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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.
#1
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
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#2
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.”
#3
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.
#4
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.
#5
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.
#6
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.
#7
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.
#8
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!
#9
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.
#10
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.
Csaba Hegedűs 3 years ago
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?
#11
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.
#12
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.
Nikki Sevven 3 years ago
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.
#13
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!
#14
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.
Pumpkin Spice 3 years ago (edited)
*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)
#15
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.
#16
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.
TheReader19 3 years ago
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
#17
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.
Wonder Woman 848 3 years ago
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.
#18
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 $3.75. Either way, she was really rude.
She showed me the receipt, and I apologized and admitted my error. Then, I pointed out I had forgotten to ring up her coffee, and that I would be right back with an updated check.
She was pissed that she ended up paying more than if she'd kept her mouth shut.
#19
So I was serving a family, the parents were clearly in their 50s/60s, their kids in their mid 20s. When ordering alcohol, I carded the kids but not the parents. The mom pipes up with the whole "Heyyy I don't look that old, why didn't you card meeeeeeeee?????????"
I respond with "okay, let me see your ID, then"
As it turns out, mommy dearest left her wallet at home. I inform her that, unfortunately, once requested, I am legally not allowed to serve her alcohol unless she produces a valid ID.
Obviously, she's f@#$%&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.
Personindaworld 3 years ago
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)
#20
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.
#21
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.
#22
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.
#23
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 $11.
D: "You added a tip for yourself?" He was angry.
Me: "No sir."
D: "What's this then?!"
Me: "...The tax."
Honestly I wasn't expecting a tip at that point, but he did leave me 10%. So basically the discount we had given him.
Wonder Woman 848 3 years ago
not bad. at least he was mostly nice and actually gave you a tip.
#24
Is anybody else burned out by how absolutely stupid the general public is?
I’ve been back at work for about a month, and every shift there’s always at least one person that has their brain completely switched off. The other day is a prime example. My restaurant is on a limited menu while most of our staff is still furloughed. I’m greeting a table, and a woman interrupts me shaking her menu at me. She asks, “Are you back to your full menu, or is this all you have.” Let’s try to work through this together. I’ve given you a limited menu. I have not given you the regular full menu. What can we infer about our availability given this information?
Two days later I’m opening the bar. Right when the doors open this other woman makes a bee-line for the bar that has no chairs at it, and asks, “Is the bar open?” No! You can tell that by the fact that there is no f@#$%&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?
Aunt Messy 3 years ago
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.
#25
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.
TheReader19 3 years ago (edited)
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
What do you think ?
Fred L. 3 years ago
People who are rude to service workers deserve being publically shamed and thrown out.
Yettichild 3 years ago
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...
Al Christensen 3 years ago
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.
Horatio Jay 3 years ago
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.
Alexis Draskinis 3 years ago
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...
yesyes? 3 years ago
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.
AzKhaleesi 3 years ago
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"
OhForSmegSake 3 years ago
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.
Tim Haight 3 years ago
Probably overloaded with so many kids going to virtual classes and people working from home
Load More Replies...
Mumchkin 3 years ago
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.
Linda Shonta 3 years ago
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! ;-}
Dorothy Cloud 3 years ago
I dealt with the public for years. Glad to say most people are nice. But, when you get one of the really bad ones, it sure is hard to handle. Thank goodness I never had that many bad ones!
Catherine Spencer-Mills 3 years ago
Decades ago, I was working as waitress in a steakhouse in Middle America. It was common for farmers to come in with an ag salesman to have a steak dinner on his account. This night is slow and there is only the bartender and myself out front. 5 guys come and sit at an 8 top (we had 2, 4 and 8 nothing in between). These tables had a railing at one end. I get drink orders and the salesman asks me for a "date" ha-ha after work. No thanks, I have to go straight home. Not the end of it. Third time, the salesman is next to that railing and one of his farmer buddies has blocked off my way out. The salesman gets pushy. No, thanks, I have to go home to my husband and little kids after work. In my very best mom-talking-to-2-year-voice to the farmer, let. me. out. The farmer friend hastily moves the chair and one of the other farmers offers to call someone he knows. Fine. Bartender - you want I should finish? Nah, it's fine. And it was.
jenjie.newt 3 years ago
I worked at a private country club for 7 years. The two worst things: 1. Everyone assumes they are your boss and 2. You have to see them the next day, because they're members. And don't even get me started on the behavior of the women.
Fred L. 3 years ago
People who are rude to service workers deserve being publically shamed and thrown out.
Yettichild 3 years ago
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... Al Christensen 3 years ago
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.
Horatio Jay 3 years ago
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.
Alexis Draskinis 3 years ago
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... yesyes? 3 years ago
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.
AzKhaleesi 3 years ago
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"
OhForSmegSake 3 years ago
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.
Tim Haight 3 years ago
Probably overloaded with so many kids going to virtual classes and people working from home
Load More Replies... Mumchkin 3 years ago
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.
Linda Shonta 3 years ago
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! ;-}
Dorothy Cloud 3 years ago
I dealt with the public for years. Glad to say most people are nice. But, when you get one of the really bad ones, it sure is hard to handle. Thank goodness I never had that many bad ones!
Catherine Spencer-Mills 3 years ago
Decades ago, I was working as waitress in a steakhouse in Middle America. It was common for farmers to come in with an ag salesman to have a steak dinner on his account. This night is slow and there is only the bartender and myself out front. 5 guys come and sit at an 8 top (we had 2, 4 and 8 nothing in between). These tables had a railing at one end. I get drink orders and the salesman asks me for a "date" ha-ha after work. No thanks, I have to go straight home. Not the end of it. Third time, the salesman is next to that railing and one of his farmer buddies has blocked off my way out. The salesman gets pushy. No, thanks, I have to go home to my husband and little kids after work. In my very best mom-talking-to-2-year-voice to the farmer, let. me. out. The farmer friend hastily moves the chair and one of the other farmers offers to call someone he knows. Fine. Bartender - you want I should finish? Nah, it's fine. And it was.
jenjie.newt 3 years ago
I worked at a private country club for 7 years. The two worst things: 1. Everyone assumes they are your boss and 2. You have to see them the next day, because they're members. And don't even get me started on the behavior of the women.
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