
“I’ve Never Seen A Human Turn Red So Quickly”: Server Wants To Charge Customers For Coffee They Didn’t Have, So They Maliciously Comply
I love going out for pancakes and avocado toast on a Sunday morning just as much as the next person, but I would not wish working those weekend shifts in a busy brunch establishment on my worst enemy. Hoards of hangry and hungover customers demanding coffee and eggs as fast as possible sounds like a nightmare.
But no matter how intense the job becomes, servers are not allowed to make mistakes like overcharging their guests. Below, you’ll find a story that was recently shared on Reddit by one woman who made sure of that.
Working the weekend brunch rush at a restaurant can be incredibly intense
Image credits:Jessie McCall (not the actual photo)
But after one server refused to correct this customer’s bill, she decided she might as well get exactly what she paid for
Image credits: Luiza-Maria Scurtu (not the actual photo)
Image credits: KittyLilith17
The woman later answered some questions about the situation from curious readers
There’s always going to be a certain level of human error in restaurants, as getting an order from a customer to the server to the line cooks and back without making any mistakes can feel like playing an advanced game of Telephone. Especially during a weekend brunch rush, restaurants can be pretty chaotic. According to ATUMIO, a company dedicated to “creating better dine out experiences for everyone,” mistakes that are particularly common within the hospitality business can be made anywhere along the way: taking orders, cooking food, serving food, and settling bills.
Unfortunately for restaurant owners, human error in dining establishments costs, on average, $30 per order and a whopping $9,000 per month. So while it’s always possible to correct errors after the fact, it’s important for staff members to do everything they can to prevent them from happening in the first place. In situations like this one, where the issue came about when the customers were ready to pay their bill, the ATUMIO team notes that it’s always best to “manually check the total bill amount and the POS payment amount after every transaction.” Errors at this stage can cost a restaurant upwards of $1,400 per month, not to mention can lead to some negative reviews being published online by frustrated diners.
Image credits: Merve Tülek (not the actual photo)
But once a mistake has been pointed out, they must be willing to fix it
So when an error has been brought to the attention of staff members by a customer, they must be willing to fix it. If a diner is already annoyed when they realize their bill had been incorrectly broken down, imagine how they’ll react when a server, who is working for tips, refuses to fix the mistake. According to The Kitchn, brunch shifts are without a doubt the worst times to work, due to the fact that they attract “table hogs”; they don’t usually bring in great tips; the staff and customers are typically hungover; there are so many beverages to keep track of; and the all-star wait staff is probably not working.
Despite how annoying the customers and the endless flow of mimosas and coffee are though, it is in a server’s best interest to provide excellent service, if they can manage to. Satisfied customers are the backbone of any restaurant, and as the customers’ main point of contact, waiters have to bear the responsibility of keeping them happy. When diners receive their avocado toasts and eggs benedict in a timely manner from a smiling server, they’re more likely to tip well, leave excellent reviews and return next Sunday to repeat the enjoyable experience. And when 60% of diners turn to sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor to check out reviews before choosing where to dine, the importance of satisfied customers for dining establishments cannot be understated.
Image credits: Kate Townsend (not the actual photo)
After all, satisfied diners are the backbone of any successful restaurant
On the other hand, when customers aren’t pleased with their meals or service, they’re not likely to complain. They will probably just never be seen again. Apparently, 96% of unhappy diners go on their way without alerting the business of their issues, but they are likely to tell 9-15 people about their negative experience after leaving. And if customer service was one of the things that caused them to have an unpleasant experience, 71% of guests won’t ever return to an establishment, Bloom Intelligence reports. “Even if a location is popular and business is booming, customer satisfaction should be taken seriously,” Allen Graves at Bloom Intelligence writes. “Regardless of the food, drinks, and atmosphere, customer experience is the most important component to improve your restaurant customer satisfaction.”
It’s unfortunate that this server refused to make a simple fix to these patrons’ bill that could have spared him some embarrassment and perhaps gotten him more tips from being able to turn the table faster. But it’s likely that he did learn his lesson, and at least the sisters got to enjoy a cup of coffee together before going on their way! We would love to hear your thoughts on this situation in the comments below, pandas. Have you ever worked in a busy brunch establishment? Or have you ever had a hard time getting a server to correct your bill? Feel free to share, and then if you’re interested in checking out another Bored Panda article featuring brilliant malicious compliance, check out this story next.
Image credits: Valeriia Miller (not the actual photo)
My impression on reading this was that you and your sister were incredibly gracious in an unexpected confrontation. I would not have handled it nearly as well. But, then again, I don't drink coffee!
I get why she tipped, it's about integrity and not allowing the behaviour of others change who you are. They were served and did enjoy their time, they had no intention of getting freebies or ripping off the business. The matter of letting the manager know is what counts. It becomes, we did right by you and your staff the failure is at your end and you need to fix it.
I would have tipped too, just less 2 coffees like one of the comments had said, AND I wouldn't have had the refills, I would have just waited for the manager and had a few complimentary glasses of water.
Sorry, I’m old school and have worked as a server and bartender at several jobs, and you don’t give good service with a smile, you don’t deserve a tip. There’s no freebies - they paid for the meal they received.
Integrity? Wtf you talking about. TIP isnt mandatory and that dude deserves less than zero.
Wrong. Tipping for bad service has nothing to do with integrity. And in fact she did allow the waiter's behavior to change her: she felt a need to tip." And what was the manager's response?
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Easily start receiving more than $600 every single day from home in your part time. i made $18781 from this job in my spare time afte my college. easy to do job and its regular income are awesome. no skills needed to do this job all you need to know is how to copy and paste stuff online. join this today by follow details on this page. Here is I started.……………………>> 𝗪𝘄𝘄.𝗷𝗼𝗯𝘀𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲.𝗰𝗼𝗺
You are full of sh*t and just another scam artist spamming all of us. Go away...
Sorry to let you down, that's a bot. It can't hear you. Report and ignore
I’ve twice tipped a penny at a restaurant. Once because the waitress just flat ignored our table because I guess she figured we weren’t good tippers. The other time the waitress argued with me about my wife’s order and left several things off the order and billed us for it. The manager fixed the bill and said “she’s new.” I just said “she won’t be for long with that attitude” and left. Tipping a penny ensures they know you didn’t forget to tip or put it on the credit card receipt.
Same with being ignored as if we wouldn't be good tippers anyways. Hate that. My husband and I are both on the average short side and young looking. Before our child, we would go eat and experience this attitude a lot. At least it wasn't a place we'd love to go back to and yea, we wouldn't tip then. We didn't experience it always and it has been a long time but yea, we tip, alright! But we aren't going to tip when we are blatantly looked over, have no direct eye contact, nor direct concern over our needs. I have experienced that s**t most of my life, I ain't about to pay for it.
Nor should you. Next time, stand up and say “Can we get some service here?”
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Most restsurants split tips between waiters and kitchen staff...
I am wondering where you guys are working? I just looked it up, and I can't find it legal in a single state to require the tip out of kitchen staff. Over the 15 years I worked in the service industry, I saw many restaurants have to repay those to servers.
I don't think most people know that they aren't supposed to share the tips to the back half. Someone we knew that was a waitress said that their tips went to the cook also. I live in Indiana. It's federal law I believe that they aren't supposed to. I know that strippers do. I had a couple of friends that were and they had to pay from tips to use the music, to wear the outfits if they had a set to do, (plus here in Indiana they aren't allowed to be fully nude so they have to have some stuff covered). They also had to split with the cook and bartender. Where my friends worked wasn't a big and popular place and they didn't make a whole lot of money. I found out later that in other states, they can make thousands of dollars in a week. I have no idea if the laws for tipping apply to strippers or not also. Is it considered tipping? To me it is, by law, I have no idea.
It might not be the law, but more of a rule in some restaurants. I’ve heard of it before.
Seemed to be some kind of unwritten rule too here in Canada, at least in the late 80’s-early 90’s.
I don't remember it being required, but I did work in a couple of restaurants in CA in the 80's, where we did split tips.
My impression on reading this was that you and your sister were incredibly gracious in an unexpected confrontation. I would not have handled it nearly as well. But, then again, I don't drink coffee!
I get why she tipped, it's about integrity and not allowing the behaviour of others change who you are. They were served and did enjoy their time, they had no intention of getting freebies or ripping off the business. The matter of letting the manager know is what counts. It becomes, we did right by you and your staff the failure is at your end and you need to fix it.
I would have tipped too, just less 2 coffees like one of the comments had said, AND I wouldn't have had the refills, I would have just waited for the manager and had a few complimentary glasses of water.
Sorry, I’m old school and have worked as a server and bartender at several jobs, and you don’t give good service with a smile, you don’t deserve a tip. There’s no freebies - they paid for the meal they received.
Integrity? Wtf you talking about. TIP isnt mandatory and that dude deserves less than zero.
Wrong. Tipping for bad service has nothing to do with integrity. And in fact she did allow the waiter's behavior to change her: she felt a need to tip." And what was the manager's response?
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Easily start receiving more than $600 every single day from home in your part time. i made $18781 from this job in my spare time afte my college. easy to do job and its regular income are awesome. no skills needed to do this job all you need to know is how to copy and paste stuff online. join this today by follow details on this page. Here is I started.……………………>> 𝗪𝘄𝘄.𝗷𝗼𝗯𝘀𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲.𝗰𝗼𝗺
You are full of sh*t and just another scam artist spamming all of us. Go away...
Sorry to let you down, that's a bot. It can't hear you. Report and ignore
I’ve twice tipped a penny at a restaurant. Once because the waitress just flat ignored our table because I guess she figured we weren’t good tippers. The other time the waitress argued with me about my wife’s order and left several things off the order and billed us for it. The manager fixed the bill and said “she’s new.” I just said “she won’t be for long with that attitude” and left. Tipping a penny ensures they know you didn’t forget to tip or put it on the credit card receipt.
Same with being ignored as if we wouldn't be good tippers anyways. Hate that. My husband and I are both on the average short side and young looking. Before our child, we would go eat and experience this attitude a lot. At least it wasn't a place we'd love to go back to and yea, we wouldn't tip then. We didn't experience it always and it has been a long time but yea, we tip, alright! But we aren't going to tip when we are blatantly looked over, have no direct eye contact, nor direct concern over our needs. I have experienced that s**t most of my life, I ain't about to pay for it.
Nor should you. Next time, stand up and say “Can we get some service here?”
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Most restsurants split tips between waiters and kitchen staff...
I am wondering where you guys are working? I just looked it up, and I can't find it legal in a single state to require the tip out of kitchen staff. Over the 15 years I worked in the service industry, I saw many restaurants have to repay those to servers.
I don't think most people know that they aren't supposed to share the tips to the back half. Someone we knew that was a waitress said that their tips went to the cook also. I live in Indiana. It's federal law I believe that they aren't supposed to. I know that strippers do. I had a couple of friends that were and they had to pay from tips to use the music, to wear the outfits if they had a set to do, (plus here in Indiana they aren't allowed to be fully nude so they have to have some stuff covered). They also had to split with the cook and bartender. Where my friends worked wasn't a big and popular place and they didn't make a whole lot of money. I found out later that in other states, they can make thousands of dollars in a week. I have no idea if the laws for tipping apply to strippers or not also. Is it considered tipping? To me it is, by law, I have no idea.
It might not be the law, but more of a rule in some restaurants. I’ve heard of it before.
Seemed to be some kind of unwritten rule too here in Canada, at least in the late 80’s-early 90’s.
I don't remember it being required, but I did work in a couple of restaurants in CA in the 80's, where we did split tips.