When should you offer a courtesy item for a delayed order?

• A. If appropriate and at management discretion.
• B. Always for every delay.
• C. Never.
• D. Only with desserts.

Answer: (A)

Service recovery is the idea here: a courtesy item for a delayed order is a tool to acknowledge the hiccup and reassure the guest. It should be offered when it fits the situation and follows store policy, meaning it’s appropriate and at management discretion. This approach keeps the gesture fair, consistent, and within guidelines while still showing you care about the guest’s experience. Offering one for every delay would balloon costs and set expectations too high; never offering anything misses a chance to repair the moment; and limiting it to desserts is arbitrary and inconsistent with using recovery gestures appropriately.