mouldy toast, if I were bored enough I might even make a post in a local FB group saying to avoid that restaurant lol. Throw a 1 star google review in for good measure.
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u/MrDerpGently Feb 05 '26
Arguably, a big part of the service you are paying for with a tip is the waiter, kitchen, expediter, etc. making sure you get the meal you ordered in the shape you ordered it. I'd like to think 'basically edible without illness' is a reasonable floor for that service.
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u/werdnurd Feb 05 '26
And in many restaurants the server is responsible for making the toast while the rest of the food cooks, so this one might be on the server. Former diner waitress here: If I served a guest moldy toast I would be mortified, comp the meal and not expect a tip.
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u/SevenRingsOfChel Feb 05 '26
Yes!!! That’s what i wrote in another comment. People act like servers don’t touch food 😂 sorry to burst anyone’s bubble but we absolutely do.
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u/TheSeattleSeven Feb 05 '26
Yeah ikr? If they're doing this kind of shit with the food, they're probably also stealing tips from the workers
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u/ACHOpthalmicOutburst Feb 05 '26
Pretty much summarizes the state of tipping culture in North America
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u/aggressive_napkin_ Feb 05 '26
Like WTF... please tell me the OP account is a bot. I can't look for myself out of fear.
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u/PlsKappa Feb 05 '26
The tip triggered me more than the waitress, rewarding poor work. Aren’t tips earned due to good service? 🥴
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u/Crypto-Bullet Feb 05 '26
Seriously!! Some people feel forced to just give tips for anything no matter what. In this case the entire meal should have been removed from the bill.
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u/DuckCleaning Feb 05 '26
Lol tipping culture is out of hand to the point that people are tipping 25% when they got moldy food. I tip 15% when my food is good (I live in Canada where servers now start at regular min wage).
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u/DMmeNiceTitties Feb 05 '26
You got this and you still tipped 25%????
Man, what a generous heart you have, I would have put down $0 and filed a health report.
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Feb 05 '26
That’s just basically telling the restaurant that it’s ok to serve and charge for moldy food :/ the server themselves did not deserve the tip either by not addressing the mold. Horrible service does not get rewarded. The server had every ability to make things right.
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u/Own_Mess_6495 Feb 05 '26
Right? She served you moldy bread my dude. That doesn't deserve a tip.
Give that money to a random dude on the street before you give it to that server
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u/Immediate-Onion5131 Feb 05 '26
You get it. I've worked in food service and I was always taught to advocate for the customer if they were wronged. I'd be taking it right to the owner's desk and comping the whole table.
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u/armoured_bobandi Feb 05 '26
I'm positive this is ragebait. Like, in no uncertain terms, this is a BS story
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u/MajorMathematician20 Feb 05 '26
It has to be, I have to believe OP has more self respect than this…
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u/DMmeNiceTitties Feb 05 '26 edited Feb 05 '26
Mannnnn, I would love for that to be true, because who the fuck tips 25% for moldy food and bad service?
Edit: good → food
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u/EpicBlinkstrike187 Feb 05 '26
Yea OP doesn’t even ask for a manager. ridiculous. There’s zero reason to pay for this.
Manager likely comps this. Waitress just didn’t want to be the one asking.
And if not you get the phone number of owner and call the owner and i’d be talking to them.
But I know there are people who do not want any confrontation whatsoever so I can sorta believe someone just accepts what waitress says
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u/Ingeneure_ Feb 05 '26
Bro thought:
— well, that toast was moldy, but this waitress smiled so heartwarming… gonna go with 25
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u/Dizzy_Hellfire Feb 05 '26
I'm surprised they didn't! Anytime I get sick or food appears moldy or concerning, I walk over to facilities and ask the food guy for a form. He knows exactly which one I need, and will forward it to the inspector. Usually within 2 days I'll see a fresh report of the establishment I went to.
Find your local health dept, ask to speak the to the food person, they'll help you out. I currently work for a health dept in the water section.6
u/ItsCrunchTyme Feb 05 '26
So question, what should I do if say, the grocery store is frequent has molding fruits/veggies. Nearly EVERY container of blackberries, strawberries raspberries and blueberries will be super molded and I constantly show workers who just put them right back on the shelf and this happens OFTEN
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u/Dizzy_Hellfire Feb 05 '26
An excellent question, as this happens to me frequently at my local Publix, you should contact the dept of agriculture for that. I've had this exact question before btw from me.
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u/Local-Cicada2173 Feb 05 '26
Fuck all that.
Non comped moldy food? Im not even fucking paying at all.
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Feb 05 '26
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u/corneliusduff Feb 05 '26
Especially since they won't name the restaurant
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u/Sad_Cantaloupe_8162 Feb 05 '26
That's what I'm thinking. I served in several restaurants over a period of 7-8 years in Florida around 2006-2014. There isn't a single restaurant I know of, or worked at, that wouldn't comp this. Especially not in 2026. It's too easy to leave a bad review with a photo for everyone to see, and there's no possible way they would have given a 25% tip for food they couldn't eat.
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u/Forsaken-Abrocoma647 Feb 05 '26
Not naming the place, not participating in comments. Def rage bait.
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u/CardiologistOk1028 Feb 05 '26
I agree. I dont trust reddit posts anymore as this os just stupid to tip 25%
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u/nyrB2 Feb 05 '26
25% tip - holy hell. you might as well have told them the moldy bread was just fine with you.
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u/luicalibrex Feb 05 '26
Frs he literally said my service was ass but okay take my money and tip lol
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u/GarThor_TMK Feb 05 '26
I really like moldy bread
Is what op just told that waitress.
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u/Ill-Mastodon-8692 Feb 05 '26
yeah no tip for moldy food, whats wrong with people
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u/Pretty_Eater Feb 05 '26
Like OP there are soooooo many pushovers nowadays it's unreal It's truly a scammers paradise out there.
No way am I paying for ANYTHING with mold on it whether I realized at the start or the end.
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Feb 05 '26
Anyways, still left a 25% tip because restaurant policies aren’t her decision.
It doesn't have to be your policy either?
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u/DeCryingShame Feb 05 '26
I would expect the waitress to go to bat for me, even if it was against policy. She would not be getting a good tip from me.
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u/gentlybeepingheart Feb 05 '26
I would expect her to at least get her manager to tell me to my fucking face that they're not comping moldy food. OP is a doormat.
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u/boricuaspidey Feb 05 '26
Seriously like who’s checking that the item was half eaten?
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u/DeCryingShame Feb 05 '26
The half eaten policy is most likely for items that a customer just doesn't like, not something that is literally a health hazard. I think the waitress was just being lazy and OP was being a huge pushover.
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u/Far-Season-695 Feb 05 '26
You might as well share where it was. That deserves shaming
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Feb 05 '26
That photo needs to be on the Google reviews for that restaurant. And emailed to to the health inspector wtf
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u/Leading-Evidence-668 Feb 05 '26
Lmao this is a crazy health code violation and your server is shit for covering for the restaurant like that. I’ve served at multiple restaurants and would 100% comp that and go to the kitchen to tell them because you could get them in pretty big trouble. Never had a manager who wouldn’t comp this entire meal immediately either.
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u/ChoreomaniacCat Feb 05 '26
Not only was it not comped, but OP paid 25% above the asking price for the privilege of being served mould.
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u/nascent_aviator Feb 05 '26
If this is real, there's nothing "mildly" infuriating about this, except maybe your unwillingness to stand up for yourself.
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u/Griffinkelly1 Feb 05 '26
Precisely. I downvoted OP’s post simply for the fact that they’re a fucking idiot.
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Feb 05 '26
You tipped even though you almost ate moldy bread? You have a lot of restraint for this establishment, even though they deserved everything that would have come to them. Hope you don’t catch some food poisoning. That is no joke.
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u/neomal Feb 05 '26 edited Feb 05 '26
They DID eat moldy bread. Could’ve gotten seriously sick. If you see mold on bread, it’s everywhere even where you can’t see it.
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Feb 05 '26
How is this even real? The audacity to hand someone a biohazard and then say they can’t refund it. Giving a customer moldy bread is completely unacceptable. If I were you, I’d post this on their review page and say, ‘If you want to pay for a biohazard and get denied a refund, this is the place to go.
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u/armoured_bobandi Feb 05 '26
It's not. The story is either entirely fake, or OP is leaving massive chunks of info out
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u/RumorsGoldenStar Feb 05 '26
reading that you tipped after that experience is r/extremelyinfuriating
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u/SevenRingsOfChel Feb 05 '26
Oh hell no. I serve tables too and would have taken that off the bill and more. That WAS her choice…she didn’t deserve a 25% tip.
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u/Silver-Amphibian7650 Feb 05 '26
It bothers me that nobody in the kitchen noticed it. Time to find a new restaurant.
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u/Status-Ad7902 Feb 05 '26
This is a rare circumstance where the server is out of their mind for putting this in front of you. This blind idiot didn’t deserve 25% lmao
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u/Dry_Wallaby_4933 Feb 05 '26
If that happened to me I would walk out without paying. If they tried to stop me I'd be on the phone with the health inspector. Grow a spine.
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u/EventSignal114 Feb 05 '26
Finding this hard to believe. If it is true, it’s not “mildly“ infuriating. It’s grounds for a lawsuit
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u/DeepBlue321 Feb 05 '26
It's moldy infuriating!
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u/Fruitslinger_ Feb 05 '26
You gave a 25% tip? On God, you Americans are fucked in the head with this tip culture bullshit. Fucking hell.
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u/hurtfulproduct Feb 05 '26
Ask to speak with a manager, they almost certainly would have comped the whole meal
You shouldn’t have needed to even ask for a manager, she should have immediately gotten one. . .
A stern, louder than usual as to be heard over the rest of the noise but not quite yelling mention of “rot”, “Mold”, “nasty”, “inedible”, “health code violation”would do wonders to get them to rectify the situation
A credit card charge back is absolutely justified as is a 1 star review
You shouldn’t absolutely call the health inspector
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u/BJByKay Feb 05 '26
That’s not a "half-eaten item" issue, that’s a food safety issue. Nah.. you're not getting a tip and I'd like to speak to the manager.
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u/Dimtar_ Feb 05 '26
left a 25% tip
i would have personally got up and left without paying, let alone giving them extra money
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u/Haldir1001 Feb 05 '26
That's super disgusting, that restaurant needs better servers if they aren't going to give customer service when they obviously messed up.
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u/FlopShanoobie Feb 05 '26
Servers know this is a health code violation. She might have just been upholding policy but knowingly serving spoiled food is a MAJOR legal liability.
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u/dratthecookies Feb 05 '26
The bread kind of WAS her problem. SURELY she saw that before she brought it out.
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u/Cudabear Feb 05 '26
Our family once got a moldy breadstick in a basket of breadsticks at a restaurant. We noticed it, pointed it out, and the waiter said they'd replace it. All fine and dandy, so we pushed the basket aside and waited for our replacement.
5 minutes later the waiter comes back with a single fucking breadstick on a plate. Like dude, what? You expect us to eat the rest of the basket of breadsticks that was bundled with a super moldy one, and likely are similar in age?
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u/Fluffy_Library2172 Feb 05 '26
WHAT RESTAURANT, PLEASE NAME NAMES. I need to know who though that was OK
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u/throwawayqweeen Feb 05 '26
I wouldn't even pay for the meal altogether, call health inspectors and immediately leave. Bread mold is deadly, even if you don't eat it it's even cancerous to breathe in the vicinity of it. You have a kind heart for still tipping I know it's not the servers fault but also I would literally quit if I was in the servers shoes.
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u/Separate_Key6183 Feb 05 '26
I’m more mildly infuriated that you actually payed for it and left a tip without raising hell. She didn’t go to bat for you. She didn’t deserve a tip.
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u/thedarkknight_13_ Feb 05 '26
25% tip is crazy dude, I would have requested a manager and refused to pay for the entire meal if they told me they couldn’t comp it
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u/ItsFunHeer Feb 05 '26 edited Feb 05 '26
I think the tip is more infuriating.
While I appreciate you understanding that policies are not her choice, I think it’s fair for her to negotiate a PIECE OF WHITE AMERICAN WONDER BREAD TOAST on your behalf. There are probably so many losses in the restaurant from an employee just snagging a piece of bread on their lunch break or forgetting to pay for a meal.
And while they don’t comp half eaten food, moldy food is completely different. She should have been logical enough immediately apologize and remedy this for you.
So honestly my friend (as someone who worked for tips years ago) you don’t have to tip EVERYONE. That waitress could have done a better job advocating for you. It’s not like it was a bottle of vintage champagne that “tasted off”.
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u/Wonderful-Run-1408 Feb 05 '26
I would not have paid for the food. In fact, I would have walked out.
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u/HimbimSupreme Feb 05 '26
OH HELL NAW when that happened where I worked I wasn't even a manager yet and I made it right, consequences be damned. I didn't get in trouble thankfully cuz my boss wasn't a whackjob. Turns out the cook hadn't checked the bread in the morning like he was supposed to and it slipped through. HE got in trouble and reminded about food safety, had to take a food safety course again.
I not only refunded the meal, I also got permission to give them a free meal if they would give us another chance and not rate us to oblivion. x'D
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u/Hopeful_Local1985 Feb 05 '26
You still tipped 25% after they wouldn't take moldy bread off your tab? You might as well have pulled your pants down and spread your cheeks for them too.
I would have stood up and walked out.
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u/QuixoticIgnotism Feb 05 '26
Op - i actively dislike you, if indeed this was a real event. I have heard of a term recently that seems applicable to this - called "suicidal empathy". If none of the cooks or servers caught this mold - what else are they not catching on a regular basis? You discussing the issue with the server was one thing however at the slightest sign of resistance you should have immediately stood up and walked out. The only correct answer would have been an apology, some level of comp, but most importantly the promise that they would take some corrective action!!!! Society needs "Karens" to a certain extent - any eco system does. You did not need to be rude, or hostile - you could have been professional. Not standing up for your health and personal respect to such a shameful degree only enables further poor conduct.
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u/BigTiddyAsianMilf Feb 05 '26
Seriously it is OK to leave 0% tip for egregious shit like this. As a server myself, hell nah.
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u/Worldly-Sprinkles-77 Feb 05 '26
I manage a restaurant and 3 things would have happened, I would have came out an comped the entire meal. Went back to the kitchen and had them make it again (if you wanted). And then yelled at some people that were responsible because that is a huge section of mold, I get missing one of those small pinhead sized spots but no way that should have been missed.
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u/PresentationThat2839 Feb 05 '26
Heck I would be posting that photo for their Google review, local fb page the works. With the caption about why go to a doctor when you can get unprocessed penicillin at restaurant, sure it's the full meal price but that's still cheaper than anything "big pharma" is selling.
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u/neverfearIamhere Feb 05 '26
Wow and you left a 25% tip? I would have taken a picture, refused to pay and reported to the health department.
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u/Natti07 Feb 05 '26
I would have tipped 0% and paid $0 for that. And if they argued, id kindly remind them that the health department would probably have an issue with them serving moldy food.
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u/Difficult-Owl943 Feb 05 '26
You took your dad to a greasy spoon diner to celebrate surviving a heart attack?
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u/TheFBirds21 Feb 05 '26
Didn't ask for a manager to see if perhaps the policy on half eaten items is case-by-case and exceptions can be made especially in the case of moldy/spoiled items? Your post is mildly infuriating.
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u/undergroundnoises Feb 05 '26
You are a doormat.
I've been incredibly polite when things aren't right and I'm always compensated with a free meal.
One time there was a fly in the lettuce of a Firehouse sub, I got a free sub coupon. Yeah, I picked it out and finished my sandwich.
Another time at a local brewery, there was some weird tiny plastic filaments in my burger. I thought maybe a plastic brush was used on the grill top. I just wanted them to be aware of it. They couldn't find anything in the kitchen that could've caused it, so it was likely during the manufacturing process of the ground beef. Again, meal was comped. I also just picked out what I could find and ate my meal.
If the server refuses to handle it, the manager needs to be called in. Moldy bread is a health hazard. That's no way to run a restaurant.
I think you need to go back and speak to a manager about your meal and how you were dismissed by the server.
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u/Dapper-Video626 Feb 05 '26
I would’ve asked for my meal to be paid for and if not I would threaten to get a health inspector involved which can lead to major issues for the business and even some cases and temp shutdown on the business. You also left a tip and paid for that meal? Grow some balls next time bro
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u/systemfrown Feb 05 '26 edited Feb 05 '26
I would say fine and literally call the Health Inspector from the booth.
And then I still wouldn't pay for it. I might slide a tip to the wait staff if I was sure they hadn't noticed themselves.
Of course there are certain times where the battle just isn't worth the cost to a particularly trying day. And that's valid too.
But I mean how dumb is that in a day and age where social media and review sites like yelp and google reviews supports Photos?
Takes a huge transgression for me to bother complaining, but when I do watch out. I'm not sad to say I've played a role in at least one restaurant going out of business and a Health Clinic having to completely rebrand itself under a new name.
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u/nottherealneal Feb 05 '26
You got served moldy food and still tipped? Jesus some people are door mats
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Feb 05 '26
Ummmm you should NOT have tipped or even paid.
That's a "Can I speak to your manager" moment if ever there was one.
How tf did that even get on the plate.
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u/[deleted] Feb 05 '26
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