Found hard piece of plastic my food at large chain steak house.

[Cassandra fowler]

Jurisdiction

Arizona

Last night we went out to eat. While eating our appetizer, I bit into jalapeno cheese ball and bit a very hard piece of plastic. I put the piece in a napkin and we quietly notified the waitress who then went over the manager. She told us she had examined the piece, and that it was from a food processor that broke while they were making the food and they thought they had removed all plastic from food. They award us with a gift certificate for a meal for two, took my info, and removed the appetizer from out ticket. We continue our meal, which was very tasty other than the fact that I could only chew on half my mouth. As our watress approaches the table to check how were doing she gets a first hand look at my husband pulling a piece saran wrap out of his mouth. He had just taken a bite of baked potatoes. Again the waitress takes the piece and sends over management and she gives us our meal for free. We had lost our appetite at that point. Last night I had some serious problems sleeping due to the pain in my teeth. Today it's even worse.

 

[army judge]

Last night we went out to eat at Texas road house. While eating our appetizer, I bit into jalapeno cheese ball and bit a very hard piece of plastic. I put the piece in a napkin and we quietly notified the waitress who then went over the manager. She told us she had examined the piece, and that it was from a food processor that broke while they were making the food and they thought they had removed all plastic from food. They award us with a gift certificate for a meal for two, took my info, and removed the appetizer from out ticket. We continue our meal, which was very tasty other than the fact that I could only chew on half my mouth. As our watress approaches the table to check how were doing she gets a first hand look at my husband pulling a piece saran wrap out of his mouth. He had just taken a bite of baked potatoes. Again the waitress takes the piece and sends over management and she gives us our meal for free. We had lost our appetite at that point. Last night I had some serious problems sleeping due to the pain in my teeth. Today it's even worse.

You should see your dentist.
Don't expect the steakhouse to pay your dental fees, however.
You're free to sue the restaurant in small claims court for your dental bills, if you see a dentist.

There will be little more offered by the restaurant, other than the bait given you to return for more hidden delights in the food.

 

[txls]

You don't know for sure what the restaurant will do until you ask. Go to the dentist so you know exactly what the problem is and what it will cost. Then call and set up a meeting with the restaurant manager. If they then refuse to pay your dental bill, or open a claim with their insurance company, then sue in small claims court. But why not just ask them first.

 

[adjusterjack]

Go to the dentist so you know exactly what the problem is and what it will cost.

Agree.

If they then refuse to pay your dental bill, or open a claim with their insurance company, then sue in small claims court.

I suggest another step between asking the manager and suing.

That would be sending written notice of the claim to the corporate headquarters. Names and addresses of corporate officers can often be found online at the company website, or from other sources.

 

[txls]

Excellent idea!

 

[ElleMD]

Sending it to the corporate headquarters is unlikely to be effective if this isn't a very small chain. They simply aren't the ones who handle this sort of thing and are not likely to spend the time and effort to hunt down which franchise and who should handle it. If you get no satisfaction at the local level you can escalate it, but you are wasting your time starting at the top.

 

[adjusterjack]

I didn't say "start at the top" I said it should be the next step between local management and suing. And, yes, corporate headquarters does have staff that handles the claims and refers them to the appropriate "Risk Management Department" which, in turn, could hand it over to the company's liability insurance carrier.

If the particular location does happen to be a franchise (as opposed to corporate owned) then OP would have to determine the local owners or corporate officers from state business records and communicate in writing to those people if on-site management balks.