Users Of This Online Group Share Stories About Their Customers From Hell, Here Are The 25 Worst Of Them
Probably all of us who started our careers by taking a job in the service industry have some stories and experiences to share. Working in this industry means that there is a huge amount of interaction with customers. No matter if you consider yourself a “people person” or rather keep the interaction with them as limited as possible, there are all kinds of customers: those who make you feel really good about yourself and what you do, motivating you to keep up that good work, but the reality is that these people are quite rare. Having this in mind, Reddit asked its community members to share their stories in TalesFromYourServer. As was expected, most of these stories include horror experiences that servers had while working in restaurants, bars, etc., from not receiving a tip to Karens yelling at their faces, Reddit users share how saying that “customer is always right” is practically never the case. The Subreddit has 405k members who share all kinds of stories, and here are 25 ugliest ones.
Can you also relate to any of these stories or maybe suffered through an experience that can top any of these? Don’t forget to write all about it in the comments!
This post may include affiliate links.
This happened years ago, but it still feels like it was yesterday. I (29f) was serving at a Steak ‘n Shake, and was about 70lbs bigger than I am now. I’m very white, with blonde hair, so you wouldn’t know by looking at me that I’m almost fluent in Spanish. As I was cleaning a table one night, the one right next to it was seated for me. While wiping the dirty table, I heard the new table talking loudly about me in Spanish. They were saying how big my butt was, how fat I was, how they didn’t want to be served by someone so disgusting, not knowing that I 100% understood them. My initial reaction was anger and tears; I wanted to give them bad service and not even try to be nice. But, I wanted to be the bigger person. I walked to the table and did my “welcome to Steak n Shake! My name is Brandi and I’m here to help you out,” but I said it all in Spanish. The look of shock and embarrassment on their faces gave me one of the greatest feelings ever. Then, I listed every burger, every milkshake flavor and every side item in Spanish. For the entire meal, I spoke no English at all, and I gave them the kindest/most attentive service I’ve ever given anyone. The nicer I was, the more humiliated and ashamed they were. When one of them asked quietly if he could have some more water, I already had a tray in my hand with his water on it. They refused to speak Spanish to me, and would hardly even look at me. When they left, they closed their ~$25 check, then left me a $50 bill under a plate for my tip. Such a glorious day! Everyone always asks why I didn’t spit in their food, give them bad service, or ring in their order wrong. Kill people with kindness baby! That’s the way I do it
plus, the customers learned their lesson, too
Load More Replies...Playing tourist in Japan. Spoke enough Japanese to hold a decent conversation. Riding a train to Kamakura (big bronze Buddha there), a couple of Japanese were talking about the big, ugly gaijin (foreigner - me) and what they they thought of him the whole ride. When we got to my stop, I politely told them that the gaijin also spoke Japanese in that language, and wished them a good day. The expressions on their faces (subtle, but there) told me how ashamed they were, knowing they'd been politely called out on their bad manners.
Not to sound culturally insensitive, but the number of Spanish speaking people who think that it’s some sort of secret language that only they and the person they’re talking to know is shocking. Most people take it as an elective in HS here, you need to maybe watch what you say.
One of my favorite You Tube channels is a black American guy who speaks fluent Chinese, Japanese, Pilay and Korean. He then goes to Asian-heavy areas of the city and interacts with them and just makes light conversation....the looks on the faces of some of them when a young, random black guy starts speaking to them in flawless, fluent Chinese is AMAZING. He has even said they were talking about him in one clip at a nail salon...and they actually apologized when he showed them he knew their language! You are right, watch what you say, you never know who knows what!!
Load More Replies...I have never had "kill them with kindness" NOT work before. It's a beautiful thing to behold.
Yes. Kill people with kindness and love... it's my mantra.... though it's hard to follow always 🥴
Hard, but so satisfying. I did that a couple of times with stupid people. Always worked.
Load More Replies...
I will never forget this couple that came in and sat down at table 24. They were an old couple. I’m talking both gray haired and over dressed to be at a pizza restaurant. I will say I did give them excellent service despite my frazzledness of starting a new job. I was feelin it, and felt great about handling all of my tables...until I did mess up. The man at table 24 handed me his card to close out. I’m BUSY.. like didn’t even have time to pick a wedgie if I had one, busy. I go to the computer and swipe his card. Admittedly I forgot to print out the itemized receipt, which I get can be very frustrating. Man at table 24 had every right to be upset. But instead of asking me to grab the itemized receipt, he began to LOUDLY, in a small room, with a deep and firm tone tell me how horrible I am at my job. That no wonder I only got as far in life as working at a pizza shop. He kept going on with these TERRIBLE comments and wouldn’t let me walk away when I tried. So now all of my other tables just saw me get ripped a new asshole, and I’m in the weeds after wasting time getting yelled at by this guy. The owner of the restaurant must have come in at some point. He saw this man yelling at me, came up to the table and did the most bad ass thing I’ve ever seen.
Owner: “Excuse me sir,” he says to the man at table 24, “I am the owner of this establishment. I’m not sure what the problem is here and frankly, I don’t care. What I do care about is you belittling my waitress. So I’m going to ask you and your wife to leave and not come back to my restaurant.”
Man at table 24: “Fine but you’ll be losing our business.”
Owner: “I really don’t care, and don’t want people like you in my restaurant anyway.”
It was the coolest shit I had ever seen. The owner STOOD THERE AND WAITED for these people to leave. It was f@#$%&g bad ass.
After they left the owner came up to me and said: “F@#k those people. You’re doing a great job and I wouldn’t have hired you if you didn’t show potential. If anyone else talks to you like that I want you to tell them to f@#k off and get out. I don’t want their money.”
Doing things like this as a boss or owner will get you some seriously loyal and hard-working employees. People WANT to work for someone who has a backbone to stand up for what's right, sadly something this world has a huge shortage of.
And that is how you grow a crew that would walk through fire barefoot on broken glass for you
Wish I'd been in that place just then. There would have been a round of applause, I'm sure.
Last fall I hired a young African American man. I wouldn’t say his race was even consciously considered by me and he has been by no means incompetent in his job. There are occasional reminders and constant gentle pressure given towards certain areas of improvement, but that’s how it goes with all of my staff.
However, complaints about his service have been disproportionate compared to all our other servers.
Example: “that kid over there is talking to someone when he should be bringing our drinks.” Well okay, that someone is the business owner and when I checked the ticket they had been waiting for their drinks for about two minutes. They got their drinks about 30 seconds later.
There have been about 6 or so instances of this in the past two months. And you know what’s common about these complaints? They’re all coming from boomer generation white men.
Now there are issues such as a meal item being wrong, but those types of errors are almost evenly distributed across all staff. But these complaints about standing around, meandering, are always directed towards him, and when I check on the issue he’s always doing something job related. Hell the guy has about a 100% record for coming in when called in or asked to stay late. He has a great work ethic.
But Jesus f@#$%&g Christ it’s interesting and very sad to see some of the s**t I’m sure many African Americans have to put up with.
Its terrible and makes me sick. Just waiting for the "you cant prove it was because of his race!" crowd to file in...
Load More Replies...Sad reality. All the white people who try to claim that racism isn't that bad have no f*cking clue what it's like. Makes me so mad (I'm white, just FYI).
Someone with brown skin described what it was like to deal with "micro-agressions" day in and day out: "It's death by a thousand paper cuts". The term "micro-aggression" makes rude or patronizing behaviour sound minor, but when it's repeated, it builds up. Imagine being treated as if you're a bit stupid every damn day and no one understands why you get sick of it.
Load More Replies...Table in a mid-scale (~$25/plate) Alabama restaurant comes in and sits down. Immediately asks if 'the blacks' are cooking tonight because they are leaving if so. This is what ignorant fear in an isolated echo chamber looks like, folks.
I had someone ask to change their table because they didn't want to sit in my section. These people glared at me when I showed up to introduce myself and then they made a huge "whaaaat? What is your name?" scene because my name is Chinese and I don't have an English name. Then they asked for my manager whne I brought them water. They told my manager loudly that they don't think it's appropriate to hire a c***k in an American restaurant and demanded to know if I was even here legally and why they were seated in the c***k's section when there were so many tables available.
Load More Replies...Boomer generation white man here. I recommend the book, "How to be an antiracist". I thought just not being a racist was enough. Wrong. Racism is so ingrained in our society that if you're not actively being antiracist, you are still part of the problem. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”― Edmund Burke (in a letter addressed to Thomas Mercer).
It's not just black people either, it's Hispanic people too. Particularly when English isn't their first language but they still speak it well, even with better grammar!
Or being US-born and raised and told your accent isn’t that bad…
Load More Replies...A young black man was in my subdivision selling a legitimate home security system. Had the shirt on, walking home to home, iPad On hand, very professional sales presentation, you would not believe the neighbors on the next door app questioning why a "strange" young man was wandering in the neighborhood "claiming" to be selling home security. Always someone selling something but as long as they're the right skin color nothing ever said. Some things still need to change in the south for sure.
Speaking as an African American, we have to put up with a lot of crap, but I was raised to handle it with grace and dignity and that's what I do everyday. This is something that could be a problem on my job as a delivery driver, but thankfully I live in a small town where most people know my parents so they pretty much figure out who I am pretty quick.
So I got transferred from one McDonalds to another, but I had worked 3 months before in the current place as well. On my 3rd day, this one guy orders 4x chicken nuggets menu. I ask, which size? we have 6, 9, 20 pc with large drinks and large fries. He says 6. Also asked for extra bags if his family can not finish the food. This is Saturday lunch rush. 10 minutes later, the lobby workers and servers come to me and say he is not letting them serve/clean other tables bc I gave him the wrong order. I go up to him and he screams at me, saying he ordered 4 happy meals. He goes to the shift manager and says to fire my incompetent brown ass because how hard it could be to place 4 happy meals orders. I explain the situation to the shift manager and he understands, but a huge part of that was because he knew me from before and already knew that I dont make a lot of mistakes. I wonder what would have happened if I was a fresher and it was my 3rd day at the job. I would have been fired on probation time.
My restaurant has switched over to carry out only due to current events, which hasn’t been too horrible for the most part.That is until we started seeing a new, weekly customer. Now, it isn’t the worst thing we’ve had to deal with but after a while it starts to grate on your nerves.
A normal interaction with him goes as such:
Me: Hi, how are you?
C: Ignores everything
Me: Are you picking up?
C: Nods his head once
Me: Whats the name for the order?
C: sighs the most long suffering sigh you ever did hear Name
Me: Alright, your total is [amount]
And that’s usually it. But ever since I had the nerve to remind this customer that they have to wear a mask indoors due to the Governor’s orders, he’s become increasingly snippy and combative.
He came in and tried to pay with $100 bills for a $12 order. When I informed him we don’t accept $50 or $100 bills (and even pointed to the prominent sign which said so), he got this stupid smirk on his face.
C: Well, I only have $100
Me: I’m sorry, unless you have a card you have to pay with smaller bills. The gas station down the street might be able to cash it for you.
C: I only have $100 and I don’t think I brought my card.
Me: Sir, this is a small store, we simply don’t have the change.
He finally put the stack of bills away and magically had a card. I was stupid to think that’d be the end of it though.
2. He came in and put down two rolls of coins. $10 in the form of quarters and $5 in the form of dimes. Once again he had this smirk on his face like he won a game he created. Little does (did?) he know that I’m super petty. I will play someone’s game and I will win it. So, I unwrap the coins and start counting them out in front of him. After I’m through with the quarters, I go to pick up the dimes and he interrupts me.
C: It’s wrapped for five, you can just put it in and give me the change.
Me: I’m sorry, I have to make sure it’s all there. We have had trouble with this before.
C: Oh...
So, I count out the rest of the change that I needed from the dimes and, instead of giving the dollar bills he probably wanted, I scooped the rest of the dimes up and gave them back.
Granted, it was super petty and I shouldn’t have done it, but. I’m tired of customers coming in like they’re God’s gift to Earth just because of the current state of the world.
I would probably have lost count a few times as well. Silly me...
Load More Replies...You could've said now you made me forget...and started counting from the beginning again.
And to take so long at it that the food would be totally cold. LOL!
Load More Replies...I used to hate it when customers paid for stuff with just coins, or loose change, in a clothes shop where people could spend anything from £20/30 to £100 roughly. And these people always rushed you to count faster to try and make you flustered or feel stupid. So I’d stop and say sorry I’ve lost count now and start again. Eventually they’d give up! Again it’s petty but why be rude to someone who’s job it is to help you?
I didn't mind when people paid with rolled coins, it saved me from having to request change later on. Usually this happened close to paydays, but as long as they were nice, I didn't make it an issue.
Load More Replies...I would have pretended to loose count when he interrupted and started again.
I work security at a bar that is open until 2 a.m. nightly. The job is mostly checking IDs at the front door and spotting guests who are clearly intoxicated so I can cut them off.
A small group of young 20-something guys showed up around 8 p.m. and started drinking like they were at a college fraternity party. Jäger-bombs, tequila shots, etc. While I am checking IDs at the front door a few hours later, one of the bros gets kicked out by a manager. I'm told to not let him back in. Cool. I asked if he was driving, he said no. I offered to call him a taxi, but he told me to go f**k myself because he was getting an Uber.
This guy was so drunk he couldn't stand or see straight. 10 minutes later he is still there and I ask what's up. This time he decided to be racist and call me a "curly-headed kyke." Game on, bro. Jokes about my heritage are where I draw the line.
A few more minutes pass, and he comes up and asks me to call him an Uber. I tell him that not how it works, he has to do it. He throws another Jewish joke at me and orders me to call him an Uber and hands me his unlocked phone. This is the part where I could have just opened the app, ordered a ride, and left the driver a massive tip, but this guy needed to pay the a**hole tax.
I opened his contacts and found exactly who I wanted to call: his mother. I told her that her son was drunk, got kicked out, and needed a ride. She was livid and said she would be there in 15 minutes. I give the phone back to him and said his ride was coming.
That guy sobered up so fast when his mother pulls up and immediately starts shrieking at him in front of everyone. He gets in the car, crying at this point, and I tell the mother about his racist comments, which send her into another tirade before driving away. I wish I could follow up with what happened to him, but I doubt he will be drinking anytime soon.
<- is Jewish. 'Kike' is to Jews what 'n****r' is to those of African descent. It is THE WORD you don't say to us.
Load More Replies...It is a racial slur towards Jewish people. It is up there with the N-word when it comes to racial slurs. Not at all pleasant or correct to use against anyone.
Load More Replies...If only we could call the mothers of all assholes we encounter and get the great result this guy got. Unfortunately though, some of the mothers are even worse assholes.
I wish I had been there to see that, drunk frat-type bros really grind my gears... they're always loud, belligerent, rude, entitled and just ugh.
I waited tables during college and this is one of the best memories I have of my manager handling a rude guest. One of my tables was a gay couple at a booth. They were holding hands across the table basically the whole time they were at the restaurant. At one point, a lady with two small children flags me down from across the dining room (her table wasn’t in my section so I assumed she just wanted me to go find her server). I go over and ask her what I can do for her, and she says, “What the HELL is wrong with you? How can you possibly allow THEM in here? I’ve been coming here for 20 years and I’m appalled that they’d let a couple of f@#$%&s eat here. Do me a favor and move those queers to a different table so my kids don’t have to see that sort of disgusting behavior.” Literally all they were doing was holding hands. Get over yourself lady. I wanted to tell her off for being such an intolerant b***h, but instead just said, “One moment ma’am and I’ll get a manager for you.” I went and told my manager what was going on and he promptly went over to her table and told her that if she had an issue with other guests minding their own business and eating their food, then maybe she’d be better off not eating out. She grabbed her kids and left without ordering. I always had a ton of respect for him for not putting up with horrible people’s bullshit.
You mean kudos to the manager, who they went and got. They said and did nothing. By the way, you're saying kudos to you, to someone who posted this on Reddit 2 years ago. They won't see this on another site.
Load More Replies...As someone who remembers being a child, I can tell you I would not have noticed that two people holding hands were both men, or thought anything of it. Your kids do not care, so don't blame them for your ass-hattery.
And even if the kids do care and notice, so what? Just a good opportunity to explain that two men can be in love as well.
Load More Replies...Statistically, there is every possibility one of her children could be gay. For their sakes I hope she learns some decency.
Sad thing is her kids will probs grow up with these horrible traits too.
Not all kids follow the parents. mine are racist anti gay pigs but all of us kids are super chill and some are gay.
Load More Replies...I will never understand why these insensitive morons go out and about. When you go out in public, you are going to be around all the public and that includes gay people.
I don't understand ppl caring whether ppl are the same sex & dating. At 45 I've never understand what the big damn deal is, however it does make me loathe, organized religious assholes more than you'd think possible. I love when ppl take a book of absurd stories & arrange it to mean what best suited them
My ex-MIL ruined two weddings with one stone at my reception. About halfway through our party, she realized there was a gay wedding on the other side of the venue. Our merriment came to abrupt halt when we hear her screech from the lobby, “THEY RENT THE HALL TO FAGGOTS?! How dare they be allowed to celebrate their perverted life choice in the same building as normal people. You tarnished this building with your sickness. You ruined my baby’s wedding!” Needless to say, we were all mortified. She was immediately kicked out of the venue and our life.
If I were the male manager,, I would have 'flambuoyantly flounced' stereotypically just to really irritate her.
It was a group of middle aged guys. They’re regulars, but they’re annoying as hell, and they always ask for the hottest server. As a host, i usually just sit them with whoever. The last time they came in, I sat them with D, a really sweet black girl who’s one of our best servers. They were FURIOUS. They never said anything to me or a manager, but they claimed everything was wrong. The food was too cold. The drinks were flat. She was way too slow. She was rude. They left a 25¢ tip and left not long after.
This time, they specified they wanted a hot WHITE server. I said “okay!” and with a smile, I walked them over to their table. I specifically sat them with the only male server, a tall, black, bodybuilder who towered over all of them. He’s a really cool guy, but he can be slightly intimidating to people that don’t know him just due to his stature.
They never said a word.
If someone would ask me for a "white" server, I swear I'd put a sheet over me like a ghost and wait on them myself.
I would tip you, even when you are not waiting my table 😂
Load More Replies...Why serve these people? Anyone asking for a white server should be kicked out and denied service forever. Who wants these kinds of people as costumers anyway?
Seriously, if I were the owner and they asked me to seat them with "the hottest server," I'd shut it down right there. "I'll seat you wherever an empty table is, and if you ask me again about anything that sounds like a sexist, racist, or harrassing comment, or if I hear back from the server waiting on you that they were disrespectful in any manner, you will NOT be allowed back into my establishment. If you don't like or agree with this, eat somewhere else."
Why is this business catering to sexual harassment in the first place ? Aside from maybe hooters, a waitresses job is to serve food not cater to people with her looks ... a group of men who come in wanting to sit at a hot waitress table is inappropriate and this is sexual harassment and should not be tolerated in any way This person should have informed the business manager or owner and if that person still allowed them in then charges should have been laid ... please stop allowing men to sexually harass woman
Black people can be hot too. So can Spanish people. And Asian people. And purple people. And blue people. And orange, yellow, red, green, pink people. Everyone can be hot. Y'know what, everyone IS hot. Beauty standards should not exist.
There was only one orange person I did not like too much, but he was voted out of office. Other than that, our hearts all beat the same! :)
Load More Replies...I wouldn't have thrown them to the wolves like that. Refuse service one for being racist and two for being sexually harassing. Black people and women don't deserve to have to wait on them. What is wrong w so many white older men. Are they so afraid they will lose their power over the whole world? Someone needs to explain to them they won't see that kind of loss in their lifetime.
Last night I worked a 14 top. They were all terrible people, douchiest people I have ever come in contact with. The royal family of Douchland. One guy sits down and orders a beer. He says, “Every time you come to the table I want you to have a beer for me.” I thought he was probably just joking, so I leave and come back and he says, “Where is my beer? Did you really forget what I told you like 2 minutes ago? Wow.” So I said, “OH! I am so sorry it won’t happen again.” So, for the next 2 hours, no matter what. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I approached the table I left a beer. After about 45 minutes the beer began to pile up. A friend of King Doucherbottom tried to take one that I put down, but I grabbed it and said, “Sorry sir, this is your friends beer I would be happy to get one for you if you like.” Long story short he ended up buying 25 beers at 8 dollars a pop with a 20% mandatory auto-grat on the table. He maybe drank 4. I have never felt so good in my life. It doesn’t pay to be an arrogant a** folks!
What did he think was going to happen? I'm glad he had to pay dearly for his douchiness.
I think I've serviced the same family too many times!😅😅😅😅
Load More Replies...He must have wanted them if he didn't ask her to stop. He was just as petty.
My coworker was helping a customer and I gave him a mask to wear while he came to pick up his phone order.. while I turned to go back into the kitchen, he threw the mask on the floor and said to my coworker.. “just grab my f@#$%n order “
So I grabbed his food, turned around, and slowly walked over to the trash can while making dead eye contact with him the whole time and threw his food away. Slowly walked back to the kitchen until I heard him demand a manager.
My employees went silent as my short 5’2 Asian girl a** turned back around, I smirked and said “what’s up?”
I only feel comfortable doing this because I’m the mgr and been working at my company for 18 years now and know they won’t fire me it’s just funny because I look real young.
Anti-maskers are lunatics. But I am shocked at the people every day in the grocery store, a year and a half into a global pandemic that have to be told to wear a mask, even with giant signs on the front door
I can only imagine. I lived in the US from the age of 12, in 1995, until April 2020, when I made it through to Japan to be with my then-fiance. I made it through literally hours before the door closed for international travel. I've been watching in horror as my country seems to have fallen to pieces. Over here, basically 99% of people wear masks, even when they don't need to (e.g. in their cars). I could have totally foreseen this sort of reaction from the insane, hypocritical, "I can do whatever I want" right, but seeing it happen from afar in real-time has been absolutely surreal.
Load More Replies...I am SO tired of these f*****g pricks who think the pandemic is a "hoax" and "masks don't do anything." I don't give a F**K what your opinion is, the CDC and the entire WORLD are in agreement that it is real, it can be very fatal, and masks help cut down infection rate. At the very LEAST, wearing a mask won't hurt you in any way. And don't give me that "I can't breathe" s**t, I have chronic asthma and breath JUST FINE in one. Don't be an entitled, selfish prick. Keep your gd germs to yourself.
Personally, I'm just waiting for them die out ala the plague etc
Load More Replies...Most likely a homeless person will be grateful when they dumpster dive after closing
Load More Replies...
It’s around six and one of our regulars I’ll call him Andy comes in. Andy works at a mattress store and always comes in for lunch. He’s a awesome guy, and he’s a big guy he’s close to 400 pounds. Anyway Andy shows up after work with a woman she’s maybe a good ten or so years older than him. It’s obvious their on a date. So we make a fuss over him, the owners wife gets him our best table and we bring them a complimentary glass of champagne.
He orders our platter of meat she orders a vegetarian platter. They are eating and I hear her gasp, Andy’s face is blue and his hands are over his throat. So I go over and I give him the Heimlich while the owner calls 911. I’m giving him back blows when his date whacks me with her purse. “Your hurting him I took first aid that’s not right!!” She’s screaming in my face. He’s still choking, the owner pulls her away from me she’s screaming still. Andy’s piece of steak goes flying, he’s able to breathe. The paramedics are there and she’s telling them I hurt him. The paramedics tell her I saved his life.
Anyway they end up taking Andy in because he was wheezing a bit. She throws me a dirty look and follows them out.
Two days later Andy comes in for lunch with his co worker he thanks me over and over. Then he tells me that was the first and last date with that woman. He brought his newest gf in yesterday, she loved the restaurant and best of all she’s nice.
Nice story, I don't quite understand why you had to point out the guy's weight while his name was obviously changed. Being fat makes you more prone to choke on stuff?
No but it makes the chest compression maneuver more difficult to do and therefore less effective on bigger people which is why the server used back blows instead.
Load More Replies...
Party of 6 comes in headed by a Karen. Wants two 4-top high-tops pushed together. Host says can’t do it, social distancing, you’ll be too close to the other table next to you now.
“Let me speak to the manager.” She’s calm, just insistent and it’s obvious she’s played the card before.
I roll up, “how can I help?”
Can we push those two tables together?
“No, can’t, social distancing and now you’re too close to the next table. You can have that table that’s for 6 in the corner, you can have that booth for 6 after we clean it, or you can have that table for 6 outside after they get up — about 10 minutes.” All the while I’m pointing to each table like I’m showing them emergency exits on an airplane.
“You can’t push those tables togeth-“
“No, we will not be moving tables. You can have......” and point out the tables again.
“You know what I think? begins turning to her friend You know what I think?” both of them together “we go somewhere else?”
At this point I clap my hands together and say “thank you and have a great night” and immediately turn around and walk away. The best part is Karen stares at the back of my head for a solid 2 seconds before she shuffled out. I didn’t realize this until I watched the video of the exchange.
Your professional response caused Karen's system to shut down for a moment.
"Bitch.exe has encountered an unrecoverable error and has shut down."
Load More Replies...Even if she doesn't care about other patrons' safety, she should at least care about her own.
That's the beat you can do in a situation like that, calmly but insistent repeat your "power sentence ", don't argue, don't react, just repeat. Works like a charm.
If it matters, I was behind the bar when this happened.
So, tonight I(25/f) had a man(40?m), as I was ringing in an order on the POS, say:
"Hey."
I looked up at him.
He said, "I'm picturing you naked right now."
I said,
"Oh? Are you impressed by my massive horse c**k?"
I have never seen a grown man rethink his existence so quickly.
His friends laughed, many a swordfight joke was made, I (hypothetically) won them all.
I just..... there will never be something so satisfying happen to me at work ever again.
I worked as a bartender in my early 30s. A group of college boys came in and approached the bar. The leader said to me, "You know what? I have a 12-inch d**k." I looked up at him and replied, "Really? Where are you measuring from? Your a$$hole?" His friends laughed at him. Don't mess with the person you expect to serve you.
I prefer "oh sweetie, the cm side is centimeters, not inches."
Load More Replies...Someone said to me (f) once, if you ever get hit on by a guy who won’t take no for an answer or you want them to leave you alone, say “can I play with your d*ck? (Pause) because I miss playing with mine”. It kind of shocked me at the time but it is effective! This story reminded me of that!
As a female, I LOVE making "My d**k is bigger than yours" jokes. It disarms people so well. People (especially guys) don't expect a meek little girl to say something so "brutish." Extremely satisfying.
If someone ever said that to me, I'd give em a nice slap across the face. I think this joke is funny and entertaining and all, but what he did is just absolutely unacceptable.
I had a manager that wanted me to engage w men like this for the business. I had to learn a lot of witty comebacks to disarm people wo getting in trouble
I work at a chain pizza place, and like most pizza places our busiest day is Friday during the dinner rush. Almost all the staff is on hand and everything is on fire. It really didn't help that we had a 40 pizza order that day due at 6:00 pm. This all happened last Friday.
A lady calls in and orders 4 pizzas for delivery. 3 of them were double pepperoni pizzas which take way longer than you would think. I tell her that it will take about 1 1/2 - 2 hours for delivery. This lady starts asking what the f**k is up with that wait time, and I explain what I said before about dinner rush.
She goes into a rampage telling me that she's been at work all day and she does not want to cook, "My family is starving, my kids are crying, and you're just making them suffer more with that f@#$%&g wait time!"
Being the shy timid college girl I am, all I could do is apologize and apologize as this lady is grilling me. Also, the wait time is only getting longer as orders are coming in, she hasn't put in her order, and I can't help make anything as I'm on the phone.
My manager knows this. He comes over to the phone, takes it from me. Asks the problem and says "Here, your wait time will be nothing and you won't have to spend any more money!" Slams the phone down, ignores her order, and continues on with his work. Thank you, manager!
I love it when managers actually have the chutzpah to stand up to unreasonable customers. Sniveling and appeasing for their continued business only means you'll have to deal with them again, and they may feel even bolder.
You would love the boss I had during my traineeship - the asshole customers did their BS only once
Load More Replies...If we order pizza for delivery on a Friday we expect an hour delivery time and the place is a mile away as the crow flies. And we pre-tip on the card at least $10.
Without wanting to justify her being rude... is it normal to wait for a pizza for 2 hours? I mean, where i come from, its maximum 45 minutes.....of course she was informed and could order from somewhere else without being a rude idiot but 2 hours is extreme
Maybe itks a place where they make ‘ real ‘ pizza, that plus rush hour makes it longer to make
Load More Replies...
I had 3 guys come in that looked about my age. When they sat down, I greeted them and then asked them how many shots they were going to be buying tonight. They were fairly loud and seemed in a good mood, and I said that mostly to be funny.
The first couple of guys told me they didn’t want shots, but they would be ordering beers. Then the last guy told me he would need a few shots if I was going to be his server. I chuckled, I thought we were joking and went and got their drinks.
They ordered their food, a few more beers, there weren’t any major issues, and they said it would all be one check tonight.
I went to pick up their credit card receipt, and there was 0 in the tip line. Ok, maybe they’ll leave cash-no big deal. But as I am thanking them for coming in, one of the guys interrupts me.
He tells me that I probably noticed he didn’t tip me. I am honestly kind of embarrassed to be having this conversation, and I was flustered, so I just replied with something like “oh, that’s okay, have a nice night.”
He then proceeded to tell me; “I didn’t really feel like shelling out an extra 20 bucks for you, because no offense, but you could step it up a bit. All the other waitresses in here are very cute and earn their tips, try putting on more make up, or going to a gym. I am just being honest with you, if a guy wanted to f**ck you-he’d tip you better.”
I was so mortified I didn’t even say anything. I could feel my face turning red, while every guy at that table stared at me. Nobody said anything.
I work very hard, and I take so much pride in my work. I try to look nice and put together every night, because it can speak to how much pride you do take in it. I am friendly and outgoing, because I love working with people and I love my job.
I wish I would’ve had something to say back to him, but I just walked away instead. I’ve worked double shifts all week, and closed each night. I’ve been stiffed a couple times almost every day this week- but I don’t take it personal and I try to still always hold my head up-but that really hurt.
*grabs gun* tell me where this guy is Edit: Don't worry if you don't have a weapon, I have a very wide assortment of things, from flowerpots to blenders to strangely angry porcupines... Edit 2: Anybody got, like, a spare succubus hanging around? Or a chinese water torture machine? Or a guillotine? Or pizza? (I like mushrooms, bell peppers and onions, btw)
F**k those guys. They’re doing it to be nasty. Cause they can. They’re the type who sees a nice girl & wants to make her feel bad. I guarantee there is nothing wrong with your appearance or how you are. It’s them. They sound like the guys that lie about how many women they’ve been with. Probably all virgins & feel the need to make an issue of a woman’s looks as they secretly found you attractive & knew you were out of their league so their way of punishing you is doing this.
"Well I didn't really feel like shelling out all my effort for you because -- and please do take offense -- you could step it up a bit. All the other customers in here are very polite and aren't jackasses, try learning manners, or repeating kindergarten. I am just being honest with you, if a waitress didn't hate you -- she wouldn't have to fight the urge to spit in your food"
Some people obviously don't understand what's included in a waiter's job... They're serving food and drink, not eyefuls.
Call the manager over and politely say, "This gentleman has some important feedback that I'm sure you will want to hear." If he has the guts to say it to the manager, hopefully he'll be banned from that restaurant forever.
I feel so bad right now. How that disgusting pig is even allowed to breathe the same air as you ?
Someday, somehow, karma will catch up with these guys. I’d like a ringside seat when it does.
I’m a waitress at an upscale steakhouse restaurant.
The hostesses up front put us at an hour-long wait for walk-ins because of so many booked reservations, which is usual protocol from the GM. Well, this particular couple had me FUMING beyond belief during our peak hour of the night.
The front lobby is packed with guests waiting for a table while reservations are seated as soon as possible. The hostesses have a system on an iPad to let all managers know which guest is seated where, how long they’ve stayed, etc.
I’m bussing a table at my section when I overhear one of the hostesses try to speak to a pair at my section a booth over. This couple walked in to the restaurant, saw the amount of people waiting for a table, and decided to seat themselves with NO reservation. They also sat at a dirty f@#$%&g table, and here I’m thinking “are these people for real?”
This is what I got between hostess and the older man sitting down with his wife(?):
“Excuse me sir? You didn’t come up to the host stand in order for us to found out what reservation you had?”
“We don’t have reservations. Someone needs to clean this s**t up.” pointing at the messy table
“I’m sorry sir, but if you don’t have a reservation the wait is going to be an hour long. Someone has already requested this booth by the fireplace and they need to be seated.”
“We don’t care about reservations. We’re hungry and we’re going to eat. Get someone to clean our damn table! I’m not asking a third time!”
After that failure, the hostess looked at me pretty shaken up. She never dealt with any guests THAT rude and upfront before so it was understandable. With my Latina blood boiling, I went over to the assholes.
“This is my section, and after hearing that conversation, you both have no right to be served. There’s a family waiting for this table, and I’m going to ask you to leave. Unless you want me to get a manager to escort you out.”
The couple squaked at me demanding I get them drinks while I went straight to my GM who saw what had already happened with the hostess. They were escorted out and were told they weren’t welcome back.
Guys all I asked was why she specify Latina and you downvoted me because you can’t understand ask don’t be rude to me I have feelings too ya know
People are quick with assumptions nowadays, everything is seen as hostile statement. I think she mentioned that because Latinas are often seen as very spirited by others and themselves
Load More Replies...I wonder how many times being this stubbornly rude has worked out for them, good thing it didn't this time.
Why is it the ones who think the world owes them the most deserve it the least?
I had several 'regulars" that always sat in my section, but there were other servers that had their regulars as well. One of them was a really pleasant, jovial man... and his horrible, nasty wife.One particular day, I had to cover some tables in a different server's section because a server called in sick. I was warned about this couple when they came in, but had never waited on them before so I wasn't sure exactly what to expect. I was told that she had a habit of complaining endlessly about everything, demanding to speak to the manager every time they came in and berating the servers and cooks at every turn. The husband (who often came in by himself) was the opposite - friendly, good-natured, well-liked.
As soon as they were seated, before I could even get their drink orders, the husband got up from the booth and walked outside for a few minutes, leaving me alone with the wife. I put on my best smiley, cheerful face and greeted her. She refused to make eye contact with me and instead scowled and snarled, "You would think that, as much money as we spend here, you people would know what we like to drink! Why do we have to keep going through this? I want ICED TEA, NO LEMON!!". She didn't tell me what the husband wanted, and I didn't ask... I was just so taken aback by the anger straight out of the gate that I just turned on my heels and walked away.
I poured her an iced tea - NO LEMON!! - and brought it back to her. Before I could even set it down, she snapped, "I already know what I want to eat, and we're in a HURRY." (bear in mind that the husband is still outside). I took her order, still trying to be pleasant, and before I could walk away she snarled "and the last time you people brought the food out, it was COLD!! I do NOT want cold food! And I want EXTRA CHEESE on my scrambled eggs!! and SALSA!!". Her voice seemed to drip with more and more anger with every word she spat out.
As I was ringing up the order, I thought of a thousand things I wanted to do, then I hit up on an idea... instead of getting back at her, I was going to not only go out of my way to make her meal as perfect and delicious as possible, but I was going to embarrass her as well.
I made sure everything was perfect... piping hot, lots and lots of cheese on the eggs, fresh salsa warmed up to room temperature. By the time the meal was ready, the husband had returned to the table and was happily chatting with one of the servers. I mustered up my best scared/sad face as I brought out the food to her. As I sat it down, I started to tear up, just a little, and expressed in gushing, flowery terms how sorry I was for how badly she was treated the last time she was here, and how hard I worked to make sure the food was absolutely 100% according to her specifications, and that I felt SO BAD for how she was treated the last time she was here, that I was going to pay for her meal out of my tips and how I hoped that she would be willing to accept my apology on behalf of the whole restaurant for her miserable experience. I really laid it on as thickly and sweetly as I could.
Her husband, who was happy and smiling and cheerful just seconds ago, stared her down with a sick, horrid look, his face turning bright red. She was MORTIFIED, her face turning equally red... she hung her head and said, "ummm.... okay...". I asked her if everything was to her satisfaction this time, and if it wasn't, I would rectify it immediately. She stared at her plate, pushed it around a bit, and said, "ummmm... yeah...". The husband is staring her down, clenching his jaw. He politely ordered his meal and as I was walking away, I heard him hiss at her, "what did you say to her? What did you DO??".
She was silent and sulking for the rest of the meal, and he was polite but not overly chatty. When they were finished, she stormed out before he even left the table, head hung. He apologized profusely to me for how she had acted and left a generous tip on top of paying the tab.
I don't even have a snappy come back for this, people are just awful. The whole idea that your better than someone because they work in certain jobs makes me so angry
I agree those people are like Reita from Saiki k (relate to me weebs)
Load More Replies...I would swear this was my grandma and grandpa but for the salsa order. My grandmother has always been a nasty bitter old woman and the dementia is making it way worse
Who orders their food without waiting for their dining companion to return?
People like her exist, nasty for the sake of some kind of entitlement they feel in their life. I love the husband, good guy.
I think every single person should have to work at least one job in the food industry and retail
I seriously read stuff like this and I have never wished so badly in my life to have a time machine and follow these people around time, to find the exact moment that made them miserable excuses for human beings. Then beat the holy dog s**t out whoever did that. And if they were "born" like that, well nothing a coat hanger can't fix.
This is something that truly gets on my nerves. It's happened to me every single closing shift I've worked for the past week and it's driving me insane. We're doing our closing sidework, the kitchen is packing up, the bar is closing down, and lo and behold, in comes a 5 top 5 minutes before we're officially closed. Now, I'll still give them good service while kindly letting them know that once their food is made that the kitchen will be closed so make sure to order everything they'll need. I wouldn't mind so much if they ate quickly and left, but that's never the case.
Fast forward an hour: Closing sidework is done. All the chairs are flipped over and stacked on the tables with the exception of the area directly around the last table. Their table is pre bussed and the closing servers are literally just waiting around for these people to leave. It's like they have zero awareness of their surroundings. They will just sit and chat and pretend like we aren't clearly closed and waiting on them to leave.
It's okay to enter a restaurant if it's somewhat close to closing, but please don't hang around long after it's closed. The servers have had a really long day and just want to get home because more often than not one of us has to be right back at the restaurant in the morning to open.
It is not okay to go anywhere 5 mins before it's closing. Unless it's a store and your buying shoelaces and are in and out within 2 ins. But this behavior is unacceptable.
I disagree. Well, somewhat, at least for quick service places. I worked food service over a year in HS and over 5 years during and after college. I think if your sign says you're open until, say 9:00 for example, it's a point of principle and pride to honor that. I always got way more annoyed at my coworkers when they would bad mouth the customers for late orders than I did at the customers. Having said all that, if they came in at 5 'til and sat down for another hour or two, well, yeah, I'd be seething too. In fact, I'd probably ask them to leave.
Load More Replies...In France, lunch hour is from 12h to 14h. There are some that serves non-stop and can be found in touristic areas. If you show up at 13h30, you may or may not be served. If you are served, it will probably be whatever is left in the kitchen. And then you will be told that they are closing and you have to eat quick. If any of that does not satisfy you, you can show yourself out.
This is where you prime the customer: Hello, thanks for coming in. Just to let you know, the restaurant closes in 5 minutes so whatever you order will be final as the kitchen will shut down once I've entered it. Also, the lights will go off in 30 minutes but we will be very happy to put any leftovers in a to go container! Now you've given them precise times and at 30 min, shut off the lights. They'll get the hint.
Wouldn't happen in my country. Kitchens always close a minimum 30 mins before the restaurant does, sometimes an hour before.
Sit at the tables adjacent and make eye contact. Make it real uncomfortable to stay 🤗
And keep scooting your chairs an inch closer to them every 30 seconds.
Load More Replies...
I waited tables and tended bar for years before switching to my current career.
Table comes in, eats, drinks, pays cash. Tell them to have a great day and walk away. Taking a drink order at a new table and notice the lady standing there angrily, and I make eye contact with her husband and he looks really embarrassed.
Finish taking drink order and go over to them. "Yes? Is there a problem?"
She tells me I gave her the wrong change and was really nasty about it. I can't remember exactly what it was, but I had intended to round up to avoid pennies...you heard me right...pennies. Like their change was supposed to be $3.78 and I intended to give them $3.80. Well, I guess I made a mistake this time and gave them $3.75. Either way, she was really rude.
She showed me the receipt, and I apologized and admitted my error. Then, I pointed out I had forgotten to ring up her coffee, and that I would be right back with an updated check.
She was pissed that she ended up paying more than if she'd kept her mouth shut.
I don't know about you, but I always check my bill and tell the server if they have missed something off it. I must be too honest.
I think the point is that the lady was being really rude about it for no reason. If you're nice and understanding then pointing out a mistake shouldn't be too bad
Load More Replies...If I take my mother shopping she won’t let drive off until she’s checked the receipt thoroughly. If there is something wrong, usually being overcharged or a wrong price wrongly entered she makes ME go back and sort it out. My dad’s had to do the same for 50 odd years.
My mom did the same. Always got her items for free at acme. She loved when they made a mistake
Load More Replies...Yeah as if she doesn't do that anyway. If you get pissed of for few cents- it's you problem, none else's.
Load More Replies...
So I was serving a family, the parents were clearly in their 50s/60s, their kids in their mid 20s. When ordering alcohol, I carded the kids but not the parents. The mom pipes up with the whole "Heyyy I don't look that old, why didn't you card meeeeeeeee?????????"
I respond with "okay, let me see your ID, then"
As it turns out, mommy dearest left her wallet at home. I inform her that, unfortunately, once requested, I am legally not allowed to serve her alcohol unless she produces a valid ID.
Obviously, she's f@#$%&g FURIOUS about this, so I send the manager over to confirm with her that I am not allowed to serve her. It almost goes without saying that I didn't receive a tip, but hopefully this idiot learned something today.
I'm starting to feel bad that all these people have to deal with annoying, clueless customers. (not being sarcastic, please don't think this is sarcastic)
This is why tipping as a necessary part of wage is wrong. OP got stiffed for refusing to break the law.
When I was 40, I was carded. I didn't have my ID, and the manager came over to tell me that they couldn't serve me alcohol even though I was clearly old enough. I'm sure they expected me to blow a gasket, but I told them that it was fine, I knew they had to follow the law, and it was my fault for not having my ID. I think they were surprised.
Load More Replies...The waitress had to follow the letter of the law, around here the alcohol control board runs stings to see if places are violating regulations, and a violation can result in the loss of a liquor license, which even for a restaurant is a huge source of income. Most of the time they use a young looking agent who tries to sweet talk the bartender into serving her without ID.
Check the above post by Johnny. This could have been a sting, and the restaurant could have lost their liquor licence. And, as a waiter/waitress, you don't have the decision-making power to break the law while working.
Load More Replies...when i was a bouncer i ID'd every person who walked through the door, regardless of how old they looked, and i would often have to refuse entry to older people who didnt have an ID on them, even though it was obvious they were old enough, because in my province you have to have proof of age on you to drink.
Bartender/Bar Manager 10+ years here. My experience is: you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't. The brand new ones get offended "What I don't LOOK old enough to drink??? I'm not #^$(# CHILD!! The older ones, get offended "OMG, I could TOTALLY be 19 or 20 (if you just assume). I mean lady you just told me you're here with your daughter (who showed ID) celebrating her 21st. SMH.
A guest walks into brunch and orders our smoked salmon plate. The only dairy in this particular dish is a ramekin of cream cheese that is served on the side.
A couple minutes later I’m in the kitchen getting coffee for another table. I turn around and smoked salmon lady has followed me to the kitchen.
When I turn around and see her, I ask “Is there something you need?”
She says, “I forgot I’m not eating dairy, so can I change my order to the buttermilk pancakes?”
Confused at what I just heard, I ask “The buttermilk pancakes? There is dairy in the pancakes...”
“Well as long as it’s not a lot it’s ok.”
Lady..... it’s like the main ingredient. It’s in the name. BUTTERMILK pancakes. Do people really listen to the stupidity that comes out of their face holes??? I can’t.
Not actually lactose intolerant. You wouldn't believe how many people pretend they have food allergies. No clue why.
Once had a customer ask me "does the latte have milk in it?" " 'Latte' is the Italian word for 'milk,' so, yeah."
I used to work at an extremely busy deli (think 90 custom sandwich orders with 2 people making them), and every once in a while would get a customer who had a "gluten allergy." We ONLY have gluten-free bread on our menu for people on a gf DIET, NOT for people with actual celiac disease. If you truly have that severe of an allergy, do NOT expect our facility that shares grills/sandwich presses and counter spaces that have bread crumbs everywhere to stop in the middle of our lunch rush to sanitize the grill, counters, knives, wash our hands and put fresh gloves on, sanitize spatula or any other utensils required to make the sandwich and not be able to touch ANY other orders until yours is done. DON'T go out to eat if you get that sick! >.>
I'm the same as her. The buttermilk in cooked pancakes are not a problem. And food allergies are not always lies. I say that about cheese as it triggers my gag reflex. I'd rather say I'm allergic than to explain that embarrassing little tidbit every time.
You don't have to tell us why you don't eat something, but if it isn't an actual allergy please don't say it is. The prep work for allergy food is way more tedious, we have to make sure nothing that has come into contact with that allergen will touch your food, everything has to be scrubbed and replaced. It's a hassle. If you don't like cheese, just say no cheese.
Load More Replies...Agreed. It's more clueless than anything else.
Load More Replies...Wow you take this entirely much too seriously. One of those people. It's just my opinion that anything that makes you have the same reaction as some other food allergy reactions can be called an allergy. But I'm sure you'll argue that point as well. But please spare me and yourself the energy as I won't engage. I'm not here to win a popularity contest just trying to explain ma'am.
That comes out their faces holes lol. This should be the official term for mouths.
I bartend at a corporate restaurant in a moderate-sized southern town. I am Jewish and refused to serve a lone guy with Nazi tattoos (swastika and SS).
I didn't talk to Nazi, told the servers why I wouldn't wait on him, and told my manager I'd get a server to wait on him because I refused. It took maybe 5 minutes to get a server to wait on him (since most other servers wouldn't either).
He complained to the manager at the end of his meal that he tried to get my attention so many times and I didn't even look at him. I explained that I refused to serve him (right to refuse service, right?) and I got a huge speech from the MOD about... diversity? And if I can't wait on every walk of life, why do I even bartend?
I am livid.
Because someone complained and the customer is always right /s
Load More Replies...I'm astonished the management let someone with visible swastikas stay in their restaurant.
I learned from a bartender years ago that if you see someone like this in your establishment you need to forcibly tell them to leave in the most threatening manner possible. If you fail to do that, they'll come back with all their friends and suddenly your establishment has become "theirs."
Load More Replies..."My lifestyle consists in calling for your extermination, how dare you not tolerate me ?"
Screw the MOD. Nobody should have to serve a Nazi unwillingly. EVER. And, FYI, I'd love to have the US ban all that crap, but I'm still working on tearing down traitors' statues... Gotta get their butts outta 1890 first.
Bartender here.
This girl walks into my bar and I walk over as usual place a bev-nap in front of her and ask her
“Hey! How are you? What can I get you today?”
“Cosmo” she says
“Alright coming right up—that’s a really cool dress by the way” I say
It was a very quick off the cuff comment. Not hitting on her or anything.
She then gives me this “ew” look and goes “one. I have a boyfriend. 2. I don’t date f@#$%&s. 3. Hurry up with my drink before I decide you don’t get to work here”
I suddenly stop. Slightly shocked. Flood of thoughts quickly go through my head. Like was she joking..? Would someone think that was humorous?
Nope. B***h was DEAD serious.
My Turn:
“In what f@#$%&g universe do you think you can walk into a bar—insult the bartender—and actually expect him to make you drinks????
Silence.
“Nah b***h, you’re dismissed.”
This b***h comes back the next day with her boyfriend and she points at me as if saying “that’s him” he goes
“Yo I heard you were talking s**t about my girl. Do you know what happens when guys talk s**t to my girl?”
Ugh here we go with one of those a@#$%&e guys who wants to put on a macho performance for his girl. These specimen are the dumbest of the dumb.
I go “Do you know what actually happened?”
He goes “I don’t care what happened! You disrespected my girl”
At this point he actually jumped over the bar and I jumped over the bar as well to HIS side then his d@#$%&s jumped BACK over the bar to the guests side at which point one of the bouncers tackled his ass.
Yeah, MAYBE I shouldn’t of called her a b***h but she was in the wrong. If my GF acted like that to a bartender and got called a b***h I’d be like “yeah—that was a b***h thing to say” you dumb b***h. F@#k I hope they don’t procreate.
Who doesn't like a compliment when it's clearly not meant to be sleazy? It makes people happy and the world a nicer place to live in. Then idiots like these make people keep quite when thinking something nice rather than risk a totally insane hostile reaction... Ugh.
Glad the s**t got tackled. I guess you decided they don't get to come here anymore.
I recieved a phonecall asking specifically about our $17.50 dish - our Seafood Paella. It's made fresh to order, and takes about 15-20 minutes to make. Not to mention that seafood is expensive. So the price is justified. The person I was speaking to asked if we were a buffet. We are not. I told them we are table service, and can do the Paella any time. I asked if they wanted to make a reservation because of the time it takes to prepare the Paella. They said no, and hung up. So I went about my day.
A few hours later a family of four comes in. They sit down, glance at the menus, and then wave me over with a snap of the father's fingers (gotta love that.)
D = Dad
Me = is this necessary?
D: Show me Paella.
I direct him to the back of the menu, where it's listed very clearly and shows the ingredients and the price.
D: I want that.
I write it down. The mother then says she wants a Paella, followed by the two kids saying the same. So I confirm.
Me: "So that's four Paellas? You don't want to share?"
D: "No. We'll all have Paella."
So I put the order in after reminding him it'll take about 15 minutes. I offered them drinks, but they just wanted water. I started getting the cheap vibe, but they ordered FOUR Paella, so how cheap could they be?
Food comes out. They love it. Dad asks if he could get one to go. I put the order in so it would be ready when they finish.
We're at five Paellas now, and almost $90, before tax. I let the chef/owner know my concerns that the family may object to this price despite having it made clear to them. He gave me the okay to give them a 10% discount right off the bat. He's a good guy.
The time comes to bring the bill, and the man's eyes go wide. I wrote out the bill so that every Paella has $17.50 next to it. I watch as realization hits. He opens his mouth to object, and I immediately say, "The owner said to give you a discount because you ordered five of our most expensive dish and he wanted to thank you. He was happy to hear that you enjoyed it enough to order another to take home."
That shut him up. I watch as he scans every last line of the bill and then settles on the tax, which was nearly $11.
D: "You added a tip for yourself?" He was angry.
Me: "No sir."
D: "What's this then?!"
Me: "...The tax."
Honestly I wasn't expecting a tip at that point, but he did leave me 10%. So basically the discount we had given him.
not bad. at least he was mostly nice and actually gave you a tip.
He wasn’t mostly nice, but he wasn’t as rude as the others
Load More Replies...I'm actually confused how that could be a problem. I find this not too expensive (but I, too, forgot about the tax... damn, stupid Added Tax!)
Load More Replies...Yeah, seafood can be expensive, but let's not forget the heart of paella, one of the priciest spices in the world: saffron. And, deep inside, part of me really thinks they probably all said, "I'll have the pay-ell-la."
how do you pronounce it? ik pay ell la isn't right but i can't think of any other way
Load More Replies...Why do some waitstaff assume that when you order water it means you are cheap? I order water because I drink diet beverages and don't have caffeine in the evening and as most places don't offer anything that is diet and caffeine free... water it is. However, I tip good service at least 20% and great service at least 25% and treat my servers kindly and with respect.
It's not really the fact that they ordered water but probably because it didn't fit the store's culture. Every restaurant has it's own sort of culture that the staff are use to seeing. Like here in the South if not even one person at a table orders a tea, it's strange to us. That store is probably use to customers getting a soft drink at least and probably accompanied with a hard drink.
Load More Replies...People that snapped fingers got ignored until they addressed me properly. Always happened when there was a rush at the bar. I loved ignoring their hand waving after that too. My regulars would tell them off all the time for me. I always got them involved w difficult customers bc they could say stuff I couldn't. It was always men that did the crappiest things and they would only stop when a man told them to. They didn't care if a women told them only other men.
I think this was well done by the service - anticipating that there might be a problem, making it very easy for the customer to accept the price and rather hard to make trouble in front of his family - shows that you can make any job into art.
Is anybody else burned out by how absolutely stupid the general public is?
I’ve been back at work for about a month, and every shift there’s always at least one person that has their brain completely switched off. The other day is a prime example. My restaurant is on a limited menu while most of our staff is still furloughed. I’m greeting a table, and a woman interrupts me shaking her menu at me. She asks, “Are you back to your full menu, or is this all you have.” Let’s try to work through this together. I’ve given you a limited menu. I have not given you the regular full menu. What can we infer about our availability given this information?
Two days later I’m opening the bar. Right when the doors open this other woman makes a bee-line for the bar that has no chairs at it, and asks, “Is the bar open?” No! You can tell that by the fact that there is no f@#$%&g chairs here.
My first week back an eccentric regular was asking about our sanitation practices. She ask, “Are you able to sanitize the glasses, and plates?” Do you mean WASH the dishes? Yes it’s been our practice to WASH the dishes after every use. Even before there was a global pandemic.
I have these interactions several times a week. Have people always been this stupid? Have I just forgotten that being furloughed for 2 months?
People have always been this stupid. Seriously. You're only noticing it more now because you haven't had to deal with them for awhile.
They have always been this stupid. It's not generational, it's not pandemic related. A % of people are stupid. Working in restaurant often makes you wonder if the non-stupid ones avoid eating out, but it's just because the stupid ones are more memorable.
Clever people are probably able to cook delicious food themselves
Load More Replies...Yes, people have always been this stupid, and it seems to be getting worse.
I think you are just burned out. the pandemic had the vast majority of people worried and clueless. A lot of people weren't sure what to do and how to respond to certain rules. And yes a lot of people are stupid. A lot more people are extremely selfish, greedy uneducated fools.
YES, generally speaking, people IS stupid and ask stupid questions... I work In IT and I can't tell you how many times users asked me "Do I have to allow the connection request?" after they ask me to remotely connect to their computers...
We all need to give each other some grace as we're coming back into society. These questions, though ditzy, are not rude or mean. We're all going to be awkward for a while. Sounds like this person is ready to move to a new career.
I’m a bartender at a fine dining restaurant, and when I work the lunch shift I help the server take tables if it gets busy. One afternoon I had a table make me cry and tell me that I was rude and didn’t know how to do my job because I tried to take an empty appetizer plate away without asking first. (They were in the middle of a conversation and their main course was almost ready.) They shouted at me and everyone just turned around and stared. I had other guests on the floor, and every time I passed by these jerks I could hear them talking s**t about me. They racked up a nearly $200 bill and didn’t leave a tip. I kinda wonder if they made up something to be upset about to justify not tipping on a large check, but whatever. I just dipped out to the bar, which is in the front of the restaurant and away from the main dining room, and asked my food runner to take good care of them so I didn’t have to interact with them anymore.
They're nothing more than a bag of crap; they feel important because they splashed their money. Some people life's work is making other people feel bad
When I worked as a server, I had people completely make up stuff about me to avoid leaving a tip on a fairly regular basis. It's definitely a thing. People are the absolute worst.
While they shouldn't have shouted at you. There are a few people which I do not know why get really insulted when you take their plate away (EVEN if it's empty). I do not know if it's related to Europe or anything but it's something social. Like you're insulting them or doing something to them. I'm not really sure why.
The human aspect of working in customer service is often overlooked, yet it is these interactions that truly shape our experiences. For instance, while managing a coffee shop, maintaining a safe and happy environment for both customers and staff becomes the primary responsibility.
The importance of creating a respectful and empathetic workplace is highlighted through the shared experiences of those who have worked on the front lines in such roles, emphasizing the common, yet underappreciated, challenges they face.
People who are rude to service workers deserve being publically shamed and thrown out.
I think people who are rude to service workers should have to be service workers for a while. See how they like being on the recieving end.
Load More Replies...I was the fry cook at a fish & chips place. There was a row of fryers, the heated pans to receive and hold the freshly cooked food, a clerk to take and assemble the orders, then the cashier. It was a lunch rush and we were cooking and serving as fast as we could. The food was barely out of the fryer before it was served up. A man ordered the shrimp. As the clerk was assembling the order he said, "No, I want it HOT. That has been sitting there." I explained it had there only a few seconds but he insisted he wanted it HOT. I told him, okay but it would take a couple of minutes, to find a table and we'd call him over when his order was ready. I put in some more shrimp, and as it was just about ready I signaled for the customer to come over so he could see me scoop the shrimp from the fryer and plop it into the basket of chips. He smiled broadly like he had just won a huge victory. I watched him sit down and bite into his HOT shrimp, burning his mouth.
Pretty much all of these triggered my restaurant-work anxiety, even though it was more than fifteen years ago. It could be a real blast, especially hanging out with all of the staff after hours on weekends, but on nights when we were packed with hundreds of tickets streaming into the kitchen nonstop for hours, slaving away over and in front of hot surfaces, taking the scant few free moments to scour and clean, and then having people be rude and stiff the staff for no apparent reason.... it made me realize in a fundamental way that not everybody was raised with a sense of manners or even basic human decency.
Same here! Almost 20yrs in food service but been out about 7ish now. All i can think of are the assholes who are rude, just to be rude & the demanding "im the customer so im obviously always right" folks. The worst ones, at least in my opinion, are the ones who are super nice but still leave absolutely no tip! I had a family once run up an almost $200 tab, take up way too much of my time with extras & only ordering/asking for 1 thing at a time type stuff. They then hugged me on their way out the door. Told me service was excellent & they couldn't wait to request me again when they came back. Left me NOTHING! Not even the change from the damn bill! So glad i didnt go back...
Load More Replies...Just today we had a group of douchey hungover college kids with daddys credit card and bmw leave a server a note on the tip line "get a real job". Bill was over $100. She's a single mom struggling since dad signed his rights away to avoid child support. Poor girl was in tears. I don't know what's wrong with people but the sense of entitlement is definitely getting worse in some people.
I get so angry reading these I don't understand why anyone would be so cruel and dumb. I have literally only been rude to ONE server my entire life and that was because me and my ex husband were about to go out of town (on a plane) we had a few hours to kill so we went to a semi fancy place down town by the airport (the only real place there was) We were dressed in sweats and tanks because we were about to be on a plane for 7 hours. I am covered in tattoos, he was tall and kinda scary looking lol. We ordered, we were polite. But the waitress hovered.... you know what I'm talking about. Fake cleaning a plant in the corner to keep an eye on us. What she didn't know is at the time I made about 75k a year and he made about 60k. After about 45 minutes of this I got fed up and called her over and blatantly asked her why she was watching us so hard? I asked for a manager, she sent another sever. I was livid. I paid the 150 tab and under tip, I said "Try not to judge so much"
I worked hospitality for over 15 years until an accident- outside of work- hurt my back. Most of my memories in the kitchen, bar, and waiting tables are good ones (apart from an angry chef who used to throw pots at our heads). Having said that, I was on the breakfast shift at a 4-star hotel for a while, mainly buffet, and we served many international guests. The people from one particular country were always incredibly rude and extremely messy. They would visit the buffet 3 or 4 times in one sitting, using a new table each time they returned, covering them and the floor in food and napkins, and the occasional used nappy (diaper). According the the cleaning staff their rooms were a nightmare too.
Probably overloaded with so many kids going to virtual classes and people working from home
Load More Replies...In the 13yrs of working at Burger King, I had thrown at me; hot coffee, a few sandwiches and a pie once. I was called a b*tch numerous times. But the one that did me in, and made me stop taking it. It was close to closing, had a car full of teens come to the drive-thru. They were saying all manner of lewd and rude things, but trying to give them the benefit of the doubt I continued to take their order. When they got to the window, I collected their money and as I turned to grab the drink tray with 4 larges, (1 a fruit punch this is important) they called me a word that most women don't like. Me: c'mon guys, you're being rude, and I'm serving you. Show some respect. Driver: you work at BK, you don't deserve respect. The drink tray was out of my hands before I realized what I was doing. I'd have liked to know how they explained to mommy and daddy why the white interior of the car was stained. I know they did not say anything about me because I never got fired.
This is just something I will never understand, why rude, entitled people think they are justified in acting stupid and rude in public to people who are trying to do their best at their job! Always glad I'm not them! I was raised with manners and social skills that apparently people like this never learned. Thank you bartenders and waitstaff, you have a hard job that you handle with grace! ;-}
People who are rude to service workers deserve being publically shamed and thrown out.
I think people who are rude to service workers should have to be service workers for a while. See how they like being on the recieving end.
Load More Replies...I was the fry cook at a fish & chips place. There was a row of fryers, the heated pans to receive and hold the freshly cooked food, a clerk to take and assemble the orders, then the cashier. It was a lunch rush and we were cooking and serving as fast as we could. The food was barely out of the fryer before it was served up. A man ordered the shrimp. As the clerk was assembling the order he said, "No, I want it HOT. That has been sitting there." I explained it had there only a few seconds but he insisted he wanted it HOT. I told him, okay but it would take a couple of minutes, to find a table and we'd call him over when his order was ready. I put in some more shrimp, and as it was just about ready I signaled for the customer to come over so he could see me scoop the shrimp from the fryer and plop it into the basket of chips. He smiled broadly like he had just won a huge victory. I watched him sit down and bite into his HOT shrimp, burning his mouth.
Pretty much all of these triggered my restaurant-work anxiety, even though it was more than fifteen years ago. It could be a real blast, especially hanging out with all of the staff after hours on weekends, but on nights when we were packed with hundreds of tickets streaming into the kitchen nonstop for hours, slaving away over and in front of hot surfaces, taking the scant few free moments to scour and clean, and then having people be rude and stiff the staff for no apparent reason.... it made me realize in a fundamental way that not everybody was raised with a sense of manners or even basic human decency.
Same here! Almost 20yrs in food service but been out about 7ish now. All i can think of are the assholes who are rude, just to be rude & the demanding "im the customer so im obviously always right" folks. The worst ones, at least in my opinion, are the ones who are super nice but still leave absolutely no tip! I had a family once run up an almost $200 tab, take up way too much of my time with extras & only ordering/asking for 1 thing at a time type stuff. They then hugged me on their way out the door. Told me service was excellent & they couldn't wait to request me again when they came back. Left me NOTHING! Not even the change from the damn bill! So glad i didnt go back...
Load More Replies...Just today we had a group of douchey hungover college kids with daddys credit card and bmw leave a server a note on the tip line "get a real job". Bill was over $100. She's a single mom struggling since dad signed his rights away to avoid child support. Poor girl was in tears. I don't know what's wrong with people but the sense of entitlement is definitely getting worse in some people.
I get so angry reading these I don't understand why anyone would be so cruel and dumb. I have literally only been rude to ONE server my entire life and that was because me and my ex husband were about to go out of town (on a plane) we had a few hours to kill so we went to a semi fancy place down town by the airport (the only real place there was) We were dressed in sweats and tanks because we were about to be on a plane for 7 hours. I am covered in tattoos, he was tall and kinda scary looking lol. We ordered, we were polite. But the waitress hovered.... you know what I'm talking about. Fake cleaning a plant in the corner to keep an eye on us. What she didn't know is at the time I made about 75k a year and he made about 60k. After about 45 minutes of this I got fed up and called her over and blatantly asked her why she was watching us so hard? I asked for a manager, she sent another sever. I was livid. I paid the 150 tab and under tip, I said "Try not to judge so much"
I worked hospitality for over 15 years until an accident- outside of work- hurt my back. Most of my memories in the kitchen, bar, and waiting tables are good ones (apart from an angry chef who used to throw pots at our heads). Having said that, I was on the breakfast shift at a 4-star hotel for a while, mainly buffet, and we served many international guests. The people from one particular country were always incredibly rude and extremely messy. They would visit the buffet 3 or 4 times in one sitting, using a new table each time they returned, covering them and the floor in food and napkins, and the occasional used nappy (diaper). According the the cleaning staff their rooms were a nightmare too.
Probably overloaded with so many kids going to virtual classes and people working from home
Load More Replies...In the 13yrs of working at Burger King, I had thrown at me; hot coffee, a few sandwiches and a pie once. I was called a b*tch numerous times. But the one that did me in, and made me stop taking it. It was close to closing, had a car full of teens come to the drive-thru. They were saying all manner of lewd and rude things, but trying to give them the benefit of the doubt I continued to take their order. When they got to the window, I collected their money and as I turned to grab the drink tray with 4 larges, (1 a fruit punch this is important) they called me a word that most women don't like. Me: c'mon guys, you're being rude, and I'm serving you. Show some respect. Driver: you work at BK, you don't deserve respect. The drink tray was out of my hands before I realized what I was doing. I'd have liked to know how they explained to mommy and daddy why the white interior of the car was stained. I know they did not say anything about me because I never got fired.
This is just something I will never understand, why rude, entitled people think they are justified in acting stupid and rude in public to people who are trying to do their best at their job! Always glad I'm not them! I was raised with manners and social skills that apparently people like this never learned. Thank you bartenders and waitstaff, you have a hard job that you handle with grace! ;-}
