Debenhams style cafe warning

[WildWitch]

I went there today on my way to hospital, ordered a coffee for me with a plain panini and green salad, a cheese salad panini for my son, and a slice of cake for my daughter.

When it arrived i noticed little pink bits in my salad, looking closer i guessed they were meat or fish. I took the items my son and i had ordered back to the counter and asked what the pink bits were. Oh thats tuna she said.

I freaked telling her i was vegan and my son veggie. She said oh well most veggies eat fish anyway. I went on to explain that tuna is flesh, and not veggie, my son and i dont eat flesh. She said yet you order a cheese panini for your son. Yes i said hes veggie not vegan. I then went on to say a tuna is a fish that swims in the sea, has flesh and bones etc...

Anyway got into an argument over me ordering cheese for my son when i had vegan values. Eventualy she made me a fresh salad and gave me a free coffee. I intend to complain to the head office. Seems they feel its ok to have the fresh green salad stored next to the tuna and uses the same tonges to fish it out (sorry).

I was fuming and very loud letting any other veggies in the building know there was tuna in the green salad even though it had the V sign on it. I mean a green salad ffs cucumber, lettuce, rocket and tomato. You would think that pretty safe right?????????

[Est]

That's awful WW.

It really brings home to me how important it is that we never let veganism get a diluted meaning like vegeterianism now has.

There is no way they should be labelling a tuna salad as vegetarian - it's disgraceful.

[WildWitch]

i think its just the fact they use the same tongs in the salad as they do in the other salads, who knows there could be bits of chicken in there too. Just glad i found the pink bits before i tucked into it all.

Wish these places would understand, keep the veggie and animal stuff seperate.

[annabanana]

Thats awful. things like that make me really angry,let us know what response you get when you take it higher.
I was trying to get a veggie pasty for my daughter from a bakers once and they had run out of cheese and onion ones but tried to sell me a meat one cos "it's only about 10% meat" !!!!!

[KcCrash]

That's horrible
Let us know what happens when you complain to their head office. How does she think it is ok to bring your sons food into it!?! You are vegan , she shouldn't be feeding you flesh, end of!
And, anybody who thinks 'most vegetarians' eat fish wants their ears swapping around!

[hiddenfromview]

I've noticed as recent there's a growth recently as to the amount of places/people who thing vegetarians eat fish. I even saw 'V' on a menu written next to a salmon dish... It was written on a kind of wipe off board... of course I manually removed the V when no one was looking... hehe

[sandra]

I love it!

[Marjorie Dawes]

I've noticed as recent there's a growth recently as to the amount of places/people who thing vegetarians eat fish. I even saw 'V' on a menu written next to a salmon dish... It was written on a kind of wipe off board... of course I manually removed the V when no one was looking... hehe

I'd do that even if people were looking!

[hullabaloo]

That's one of the things that really give me the rage- people who call themselves vegetarians but eat fish. I was watching 8 out of 10 cats one night and the questions was something like 50-odd% of vegetarians do what... the answer was eat meat! It's so annoying because it does muddle with the meaning and restaurants etc. have food containing fish marked as veggie. But what makes it worse is, you can look at an item on the menu that looks okay... but what if they add some hidden yucky ingredient like oyster sauce or something and don't mention it! Not that I can eat much of the veggie food in restaurants anyway!

[WildWitch]

I'd do that even if people were looking!

so would i and id probably do it loudly too

[Fungus]

I've seen tuna sushi in M&S marked as vegetarian .. :-|

[pie]

i saw a baked potato with tuna somewhere with a 'v' after it !

[eeplox]

This is why I don't ever eat out or buy packaged foods. I worked as a waiter for years, so I know what goes on behind the scenes with people who just couldn't care less about the dietary ethics of strangers.

[Gorilla]

not that i'm defending Debenhams particularly but it may not be company policy to include fish as vegetarian in their cafes, just the staff at that particular branch not knowing what they're doing.

i haven't come across fish marked as veggie anywhere for a long time, but maybe in an area like Brighton people wouldn't dare because they know they'd get in huge trouble

[pusskins]

Yes, when I was vegetarian, I went to stay with a relative who had specifically bought fish I said I didn't eat fish. She said that vegetarians she had known ate fish. Hmmmm! I ended up eating just the veg

I can't believe how something so simple could be done so wrong! How awful, WildWitch. Obviously many people run on automatic these days, instead of shifting gears.

[derwenna]

That's unacceptable, I'd be complaining too! So was it supposed to have tuna in or was it cross-contamination from using the tongs from the tuna? Either way there's no excuse for it.

When it arrived i noticed little pink bits in my salad, looking closer i guessed they were meat or fish. I took the items my son and i had ordered back to the counter and asked what the pink bits were. Oh thats tuna she said.

I freaked telling her i was vegan and my son veggie.

Now at this point, the correct response from the staff member should be "I'm very sorry, would you like a new one/refund?", not arguing with you about ethics for buying your son a cheese sandwich...

[harpy]

Now at this point, the correct response from the staff member should be "I'm very sorry, would you like a new one/refund?", not arguing with you about ethics for buying your son a cheese sandwich...

That's what I was thinking. It's not exactly great business practice to pick an argument with the customer about why they want what they want I thought Debenhams was usually a bit better than that.

[Gorilla]

i agree, how rude for the cafe staff to argue about what you ordered.

[brucie-g]

I was once asked by someone at work (who knew I was vegan) if I went fishing! I patiently explained that no I don't as I am vegan and am not interested in stuff like that. And guess what the reply was.... "But vegetarians eat fish don't they?".
I just changed the subject....

[WildWitch]

That's unacceptable, I'd be complaining too! So was it supposed to have tuna in or was it cross-contamination from using the tongs from the tuna? Either way there's no excuse for it.

It was contaminated from the tonges i imagine. I did point out that there should be seperate tonges for this kind of thing.

[Agatha]

I freaked telling her i was vegan and my son veggie. She said oh well most veggies eat fish anyway. I went on to explain that tuna is flesh, and not veggie, my son and i dont eat flesh. She said yet you order a cheese panini for your son. Yes i said hes veggie not vegan. I then went on to say a tuna is a fish that swims in the sea, has flesh and bones etc...

Anyway got into an argument over me ordering cheese for my son when i had vegan values. Eventualy she made me a fresh salad and gave me a free coffee. I intend to complain to the head office. Seems they feel its ok to have the fresh green salad stored next to the tuna and uses the same tonges to fish it out (sorry).

dear god, i would argue. i would be livid. this happened to me in spain and it worse cos my spanish is terrible and they were quite under the impression that fish out of a tin was a vegetable.

anyway, yeah complain away to head office. i hope you got her name. apart from being ignorant arguing with a customer is plain insolent AND she broke all their hygiene standards. and advertising standards if the salad was marked as veg*n

[pinksheep]

Oh my goodness, WildWitch! And then arguing with you over what you buy for your son!! I have had similar things happen, but nothing so bad as the person arguing back like that! I have several times had people in cafes tell me I can eat the soup, and then ound a lump of meat in it! Once, I had actually put it in my mouth because I was talking and ot looking at my food! Imagine the trauma!! Then we had a family buffet, and my dad had forgotten to tell the caterers there was a vegan. It was all very embarrassing, as there were extended family members I hadn't met before and this ridiculous converation went on with the caterer - I mean, you would think it was kind of part of her job? Anyway,after I had explained whatI thought were the ins and outs of veganism, she said, 'So you won't eat prawns either, then?'
My top pet hate is idiots that seem to think vegetarians eat fish! I mean how thick! Followed by idiots who think a vegan is a vegetarian who doesn't eat fish! Followed by even more annoying people that give us a bad name because it is all about some silly health food fad rather than animal welfare! AAARGH!
Let us know what happens when they write back!

[WildWitch]

Never heard a thing from them. One thing is for sure, they wont get my custom again.

[veganese]

One more reason not to depend on these places when out and about!

[RossClement]

Hi all. This is from memory, and from quite a few years ago, so it my be unreliable, but....

I thought the situation was that Trading Standards may be interested in food which is advertised vegetarian but not. What I think you have to do is first contact the company with your concerns, e.g. by contacting the local manager and head office. And that you should be polite, to the point, and mention that The Vegetarian Society's and Trading Standards' definition of vegetarian food does not include fish. (Clearly, check with these organisitions first). Then, if the matter isn't resolved, to make a complaint to Trading Standards.

It would be interesting if someone could do a "test case" on one of these situations so that we know what sort of support Trading Standards would give. I do believe (from other situations) that what your local TS office will and won't do, and with how much enthusiasm, depends on your location.

[DavidT]

Fair play to you, WildWitch, for raising a stink. Good on you.

[CrunchyMomma]

Anyway got into an argument over me ordering cheese for my son when i had vegan values.

That right there would have burned me up. Who does she think she is not only questioning your values and beliefs, but your parenting skills as well?! I would definitely contact corporate headquarters in that situation. I'm sorry you had to endure such a bad experience.

[JC]

This reminds me of when i went to a cafe the other day. I asked if there was any dairy in the soup, and the woman said (and i quote) "well it's gluten free, so i should imagine so" i stared at her for a while, and saw that she was actually being serious, and decided to order something else i knew to be safe (meanwhile someone else went to check and confirmed it contained both milk and cream) What if i'd have been allergic and gone into anaphalactic shock?! The cafe seemed to be doing a big promotion on gluten-free foods, yet clearly they have no idea what gluten is

[Kate1978]

You have to be so careful. Once I ordered a vegan curry from a local indian restaurant. Made sure it was cooked in veg oil and not ghee, thought I was doing well when it arrived. And then found a piece of chicken lurking. They offered to bring out another dish but I'd kind of lost my appetite and now I know that they don't cook the veggie food separately I'm reluctant to return.

Trust no-one!

[Troutina]

Trust no-one!

Yes! This is pretty much how I approach all non-veggie places!