If you've ever worked in the service industry then you definitely know a rude customer when you see one. Check out these stories of fed-up servers who finally gave these entitled customers a piece of their mind once and for all.
“Oh She’ll Be Getting Her Croutons Alright…”
“I didn’t personally deliver this one. My manager did. A woman ordered a House Salad which comes with four or five croutons. Keep in mind, she was one of those, cut off my greeting with, ‘Diet Coke,’ and a wave of the hand types. I brought the salad to her, and she complained about the number of croutons.
‘What you guys can’t afford to give someone more than 2 croutons?’ she said in a very snotty tone. I just said, ‘I’ll be right back with more ma’am.’
I went to the back, got a small 2oz portion cup full from the kitchen, and my manager (we will call him Justin) walks by. ‘What are all the croutons for?’ he asked.
‘Oh, just some lousy lady that said our salads don’t come with enough.’ So he grabbed the portion cup from me, ‘I’ll take them out to her, which table?’ I followed him to the front of the house, and watched as she complained and says, ‘What is it with you people and trying to pinch every penny, their just croutons!’
At this point, Justin just turned and headed back to the kitchen, grabbed a full-sized dinner bowl, fills it with about 150 croutons, and says, ‘Oh she’ll get her freaking croutons alright.’
At this point, I’m dying as he heads back to the table, and drops it off, while I watch from a half wall about 10 feet away. He sets it down with a smile, ‘There you go, ma’am.’
She glares at him with a, ‘Oh you’re gonna be a smart aleck now, huh?’
Justin replied, ‘Ma’am, I’m just making sure you have all the croutons you need.’
I look and a couple of other servers are next to me watching.
The woman looks like she is about to blow a gasket and says sternly, ‘I want to see your manager this instant!’ Justin gives a, ‘Right away, ma’am!’ Takes one step back from the table, and does a full spin, ‘Hello, I’m Justin, the service manager here, what seems to be the problem?’
All of us watching couldn’t help but bust out dying laughing, and that lady wanted no part of the restaurant or Justin’s croutons. Karen got ticked off, shoved the bowl of croutons to the middle of the table, gathered her things, and left.
Best server moment ever, and always grateful to my service manager for being such a boss!”
How To Deal With A Bad Tipper
“Served at a diner in Muskoka, Ontario years ago and served lots of celebrities in the area for the summer. I served Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn burgers, Martin Short, Dan Akroyd, etc. Some pretty big stars but there was this local nobody who thought he was a big-shot celebrity for some delusional reason. This guy would never tip and would always crumple up both copies of the visa bill into a tiny little ball, even chew on it till it was the size of a spitball. Absolutely lousy behavior.
So one day this moron came in with a bunch of friends and treated them all to supper and a hefty $600 bill. Mr. Big Shot crumpled up the visa bills again into the tiny little ball and flicked it at me with a grin on his face. At this point, I’ve had enough and decided to pull a stunt on the guy. I swiftly kicked the wadded-up spitwad receipt off the patio and into the lake on our patio. The guy saw this and said in front of the table,’Guess you won’t know what your tip is now.’
I flat out tell the table that this loser never tips anyway so no loss,.and simply walked away. They leave, I call the police on a dine and dash because there is no evidence this guy paid (it’s in the lake now) and I deleted the pre-authorization from the debit machine. The cops go to this guy’s house and demand he return to the restaurant to pay… he wasn’t an a-hole ever again.”
She Showed This Guy
“I used to work in a four-star hotel bar/restaurant.
A well-dressed guy came in, ordered coffee, and set himself up with a work laptop. When I dropped the coffee off he said ‘I’m meeting a very important client, he should be here in a minute, please take care of him quickly.’
Okay, buddy.
The bar wasn’t busy so as soon as the client came in and sat down I took his drink order. As I made the client’s order, the first guy was looking sheepish and struggling with his laptop. I dropped the client’s order over and ask if everything else was alright.
The well-dressed guy said ‘Your wifi isn’t working,’ with a tone that shouted ‘You’re making me look like an idiot, this is an extremely important meeting and your wifi situation is ruining this for me!’
I had just been on my morning break, using the wifi on my phone so I knew it was up and running. I asked if I could have a quick look at the laptop to check the connectivity. The guy audibly sneered at me and said patronizingly ‘Ha, yeah, sure, as if YOU could possibly fix it!’
The client visibly reacted to the guy’s attitude, very taken aback at how he was treating a young lady only trying to help, and looks at me apologetically. I gave the guy my trademark side-eye, swiveled the laptop around, and saw he had the WiFi switch set to OFF.
Wow. It’s like this guy didn’t even try!
Delighted, I nonchalantly declared, ‘Oh, THERE’S the problem, you had the big WiFi button on the front of the laptop here switched to OFF, let me fix that for you!’
The guy’s face turned white and then red with embarrassment, while his client bit his lip and looked away, trying not to laugh. Not only did you make yourself look like a rude prick but also an idiot!
The browser refreshed and the guy’s Yahoo mail account loaded up. I swiveled the laptop back around and said ‘Wow, Yahoo? Really? What is it 2005?’
The client lost it and burst out laughing.”
Even His Own Friends Didn’t Like This Guy
“This story is from a long time ago back when I worked at a lousy resort. I’ll call simply call this guy ‘Moron.’ He was the group leader of this table of four to five dudes. When I got to his table I explained how we were out of this certain item but apparently, this guy didn’t get the picture. I ask what they’ll have and Moron opens up with this…
Moron: ‘I’ll have the THING.’
Me: ‘As I said sir, we’re out of THING.’
Moron: ‘Maybe I’ll just call my GOOD FRIEND GENERAL MANAGER and they’ll find some for me.’
Me: ‘You’re more than welcome to do so but the number on the business card you picked up at the front is an office number, not their personal phone. Also, they’re the ones that just told me we’re out of THING. Maybe if you called the GENERAL MANAGER in advance to let your GOOD FRIEND know you were coming we could have held some back especially for you.’
Now, this may not seem all that destructive but to this guy, at this table full of his colleagues, it was brutal. He tried to save face but it failed so hard.
Moron: ‘Well if you can’t keep your food in stock then we probably should have gone somewhere else to eat.’
The gauntlet has been thrown down.
Me: ‘That’s an excellent idea, sir. Would you like me to check if there is a table free at our steakhouse?’
Moron: ‘Yes, maybe then I can get some food.’
He started talking to the other guys in the group like somehow we’re in the wrong here. They all looked at him like he’s a total prick, because he was. I go to the phone, called the steakhouse, and asked if they have space for ONE. They do. Good. Back to the table.
Me: ‘You’ll be happy to know, sir, that our steakhouse is able to accommodate you and will have a table waiting when you arrive.’
Moron: (in the cuntiest voice he could muster, which is nowhere near as cunty as I could be) ‘THANK YOU for SOME KIND of service.’ He turned to the rest of the table. ‘Let’s go, boys.’
Me: ‘I’m sorry, sir, I was under the impression you would be dining alone and didn’t ask if they could take a party this size. I assumed they’d be dining with us seeing as they all ordered items we have available.’
The guy just looked dumbfounded and while he’s standing there trying to process this, one of the Dudes at the Table chimes in…
Dude: ‘Don’t worry about it, Moron, head on down there. We’ll meet up at RESORT BAR for drinks later.’
Moron grabbed his drink, said nothing, and walked out. He hit the door and the rest of the table went into that quiet ‘What a prick!’ laugh that only men of a certain age and income bracket are able to do properly. The kind that lets you know this is funny now, but come Monday that idiot’s world is going to be slightly different in many many small ways.
The evening continued. Yes, this really happened. Yes, I have more stories. Yes, I really miss that job. Anyway, the evening continued, and sometime after I took that table their dessert my GENERAL MANAGER pulled me aside.
GM: ‘What the heck happened? I spent the last half hour getting yelled at by some guy that says you were super rude to him.’
I gave GM a quick rundown. We did not have what the gentleman wanted so I made him a reservation at the steakhouse. End of story. I have NO IDEA why he would possibly be upset. His coworkers over at table NUMBER are having a great time.
GM goes over to their table and starts talking to them, presumably starting with how their meal was and ending with ‘What happened with the other guy that I saw with you?’
It was absolutely beautiful.
They had my back the whole way.
They threw him so far under the bus for acting like a prick he rolled out the other side and got hit by a semi in the next lane over. They were nothing but complimentary to me, which was a nice bonus. GM came back over and told me everything seemed fine with them, shrugged it off, and went back to doing whatever GMs do.
NOTHING infuriates lousy humans more than someone doing EXACTLY WHAT THEY WANT DONE… monkey paw style.”
A Clap Back Worthy Of Applause
“It was my last day working at a fancy hotel breakfast buffet before heading back to college when I was 19. I was a great employee for multiple summers and had done my full two weeks.
Every morning around 9 am we’d have a 15-20 minute wait because again…one breakfast buffet, peak season, 1,100 rooms in the place and only business people come down for breakfast before 8:30. It was as bustling and hectic as one could imagine.
This lady walked up acting really snooty. She took one look at the parties we have waiting and said snidely to me, ‘Are these people waiting for breakfast?’
‘Yes sorry, we are on a short wait, unfortunately, but I can take your name and we do have complimentary coffee and orange juice in the lounge area right here.’
‘No, that’s ridiculous. Do you have any other places for breakfast here?’
‘We sure do! There’s a Starbucks at the end of the hall that has pastries and sandwiches if you’re in a hurry. They don’t have a line currently.’
‘No, I mean a nicer sit-down place like this.’
‘Unfortunately, we do not, ma’am.’
She started up the typical Karen ‘This is unacceptable’ shtick. My patience was already thin because our bussers were running slow today so I was antsy for tables to be clean and trying to clear some between customer names and this lady was holding up the name taking.
‘Look, there’s Starbucks down the hall or Waffle House down the street. Otherwise, it’s a 15-20 minute wait.’
She got even madder and wouldn’t budge. She started boasting and said ‘Do you know who I am? We paid XXX for these rooms and this is insane!’ By the way, everyone else in line also paid for rooms so like… you ain’t special, lady.
She at one point actually said ‘I refuse to wait with THESE people!’ loudly as she gestured to folks waiting in line who were very much within earshot.
She pointed to a dirty table that folks had just gotten up from and was stacked high with dirty dishes and said, ‘What about that table?!’
To which I replied, ‘Look if you want to get your dainty little hands dirty, clean it and it’s yours. I’ve got a rag and bucket right here. Otherwise, it’s back of the line or find somewhere else!’
My manager was walking up behind me halfway through this to try and defuse it. But the lady stormed off before she could reach the hostess stand to apologize/comp things. So I turned to her and said ‘Look, you’re going to get your first complaint about me in three years today, but my shift ends at 12 and it’s my very last day here and I highly doubt you’re going to fire me in the next three hours because I’m good at my job and busting my back clearing tables. So take some names for a second and let me go clear some tables.’
I actually received applause from the guests waiting behind me.”
They Got What They Deserved
“One day at work I had a table around 10:30 at night on a Friday with two guys in their mid-30s wearing work shirts, a woman of similar age, and a little girl who looked pretty tired. One of the men explained, with spirits already on his breath, they were there for his friend’s daughter’s 7th birthday. Poor kid. After an exhausting meal that included a $30 discount because one of the men was too loaded to remember that he’d approached me at the computer as I was ringing their order in and changed his entree to something completely different, I dropped off the check and told them I’d be right back to pick it up. They didn’t listen, brought the check to the front… whatever. I’m happy to ring them out there.
I noticed that the card the guy gave me wasn’t signed, so I asked for his ID. Most people are happy to show me, as I explain it’s to make sure they’re the only one using their card. This random guy, though, loudly asked, ‘Don’t you know who the f* I am?’
I smiled sweetly and said, ‘No, sir, that’s why I need to see your ID!’
He was ticked off by this to say the least.
I made a mental note of his name and looked him up on Facebook later that night. As it turns out, he was the owner of a two-man landscaping business one town over with 100 likes and one 5-star review, written by him. CLEARLY, I should have recognized him.
After I said my line about the ID, he ripped his card out of my hand, pulled out a wad of cash, and counted out $70 for a book that came to about $74 and change after their huge discount (spineless manager!). I told him it was short, and he said, ‘Yeah, eff you,’ and left. I approached his friend, who was standing in the entryway engrossed in his phone, and explained that his friend hadn’t paid the full balance of the bill. He also pulled out a wad of cash, took out a five, and gave me a story about how he couldn’t give me a tip because he hadn’t gotten paid yet like I couldn’t see the big wad of cash in his hand.
They left, but before I could even get into the kitchen to vent to a co-worker, the two guys stormed back in, saying they forgot their keys. The table was already cleared by then, and one of them tried to force his way into the kitchen because he didn’t believe that we didn’t have them. As I helped to block the way, I told him that if we had his keys, I would have given them to him right away, because I wanted him to leave. He threatened that they wouldn’t leave without the keys, and I told him I’m sure he wouldn’t because cars can’t run without them.
The keys eventually turned up on the floor, and they accused the busboy of holding them in his pocket and dropping them onto the floor to be found. I think they either got kicked and were suddenly visible, or that one of the a-holes found them in THEIR pocket and felt like an idiot. The night, thankfully, ended with them getting trespassed from the restaurant by the police and my manager voiding $50 from the check for me to keep as a cash tip.”
That’s One Way To Get Back At A Rude Hag!
“Host sat me at a table with a couple and their toddler. The two sat on the same side of the booth, kissed, etc. so I knew they were a couple, but the woman looked much older. Like she looked terrible. I’m sure it was substance abuse of some kind, but it was noticeable.
So she’s super rude to me the entire time. She asked for her eggs over easy hard. Our conversation went like this:
Me: ‘Ma’am, your eggs can be over easy, which is kind of runny, or over hard where they’re fully cooked.’
Her: ‘Oh, bless your heart, you have no idea do you?’
Me: ‘Ma’am?’
Her: ‘Why don’t you get me a real server, and he can make my eggs the way I like them.’
Me: ‘Uhh, ma’am I know how eggs are cooked. Over easy hard doesn’t tell me anything. Do you want them over medium?’
Her: ‘How hard is your job? Honestly, how hard is it to just serve people eggs?’
I’d had it. I gave her order to the cook, and of course, he asked me what she meant. I told him to just make them over medium, as I felt like that was what she meant. I gave her the eggs and she sighed real heavy.
Her: ‘I’m sorry, was my order too hard? Did ya not understand me? What the heck kind of place is this that nobody can make me eggs?’
I took a deep breath, and said this:
‘Ma’am… I apologize to you, your son, and your grandson. Let me go ahead and comp your meal.’
Her face twisted up and got so red I thought it was going to pop off of her face.
‘THIS IS MY HUSBAND AND THAT’S MY SON!!’
Ohh boy, it was so worth it.
‘WHERE IS YOUR MANAGER!! I NEED YOUR MANAGER RIGHT NOW!!’
I got my manager. He yelled at me in the office, but couldn’t prove that I was purposefully disingenuous. So I didn’t even get written up. It was awesome.”
Business Is Business!
“I used to live in a small town and worked at one of the two fish and chip places there. It was a tourist town, and one of the main attractions was our award-winning fish and chips. We were top five in the country as a matter of fact!
For some reason, people in the town believed we were in massive competition with the other shop, but to be frank we absolutely weren’t. We had 25+ staff, while the other restaurant had around 7-8 folks. We typically served thousands of more customers than that other shop each week. It was a no contest.
So, on the rare occasion whenever a customer got angry they would simply exclaim ‘Well I’m getting my fish at that other place down the street and I won’t be back!’ Like it was some kind of a big deal that would really hurt our feelings/business. We would simply tell them that we don’t want them back, and they should enjoy the food from the other shop.
We owned both shops.”
“I Want To Talk To The Manager”
“I was in a restaurant once and this woman went up to the waiter and said ‘Excuse me but I have been waiting for my food for nearly five minutes now.’ She had a table of eight by the way!
The waiter then, calmly, said to her ‘Ma’am you realize the restaurant is extremely busy, you have a table of eight and we have minimum staff. It’s going to take a whole lot longer than five minutes to cook your food.’
Bearing in mind, this was a week before Christmas so everyone was having their holiday dinners.
She huffed and went to sit down.
Five minutes later, goes back again.
Woman: ‘Sir we have been waiting 10 minutes. Where is our food!?’
Waiter: Getting slightly annoyed ‘Ma’am I’m going to have to ask you to sit down and wait patiently or leave.’
Woman: ‘I want to talk to the manager.’
Waiter: ‘Ma’am, the manager is on maternity leave. I’m the assistant manager. AND I’m asking you to sit down or leave.’
The woman went to sit down. By this point, nearly the entire restaurant was trying to not laugh. The waiter spoke to the cook to get the woman’s food out first. Two minutes later, he did so, they ate, left money for the bill and then got ready to leave. The waiter walked over.
Waiter: ‘Did you enjoy your food?’
Woman: ‘Yes, not thanks to you though.’
Waiter: Literally almost at the end of his tether ‘Ma’am, if not for me you would still be waiting.’
Woman: ‘I’m going to leave a bad review on this restaurant and get you sacked from your job.’
Waiter: ‘I won’t get sacked thanks to a bimbo like you who thinks everyone has all the time in the world to cater for you.’
The woman and her party left after that. I never did find out what happened but I applaud that waiter for acting so calm.”
They Really Wanted Those Cookies For Some Reason
“I’m a server at a bowling alley and after helping my tables I was getting through the snack bar line when I noticed these three guys (probably 18 or 19-years-old ) come up to the window and sarcastically ask ‘Hey so the giant cookies are free, right?’ to which I politely respond ‘No, they’re 2.39 each.’
They all start snickering and at this point, I can tell they’re trying to mess with me and my coworkers. The older one goes ‘Come on, why not? You can’t just give us some? We always come here and we won’t tell anyone, friend.’ Now I’m not gonna risk being fired over something as petty as stealing for three people I don’t know, but I’ll play along. I say ‘So if I give you guys free stuff then what do I get, friend?’
The middle one goes ‘My love and affection.’
Me, a 21-year-old gay dude) : ‘Nah you’re too young for me and not my type but thanks for the offer.’
I shut them down and one mumbles something rude in Spanish. They came back later when I’m way busier and visibly understaffed and asked the same thing. I’m not in as good of a mindset to deal with these guys as I was before.
Guy 1: ‘So you’re gonna deliver on your promise, right? Free cookies and soda?’
Me: ‘I didn’t promise ya’ll anything. You can BUY something if you want or all I can give you are water cups.’
Guy 2 (the one that cussed in Spanish earlier and now has a big attitude) : ‘Wooooooowwww it’s because we’re MEXICAN isn’t it?! You know we’re Mexican, right?’
I snap when I saw him grin again.
Me: ‘And I’m gay you think I care?! First of all, learn how to talk to service staff because you guys aren’t getting anything from me now.’
As they walk away he mumbles the same Spanish phrase
Me: ‘You think I don’t know what ‘pinche pendejo’ means?’
The idiot turned so red in the face. The fun part was when the other two looked super embarrassed and made their friend leave. The other two apologized to me later after their friend stormed out. I don’t take that from anybody.”