Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
There's nothing to debate. Barring illegal activity such as theft or assault, or utterly outlandish and unreasonable demands (which, admittedly, some people try to get away with) the customer is always right. If they're dissatisfied with the service, they have every right to expect that it be rectified, and if they find a server off-putting, they don't have to tip him or her lavishly. Indeed, there is no law saying they have to tip at all. Tips may be customary, but they are also earned.
Yes master
Quote:
And not for nothing, but people in the service industry venting on a public board is not necessarily going to garner them any sympathy. Everyone here has been a patron at one point. Complaining about those who put food on your table when it's your job to put food on theirs is poor form.
Then I am clearly guilty of bad form.
Do you work? If you do, I am sure you have never complained about something that is an important part of you job that earns you your paycheck.
It's funny but how your sister was as a server (or bartender) is kind of how I like to be as a customer. Sometimes you can just see the anxiety or stress on their face and know they are trying so hard to do their job the best they can...and it's always a joy to have someone like that (your sis) when you go out.
My husband and I don't go out all that often but we always WAY over tip when the waitress, say, is really making an effort. Our last waitress was friendly and attentive...and kind of funny...she was crazy busy but the service was spot on...my husband is nuts for over tipping...it's sweet, I think.
Anyway...back to topic??
Stress from being overwhelmed, sure. Not long ago, my SO and I very obviously got the New Server's Table. That poor kid. But he got a big tip because it was obvious he was trying.
Stress from trying not to roll one's eyes at a customer's pronunciation of "Cabernet" or attempts to impress his date with a discussion of wine, not so much. A good server remains neutral and lets people save face.
I go into it like I go into all business arrangements: Cordial, but professional. In the end, I'm the one forking out the money, so I consider it a transaction, even if it has social elements to it. It's what I do for my own clients, to make them feel like their business is not only wanted, but greatly appreciated--so that they keep coming back. Different field, but same principle.
Well, I'm not a huge fan of L.A. It's just not my kind of place.
It's really a manner of finesse. My sister was so successful at bartending and serving because, trite and cliched as it sounds, she LOVED working with people, knew how to read them, and enjoyed making their experience better than they expected. She liked what she did, so she was good at it. Never once, while she was in that career,did I ever hear her complain about a customer. Her attitude was that everyone has a story, and you don't know what that person had been through that day or how his or her life was going. She knew they were there to have a nice time, maybe forget about their problems for a while, and she was there to help them do it, not make matters worse. If customers were ornery or rude, she actually felt bad for them and made it her mission to cheer them up. In a relationship, this would be codependent behavior. Behind the bar, it would be money hand over fist.
Duh, it just looks like b*tching about your job if you complained about your career to someone that isn't in the same career and wouldn't understand .
So, you don't think, that when your sister sat around with her co-workers after a shift, that she joined the conversation about the table from hell? If so, she would be the only person I have ever heard of in my 10 years of experience at 5 different restaurants, that had nothing negative to say.
It's a sports bar, if memory serves me correctly. Hooters? Or something a little classier? This will give us an idea of your clientele.
She said, "I've been in the service industry in Manhattan for five years. Done everything from fine dining to Hooters. Currently waitressing at two sports bars in Manhattan, one in Murray Hill and one in Chelsea."
Naturally everyone who goes into a Hooters or similar establishment is a lowlife drunken ill-educated Neanderthal ... how could I not have known that.
Duh, it just looks like b*tching about your job if you complained about your career to someone that isn't in the same career and wouldn't understand .
So, you don't think, that when your sister sat around with her co-workers after a shift, that she joined the conversation about the table from hell? If so, she would be the only person I have ever heard of in my 10 years of experience at 5 different restaurants, that had nothing negative to say.
It's hard to explain, but yes, she is one of those rare birds who lets things roll off her back. She just didn't take stuff personally, and for the money she was making, it wasn't worth it to get bent out of shape. If you had a problem with her, something would be wrong with you because she's just one of those people who has to try very hard to offend someone. That's not to say she didn't have bad days, or that all of the customers were saints. One guy actually grabbed her as she walked by, leaned down, and BIT her on the caboose. The bouncers took care of him, boy howdy. But for less egregious offenses, like brusqueness or drunken blathering, she had a good way of coping, like, "Yeah, that guy was an ahole but what can you do? He's gone now. Glad it's over. Glad I'm not his girlfriend."
Her current job is in a different field entirely, and now, yes, she grumbles, but more about her co-workers than the students' parents. Same goes for the one in health care. She works with an office manager who is just odious. But she doesn't gripe about the patients. Beats me. What I complain about in my field is non-payment. I freelance, so I just don't work with clients I don't like or respect, or those who try to rip me off. If I had the patience for that, I'd never have left my last job working for someone else. I don't see the point in complaining about people who voluntarily bring you their business, especially in this economy.
Naturally everyone who goes into a Hooters or similar establishment is a lowlife drunken ill-educated Neanderthal ... how could I not have known that.
That would be your assumption, not mine. However, there is more doltish behavior at Hooters and places like that than there is at, say, an elegant restaurant on the water. When women are made to look cheap, men are more likely to treat them that way. There's no getting around it.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
