We may serve you

[MARS]

But we're not your servants. This thread is for discussing experiences from businesses which revolve around directly tending to customers.

I've worked at a coffee shop/bar for years, and boy do I have stories. I'm actually working said job right now, so I can't write much, but I can promise that I'll be posting in here, a lot.

To get the ball rolling: give us your best/worst story.

[Dohva.]

Oh goodness, do I have a zillion of them. And I'll start off by saying that most people I wait on are normal, sweet, wonderful people who just want to have a good experience. And they tip well. I've seen it all, heard it all, been asked it all. LOL

But one of my favorite stories is from the restaurant I work at now, where I've been for 4 years. A very drunk man I was serving went up to my boss and asked if he could purchase me...and no joke...actually offered her a $$ amount. She kicked him out, and she's this tiny old lady! Hilarious. Oh...and then there was the time I spilled a tray of red wine all over this man's khakis. All over his crotch. He was rad though, and left me a $30 tip. People, gotta love 'em.

[dzio]

I have a sad story and a crazy/sad story.

Sad one is from when I was a cashier at a local supermarket (not a huge one, just a local store selling mostly everything). There was an older lady who always came early in the morning to buy some groceries and late in the evening to buy vodka. She always bought the cheapest food and always said something about having unexpected visitors to explain the vodka, but it was obvious that she was buying it for herself and I felt really bad for her every time. And there were other people like that, regular customers who were clearly very lonely and unhappy, so much that a 2 minutes long interaction every few days was enough to notice.

And the crazy/sad one was from a bar/coffee shop - there was a middle-aged woman who'd come for a coffee a few times a week, usually early in the afternoon when the place was mostly empty (we had mostly breakfast crowds, crazy late night parties and lazy afternoons). She would sometimes come up to talk to other customers if they were using a computer and we never knew what she wanted until one day she came up to one of our friends who had his laptop with him. Turns out the lady first asked him if he could check something on the Internet for her, and when he said yes, she looked around, leaned down, and whispered "I need to know where the nearest FBI units are!". That was in Cracow, Poland and she'd been apparently coming to our bar to find help with avoiding the imaginary FBI chasing her.

[Taters]

Was working as a cashier in a supermarket and an elderly man walked in wearing white shorts with a big brown stain exactly where you'd expect it. That was....weird.

[HatofMadness]

I work at Macy's and let me tell you, a bunch of women in one place isn't as much fun as it sounds.

It's like recess during elementary school. Every day, no patience these customers have. I can't say I have any insane stories, yet.

One that really isnt even work related is: A lady came into my department and said to call 911 cuz she just saw a car park in a handicap spot that didn't have a sticker. I politely told her to call mall security or her congressman. She legit thought it was a BIG deal, and it was imperative to call the police right away.

What a tool

[Dark Lord Cam]

My shop usually gets vagrants who come in and try to steal things. I usually yell at them and then they leave. I guess I just freak them out with my simultaneous yelling/smiling.

[Dohva.]

LOL What the heck?

I saw a girl getting arrested for shoplifting at Macy's once. I laughed at her when I walked by. Sorry but...you shouldn't be stealing DUH.

[dzio]

About stealing - my co-worker once caught a skinny woman trying to smuggle a 3 liter bottle of Coke under her shirt. She tried to convince her she was pregnant, even though she looked like she was about to give birth to a fire extinguisher, not a baby.

And I once almost brought a salesperson to tears when I brought her a pair of gloves that had a disconnected security tag and said "you should do something about that before they get stolen". She thanked me a hundred times and gave me a gift card, because apparently that shop has a policy that if too many items get stolen during one employee's shifts, they lose all commission bonuses, and that girl was very close to that point and losing those gloves would cut 1/3 of her paycheck. Which makes it both a story about how incredibly [&@%!] store customers are and about the dickishness of store management.

[The SheoDovah]

I've have some interesting tales.

Last Saturday at the shop i volunteer at on a weekly basis, we have a pain in the backside customer. She didn't speak english and normally that's not a problem as I can usually tell what they want. This one, we had trouble with. The manager was dealing with her as I had just washed up the cups. The manager was having trouble understanding her due to the language barrier and the woman was getting angry. She raised her voice and i think she wanted a buggy. The manager told her how much it was via sign language and she wanted it for 3p. 3p. And this was a £30 one. This is just the short version.

Also, I hate it when the customer ignores you when you are serving them or decides to answer their phone and make it harder for me to be polite to them as I'm an excellent shop assistant who is polite and always wishes the customer a pleasant day. I've had instances where i've asked them if they would like a bag, they ignore me and then ask me for a bag. I say ask, it's more like demand. Now, I just assume they want a bag if they don't answer me. Oh and parents need to learn to not let their bloody kids run riot in shops. Luckily, that rarely happens for me but i've had a few misbehaving children enter the shop before.

[Kestral]

I hear most waiting staff in Europe don't get tips, is that true?

[The SheoDovah]

I don't know. I think it's down to the company. Although, here in england, tips may be considered a bribe. I'm unsure as i've had no reason to pay attention to that.

[dzio]

In Poland it's customary to tip at restaurants and at pubs/bars if you're paying for a large order. As in, you don't tip for one beer, but you do for a round of drinks for the whole table. In some places you can make crazy amounts of money from tips - waiting staff at the restaurants on the Main Market here in Cracow officially make minimum wage, but can easily double or even triple it with tips.

[skullclutter]

I used to work at a food-court Burger King. I usually got placed at cash, so I've seen a bunch of weird things people will do to get free food.
Once, I remember a lady complaining about a long blonde hair in her fries - when none of the kitchen staff had blonde hair that day, and the guy working fries in particular was indian, with short black hair.

Our manager called her out on it and pointed out the woman herself had long blonde hair.

[Musicman247]

Had a woman ask for a hotdog at the burger place I worked at. When I told her we didn't have hotdogs she said, "Oh, then I'll just have a hotdog."

[Veck]

I hear most waiting staff in Europe don't get tips, is that true?

I can't speak for Eastern Europe but for proper restaurants in the West tips are absolutely a thing. I think the misconception may come from how we aren't expected to give tips if we've received poor service. As a whole tips aren't really seen as a massive thing in the service industry because we don't give out crap wages like in America.

[Kerr]

In Ireland the cost of service is part of cost of buying something.

[Musicman247]

In Ireland the cost of service is part of cost of buying something.

A 15% gratuity is expected from people dining at a restaurant with waitstaff in the US, whether they performed well or not.

[Br3admax]

I usually give 18% for great service.

[Musicman247]

Tax here is 8.25%, so I just double the tax.

[Gideon Dragontongue]

Last time my friends and I ate out we accidentally tipped our waitress three times the usual amount. But she was hot, so no one complained.

[Alarra]

I've have some interesting tales.
Oh and parents need to learn to not let their bloody kids run riot in shops. Luckily, that rarely happens for me but I've had a few misbehaving children enter the shop before.

And restaurants. I didn't really get any customer interaction since I worked in the kitchen, doing cooking and dishes, but we'd occasionally hear screaming kids or get ones that would play front of the kitchen door (which was totally down a hallway away from the dining room, past the bathrooms, so they didn't have much reason to be there).

Oh, and we even had some kids come into the kitchen once. Like, they actually opened the "Employees Only" doors and walked in and hid behind the counter, staring at us until we noticed them and my boss sternly told them to get out. I can't imagine ever having the nerve to trespass like that.
One of the stranger things that we've had a customer unhappy about while I was there: she complained that the other boss "used the Mom voice" when telling the kids that she was afraid of them getting hurt in front of the door. It wasn't like a commanding or angry tone or anything, the customer just considered it "the Mom voice".

[Br3admax]

Last time my friends and I ate out we accidentally tipped our waitress three times the usual amount. But she was hot, so no one complained.

Hehe, this guy gets it.

[Dohva.]

I dislike when kids run around our restaurant like heathens. I've seen kids play on the floor, roll on the floor, jump up and down on the tables, stand on the windowsills and place the blinder cords around their necks, etc.

And in every case I've asked the parent to please reign in their kiddoes. I'm sorry, but if they're sitting there having beers and ignoring their children running underneath other servers carrying trays, I'm going to say something.

[Kerr]

Sometimes I feel bit guilty when the person serving me does something wrong. Like if I ask for a burger with no cheese and they give me one with cheese because they took down my order wrong. I know I shouldn't feel guilty for asking to change it, it is what I'm paying for but I still feel like a hassle. And what if they get in trouble with their superiors because of my complaint? I'd feel terrible of that happened. I just hope the person serving me doesn't think I'm a dick because of it.

[Musicman247]

I would feel like they were the dick for not paying attention when I was ordering. I mean, it's their job.