Let it out!

Tell us about the worst guest you had over the weekend.

I'm sure there was at least one!

False Accusations

I was called in to work a host shift at my restaurant today.  I don't particularly enjoy hosting, there is too much repetition and it gets quite annoying very quickly.  Although I didn't want to work this shift, I felt that I owed my boss because I called in sick this past weekend.  Anyway, I was working my shift and everything was going smooth.  It was more boring than anything, as it was a pretty slow afternoon.  A lady walked in the door and sat down in the waiting area and politely told me she was waiting for a friend.  I said OK and told her to let me know when she was ready to be seated.  About 10 minutes went by and a couple of tables walked in and I think the lady up front feared that there would be no room for her, so she bolted up and asked to get a table.  Feeling nice, I took her back to a quiet little 2-top booth in the back of the restaurant.  She told me her friend's name and I told the woman I would bring her back when she came in.  Nothing too wrong with this customer, right?  So it seems.  I would say around 15 minutes or so passed by and to be honest, I completely forgot about this lady.  Then, she came rushing up to the front with an extremely angry look on her face.  Without letting me speak, she starts yelling at me and accusing me of making her friend leave.  She told me something along the lines of, "my friend said she was up here for 10 minutes and you never sent her back! Why would you do that? I told you to tell her I was here!"  It started to mash together and sound like the teacher from Charlie Brown to me though.  I politely stood there while I took the abuse and assured her I had been standing by the front door the entire time and there had been no one waiting to meet her.  She was still getting very angry at me and telling me it was my fault that her friend had left because I was not doing my job right.  Being the nice person I am, I kept apologizing.  I asked her if she had misunderstood the location of the restaurant, as there was another store only a few miles down the highway.  She said she was positive she was at the right place.  Then she walked outside to call her friend again.  A few minutes later, she peeked her head through the door, and with the most embarrassed look on her face she told me her friend was at the restaurant right next door.  I hope she learned something and next time, maybe she will hold her tongue and not take it out on an innocent employee.

Introduction

Working in a restaurant is not as fun and easy as most people seem to think.  I have worked in a local chain restaurant in Texas for about four years now and every time I step foot into the door of my restaurant there is always a new story to tell about both the customers and the employees.  I am almost positive that everyone who works or has worked in the restaurant industry can relate to at least one of the stories I will be writing about.  Also, hopefully this will open up the more disgruntled guests minds and help them to be a little more friendly to the people who are serving them.

Also, if you have any stories you would like me to post, send them my way!