This happened at an LA restaurant a few weeks ago. I am not going to name the restaurant at this time, but reserve the right to do so in the future.
My girlfriend and I went out to dinner. At the end of the meal, as the server was clearing the table, the server spilled food and the surrounding oil from the dish on my shoe. That night, I researched the best shoe repair in LA and I took the shoe there first thing the next morning (obviously, no shoe repairs are open at 10PM). The shoe repair shop owner took one look and said there is no hope for the shoe, as it is made of suede, and oil seeps into the deepest layers of suede and is impossible to remove. He said he would not even try as he did not want to waste my money. I got a second opinion at another shop and was told essentially the same thing. The stain is large and very noticeable, to the point that I can not comfortably wear these shoes anymore.
I am not big into clothing or fashion, and own very little expensive clothing. Unfortunately, these happened to be the single most expensive pair of shoes I own, which I bought in Italy last summer and were handmade in Florence.
The cost to replace the shoes - the identical model of which I found online after a lot of searching and can be ordered and shipped to the US from Italy - is $450 (converted from euros).
I did think about that. I can only find this exact “model” on a retailer’s website, not the manufacturer’s website. There’s no way the retailer would sell a single shoe. I could try reaching out to the manufacturer, though given the language barrier and tall ask I’m skeptical, but worth a try.
I had an Indian restaurant splatter sauce all over my brand new white T the other day. Thankfully it was just a T shirt and not blue suede shoes (and I boarded the plane) but I would be beyond annoyed if I was in your position. I don’t think there’s any way they will reimburse for new shoes though.
I would say you’re entitled to the value of the shoes, which is no longer $450 and is doubtfully higher than $150 (e.g., if you were to try to sell them online).
I would show this to the restaurant and argue that you’re entitled to $300. If the restaurant doesn’t give you that, I do think they’re in the wrong.
150 seems fair, you could’ve easily spilled something on your shoes at home or by yourself or just run into someone on the street and they are taking ownership of their mistake and offering to make good on it.
As someone who knows a little something about shoe care, the advice you got is generally correct: oil stains on suede are notoriously difficult to deal with but others have posted some home solutions you may as well try since, at this point, what’s the harm?
As for your actual question though: No, I wouldn’t consider a $150 gift card to be adequate compensation. At the very least, whatever their offer is should be in cash. A gift card doesn’t buy me a new pair of shoes.
This could very well be something for small claims court to adjudicate if what you’re looking for is a settlement that would cover the cost of replacing your shoe(s). Simply the possibility of having to go to court might encourage the restaurant owner to up their offer.
But what would weigh on me here is that the owner could very well garnish the cost from the server’s wages even though, technically, I think the owner is liable for their employee’s actions in a case like this. The owner could even fire the server. And personally, I’m not looking to get someone fired over an accident unless the server was being incredibly careless.
It’s hard to argue what’s fair here, considering they were worn shoes. It’s certainly a real bummer (and a crazy situation). That the restaurant offered you any compensation is surprising to me. I would just count the shoes as a loss (but take the credit) and consider not wearing any delicate apparel to restaurants, even nice ones, going forward. Making a restaurant liable for damage to your apparel in the slim chance that you were wearing something un-repairable shouldn’t be their fault. It’s kind of the risk of going out.
It’s obviously not the same, but wearing a Rolex to a restaurant and then getting it stolen isn’t really the restaurant’s fault. Just keep the nice stuff at home if it’s that important to you, or know there’s always a risk in taking it out.
Not an answer to your question, but this does remind me of something.
In the late 80s I worked a job with a colleague that was often really high stress, really high pressure. When things got crazy my co-worker (who had worked his way through USC as a bus boy at Lawry’s) used to say:
“Paul, you don’t know pressure. Pressure is removing a plate of au jus from a table while Elizabeth Taylor is wearing a white, silk blouse.”
I would disagree getting a watch stolen by a third party during a night out is factually different than an employee causing damage to a diners property during a dining experience.
I think it’s fair to think about what the FMV for the shoe would be but I definitely think something is warranted as compensation
Yes, I was using it as an example of something very valuable that you might want to keep at home in case finding the blame for an incident became difficult. In this case, it’s clearly the server/employee’s fault. You could take it up with them or their employer, but for a set of shoes, it starts to seem petty. I guess it kind of depends on how much OP likes this restaurant and cares for its long-term success. They asked what a “fair” resolution was, and I’m not sure there is anything in that realm in this case.
Baby talc powder can pull a lot of oil , often all of it , out of stain. I have used it successfully on many suede and leather stains, not sure why more people aren’t aware of this trick. If that doesn’t remove enough of it for you , try @butteredwaffles reverse stain removal, that’s a new one to me.
I should add that the talc works on even older oil- based stains in garments that I have eitherwashed or dry cleaned (with no luck) before learning about talc.
Let it sit on the stain for a day or two before brushing off the suede
Talc can effectively remove older oil-based stains from garments, even if previous washing or dry cleaning attempts failed. Simply apply talc to the stain, let it sit for a day or two, and then brush it off.