“Never Come Back To My Restaurant”: Chef Bans Rude Restaurant Patrons And Gives $1,350 Bill To 22 Y.O. Employee They Disrespected
While it can be quite fulfilling, or even downright romantic, to work at a restaurant, waiting is said to be one of the hardest jobs out there when it comes to customer service.
And the reason is that you gotta deal with a lot of different people, including all of the entitled, arrogant, Karen-y, or straight up bad ones.
But there are also times when something good can be drawn from it, and where human decency prevails.
One such story has been going viral online lately, where a front-of-house employee at a restaurant had a bad run-in with some rude patrons, and the chef decided he wasn’t going to have any of it.
More Info: Twitter | Instagram
You can’t choose your clients, but you can surely show them the door if they’re trouble, like Chef Lee Skeet did
Image credits: leeskeet13
Meet Lee Skeet, founder and chef at the Cora restaurant in Cardiff, United Kingdom, who has recently shared how he handled some unpleasant patrons at his restaurant.
The story goes that a group of rich folk came over to his restaurant, ultimately racking up a bill of £1,100 (or about $1,350). But the bill wasn’t the problem—their patronage was.
You see, according to Skeet, they were quite a rude bunch. In his post on Twitter and Instagram, which was actually his e-mail to said clientele, he explained that the 22-year-old front of house employee named Lily was talked down to, disrespected, and touched against her will by folks in this group.
In his now-viral tweet, he explained how he taught the rude clientele a lesson by banning them and giving their money to the 22-year-old front of house employee
Image credits: leeskeet
Image credits: leeskeet
According to Skeet, the group’s behavior was inappropriate as they talked down to the employee, showed disrespect, and touched her against her will
Image credits: leeskeet
At first, he thought of returning a part of the money, but he ended up simply transferring all of it to Lili as fair compensation
Image credits: leeskeet
Image credits: leeskeet
After talking to her extensively, he decided that it’s best that the clients never return to the restaurant. And, at first, he wanted to also send them their money back, having taken away nearly 10%, or £100 off the bill as a well-deserved tip for Lily, but he ended up giving her the whole £1,100 bill.
“I also think you should assess the people you surround yourself with,” concluded Skeet in his letter to the client. The letter soon found its way on to the above mentioned social media platforms where it didn’t go unnoticed.
Soon after posting, Skeet’s message went viral, prompting not only wider media coverage, but also loads of praise for standing up for his coworker and setting a good example for restaurant managers.
In a follow-up post, he also expressed how proud he is of Lily for keeping up a high level of class and integrity
Image credits: leeskeet13
Image credits: leeskeet
Image credits: leeskeet13
In a follow-up post, Skeet also expressed how proud he is of Lily, keeping up a high level of class and integrity, and that she’s an inspiration to many.
And, as it turns out, Ince, a London-based law firm, has begun an investigation after the restaurant’s owner’s complaint as it was the company’s senior staff that attended the dinner, so there is a chance of them getting their just deserts. There are no further comments from the law firm as the investigation is still ongoing.
Folks online were very supportive of Skeet’s decision, and shared some of their thoughts on the matter
Image credits: helen_kaplan
The wording on the title is misleading. Makes it sound like he made the employee pay the bill.
Yep. Good thing the internet has taught me not to rush to judgment! ;)
Agreed and I understand not rushing to judge ... but, simply word it correctly and nobody would need to question anything ..
Poor Lily...first she gets abused by patrons and then she gets a $1,350 bill. Just kidding.... after I got here I found out -she got the money...that is one hell of a boss. That will keep good employees for sure. To know they are valued and respected. It would be nice if the owner could share who the patrons were with other restaurants so they don't even take their reservation.
That was my first thought too..... but if the interweb has taught me anything it's to take the headlines with a grain of salt, but read ENTIRE stories if they interest you. I'm glad I read this because I like that kinda feel good c**p.
That's not how I read it, and I can't imagine how on earth you would read it that way and not immediately pick up that makes no sense. Perception is not reality, so always doublecheck.
That isn't how I read it at all.
The title also says $1350 but later it's $1000, so I wouldn't go by the title.
Thank you for saying that, @Briana Kessler. I was thoroughly confused too and about to use words for the chef that would have ended up being inappropriate.
Sounds like the guests may have been abusing the expense account of their employer as well.
I was initially quite confused by the use of word "bill" in the headline. To me the bill is that thing that must be paid, not the money that was paid.
The wording should be changed to " I turned over the payment to Lily" not the bill. Some heroes out there, have come to the rescue of a gal who gets treated poorly. I saw this on a video, where the waitress must have alerted the attention of the surrounding tables. So when the guy ran his hand up her skirt and her yelp provoked a guy to stand rather quickly (his chair went over) and he pulled the fellow up and grabbed his crouch and let the boorish man know how it felt to be grabbed without permission. Awesome move!
PHENOMENAL!!! As a woman who bartended and waited tables in bar/restaurant type places, this just made my NIGHT!!! Wish I could've seen the waitresses face. What a great feeling!
eeb.png
Suggesting that the wording should be changed to accommodate you and the language you speak is awfully entitled, don’tcha think? The quicker you grasp that England and the US don’t speak identical languages, the better off your reading experiences will be. 😉
Folks from all over the globe have voiced their confusion at the wording of the title. No need to pick on anyone, Binky. Sadly, it takes the focus off the Real problem. The issue here is not semantics, but that Entitled Pr*cks (Sorry, I don't have quite as much class as poor Lily) *still* think they can behave this way with impunity. Glad this chef stood up for her. Men, THIS is what Allyship looks like. Hoping to see Far More of it. Then, maybe we can chase the Neanderthals back into their caves.
I'm confused by what you are saying. In Australia the 'bill' is the required amount of payment at the end of a meal, or the total amount owed when you are given your tab. Why would the money that is required to be paid be different than the total of the 'bill'? Why would it be different? I pay a for what I bought (the bill)... why would it be different? I'm a bit confused? I pay the money owed.
My whole point is the headline makes it sound to me like the rude customer didn't pay for their food, and the owner made the server pay for the customer's food.
Rahul... yep that's what I understood too. Then I started reading the article and also came down here to the comments and knew there would be a bunch of us saying " Saaaaaay Whaaaaaaat?"
Luthor ---The bill is what is owed. If you PAY the bill, you PAY the bill. If you GIVE THE BILL to someone else, you're asking them to pay it. --- that's what "giving her the bill" says to us. He's asking her to pay it. --- it wasn't a major misunderstanding, it's just not how we would have worded it. They likely said it that way just so it would be shorter for the title.
I tend to use the word "bill" to refer to the piece of paper that details the amount owed. Like those monthly letters in the mail from the utility company asking me to pay them, that's a bill. So if someone were to "give me a $1,350 bill", I read that as I am being asked to pay $1,350, not that I'm receiving $1,350. I hope that clarifies what I was trying to say.
No, Luther...you got it. Then the Chef (owner) took the whole amount that patrons paid and gave it to Lily. They didn't leave a tip on the table which proves what a bunch of uncouth neanderthals they were. ( that's a euphemism for what I'd really like to say)
I am Aussie, it just depends on how you were taught. I understood what they meant and thought the same thing too but then again at least the clickbait did its job and got us to click. And whilst it was misleading, a little bit, she still got the money in the end.
Not as confused as everyone else trying to understand your comment ..
Agreed. English is a very complex language. Take it from one non English native speaker.
In the UK, the bill is what it's called the tab in the US.
We also call it a bill in the US. But I agree the headline is misleading. It makes it sound like the boss made his employee pay the bill.
To me the word "tab" would only be used if I was at a bar. I "open a tab" when I order my first drink, which usually involves giving them a credit card. Then when I'm done drinking, I "close my tab", they charge my credit card and bring it back with a receipt. At a sit down restaurant I order my food, they bring the food, I eat the food, then the server brings the bill (or check), I pay the bill (with a credit card or cash), finally the server gives me a receipt (and change if needed). I'm in the US, BTW.
But ...but... it would come out the same if the headline had said the Chef handed the disrespected employee the tab.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Rahul: "To me the bill is that thing that must be paid, not the money that was paid" Why would those things be different? I am a bit confused.
Because different things have (usually) different words to describe them so we can talk about them? The word "bill" is quite ambiguous. I pay a bill from a restaurant with bills from my wallet. The first "bill" is the restaurant showing me on a piece of paper what they would like me to pay, the second "bill" is the notes in my wallet, also known as money. I might also call the first "bill" a "check", but "check" suffers the same problem because I can write a check to pay a check. So my question back to you is what do you call that piece of paper the waiter brings you after a meal showing the amount you must pay?
Whoosh, it went right over your head..... The title of the article, CLEARLY says "and gave the $1350 bill TO the waitress. If I'm a waiter, and I come up to you in a restaurant, and give you a bill. I'm asking you to pay that bill...... So in fact, the headline actually literally says the waitress was given the bill. The other person wasn't saying anything complicated.
Rahul and Luthor - I think you are missing the whole point of the story.How you can carry on about the “bill” , “check” or “money paid” is just ridiculous ! Maybe it’s time to MOVE ON!!
The wording on the title is misleading. Makes it sound like he made the employee pay the bill.
Yep. Good thing the internet has taught me not to rush to judgment! ;)
Agreed and I understand not rushing to judge ... but, simply word it correctly and nobody would need to question anything ..
Poor Lily...first she gets abused by patrons and then she gets a $1,350 bill. Just kidding.... after I got here I found out -she got the money...that is one hell of a boss. That will keep good employees for sure. To know they are valued and respected. It would be nice if the owner could share who the patrons were with other restaurants so they don't even take their reservation.
That was my first thought too..... but if the interweb has taught me anything it's to take the headlines with a grain of salt, but read ENTIRE stories if they interest you. I'm glad I read this because I like that kinda feel good c**p.
That's not how I read it, and I can't imagine how on earth you would read it that way and not immediately pick up that makes no sense. Perception is not reality, so always doublecheck.
That isn't how I read it at all.
The title also says $1350 but later it's $1000, so I wouldn't go by the title.
Thank you for saying that, @Briana Kessler. I was thoroughly confused too and about to use words for the chef that would have ended up being inappropriate.
Sounds like the guests may have been abusing the expense account of their employer as well.
I was initially quite confused by the use of word "bill" in the headline. To me the bill is that thing that must be paid, not the money that was paid.
The wording should be changed to " I turned over the payment to Lily" not the bill. Some heroes out there, have come to the rescue of a gal who gets treated poorly. I saw this on a video, where the waitress must have alerted the attention of the surrounding tables. So when the guy ran his hand up her skirt and her yelp provoked a guy to stand rather quickly (his chair went over) and he pulled the fellow up and grabbed his crouch and let the boorish man know how it felt to be grabbed without permission. Awesome move!
PHENOMENAL!!! As a woman who bartended and waited tables in bar/restaurant type places, this just made my NIGHT!!! Wish I could've seen the waitresses face. What a great feeling!
eeb.png
Suggesting that the wording should be changed to accommodate you and the language you speak is awfully entitled, don’tcha think? The quicker you grasp that England and the US don’t speak identical languages, the better off your reading experiences will be. 😉
Folks from all over the globe have voiced their confusion at the wording of the title. No need to pick on anyone, Binky. Sadly, it takes the focus off the Real problem. The issue here is not semantics, but that Entitled Pr*cks (Sorry, I don't have quite as much class as poor Lily) *still* think they can behave this way with impunity. Glad this chef stood up for her. Men, THIS is what Allyship looks like. Hoping to see Far More of it. Then, maybe we can chase the Neanderthals back into their caves.
I'm confused by what you are saying. In Australia the 'bill' is the required amount of payment at the end of a meal, or the total amount owed when you are given your tab. Why would the money that is required to be paid be different than the total of the 'bill'? Why would it be different? I pay a for what I bought (the bill)... why would it be different? I'm a bit confused? I pay the money owed.
My whole point is the headline makes it sound to me like the rude customer didn't pay for their food, and the owner made the server pay for the customer's food.
Rahul... yep that's what I understood too. Then I started reading the article and also came down here to the comments and knew there would be a bunch of us saying " Saaaaaay Whaaaaaaat?"
Luthor ---The bill is what is owed. If you PAY the bill, you PAY the bill. If you GIVE THE BILL to someone else, you're asking them to pay it. --- that's what "giving her the bill" says to us. He's asking her to pay it. --- it wasn't a major misunderstanding, it's just not how we would have worded it. They likely said it that way just so it would be shorter for the title.
I tend to use the word "bill" to refer to the piece of paper that details the amount owed. Like those monthly letters in the mail from the utility company asking me to pay them, that's a bill. So if someone were to "give me a $1,350 bill", I read that as I am being asked to pay $1,350, not that I'm receiving $1,350. I hope that clarifies what I was trying to say.
No, Luther...you got it. Then the Chef (owner) took the whole amount that patrons paid and gave it to Lily. They didn't leave a tip on the table which proves what a bunch of uncouth neanderthals they were. ( that's a euphemism for what I'd really like to say)
I am Aussie, it just depends on how you were taught. I understood what they meant and thought the same thing too but then again at least the clickbait did its job and got us to click. And whilst it was misleading, a little bit, she still got the money in the end.
Not as confused as everyone else trying to understand your comment ..
Agreed. English is a very complex language. Take it from one non English native speaker.
In the UK, the bill is what it's called the tab in the US.
We also call it a bill in the US. But I agree the headline is misleading. It makes it sound like the boss made his employee pay the bill.
To me the word "tab" would only be used if I was at a bar. I "open a tab" when I order my first drink, which usually involves giving them a credit card. Then when I'm done drinking, I "close my tab", they charge my credit card and bring it back with a receipt. At a sit down restaurant I order my food, they bring the food, I eat the food, then the server brings the bill (or check), I pay the bill (with a credit card or cash), finally the server gives me a receipt (and change if needed). I'm in the US, BTW.
But ...but... it would come out the same if the headline had said the Chef handed the disrespected employee the tab.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Rahul: "To me the bill is that thing that must be paid, not the money that was paid" Why would those things be different? I am a bit confused.
Because different things have (usually) different words to describe them so we can talk about them? The word "bill" is quite ambiguous. I pay a bill from a restaurant with bills from my wallet. The first "bill" is the restaurant showing me on a piece of paper what they would like me to pay, the second "bill" is the notes in my wallet, also known as money. I might also call the first "bill" a "check", but "check" suffers the same problem because I can write a check to pay a check. So my question back to you is what do you call that piece of paper the waiter brings you after a meal showing the amount you must pay?
Whoosh, it went right over your head..... The title of the article, CLEARLY says "and gave the $1350 bill TO the waitress. If I'm a waiter, and I come up to you in a restaurant, and give you a bill. I'm asking you to pay that bill...... So in fact, the headline actually literally says the waitress was given the bill. The other person wasn't saying anything complicated.
Rahul and Luthor - I think you are missing the whole point of the story.How you can carry on about the “bill” , “check” or “money paid” is just ridiculous ! Maybe it’s time to MOVE ON!!