Knowing Your Rights When Things Go Wrong

A Bad Meal

Situation: There's something wrong―terribly, six-leggedly, two-wingedly wrong―with the food you ordered in a restaurant.

 What should happen: Whatever is wrong with the food―from the proverbial fly in the soup to an overcooked steak―the right thing for the restaurant to do is to offer a replacement, and deduct the cost of the offending dish from your bill if the problem is really off-putting. In any case, the diner's perception should never be questioned, says Breitkreutz. If you suspect something was wrong with your food only later on―that is, you wake up the next morning with food poisoning―the situation is less clear-cut. "A lot of people think that the last place they ate caused them to get sick," says Seattle attorney Bill Marler, who has handled giant civil cases against Jack in the Box and the juice company Odwalla. "Generally that's not the case." Symptoms of salmonella poisoning, for example, typically appear one to three days after exposure; symptoms of E. coli usually appear after three days. The restaurant should offer to have the kitchen inspected and notify you of the results. In the meantime, you'll need to go to the doctor for testing to pinpoint how and when you became ill. If your meal at the restaurant is to blame, you can file a complaint with the local health department, which will dispatch an inspection team. You can also send the meal receipt, your medical bills, and any claim for lost wages―along with a copy of your doctor's findings―to the restaurant and ask for restitution.

 If you're getting the runaround: Notify the owner or seek help from your local office of consumer affairs.