CEOs say how you treat a waiter can predict a lot about character

Yahoo News ^ | Fri Apr 14, 2006 | Del Jones

[JoeSixPack1]

jus' playin'...:-)

[Feiny]

"Another thing is that if you leave a restaurant feeling unhappy and abused, do not make a big scene, just leave and never go back."

I disagree. I have been a waitress & bartender in dives and 4 star restaurants. I also dine in both. If I am treated poorly or have a bad meal, they will know about it. This pisses off my man who would rather leave & never go back. I prefer for them to know why I am leaving & why I won't be back. The owner/manager deserves a chance to right the wrong. Bad word of mouth is a killer & most owners know this fact.

[Finny]

Well, I AIN'T leavin' you a tip! Except to say, if you're a single guy on the dating scene, avoid dating women with really long fingernails. They're a sign of screwed-up priorities. Wait ... was that a tip?

[pdunkin]

My sister used to put salt on her watermelon and on oranges. I won't get into her character.

[xsrdx]

I saw him spit in their food.

Yup, never a good idea to pi$$ off the cook, waiter or paymaster.

If you like dead bugs, spit, dirt, or worse sprinkled on your chow, go ahead and infuriate the waiter.

[VOA]

"Ralph Nader also, is supposed to be hell to work for."

Saint Ralph is also decidedly anti-union...amongst his own workers.
See the chapter on Nader in Peter Schweizer's "Do As I Say (Not As I Do)"
subtitled "Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy" (IIRC).

[Conservative4Ever]

My wealthy maternal Grandmother was shopping in a large exclusive store in Seattle years ago with my collage age Uncle in tow. He was rude to the store clerk. My Grandmother made him apologize. When my Grandmother left the store she turned to my Uncle told him never to be rude to people who are helping you. She explained that sales person was assisting her and didn't deserve that kind of verbal treatment and to never to it again. My Grandmother was very wise, kind and gracious.

[JoeSixPack1]

Rofl! And my back has the scars to prove it! :-)

[fish hawk]

Maybe you're right but not always. I had some Black friends here on Maui go to a restaurant and the waitress refused to wait on them. They finally got tired of NO service and talked to the manager on the way out. The manager apologized and offered them to come back in and she would give them a free meal. They refused. They told me about it and described the waitress that wouldn't serve them. I went back there a few days later and that waitress was still working there. So the manager would give a free meal but not fire the guilty party. I'd rather do what you said, the "word of mouth" treatment. If the managers and owners don't know their own employees that well, they deserve to lose a customer.

[stands2reason]

Yes, but not with money. :-)

[Finny]

You know, it doesn't matter how rude or nasty the customer is, spitting in the food or otherwise nastying it up is NEVER JUSTIFIED. In my waitressing days if I'd ever seen a co-worker do that, that co-worker would have gotten my boot up his/her ass right then and there. Two wrongs don't make a right, and anyone asshole enough to spit in anyone's food out of vengeance is also asshole enough to DESERVE a rude customer. The truth is you never really know why a person is rude -- maybe their dog just died, maybe they just got up on the wrong side of the bed, or maybe they're just chronic jerks, but you never know. Any restaurant employee who gets revenge on a rude customer this way is infinitely worse than the rude customer and will have, I predict, a more miserable life ahead than the crankiest, most miserly tipper. Harrrrummphh!

[xsrdx]

Harrrrummphh!

Your enlightened perspective is refreshing; my only point was that people who treat food service folks rudely are ignoring the fact that those same folks can do very bad things when they have your food out of sight.

Just not very bright, purely from self interest.

[stands2reason]

/manager deserves a chance to right the wrong. Bad word of mouth is a killer & most owners know this

Thank you for that, feinswine. The Mr. is a restaurant manager. Too many people say, well, if he was a good manager, he'd know, and he wouldn't have this employee working for him anyway. That's not always true. It's not always that simple to fire a bad worker, especially if the manager's bosses are lawsuit-shy.

A customer complaint can be a powerful tool for a manager to use in getting rid of a bad egg.

Fishhawk, please reconsider complaining to management, just make sure you do it after the meal, but before you pay. You might just get that check torn up. Restaurant managers typically have a lot of leeway in comping unhappy guests' tickets.

[Tenniel]

Amen to that. When you're dining out -- whether to entertain business colleagues or relatives from out of town, or even (especially) if it's just the two of you -- discreet, unobtrusive service is a major part of the experience.

The last thing you want is someone who introduces himself with a big grin and a chummy "Hello everyone, I'm Randy and I'll be your server tonight, and how are you all doing...," and proceeds to become an uninvited member of your party every time he comes to the table.

I don't want to know the waiter's name. Apart from the unshakable queasy feeling I still get at the thought of calling strangers by their first name, my knowing the waiter's name implies that at some point in the evening I'll need to use it, which should be completely unnecessary if he's doing his job right.

Mind you, exceptions can and should be made at places where your family has been dining for generations -- but then those are likely the places where people on both sides of the tablecloth still grasp the rudiments of civilized behavior.

[Riley]

"Hello everyone, I'm Randy [...]"

Way too much information, mate. :-)

[HereInTheHeartland]

"If you ever want to learn about someones character, have them DRIVE you somewhere in heavy traffic."

Oh man I would be busted with that one. I don't do well following the people going 62 in the fast lane of 65 mph road.

[Finny]

I know -- no offense meant. Just telling you that this is one former food server who not only would never do such a thing, but who would come down hard on anyone seen doing it.

[Feiny]

I just think that is the fair thing to do. One night, we walked out of 2 restaurants in a row due to slow/bad service. The 1st place, I wanted to let them know why we were leaving as I really wanted to try this place & had heard great things....but we did it my mans way & said nothing. We went to the place upstair (separate restaurant) & it was empty....we were ignored for 15 minutes, then waited 20 for a drink. I watched as the waitress waled back & forth around the small restaurant with 2 tables of patrons. She finally made our martinis and we could see her add water to the shaker. It was undrinkable....worst martini ever. We decided to leave & asked for the check.....another 15 mintues...nothing...finally I grabbed a guy who looked in charge & told him we were leaving & why & we needed the bill....he just said "don't worry about it".....didn't give a rip that the drinks were wrong & we wasted our time. Free drinks or not, never going back there.