Handling Complaints With Potential Liability

Complaints that may carry some possible liability, such as incidents of foodborne illness, cannot be handled like typical service complaints. The overall goal is the same - to calm the guest down and get them back as a guest if possible - but you must be more cautious and deliberate.

A complaint like this will usually come in the form of a phone call from an upset guest who has come down with symptoms that they assume are the result of a meal in your restaurant. The caller is liable to be angry, scared and unreasonable. These calls are trying for the person receiving them as well.

Below is a form developed by the National Restaurant Association to help gather the information needed to determine cause and identify responsibility for a food-related problem. You can download the Foodborne Illness/Complaint Report here.