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Serving fajitas hot is not a walk in the park. It’s rather like walking on eggshells, ‘cause an encounter with a customer can go sour anytime. And forget the mantra “The Customer Is Always Right.” Reality is a teeny tiny bit different.

The truth is, some customers are just too much. From ordering something that’s virtually non-existent and coming up with their own takes on the menu to plain yelling and calling corporate, this is the daily bread of food industry workers.

Thus, fed up with entitled customers, people on Twitter got together for this viral thread and shared their stories of working as food servers. Nobody said that accommodating serial a-holes for a living was meant to be easy, but nobody warned them it’s that damn hard, either.

#2

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Is it me or has anyone else noticed that common courtesy isn't common anymore?

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Bored Panda reached out to a college student named Palmer, better known by his Twitter handle Decent Pigeon, whose tweet on delivering Grubhub to a problematic customer went viral with 374.2K likes as well as 58.7K retweets and comments. In addition to creating content for Twitter, Palmer has also worked for DoorDash and Grubhub for the past three years and he agreed to share what it was like.

“The funniest part of the industry is that when a customer is mad, they have (a couple of times) tried to degrade me based on my job title, the ‘service industry worker,’” Palmer told us. “It’s almost like I only do it on the side while I study in college to get another job.”

Palmer can’t wrap his head around the customers that degrade the industry they rely so heavily on. “I’ve encountered tons of amazing people in the industry, so why chalk it down to just their job title?” he continued. “Cliche, but people just need to learn to respect one another.”

This viral thread has shown Palmer that he is not alone, “and that I am not cursed with all the psychos of the industry.” He also said that none of the stories truly surprised him because “many customers in the service industry are extremely entitled and rude.”

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Oskar vanZandt
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just nod your head and give them what you were going to give them... no sense talking to some people.

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It’s not the first, and let’s be real—probably not the last time we hear about entitled customers. Just take a look at our previous post on people sharing ridiculous demands from customers from hell or this post on customers acting like total jerks and getting shamed for it online. Such incidents are all too common, but there may be an underlying reason for it.

In fact, American consumer culture focuses a lot on making people feel special and people come to expect it. This article suggests that “They feel like they have a right to act however they want towards others until they’re appeased—which winds up isolating the consumer and shaping their view of the world as 'me against them.'”

This type of rude behavior is related to the entitlement mentality which basically screams “Me!” in most daily-life scenarios. Psychiatrists say it is manifested in an over-exaggerated sense of self-importance, lack of understanding of others, and unwillingness to compromise.

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Never argue with stupid. Just humor them and let them pay champagne prizes if they want Sprite in a champagne glass.

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Foxxy (The Original)
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have heard similar variations of this so many times, it is really concerning how many people do not grasp the concept.

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When it comes to the food service industry, bad customer behavior is usually associated with attitude problems and plain rudeness. But this research showed it’s much more sinister than that: “behaviors of entitled customers negatively impacted waitstaff employees.”

Moreover, “the participants in the study have reported 'physiological arousal, negative affect, burnout, and feelings of dehumanization as a result of dealing with these patrons.'” In these cases, sticking to the age-old mantra “the customer is always right” may make matters even worse.

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Kevin Wayne
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Quote by Albert Einstein: "two things are infinite - the universe and human stupidity and i'm not sure about the universe"

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Pseudo Puppy
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

laughing at stupid customers, while out back, is the ONLY thing that keeps customer-service staff sane. Retail, hospitality, corporate..... we all laugh at stupid customers while out the back. Only way to survive.

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Mama Panda
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

These are the a******s that make those of us with real food allergies look bad

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Louloubelle
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I get that. I'm severely allergic to mushrooms. Epi pen allergic. But yet some people think I simply don't like them so I tell them I'm allergic. I've had several people give me dishes with mushrooms knowing this, then they're surprised when we need to call an ambulance.

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Something
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

She was obviously trying to defraud the restaurant, but a person can have a legit allergy and not start dying instantly from eating the allergen.

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Dippin Dot
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My former MIL did something very similar. She ate gluten free claiming she was allergic (she was not) and ordered a Coors Light. She looked at the server and said "I can't drink this. It has gluten." So the server brought her a Corona, and she drank that right up. Now, the funny part is I work in the beer industry and know that Corona is made with barley it is not actually gluten free; just a very low level of gluten, but still can trigger those with celiac. I told her that and proceeded to abruptly go home. I recently learned that she had been told her gluten "allergy" was "cured"...

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Oskar vanZandt
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The request would be on her receipt... No receipt? No recourse.

melissa_9 avatar
Melissa Nunya
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I worked in retail and had a lady who said she caught her ankle on the edge of a shelf and cut it. (She did have a bleeding cut) and asked me for some iodine. We didn't have any in our first aide kit so I grabbed some off the shelf to write off as a customer service. She threw a huge fit saying she was allergic to iodine and I could have killed her. Complained all the way up to my store director. I don't even use iodine in my home and never would have gone looking for it if she had not asked for it specifically. It was so weird.

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Catlady6000
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

One of my first store managers was adamant that we never over or give anything more that a latex free bandaid, he had been sued by someone who had asked for an aspirin after bumping her head on the table, I think she picked up her napkin? Anyway, he lost that job as a result, turns out she was allergic, spent overnight for observation. Didn't matter that there were witnesses to her asking for aspirin, it was the fact that he distributed medication

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Amy Mettlen
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My son is a picky eater so we order a cheeseburger with no veggies. Get home and the cheeseburger has no burger. Only sauce and cheese. At every fast food restaurant something is forgotten. One place didn't want to give us our drinks without looking at our receipt. My husband and I both worked fast food establishments so we go along with somethings... you don't want spit in your drinks. But some people are just idiots.

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Melissa Nunya
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The last time I was with my mom she stopped so I could get something after my flight. It was one burger and one fry and one drink. They forgot the fries and gave me the wrong sandwich. At the time her state was talking about a minimum wage of 15$/hour. My mom was so frustrated she told the young girl "you guys can't put two correct items in a bag and you want me to vote to pay your 15$/ an hour? I felt bad for the girl but I admit it made me giggle

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RaroaRaroa
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've read this exact story, up to the manager bit, but that time the manager apologised and was on the customer's side. Do people just modify others internet stories so they can participate in a thread?

merlin240371 avatar
Richard Brown
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No. This happens quite a lot. These are scammers looking to get a free meal and possibly a payout by threatening to sue for getting their orders wrong in a dangerous fashion. In this case the fake allergy to onions. What a lot of these scammers, and managers, forget is that there is a camera with audio recording capabilities pointing at all POS locations

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JuJu
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I hate people who say they are allergic to gluten when they just want to avoid some carbs. Makes having celiac sprue suck even more. Cross-contamination is a thing, so don't you dare use the same tongs you just touched a schnitzel with to flip over my steak.

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J&B FitzTubeKidz
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It’s crazy that people think fast food workers are that stupid. Had some lady ask for free food one time because we “rang up the wrong coupon” when in fact we rang up all the coupons she gave us. Karen’s can be stupid lol

lovepsychos avatar
LovePsychos
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It looks that someone wanted another burger but she didn't want to pay for that.

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Billy The Kid
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If she had an allergy with onions, she would of realized when she took the first bite

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not a real panda
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

once ordered a burger - NO onions, and got one with MORE onions...

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abby smink
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As working in several restaurants, there is honestly no way to make sure food is free from even the slightest grace of whatever. (shared grills, shared fryers, shared broilers, whatever), and so many people day their allergic just because they don't want something. If you're truly that deathly allergic, your best bet is don't eat out or have lots of epi pens on hand if you do.

terybriggs avatar
Mama Panda
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There are a bunch of restaurants that will go out of their way to properly prepare a meal for someone like myself who is allergic to . Nowadays due to others suing, restaurants make damn sure they don't contaminate with said item.

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Dave
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

To be honest, half of the times when I order in McDonald's my order is f****d up. Things missing and so on. I get it, service industry and nobody really gives a s**t about quality service in McDonald's, but for f**k's sake, how hard it is to get the f*****g order right!

terybriggs avatar
Mama Panda
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I believe the lady in the story was just trying to get a free meal and lied about having an allergy after she ate almost all of the meal.

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Mama Panda
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Must have been the same dipshit that didn't want cheese on his cheeseburger!

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Bill Taylor
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Should have called it a "special order" and charged him triple for the one pound container...

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Tabitha L
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I really really don't understand the cheeseburger, no cheese thing. What do they think a hamburger is? Do they think hamburgers are made of ham?

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Troux
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

With all the cameras at fast food places, I would think you could catch who this was by their license plate, and yes it's absolutely worth it to press charges against harassment of any sort.

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Foxxy (The Original)
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I can kinda understand this coz cold hot chocolate tastes different to chocolate milk.

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Mama Panda
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Actually, I have never had them charge my credit card either when checking in. They give me the option at check out to pay with the card, with another card, or with cash. When I am checking in, there shouldn't be a charge at all since I just got to the hotel and haven't even walked into the room yet let alone stay in it.

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#24

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Andris Valdmanis
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There is cheese with lactose and there is cheese nearly without lactose - depends on the manufacturing process. You cannot know, you have to read the product analysis if you are lucky enough, that there is one. I know it, because I am lactose intolerant and had to learn it. And then there are people that are lactose-intolerant, and there are people with an milk allergy, also two seperated issues. So it is not allways a dumb question, even if it feels like it for someone who has no idea, because he has not to deal with it.

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Foxxy (The Original)
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Without any other context I am presuming the customer didn’t really speak english, had an intellectual disability, had a stroke or a neurological disorder etc.

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BluEyedSeoulite
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I love to torture my Italian friends with our fake Italian foods! So yummy but so wrong

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Mama Panda
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Because her kid would have had a full blown temper tantrum right there in the restaurant so she tried to make the best of it by ordering what the kid wanted and expected Jay to understand. sheesh!

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Ksenia M
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It seems like Subways work differently here because you can definitely get all the vegetables without paying extra. Is that different in the US, you only get like tomatoes and onions but you pay more for pickles?

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Amanda Sherland
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

God, I have a friend who does this and it drives me bonkers to listen to him talk on the phone, ordering something or getting customer service. He always talks over the person and misses all their questions and then gets mad at them.

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Should have rung it up as a cheese pretzel wo cheese. That's one dollar extra...

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Queen Jackson.
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's stealing tell her to get the f**k out. I feel like I'd be fired the first time this happened to me, cause I don't like entertaining b******t.

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