Continue to Site

Angry, Crazy Customer

So what I’m gathering is people actually comp a whole bill?

That’s insane.

On top of it all I’ve reviewed video and know these guys yelled at staff (not the server, they went behind the pizza counter to confront the cook)

I don’t want them back - it’s insane over the waitresses bullshit mistake
 
Last edited:
I have been thinking about this thread all day, what i have come to think about it…

Do you think you could have handled it better(?) then you did when it happened ?

This is really all that matters imo. Because the next time something like this happens, and yes it will happen again, is how well you manage the situation next time. I try not dwell on what other people think of MY decisions. Because they are what I thought was correct at the time, not what THEY think should have been in retrospect.

Personally i do not respond to public complaints on websites or reviews. My belief is anyone who complains there is just doing it because they are venting. It could actually be something you or your employee did, or it could just be the straw that broke the camels back and you got the full brunt of it.

If the customer wants to come in and be civil, or call up later and talk then i am fine with that. I will do what i can to remedy the situation, but i will call the customers out if they stepped over the line.

At the end of the day, i TRY (and yes some days it is really hard) to always treat others as i would want to be treated. Bearing in my mind we are all human, mistakes happen and that is apart of life.
 
Last edited:
Jwarlow said:
So what I’m gathering is people actually comp a whole bill?

That’s insane.

On top of it all I’ve reviewed video and know these guys yelled at staff (not the server, they went behind the pizza counter to confront the cook)

I don’t want them back - it’s insane over the waitresses bullshit mistake
Click to expand...
Bullshit mistake?

See, that’s your problem. You admit the waitress made two different mistakes that left part of the group without any food, and you don’t think it is a big deal? That’s insane.

I think the reason you comp the entire table is because they came in to eat as a group and they were unable to because of you.

Don’t get me wrong. Mistakes happen, and I’m not commenting on the mistakes themselves. Only how they were handled.

You seem totally focused on their reaction to your reaction instead of realizing you should have never put them in a position to react like they did.

Imagine if you would have just handled the situation properly, yourself.

Well, maybe not. 😉
 
Last edited:
You’re right. The customer was wrong. You handled it perfectly. You just can’t please some people. Carry on.
 
Last edited:
Well said registered guest!

When there are multiple mistakes with one customer comping the whole ticket is not insane. If you had come out of the kitchen the first time it was requested and said you understood why they were upset and apologized and asked what would make them happy there is an excellent chance they would have asked for nothing at all or maybe free desert. It was the compounding of apparently not caring and then the follow-on mistake of getting them the wrong pizza that put all this over the top.

Seriously pissing off customers is very expensive even when they are wrong (and this time it does not seem like they are) Businesses that fail to understand this and act on it cost themselves more business than they will ever save with a short sighted focus on the loss in the single transaction.

Refusing to come speak with an upset customer is just plain nuts. If I ever heard my manager did that he would be done that day.
 
Last edited:
I guess Im done reading this at this point but for the record - I don’t think its bullshit that they were upset about the servers mistake I think its bullshit that my server made it - completely unacceptable.

Perhaps you all run big businesses and don’t understand what its like to be strained and have orders coming out of your ass. I stand firm in not putting off other large orders to talk to him when I told my server exactly what to do and say, seems she likely didn’t do exactly what I said.

Im shocked people write off $150 of food and alcohol. I’ve given away food but never a whole table, I watched our video tapes… watched them HAPPILY eat the other tables pizza (which never knew their pizza went to the wrong table and left happily - thank god) I can’t always bend over and give everyone whatever they want, or everyone would be finding something wrong. Im not some kind of idiot, I have been managing two businesses alone for 5 years and have sales increases every year even with an economic downturn.

This man YELLED at my cooking staff IN the kitchen, that’s insane. Sure maybe I shouldn’t have brought that up but I don’t feel my employees should be putting up with that kind of crap and I suppose its not his fault either as I gather the waitress was putting the mistake on everyone else (hence the BULLSHIT side of it)

As for the discrepancy - someone stated I started off which a sarcastic remark - sure maybe - he stated this “Brutal. Is all I can say. Fire the unclassy manager is where I would start.” which I guess I didn’t post with my OT

Oh well. I’m over the asshat and moving on to the customers who are worth my time. I expect to see him in the future and will kiss his sorry ass at that point as its my duty. Sorry for thinking I didn’t have to kiss his ass to everyone else too.
 
Last edited:
@Jwarlow

It is obvious to me that you did not put yourself in that customers position.
Who knows, maybe this “Dad” (on fathers day) who left his family to sit in the car is just a whiny bitch in life, but imagine taking your father out to dinner on fathers day at your restaurant and your father is upset enough to abandon his family during the meal.
High Emotions? YEAH! so you’re gonna have an irate customer.
Your Server screwed this up royally, your inaction at the time of need escalated these emotions.
I am sure that was not just a random choice, they came to your place for a valid reason! (remember, this was Fathers Day!)
I understand being busy,. having a small place and not having someone to properly handle managerial duties for you along with the stresses that go along with it. But a pissed of table of customers is a bomb waiting to explode.
If someone is pleased with a their experience at a restaurant, they tell very few people. You piss someone off, they will tell everyone, even people they may be standing next to in line at the grocery store, then we have all the review sites that are a mouthpiece to every bunghole in the world. That $150.00 could turn into 10 times that amount lost in the coming months.

Now imagine if you reversed the situation by meeting their needs, they may tell a story of a server screwing up badly, but how gracious you were to fix her mistakes(s)

Edited to add;
Heres my situation, maybe you can learn from this. We started as a caterer, and morphed into a restaurant that catered. catering was some very serious coin for us. I had to quit catering because I could not find a trustworthy crew to deliver & serve our catered events properly. So I took the financial hit so I would not be the guy responsible for a wedding not being absolutely perfect.
I had a crew show up late to events 3 times in 1 month, I got reports of bad attitudes, no way in hell will I have those negatives associated with my business even though the revenue generated from catering alone was over $250K in our 3 short summer months
 
Last edited:
Jwarlow said:
This man YELLED at my cooking staff IN the kitchen, that’s insane. Sure maybe I shouldn’t have brought that up but I don’t feel my employees should be putting up with that kind of crap
Click to expand...
Yup. And you are 100% correct that your staff should not have to put up with it… but then it should never have gotten to that point. That is what we are all talking about.
 
Last edited:
Jwarlow said:
I guess Im done reading this at this point but for the record - I don’t think its bullshit that they were upset about the servers mistake I think its bullshit that my server made it - completely unacceptable.

Perhaps you all run big businesses and don’t understand what its like to be strained and have orders coming out of your ass. I stand firm in not putting off other large orders to talk to him when I told my server exactly what to do and say, seems she likely didn’t do exactly what I said.

Im shocked people write off $150 of food and alcohol. I’ve given away food but never a whole table, I watched our video tapes… watched them HAPPILY eat the other tables pizza (which never knew their pizza went to the wrong table and left happily - thank god) I can’t always bend over and give everyone whatever they want, or everyone would be finding something wrong. Im not some kind of idiot, I have been managing two businesses alone for 5 years and have sales increases every year even with an economic downturn.

This man YELLED at my cooking staff IN the kitchen, that’s insane. Sure maybe I shouldn’t have brought that up but I don’t feel my employees should be putting up with that kind of crap and I suppose its not his fault either as I gather the waitress was putting the mistake on everyone else (hence the BULLSHIT side of it)

As for the discrepancy - someone stated I started off which a sarcastic remark - sure maybe - he stated this “Brutal. Is all I can say. Fire the unclassy manager is where I would start.” which I guess I didn’t post with my OT

Oh well. I’m over the asshat and moving on to the customers who are worth my time. I expect to see him in the future and will kiss his sorry ass at that point as its my duty. Sorry for thinking I didn’t have to kiss his ass to everyone else too.
Click to expand...
Lol. You are the one that said “any insight would be great…”

I guess you didn’t mean any, you meant agreeable.
 
Last edited:
There is usually something else going on in situations like this. What if the old gent had terminal cancer? What if he wanted the family together at a pizza joint like in the “old days” when he was young and the grown kids were wee little ones… one never knows.

I also think your mindset is hampering your decision process. You are looking at them as “stealing” your meal. However when dealing with the public, there is always “shrinkage”… people are not all perfect, ethical, predictable and joyous. And in this case your wait staff tar balled it up. If that did not happen, these folks would likely have been model customers.

If you reprogram yourself to consider these comp costs as “advertising” as in potentially negating a ton of negative press. It may help you to go to the next level.

Also coming out of the kitchen, and doing as others said above, would likely have defused this mess in 50 to 90 seconds. I think that is something to consider adding to your toolkit. In another business I am in we call it “critical path analysis” For your business to grow and prosper, burning yourself up in the kitchen will not work long term. Live on your “critical path”… to success.
 
Forgot to add 86% of the buying or purchasing decision is emotional. We all need to roll that around in our noggins to get the “critical path” right. 😉
 
Also comping $150 worth of food and alcohol is not a big deal, especially when you figure in your food cost and costs of potential lost sales for the customer that you had upset.

Don’t think in terms of today’s $, comping it today will only make you more in the future compared to a little bit today and none in the future.

120 hours a weeks takes it toll quickly on anyone, once you can step away some you’ll be able to make these decisions a lot easier.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
Seems like you go from one extreme to another you own up to your server being incompetent but at the same time the customer should just accept the awful service, be cordial and friendly with all staff, accept food as they get their check, write off that his Dad was upset and opted to sit in their car because Dad most likely felt he would not be eating a meal on Fathers day, pay 150.00 for this awful experience, accept that a manager will not address him in person and shut up. LOL
 
Last edited:
I realize the horse is dead at this point, but… my 2 cents.
I have learned over the years the customer is not always right, but you have to pretend like they are, even if you don’t want them to come back. At the very least, if it gets to this point, shut your mouth and walk away. I struggle with training this in Managers. It comes down to this, Did you make a mistake? The answer is yes. While the customer is being irrational, take this moment to aknowledge that it was the staff’s fault it escalated at all. Once you make one mistake, every issue is a bigger issue. Thats why complaints end up being, they were rude, the food was bad, the service was slow, my water tasted funny, my chair was uncomfortable. A training moment, use it for what it is. Would’ve maybe cost you 40 bucks to comp the order and you could’ve been done with it and saved yourself the stress and blood pressure spike.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top