JEW make the call -- Food poisoning edition

[Dan Druff]

Family came to visit me on Sunday. We went to a local restaurant for dinner. I had been doing takeout there for years, and occasionally dining in, including with these same family members. However, in recent months they have gone downhill somewhat, and I've been considering quitting going there. Recent Yelp reviews basically echo what I've been noticing myself.

Anyway we threw caution to the wind and went there last night, because the kids like going there.



5 of the 8 of us got food poisoning. My mom and I got it the worst, probably about equally bad, and both of our symptoms started around 5am. Benjamin got a mild version, as did my dad. Another family member got a midgrade version of it. We were sharing various large portions we ordered. Nobody was sick prior to (or during) the meal. 100% this happened from the restaurant.

My stomach was hurting really badly all morning and afternoon, I had frequent diarrhea, and fatigue. Could not really sleep because of the stomach pain. No vomiting and no fever, so I didn't bother to get any medical treatment. Just a lousy day for me. I am not better yet. As I said, my elderly mom is experiencing the exact same thing right now.

I have already reported it to the county via the web form. This was my first time ever reporting food poisoning to a government agency.

The place was closed today so I couldn't call, but I will call tomorrow. The bill for all 8 of us was about $250. What do you suggest I ask for? In case you're wondering, I am done with them after this (especially since things were going downhill anyway in recent months), so I don't care if I piss them off.

JEW make the call!

[Sloppy Joe]

You should apologize to your family for taking them to a restaurant that you felt was on the decline. How good could it be to keep returning?

I used to be fat and lost like 30 pounds the first month I lived in Nepal in 2011 from food poisoning; it presented strangely, I had minimal discomfort but had to go like 15x daily.

Think you want to shed some blubber due to the health issues stacking up, so maybe keep going there for awhile until you hit a benchmark.

[Sanlmar]

What kind of restaurant would kids enjoy going to? Kids often care less about food and would just as soon fuel up at home and run off.

Story doesn’t hang together yet

More info is required.

[Cerveza Fria]

Ask for all of the $250, plus any medical expenses. If they say NO, then call the local paper or tv station where they have the local "Dirty Dining" reporter. They'll be all over this.

[simpdog]

Problem is it's hard to know 100% it was that restaurant. But it's very likely.

I voted for $250 back, but then do you even want to go back there again? They would likely give a gift certificate......

If they did have other complaints then 100% you should get a full refund back to your credit card.

[GrenadaRoger]

Druff, you ever wonder why trouble seems to find you?

[dmndkutr]

I said $125, but I'm curious how this plays out. Personally, I do not think you are going to be happy here. There most likely offer if any is a free meal going forward which we know you do not want. Are you charging back on the credit card?

This will be a good story, no matter what. I don't see the restaurant coughing up much but they've definitely never seen you before. Popcorn time. gl

[Bilbodoggins]

What is a "mild version" of food poisoning? What is a "moderate" version?
Where can I find the scale that defines the various levels?
Oh, wait, there isn't one. It is all subjective. If I were the restaurant I would be "moderately" sympathetic until you started listing each family member's degree of "food poisoning." Then I wpild politely show you the door and invite you to take your genetically sensitive stomachs elsewhere.
I usually agree with your side on these survey questions but here I'm 0.0

[Dan Druff]

You should apologize to your family for taking them to a restaurant that you felt was on the decline. How good could it be to keep returning?

I used to be fat and lost like 30 pounds the first month I lived in Nepal in 2011 from food poisoning; it presented strangely, I had minimal discomfort but had to go like 15x daily.

Think you want to shed some blubber due to the health issues stacking up, so maybe keep going there for awhile until you hit a benchmark.

By "on the decline", I meant that the food was starting to be hit-and-miss sometimes in takeout. When it was suggested by a family member because two of the kids really liked it there (and these kids didn't like the other place being suggested), I resisted at first, but reluctantly agreed.

Funny you mention losing weight in Nepal from some weird food poisoning issue. When I was 21, I got some weird virus in Indonesia which presented like a mild cold, then was gone within a few days, but cut my appetite in half. After the cold symptoms vanished, I had no other symptoms other than a reduced appetite, and that lasted for about a month. My brother got the exact same illness and had the exact same effect to his appetite, also for about a month.

Unfortunately, I was thin back then, so I actually didn't want to lose the weight. I was eager to have the issue go away, but I did remark at the time that this virus would be worth a fortune in the US if it could be captured and injected into people (mild cold symptoms for a few days, followed by reduced appetite for a month with no other side effects). I dropped about 10-15 pounds involuntarily by the time it was over.

[Dan Druff]

What is a "mild version" of food poisoning? What is a "moderate" version?
Where can I find the scale that defines the various levels?
Oh, wait, there isn't one. It is all subjective. If I were the restaurant I would be "moderately" sympathetic until you started listing each family member's degree of "food poisoning." Then I wpild politely show you the door and invite you to take your genetically sensitive stomachs elsewhere.
I usually agree with your side on these survey questions but here I'm 0.0

LOL so you think 5 people getting sick on the same night from the restaurant isn't food poisoning?

Sorry that everyone's level of illness from tainted food can't present identical to one another. You know that's how illnesses work, right?

[Dan Druff]

I said $125, but I'm curious how this plays out. Personally, I do not think you are going to be happy here. There most likely offer if any is a free meal going forward which we know you do not want. Are you charging back on the credit card?

This will be a good story, no matter what. I don't see the restaurant coughing up much but they've definitely never seen you before. Popcorn time. gl

I am about to call. I am predicting you are correct, because the recent Yelp reviews have been complaining that the current management are assholes, and when people tried to talk to the owners, they were just as bad.

I have noticed that, due to the ongoing worker shortage, many businesses have just thrown up their hands and said "fuck customer service" because it's too hard to hire good employees these days. So basically a lot of places have now defaulted to let their crap employees treat everyone like crap, and ownership doesn't really want to hear about it because they can't fire these employees due to inability to replace them.

I haven't ever tried to talk to ownership in this place, nor have I dealt with current management except for one takeout order which was wrong about a month ago. So I don't have personal experience with management/ownership being difficult here, but I have a feeling they will be.

But yes, I am just going to charge this BACK if they refuse to do anything. I have already submitted a report on the county website about the situation, but I presume they haven't been contacted yet because the county is a bit slow, and this just happened.

[Dan Druff]

Problem is it's hard to know 100% it was that restaurant. But it's very likely.

I voted for $250 back, but then do you even want to go back there again? They would likely give a gift certificate......

If they did have other complaints then 100% you should get a full refund back to your credit card.

I know 100% it was the restaurant because:

- 5 of the 8 of us got sick at almost exactly the same time (very early next morning)

- We didn't eat anywhere else together

- We live in 3 different households

So it wasn't something we caught days ago which was just presenting yesterday morning. Had it just been me getting sick, it would have been too hard to tell what caused it.

However, I agree that this place may not believe me, or might try to claim it could be from anywhere. I will not accept a gift certificate or credit for next time, as I don't want to go there again. Between the food poisoning and the already declining situation there, I'm done. It's too bad because I have been going there over 10 years (mostly takeout), and for the most part everything has been pretty good. Looks like yet another business which has turned to shit post-COVID.

[Sanlmar]

I have noticed that, due to the ongoing worker shortage, many businesses have just thrown up their hands and said "fuck customer service" because it's too hard to hire good employees these days.

Don’t you worry yourself, Tiger. The worker shortage has actually been fairly short term in the grand scheme of things. Going forward and in light of the new heights in record credit card debt one of the first things to be cut will be that trip to Red Lobster cause those would-be customers will be servicing their monthly 19% interest payment instead.

Too many restaurants will work itself out. At least that is the Fed’s goal.

[Dan Druff]

Well, I just called. General Manager actually answered the phone, which surprised me.

She said she hadn't heard of any issues, which is possible because perhaps it was just the food we got, or perhaps nobody has called yet (they were closed yesterday), or perhaps others got sick and didn't call (which often occurs when people get sick from restaurants).

She was nice about it and agreed it was probably food poisoning from there. She asked if everyone was okay now, presumably being concerned about lawsuits. I told her that everyone has improved somewhat by today, and while not everyone is better (including me), it seems nobody will be hospitalized and will probably be better in the coming days.

She said she would send me "gift cards", at which point I rejected that and asked for a refund. She agreed. We will see if I actually get a full refund. I didn't ask the amount refunded, but I guess I will see when it hits the card.

As I type this, I felt my stomach gurgle, so obv I have a way to go. Still, I feel way better than yesterday and this morning, when I was in constant pain, probably the worst my stomach has felt in about a decade.

Great start to 2023!

[Dan Druff]

I have noticed that, due to the ongoing worker shortage, many businesses have just thrown up their hands and said "fuck customer service" because it's too hard to hire good employees these days.

Don’t you worry yourself, Tiger. The worker shortage has actually been fairly short term in the grand scheme of things. Going forward and in light of the new heights in record credit card debt one of the first things to be cut will be that trip to Red Lobster cause those would-be customers will be servicing their monthly 19% interest payment instead.

Too many restaurants will work itself out. At least that is the Fed’s goal.

This particular restaurant had a lol HELP WANTED sign with about 7 different type of positions open. That should've been a big red flag to me that they might be cutting corners with food safety.

I really wish it were 2019 again. We didn't realize how good we had it. While the inflationary aftermath of the shutdowns was foreseen (at least by those with common sense), what nobody expected was a lasting worker shortage, dragging far past the end of the gubbmint checks. (It doesn't help in LA County that there's still an eviction moratorium for unpaid rent, but that ends Feb 1!)

The problem is that, while people weren't working, they were finding "gig" ways to get by, such as Uber and Doordash. They realized that they could make the same (or better) money by driving people or their groceries/food around, and not have to deal with shitty bosses, asshole customers, rigid hours, or boring unskilled jobs. So when the gubbmit checks stopped, these people just never went back. This left not only a worker shortage, but those who were filling the positions were inferior to the ones before. Ironically, they're getting paid a lot more these days than they were in 2019.

But it's not just low-end jobs where this is affected. It's true all the way up to the middle-end positions. Many people just got used to not working, and decided they like it. Many would prefer to get by on gig work, even if they make a little less money than before, than be chained to a job five days per week. Being from the poker community, where the same sentiment exists, I can't blame them.

[Sanlmar]

Yeah, 2019 was pretty damn good. We lived thru an epic run from 2008 on. QE and near zero rates. Forever delaying any kind of correction thru intervention.

Too many businesses. Too much growth. You see it in the market. It’s was easy to get a near zero loan or some stupid VC and open up your doors to business. You need people usually.

Lotta people have just retired. I haven’t had a gig since we sold our business. I’ll find some kind of trouble to get into but no rush. Lotta folks cashed out. Lotta people made out like gangbusters during the bull run. The crazy good times created an employment issue of a different sort.

You keep circling back to gubmint UBI but it ain’t all that. Not really a factor at all. In fairness, upon closer reading I note you have finally dropped that line. Too much growth. It’ll get trimmed hard.

Oh yeah, no little zoomers compared to X and boomer working yute. Gen X didn’t birth no babies

[FRANKRIZZO]

Do you have Applebees where you live? Only had one bad experience AT applebees gave us free food coupons. That restaurant had bad reviews and closed shortly after my complaint. Applebees very kid friendly. I realize you have no plans on going back to the restaurant. I would ask for money back.

[RichardBrodiesCombover.]

Druff, what's your body fat percentage?

[Dan Druff]

Druff, what's your body fat percentage?

I don't know, but it will be lower after this

[Sanlmar]

Would the presence of a Help Wanted sign out front serve as a warning?

I think we have a new life rule

I’ll wager the better joints charge higher prices cause their product is better and they are able to pay for premium staff.