Three here:
1) At a place that no longer exists, I stopped in after having a pleasant experience. This time, however, cemented in my mind I'd never go back, even if it was only second time I'd been in. The first time I'd gone in, everything was properly spaced: I'd just finished my soup when the waitress brought my salad and I'd just finished my salad when she brought me the entree. Lovely. This second time, I'd just barely had half the soup when the waitress (a different one this time, I should add) brought out the salad. Okay. No problem. I've been in situations where I had to juggle soup and salad at the same time. Had a couple bites of salad when - ta dah! - out comes the entree. Barely enough space on the table for me to read my book! She never even came back to see if I wanted a refill on my drink. With cold soup and soggy salad, I finished eating and complained to the management. Got three $5 gift certificates but I couldn't bring myself to go back.

2) At another place I no longer frequent, the waitress brought out my meal but never returned with the ketchup or to check on how everything was: turns out she'd skipped out for her own dinner.

3) At still a third place that no longer exists, my SO and I stopped off with two friends who were driving through town for a quick nibble and some coffee. The food arrived tepid, at best, and "cheese sauce" on the french fries turned out to be a slice of processed American cheese that had been melted under the heat lamp on the service counter, but the corker was it was at least 30 degrees too cold in the place (and when I complain about the temperature, it's TOO COLD). We asked the waitress if they could do something about it, but it turned out the day manager was the one with the key that unlocked the cover over the thermostat and we were there on the overnight shift. All four of us complained and none of us had to pay for anything.
(BenPanced, Sat 29 Apr 2006, 2:36, Reply)