what is the worst thing a server can do to make you mad? - Page 3

when I was 19 my friends and I went out to a nicer (not super nice, but they had cloth napkins ;) ) place. My sister who was 1 6 or 17 at the time was with us and she also worked in foodservice. She ordered an entree that came with bread. The server seemed annoyed that we were there at all. Didn't take our menus after we ordered. Then when our food came she just put it down and left. My sister noticed she haden't gotten her bread and found our server and asked about it. The server tried to act like she had brought us everything. When my sister showed her the menu that she had left and the words "comes with bread" the server said in a very condescending tone:
"I am glad to see you can read". :eek:

Now, normally my friends and I are nice tippers, that night we were not.

not trying to stir anything up, just speaking from an 8 yr server's point of view, nicer restaurants tend to have server assistants that are pretty much bussers but interact with the table a lot more. They do this so that the server can spend more time at tables discussing food and wine and the sa can fill waters, bring bread, ect. Also busy restaurants often have food runners to make sure the food gets to the table hot. In any case, I have never worked in a restaurant that these positions were not tipped out by the waiter, the guest is never expected to split tips.

I swear, it is Murphy's law that this happens so often. Servers do not intentionally wait for your mouth to be full so you can't complain about anything, at least no one I have worked with. In many establishments there is too much to do to either wait till you take a bite, or wait for the opportune moment when you're not talking or not about to take a bite. My case is this, would you rather not have anyone ask you how things are, and then you don't have a chance to send an undercooked steak back, or tell them this isn't what you ordered?

I agree, if I'm at Applebee's however it irritates me when guests will get mad at the fact that our restaurant (fine dining with exquisite Angus beef) does not carry A-1.

I once asked a manager why we had these, and he told me it was so you could reach the person on the inside of the booths plate. Its kind of an old tradition that is dying out. I love cracked pepper and often do not get enough on my salad simply because I do not want to wear the servers arm out. Small pepper grinders are definitely the way to go.

This drives me F****** nuts when I see or hear of co-workers being this rude. The guest is ALWAYS RIGHT!!!!

And yes, there is a black-hole, it's called cigarettes (ugh)/cell phones. Both will be outlawed at my future restaurant.

Then you can't dip your fries in A-1. Oh, wait, you probably don't have fries!

Not leaving me alone after the food arrives and ignoring me when I try to get their attention.

Last Friday I took my boyfriend out for dinner at Apple Bees. I was on the phone telling my girlfriend that it is my boyfriend's b/day. Apparently the waitress overheard my conversation. Shourtly, a bunch of waiters/waitresses came clapping and singing "happy bithday" (no tune whatsoever) at our table.

They were like:-

It's your birthday (clap clap)
happy birthday (clap clap)
It's your birthday (clap clap)
happy birthday (clap clap)
happy happy happy (clap clap)
birthday too you (clap clap)

Gosh! it was soo annoying and my b/f didn't appreciate the drama. My god!:mad:

That would sure annoy me.

What were you doing on the phone while in a restaurant in the first place!

You apparently don't like it when the servers do their job (it's standard, in those kinds of places). But you can be rude enough to use a phone where others can hear the conversation.

Kind of a double standard, isn't it?

Yes, I know it's rude to be on the phone while dining. However, I'm sure you are as guilty as I am accepting a phone call once in a blue moon. (say it aint so)

I was just aswering the thread starter's question "what is the worst thing a server can do to make you mad?

Let's not stray away from the topic by pointing fingers at each other. This is not about me, you, she, him, us, they, them. . . aiight. It's about the server

Now let's join hands together and sing "It's been a hard day's night" by the Beatles

*singing*

It's been a hard day's night, and I've been working like a dog
It's been a hard day's night, I should be sleeping like a log
But when I get home to you I find the things that you do
Will make me feel alright


:peace:

As a matter of fact, Epi, it ain't so. I would no more carry a phone into a restaurant then I'd light up a stogie in one and happily puff away. There are some things that are proper behavior, and some that are not. Taking the attitude that "everybody" does it, especially when everybody clearly doesn't, does not make poor behavior correct.

But, as you say, let's confine it to what servers do that makes you mad. As I read it, you've gone into the kind of restaurant where that happy birthday nonsense is commonly done; indeed, is expected by the patrons. You then, in effect, announce to the server that it's your BFs birthday.

She does her job, and that makes you mad.

I just can't relate to that.

OK, how about a server who interrupts taking your order to answer her phone? She said "It's my sitter! I have to take this!" The sitter was apparently her mom.

I was speechless.

Applebee's requires the birthday song?

If you tell them it's your birthday, you get the song, Jim.

Used to be the birthday boy (or girl) got their meal free, too, but I don't know if that still applies.

My point is that if you patronize a place where the birthday song thing is done (which, nowadays, includes most casual dining chains), and you let them know that it's your birthday, and they sing the song, then they are just doing their job.

If you don't want them seranading at your table there are several solutions: don't patronize that establishment. Or don't let them know there's a birthday at the table. Blaming the server for something you brought on yourself, however, strikes me as being odd at best.

I only asked because they don't do it at our local AB's.

I can't respond to that, Jim, except with a guess. Could be that they got so many complaints (most people I know not only don't want it done at their table, they find it aggrevating when it's done at other tables as well) from regular customers that they dropped it?

Chain policy, faik, is to sing it. In fact, as Epi noted, they even have their own version, which isn't so much singing as it is yelling, punctuated with clapping.

Personally, I think the whole thing is silly. And intrusive. But I don't make the rules.

I've made it a point to skip any place where the staff sings. What an annoyance to other diners and an embarrasment to the birthday person.

I can find no upside to the practice at all. It's the antithesis of hospitality.

I find it tolerable in a kid friendly environment but even then there should be an age limit for who you sing to.
I think the cut-off should be 5 or 6 years old.

Well, now, the waitress may have thought that your phone call was a clever way of informing her that it was your boyfriend's birthday without doing so in an obvious manner, in order to surprise him. If that had indeed been the case, you would have appreciated her picking up the hint.

Then you miss out on Tucano's!

I'm sure the dining places take a very pragmatic view. If it's Joe's birthday, and twelve of his friends take him out to lunch at your restaurant to celebrate, there you have thirteen covers and you are out one free dessert. And that free dessert probably prompts more dessert purchases than you'd otherwise have.

By the time they are again ready to dine out, most of the other guests probably have forgotten about any annoyance they felt due to all the racket, remembering instead the good food and great service.

And although I share your apparent love of being made a spectacle :), some people actually like being the center of attention. I was surprised when my very shy 22-year-old son grinned from ear to ear when the staff beat on their drum and sang to him on his birthday. He said he thought it was cool.

I do remember one place where the staff actually could carry a tune. It was a different experience altogether.

Hold it right there( Re the highlighted.) Before you get on your high horse, please call Apple Bees @ 212-391-7414. The birthday song is NOT mandatory, It is done ONLY by request and I for one never requested the birthday song.

Have a nice day

:peace:

That's the best one yet!

I'm a mother, so it really gets on my nerves when I catch this look on the waiter's face as if he was about to say "Oh, no, not the children". I usually try to pick up places which are referred to as "family ones" or children-friendly, but once in awhile we drop in to a regular restaurant and then I just can't stand the looks and the grins :/

Beans, here's our experience in a fairly nice restaurant just last weekend.  It wasn't necessarily anti-child, but the meals started at $20 and a glass of house wine was $8.50. 

We were seated next to a party of 6- a couple in their mid thirties, a 2 year old, a 6 year old, and the grandparents.  The 2 year old acted like many of his age- screaming when he wanted something, jumping up and down and banging things. The parents were doing a lot of "please stop that" but not making anything change.  The 6 year old was under their table, under the unoccupied tables around us, shooting his race car all over the place, laying in the aisle so the server had to step over him.  At one point, the mother looked over her shoulder at my husband and said "sorry", then turned back around while the behaviors continued.  My husband asked me if I though she meant "sorry I'm a totally ineffective parent", but I guessed not.

I think the parents were totally at fault for allowing these behaviors and staying in the restaurant instead of taking the kids out when they acted up or when their tolerence for sitting in a restaurant reached its end, but I also fault the management for not asking them to control especially the 6 year old.  These dummies sat over coffee for the hour we were there!  We ended up not eating dinner there, but left after out apps and drinks.

Kids are fine, but it's up to the parents to know when it's time to leave.  THAT'S why servers look askew at people who bring kids into restaurants.

When I was a server, happily I very rarely had customers who were not happy.  The ones who were seemed determined to be dissapointed from the moment they walked in. *sigh*

So, as a server and burgeoning cook in a steakhouse bar & grill I was well aware of the challenges of the job sometimes.  When 16 of our staff, after a weekend together in Niagra Falls, stopped on the way home for breakfast in a little diner we expected to wait.  A large group, mid morning on a Sunday... we walked in with reasonable expectations.

What we got was a very young server, by herself, that spent most of the time we were there chatting with the owner in the attached bar/lounge.  She would take a few orders, wander over to ask a question (presumably) and lean on the bar for a while giggling.  It was clear she was having trouble so we agreed to place very simple orders.  She came back eventually, took a few more orders (and yes, we were all sitting at the same table... they were physically equiped for our large group...)  A half hour went by and one of our party got up and went to the coffee maker at the server station to put on coffee.  A couple more of us got up and gathered cutlery to set the table.

We discovered the cook on that morning was a very confused little old lady.  When she finally got orders in she didn't know where to start.  In truth, she didn't even get all of the chits... as we found out later.  Four of us went into the kitchen and got to work.  Yes, we cooked our own breakfast.  The owner looked at us but didn't say a thing.

When we were finishing up the server came by and dropped a pile of checks in the middle of the table and walked away.  It had become beyond absurd to the point of hilarity, so we actually scraped and bussed our own dishes.  It seemed otherwise the little old lady would get stuck doing it all by herself.  So, then began the saga of trying to figure out who's check was who's.  Seems the server, if she didn't understand what we were ordering ('cause bacon n eggs sunny with brown was too confusing) just rang up the most expensive item on the menu.  Repeatedly.  Nothing matched with what we had ordered and eaten, but she seemed to think we should pay without question.

The owner finally got involved.   He also decided we should pay whatever bill we had been given, and actually started to shout at us.  Perhaps he thought he could intimidate us but we were well beyond that... and a few of the staff with us were our bouncers, so it was just silly.

We agreed among ourselves how much we should pay for our meals... it worked out to a few dollars each.  We did slip a $50 tip to the poor cook.  I hope the owner didn't get it.

Agreed!!  My biggest pet peeve is when servers are completely absent during your entire meal but stop to chat and make nice when they're dropping off the bill -- ugh. Isn't it clear that we see right through it?

Charron,

That type of service is absolutely horrible.  I'm shocked that you didn't charge the owner for your services making coffee, cooking breakfast, bussing your own tables, etc. 

I would have.