FAQ

Isn’t the website just about a bunch of whining?

The website offers a number of benefits. For example:

• It relieves stress by allowing people to vent and is therefore therapeutic.
• It offers entertainment by providing interesting and sometimes humorous stories.
• It allows people to turn what had been a bad experience into something that others can enjoy and perhaps learn from. Therefore, a negative is turned into a positive.
• It allows all parties – diners and servers – to contribute stories, thereby enhancing communication by enabling people to see things from each other’s perspectives.
• Storytelling is a primal activity. We have an innate attraction to it, just as we do to the flickers from a fire. It’s a part of human ancestry, used to share knowledge and provide entertainment.

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Isn’t the website unfairly beating up on restaurants?

Restaurant names aren’t mentioned.

Many of the stories are about diners, not about problems with restaurants.

The website allows both diners and restaurant staff to contribute stories and submit comments about them.

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Why don’t you mention restaurant names?

There are many websites that post comments from the public about  restaurants. However, on our site, it’s all about the story. Additionally, many restaurants are small mom-and-pop types that struggle to remain in business. We wouldn’t want a false story from a disgruntled diner or server to adversely affect such establishments.

Names of restaurants owned and operated by hotels can be noted since the food operation isn’t the main source of revenue for the business. Additionally, posting of a hotel’s name can enhance a story if it’s a noteworthy and upscale one where an exceptional experience would be expected (see Tumultuous Toddler In The Tearoom as an example).

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Some of the stories seem too unbelievable. How do you know they’re true?

It’s difficult to determine the truthfulness of a story. Any stories that are found to be fictional or not original material will be removed. Please contact us if you have any concerns about the veracity of a story.

But you really don’t need to make this stuff up. The most amazing things happen in restaurants. Some of the stories were submitted by the website owner himself based on personal experiences.

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What are some of the most interesting aspects of the stories received?

The incredible variety of experiences that people have had.

That many of the stories are about stresses brought about by other people. It’s a quandary we face in life. We have an innate need to socialize. But when we do, it often brings about stress.

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What other domain names do you own rights to? Any future plans for them?

Dot-com domain names include: Girlfriends From Hell, Husbands From Hell, Wives From Hell, Relatives From Hell, Websites From Hell, Offices From Hell, Airports From Hell, Travels From Hell, Cruises From Hell, Marriages From Hell, Honeymoons From Hell, and Haircuts From Hell. At this time, there are no plans to publish any new “From Hell” sites. However, you never know what the future might bring!

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Where does the website originate from?

The home base for Dinners From Hell and its sister site, Flights From Hell, is in the Tampa, Florida area.

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Where is my story?

Your story is greatly appreciated. Stories are generally reviewed and published in the order in which they’re received. If a lot of stories have been received, it may take a while before your story is published.

You can receive announcements about story postings directly via Twitter or a feed. If you provided an email address with your story, an attempt will be made to notify you when your story is posted.

Use the search engine to find your story. You can also look through pages of likely categories. Placement of stories into categories is determined by the predominant story theme, or by the issue that drives the story. Stories that don’t match any of the category topics, or consist of a number of topics of equal emphasis, are placed into Odds & Ends. If your submittal was more of a commentary than a story, then it might have been placed on the Commentary page.

On rare occasion a submittal isn’t published because it’s not written as a story, is off topic, requires too much editing, etc.

If you see some changes made to your story, then it was probably edited in order to remove overly offensive material, protect anonymity, or improve grammar and punctuation (this is done minimally).

You’re welcome to inquire about your story by sending an email to contact@DinnersFromHell.com.