What Are You Going To Do About It????

This is another episode of customers that never cease to amaze me....

The other night a table was seated in one of our semi-private banquet halls. To set the stage for my readers , the hall has eleven tables and a private service bar on one end of the room. It was the first table that was seated in this banquet room, so everything that this one ridiculous lady said was totally amplified. As the lucky server approached the table with his customary breadboard, the lady blurted out "Well we'd BETTER get great service....YOU sat us in the service station!". As I observed this from the other side of the banquet room I thought to myself that the lucky server---Jason---was going to have a riot serving this table.

It is one thing to have a bad experience during your meal to make you a sour puss, but to have the sour puss attitude before your server even gets to the table is never a good sign! After Jason was finally able to say his customary schpiel "Hi, welcome to 'The Fire' (not so secret code name for the restaurant I work at), have you ever dined with us before.....?" he introduced the nightly specials and got a drink order. As he left the table and was walking towards my side of the room, I saw the pain on his face..... Funny how ONE individuals rudeness and ignorance can ruin your night, or at least start it off on the wrong foot!

I didn't have any tables at this point, so I was watching this woman's antics with great amusement (although I felt bad for Jason). Like a train wreck or a bad reality television show, I couldn't stop watching this crazy lady. This woman went on that "I can't believe a restaurant like THE FIRE would seat us here....". I thought "Seat you HERE? Lady, you are sitting near a service bar, not the crapper!".

I finally got my first table, so I went for my breadboard and greeted my table. After doing my specials recital and getting a drink order, I waltzed across the dance floor to the service bar to get my drinks. As I was getting my limes for the Grey Goose and tonic a barback came by and filled the service bars ice tray with two buckets of ice. This lady sat there with her jaw dropped like somebody had hurled a nasty comment her way. "Can you believe THAT?????" she asked in astonishment. At this point I would like to add that nobody else in her party had been upset about the seating of their party, or about a busboy filling ice or anything like that. In fact, they all seemed embarrassed about her behavior and comments---although somehow I thought this wasn't her debut at the "crusty and cranky pain in the ass" classification.

I got fairly busy with my station filling up, so I didn't see too much more of this pleasant lady until her party was leaving. She cornered the poor little hostess in the narrow hallway of the banquet room and read her the riot act. It started with "How could you seat us there???" and covered every little incident until they left the table. The poor little hostess was near tears with the verbal attack. I always felt it showed total lack of character to scream and yell at a 19 year old hostess, but I guess we all know this lady was something.....special!

The hostess told the manager the story, and I interjected that I saw the whole thing start to finish and this lady was a complete piece of work. She was miserable from the moment her party was sat in the banquet room. From that point on it all went downhill.

About an hour later this rabid lady called the restaurant and asked for the manager. As the manager answered the line and asked her how he could help her, she sneered, "I'm f-ing pissed!". The manager said there was no need for that kind of language, and the crazy lady agreed. She went on about the terrible tale of her visit to THE FIRE. At the point in her story where the busboy filled the ice trays she added, "My 70 year old mother ALMOST HAD A HEART ATTACK WITH THE NOISE!!!!". I didn't notice Bubby clutching her chest or fainting.....

Then she asked the manager the ultimate question: "What are you going to do about it?". The manager answered that THE FIRE was rated number one by Zagat's, and in the review it even said it was a loud environment. I guess that wasn't too much of a consideration compared to the taste of the food and the value of the restaurant as our restaurant is voted number one. He replied he wasn't going to give her anything (i.e. the gift certificates this verbally abusive customer was trying to get).

Surprisingly, the lady didn't like his answer (LOL). The manager told her to call back the next day and ask for the general manager. Amen.

I always felt the "What are you going to do about it?" was a bully tactic that was used in a cowardly manner. I say bully because they are trying to extort or extract something for nothing. I saw cowardly because she is sitting there as the customer, and we all know the golden rule of customer service---The Customer Is Always Right. She is banking on that principle, but comping the entire meal is not the answer. It was also cowardly because she didn't talk to the manager right there at the restaurant. She probably went home and sank two martini's or a carafe of red wine to summon up the courage to tear someone a new one!

My thoughts? She should have said "NO WAY!" to the hostess when they tried to show her party to the table. Restaurants are reasonable and would have no problem seating her party somewhere else. Remember restaurants are there to service you. If you don't like a table, say something immediately, or forever hold your peace. I'm sure this crazy ladies family was embarrassed by her childish behavior and the way she kept going on about the terrible seat location, and the noise and the service bar...