Filipinos are generally forgiving. They can spare a celebrity with a scandal or even re-elect a toppled and convicted president. To put it simply, we are a race tolerant to those who oppress us. And this culture is carried over in our everyday life and in the simple things we do.

Wobbly Table

In particular, I believe most of us have experienced at least once in our life, a wobbly table while dining in a restaurant. Others call it a ‘shaky table’ or an ‘unsteady table’. By whatever name it goes, it causes an uncomfortable dining experience or a spilled coffee.

You say that’s easy, just step on the table base to balance it and viola! However, you just have to hold your position until everyone finishes their meal.

A more innovative approach involves folding a piece of paper and tuck it into one of the table legs. Problem solved. Well, that is so until the paper is pushed away, the next customer comes in, and the routine experience repeats all over. What do you know, the lucky you may encounter the same table in your next visit! 🙂

Step on the Table Base Solution

I say this has to stop.

As food bloggers, a dining customer’s experience nowadays goes beyond the good food. I would like to think that a bad wobbly table experience count in the ambiance category, to say the least, until the plate slides to the floor or the tea spills to your lap.

So what do we do?

As paying customers, you should at least raise the concern with the restaurant manager with regards to your issue. You may also respectfully ask for a replacement of your coffee or tea, if the restaurant would deem appropriate, which they would most likely do.

In the US, immediate replacement of  a spilled beverage caused by the restaurant’s wobbly table is necessary. Customers can even sue the restaurant for possible damages caused by the incident, say, important documents or gadgets that got wet on the table during the incident.

If these happened to you, how would you react?

Spilled Coffee care of an Unsteady Table?

I appreciate restaurants nowadays who offer alternative mediums for feedback from customers such as sending a text message to a certain mobile number like the one in Italianni’s and its sister restaurants within the Bistro Group. Indeed, you would taste the love, not only in the food, but also in the experience.

I hope other restaurants would also be as conscious of their customer’s experience, in particular with the wobbly tables, as the high-end ones. After all, they would want their customers to have a good dining experience in their restaurants, right?

Until when do we tolerate a primitive problem like wobbly tables? If the restaurant can forego a simple problem of shaking, how much effort do you think are they putting in preparing your food?