NationStates Jolt Archive

so, I went out to eat tonight at a restaurant that I eat at about once a week, and OMG, I had the worst service ever.........first they bring my salad with croûtons, which is a big no-no, and so I explain that they need to bring me a new salad without croûtons, then they bring that, and they bring hubby's with cheese, which is also a big no-no, so they fix that, and then when they bring us our food, they forget his fries and my dipping sauce, and so I tell them, and they bring the sauce on the plate with the fries, and expect that to be okay, when I explain that I need new sauce because the container touched his fries that have flour coating on them so I can't touch the container or I will get sick......the freaking waitress says "no you don't" :eek: :mad: WTF?! if I ask for something she should just bring it right?........then I ask for a glass of ice because all mine melted in my tea, and she brings me a glass of tea with no ice..........:headbang: so, I asked for the manager, and she says "why?"

anyway, since we are in there at least once a week, he took care of our dinner, I am pretty sure she got yelled at. The reason I go to the same restaurant all the time is because I know that my order is complicated, and I know that they usually get everything right and the manager has the same health condition I do, so he trained them not to screw up like this. I order the same thing, the exact same way every time, we all do, the whole family, every single time our order? exactly the same. Since I used to be a waitress I get pretty pissed when they don't do their job in the way I would have done it.

so, you got any stories of bad service? ever been a waiter or waitress? got stories of bad customers?

Most of mine are from the other end. My favorite is probably the drunk who rear-ended me when I was on my way home from tending bar at the place where he'd gotten wasted. He mashed in the front of his little beater nicely--I had a pipe for a bumper on my pickup. Then I spit in his beer for the next two months.

Next time, someone's gonna spit at your food. :D

Next time, someone's gonna spit at your food. :D

I don't worry about that. I probably should though. :p

Once in Long Beach. First it took the waitress over an hour to just get our orders, then, about another hour later the food arrives, only my order is wrong. I send it back and wait another hour while my friends are eating to get the right order, and she forgets my drink, even after I remind her about it 3 times. Finally, after I finish eating I get the bill, which she forgot to split (We had asked her for this when we were seated), and it included the order I sent back, the correct order, and my damned drink that I never got. It took us about 20 minutes to get everything correct and she never appologized about it.

I left her a 2 cent tip, hopefully she took the suggestion to bone up on her service skills.

so, you got any stories of bad service? ever been a waiter or waitress? got stories of bad customers?

Bad customers? Yeah, this one time -- tonight, in fact -- I brought this woman her salad with croûtons, which is apparently a big no-no, and so demands that I bring her a new salad without croûtons. So I bring that, and I bring her husband's with cheese, which is also apparently a big no-no, so I fix that, and then when I bring them their food, I forget his fries and her dipping sauce -- ohnoes!!!!1one She tells me this, so I bring the sauce on the plate with the fries and expect everything to be okay, but noooooooo. She tells me that she now needs new sauce, because the container touched his fries that have flour coating on them, so she can't touch the container, or else she'll get sick. I just told her, "No, you don't."

Does it stop there? No, of course not. She then asks for a glass of ice because all of hers melted in her tea. What a bleedin' pain in the arse...

Sorry, Smunk, couldn't resist.
;)

Awe, they were probably doing their best. Maybe they were new. You said yourself you had a complicated order.

(potentially, everyone says Not Her Again! when you come in.)

Most of mine are from the other end. My favorite is probably the drunk who rear-ended me when I was on my way home from tending bar at the place where he'd gotten wasted. He mashed in the front of his little beater nicely--I had a pipe for a bumper on my pickup. Then I spit in his beer for the next two months.

I had a lady that would come in every day and order the same thing, scarf it down, sit at the table for 4 hours and not leave a tip, I kept refilling and refilling her coffee every freaking day, I was really nice even though she pissed me off, she kept saying "you are homely aren't ya?" and "you better learn how to cook or you aren't ever gonna get a husband" :rolleyes: oh, and then she would ask "are you gaining weight? you look heavier" anyway, she didn't come in one day,and I kinda missed her :( then the next week she came back :mad:

Awe, they were probably doing their best. Maybe they were new. You said yourself you had a complicated order.

(potentially, everyone says Not Her Again! when you come in.)

I usually sit in the same section with the same waiter, on the same night every week and order the same thing, and leave him the same 50% tip, but he wasn't there tonight :( I told the manager that I was hoping he would be there, apparently he is sick. I will pray he is better by next week. :)

At least the manager took care of your order eventually, so it's not too bad. That's the benefit of being a regular.

I know the owners in most of the places I eat out, so I don't tend to have problems. The last I think was in cafe spice about six years ago (lacadaemon doesn't bear grudges) where they added about $100 of drinks to the bill which our party had never ordered or had.

Oh, and I got some spoiled chocolate pudding in 2004 on city island, and wasn't comped anything.

That's about it.

Do you have several years?

Example. My daughter hates mayonnaise. It's not a health issue, it's purely esthetic. So, we went into a restaurant where we ordered sandwiches. She ordered a turkey and avocado sandwich without mayonnaise on a bagel. I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich with Swiss cheese and no tomatoes on a bagel.

We sat down and waited for our order. and waited. and waited. and waited. and waited .... finally, after three people who had come in after us had been served our order arrived. My daughter's sandwich was turkey and Swiss with mayo and no avocado. My sandwich was sliced chicken with tomato and avocado, no cheese. We informed the server who took the sandwiches back and several minutes later came with new sandwiches. This time my daughter/s sandwich was chicken with mayo and tomatoes, no avocado, mine was chicken with mustard, provolone and tomatoes. They never did get the order right. We complained to the manager who was less than helpful (this was a fast food sort of place where you pay in advance) and refused to give our money back, make good on our order or even give us a comp in the future. Needless to say, we've never gone back.

At another restaurant, she ordered a club sandwich with no mayo. They served it with mayo and when she requested that they change it, they scraped the mayo off!

I don't worry about that. I probably should though. :p

Are you that allergic to flour coating by the way? I mean just from a little touch?

About my bad service stories, I cant remember any.

as a waiter i find that every other customer is a complete dick. of course the other 50% are lovely and i'm quite happy to get anything they want for them. it's when people get arsey about one simple mistake and then obviously the only thing to do then is to make the rest of their meal hell. many people seem to foget that just because someone is serving them that does not therefore make them an automaton at their beck and call.

Are you that allergic to flour coating by the way? I mean just from a little touch?

About my bad service stories, I cant remember any.

my kids and I have celiac disease, so we can't have wheat, rye, barley, or oats. If I touch something with flour on it, my hand breaks out, if by some chance I touch it and don't realize fast enough to wash it off and touch my face, I get really really sick. There is enough gluten (the protein we can't have) in 1/48th of a slice of bread to do serious damage to our bodies. Every time I am exposed it raises my risk for certain kinds of cancers in addition to making me unable to absorb food for up to 6 weeks.

I usually sit in the same section with the same waiter, on the same night every week and order the same thing, and leave him the same 50% tip, but he wasn't there tonight :( I told the manager that I was hoping he would be there, apparently he is sick. I will pray he is better by next week. :)

For a 50% tip, I'd come in on my day off, or hacking up a lung (back when I did that for a living) before I'd let anyone else near you. ;)

When I was about six or seven, I took a trip with my family to Massachusetts with another family.

Anyway, we go to the absolutley fabulous town of Provincetown (p-town), and go to a restaurant and order food among other things. I (ok, my parents) ordered chicken strips, and the chicken was raw. It wasn't undercooked, it was raw. Being a little kid, I couldn't tell the difference, and ate a couple of them.

The waitress got yelled at, the manager came out, and I think the meal ended up being free.

I never got sick too.

At another restaurant, she ordered a club sandwich with no mayo. They served it with mayo and when she requested that they change it, the scraped the mayo off!

I have had them try something like that with me before, I order a burger with no bread at a certain fast food restraunt (always the same one, always the same shift, always the same day of the week) and 99% of the time they do it right, once they didn't and she took the burger back to the kitchen and brought it back out to me, there were still crumbs stuck to it.:mad: I explained that even a crumb could make me sick and she said "well, give me that one and I will get you a new one" and I said "I will keep this one and you bring me a new one, then I will give you this one to throw away" I wasn't taking another chance.

my kids and I have celiac disease, so we can't have wheat, rye, barley, or oats. If I touch something with flour on it, my hand breaks out, if by some chance I touch it and don't realize fast enough to wash it off and touch my face, I get really really sick. There is enough gluten (the protein we can't have) in 1/48th of a slice of bread to do serious damage to our bodies. Every time I am exposed it raises my risk for certain kinds of cancers in addition to making me unable to absorb food for up to 6 weeks.

Ouch! I have several allergies as well, I understand you too well!

For a 50% tip, I'd come in on my day off, or hacking up a lung (back when I did that for a living) before I'd let anyone else near you. ;)

I almost wanted to leave the tip for him, even though we didn't pay for the meal and even though he wasn't there, just to make up for him being off sick.

He takes good care of us, never screws up.

Anyway, we go to the absolutley fabulous town of Provincetown (p-town)...

Ah, P-Town. That's always interesting.

When I was about six or seven, I took a trip with my family to Massachusetts with another family.

Anyway, we go to the absolutley fabulous town of Provincetown (p-town), and go to a restaurant and order food among other things. I (ok, my parents) ordered chicken strips, and the chicken was raw. It wasn't undercooked, it was raw. Being a little kid, I couldn't tell the difference, and ate a couple of them.

The waitress got yelled at, the manager came out, and I think the meal ended up being free.

I never got sick too.

why did the waitress get yelled at? surely it was the cook's fault the chicken was raw?

why did the waitress get yelled at? surely it was the cook's fault the chicken was raw?

She served it--you should be able to look at chicken, even breaded chicken strips, and tell whether or not it's cooked.

She served it--you should be able to look at chicken, even breaded chicken strips, and tell whether or not it's cooked.

perhaps. but i don't think that's the waiting staff's responsibility. for minimum wage (which is what you get for waitering over here most places) i think that's outwith the job description.

I have had them try something like that with me before, I order a burger with no bread at a certain fast food restraunt (always the same one, always the same shift, always the same day of the week) and 99% of the time they do it right, once they didn't and she took the burger back to the kitchen and brought it back out to me, there were still crumbs stuck to it.:mad: I explained that even a crumb could make me sick and she said "well, give me that one and I will get you a new one" and I said "I will keep this one and you bring me a new one, then I will give you this one to throw away" I wasn't taking another chance.

did you explain before hand that you would get sick from even a trace of bread? cuz otherwise i'm not surprised at what she did there, i'd have done the same especially if i would have had to throw away food in front of the chef. chefs get proper mardy when they see uneaten food thrown away. i mean, i know fast food restaurants don't have chefs per se, but they do have penny-pinching managers who will ball you out for any wastage and grill you on every refund or replaced order.

why did the waitress get yelled at? surely it was the cook's fault the chicken was raw?

She wasn't being very polite about the situation.

I'm from the school of thought that says, "Please go away. All's I wants is you to take my order, leave, bring it to me, leave again, and then deliver the bill & process the payment. I don't wanna chat, I'm not interested in your name, and small talk isn't why I've come to your restaurant. Really - I'll be perfectly fine, left to myself or to the company of whoever I'm dining with. If there's anything wrong, believe me, you'll be the first to know. Now please go away and leave me in peace."

I'm from the school of thought that says, "Please go away. All's I wants is you to take my order, leave, bring it to me, leave again, and then deliver the bill & process the payment. I don't wanna chat, I'm not interested in your name, and small talk isn't why I've come to your restaurant. Really - I'll be perfectly fine, left to myself or to the company of whoever I'm dining with. If there's anything wrong, believe me, you'll be the first to know. Now please go away and leave me in peace."

I'm kinda the opposite. Me and my family love coming in at off times to restaurants. Have a conversation with the waiting staff if they're not busy. Talk to people who are here from Poland or India or anywhere, waiting tables and paying their way through college here so they can go back home with a degree from a US school.

And generally the foreign wait staff (In My Oh So Humble Opinion) tend to be more alert than the locals.

She wasn't being very polite about the situation.

ah well.

as a waiter i find that every other customer is a complete dick. of course the other 50% are lovely and i'm quite happy to get anything they want for them. it's when people get arsey about one simple mistake and then obviously the only thing to do then is to make the rest of their meal hell. many people seem to foget that just because someone is serving them that does not therefore make them an automaton at their beck and call.
Oh I don't ask for you to be at my beck and call (actually I was very ashamed the last time I went back home and saw how many people were treating the wait staff), and I understand compleatly that mistakes DO happen and sometimes things are busy and late, all I ask for is an apology about it and maybe an explination (Even a shouted, while running around the room, "Sir, I'll be right with you as soon as I get these folks their drinks" works).

Then again, maybe I have become far too used to Japanese customer service.

Yeah, in high school I had a doozy.

Six friends and I went to eat at a diner. We chose from the dinner specials, which were supposed to come with a soda. One friend ordered the lobster tail special, which was supposed to come stuffed with crab and be $15.

They bring out our food, and my friend had 2 lobster tails. She was surprised, but, oh well.

Then we got the bill.

They charged us for the drinks.
They charged us for an eighth dinner special when there were only seven people seated at the table.
They charged my friend $21 for her dinner.

We were calm. We called over the waitress and said, "I think there was a mistake somewhere.... there are only seven of us and you charged us for eight meals. And her meal was supposed to be $15, not $21."

"Well, we didn't have any more lobster stuffed with crab, so I gave her the twin tail special. That's $21."

So I said, "Excuse me, that's not what she ordered, and you didn't ask her if she wanted a substitution. Please fix the bill."

The waitress declined and stomped off.

My friends wanted to leave, but I said that then they could say we skipped on the bill. We would pay for the food -- but only the correct amount.

Then the waitress came with the manager, and HE told us to pay the bill.

We explained again that we had no problem with that and were happy to do so -- once it was fixed. Again, we invited him to look at how many people were seated, how many dishes were on the table... and told him that we'd been charged for one meal too many and were being charged more for a meal that was substituted without informing us.

He stomps off for a consultation with the waitress.

We wait.

Now he and the waitress come back, and tell us to pay the bill or they are calling the cops.

THEN I lost my cool, and announced QUITE loudly, "Please do. I would LOVE for you to call the police. And I will explain to them what we explained to you twice -- we are not paying for a meal no one ordered and no one consumed, and we will not pay for a meal that was substituted without asking us. Do you think just because we're teenagers and we're girls and we've been polite so far you can cheat us and bully us and get away with it? I would LOVE to see what the police have to say about that."

About three couples waiting to be seated at the door turned around and walked out.

They crossed off the extra meal, they reduced the lobster to the original price, still charged us for the sodas (included) and threw the bill on the table. We put together the money and are about to leave and one friend says, "Wait, what are we leaving for a tip?"

Now normally, I leave a flat 20% tip for reasonable service, and more for really good service. However, that seemed like "really trying to fuck you over" service, so I didn't feel she deserved much of anything. I put down a couple bucks. Some of our party thought she deserved nothing; some thought that was too little. I shrugged and said that was what I was putting down; anyone else wanted to put down more, that was their choice.

Needless to say, I never returned. Who needs to frequent a place where they treat you like that? In NYC there are only THOUSANDS more, where you don't need to get screwed with.

I'm from the school of thought that says, "Please go away. All's I wants is you to take my order, leave, bring it to me, leave again, and then deliver the bill & process the payment. I don't wanna chat, I'm not interested in your name, and small talk isn't why I've come to your restaurant. Really - I'll be perfectly fine, left to myself or to the company of whoever I'm dining with. If there's anything wrong, believe me, you'll be the first to know. Now please go away and leave me in peace."

The server girls like to flirt with you :eek: :fluffle: :cool:

No nightmare stories, but I do have the hardest times ordering food from people who have no idea what I'm saying, and I have no idea what they're saying. Like the Greek place in Philly, or the Italian place in the mall..

I just point to food anymore.

No nightmare stories, but I do have the hardest times ordering food from people who have no idea what I'm saying, and I have no idea what they're saying. Like the Greek place in Philly, or the Italian place in the mall..

I just point to food anymore.

Which Greek place in Philly? The only one I'm familiar with is Mokus (sp?) on Lancaster Ave.

And by mall do you mean the Gallery?

Which Greek place in Philly? The only one I'm familiar with is Mokus (sp?) on Lancaster Ave.

And by mall do you mean the Gallery?

The one in the Reading Terminal Market. I think I pissed the old guy off when I was there.

And no, not the Gallery. The mall I'm talking about is a crappy mall with good pizza. Outside Philly. *nods*

Oh I don't ask for you to be at my beck and call (actually I was very ashamed the last time I went back home and saw how many people were treating the wait staff), and I understand compleatly that mistakes DO happen and sometimes things are busy and late, all I ask for is an apology about it and maybe an explination (Even a shouted, while running around the room, "Sir, I'll be right with you as soon as I get these folks their drinks" works).

Then again, maybe I have become far too used to Japanese customer service.

yeh, i understand that. although i've been pulled up a few times for not apologizing although i did but my voice just doesn't carry at all so i use gestures a lot and they were either misinterpreted or not noticed as i was rushing. i think a lot of people get off on the power they think they can have over waiting staff, as if they think that they can make or break our job and will quite willingly use that to get what they want or just abuse their power for the hell of it. if someone tries any of that on me then i make their lives intolerable and i can usually do it under the bosses radar.

The one in the Reading Terminal Market. I think I pissed the old guy off when I was there.

And no, not the Gallery. The mall I'm talking about is a crappy mall with good pizza. Outside Philly. *nods*

Oh. Guess you're not from anywhere around University City. There are some nice places to eat on UPenn's campus.

Plus Ecco Qui.

The one in the Reading Terminal Market. I think I pissed the old guy off when I was there.

And no, not the Gallery. The mall I'm talking about is a crappy mall with good pizza. Outside Philly. *nods*

The only mall I know of just outside Philly is King of Prussia.

Well these days I live in the suburbs, but I grew up in NYC. I hadn't realized how soft the suburbs makes you, but one of my city drinking buddies came out with her cousin and we all went to a bar. Well my wife thought that this biker bar was way to loud and, to my surprise, I agreed with her. So we went down the street to see if we could find someplace quieter to take a break from all the noise.

We find a restaurant just half a block away and it seems quiet enough. We go inside, and it is really quiet. It's a Saturday night, but there's only one customer, and the only thing in front of him is a newspaper. Well suburban living seems to have softened my wits as much as my eardrums because we just sat down and waited for the waitress, who seemed confused by our presence but presented us with a menu. We ordered chicken fingers, and when they arrived there was no sauce. I'd never heard of chicken fingers with no sauce. When I mentioned this to the waitress, she got me ketchup but seemed to have no idea how chicken fingers are usually served.

My atrophied sense of inappropriate business fronts finally kicked in and reminded me of the Italian cafe near my parents house that never seemed to sell anything but coffee and seemed surprised when anyone wanted to buy it. It was eventually shut down for illegal gambling.

Or the bodega next to my junior high school that had mostly empty shelves and about 3 cans of Coke in a glass-doored fridge with no brand insignia on it, which I never saw get shut down, but I know they mostly sold drugs.

I tried explaining to my wife what it means when a business is run by people who don't know how to run it and seem to be genuinely surprised that anyone is asking them to provide the service they ostensibly offer. She pointed out that we weren't in the City, we were in a fairly nice suburban business district.

Well I hurried us through our very tiny meal and we returned to the biker bar as quickly as I could manage. When we all left the bar we saw two paddy wagons and a fleet of cruisers all around the restaurant with their lights flashing.

I miss the city. :(

did you explain before hand that you would get sick from even a trace of bread? cuz otherwise i'm not surprised at what she did there, i'd have done the same especially if i would have had to throw away food in front of the chef. chefs get proper mardy when they see uneaten food thrown away. i mean, i know fast food restaurants don't have chefs per se, but they do have penny-pinching managers who will ball you out for any wastage and grill you on every refund or replaced order.

I explain it every time. I tell them I am allergic to bread and that even a crumb will make me sick, so they need to wash their hands, and the grill the meat is cooked on, and the prep area, and that my food can never ever touch anything that has flour. That's why I go to the same place, the same time, the same day of the week, all the time, it's easier once they know me for them not to think I am a whack job.

I've probably had a few instances of bad service, but none spring to mind right now. I'll tell you what though, I'll never think poorly of customer service people (as a group) after working as a call centre operator. There are some true asshats out there. :gundge:

Oddly enough, I have not had a customer blow up in my face at work. Sure, a few people have tried, but they saw my apathy to it, and just shut up. Then again, I make sure never to leave a legitimate reason to yell, I can be confident that they will not follow up because they are largely baseless.

The other cashiers however, get put through hell. We have a self checkout, which is basically there because on person can serve six customers at once. It is fairly popular as you get out the door faster, and you don't have to talk to a cashier (which the asocial and people buying lube seem to like). The machine itself walks you throw too. Seriously, a 10 year old can get it. It tells you what to do at every screen, and it only gives you one or two choices at a time. People have a hard time listening to the prompts. Example: When you are paying by debit card, it asks if you would like cash back. This one woman got to that screen picked up the pinpad and started swiping her card. After about two minutes she figured out that something was wrong, and it cancel on the screen. Then she went through the some set of screens (Order (Pay Now)->Method of Payment (Debit)-> Cash Back then heard the same prompt "Select the amount for cash back, or press 'No Thanks' to continue." low and behold, she started swiping again. A shook my head, as I was waiting to buy food for my break, and watching her phail at listening counts towards it. Then, she yells at the cashier, "Hey you prostitue looking bitch! Your fucking machine ain't workin!" The cashier then walked up, pressed no thanks on the screen, and swiped the bitches card. Wow this has been a long paragraph. That is the worst I have seen, but I've heard worse. Cashiers have had coffee and tupperware thrown at them, been called all combinations of 'bitch', 'slut', 'whore', 'crack-ho', 'retard' and '****'. Some also like to give out more personal insults. The older woman have been told that their husbands made them get jobs because they are sick of having them around home. The college age students have been told that they 'understand how you can give up on yourself and accept this place as your fate' and the highschool students have been told to 'get used to this' and 'this will be your life'. Non-white cashiers have been accused of playing favorites with people of their own race, or told to go back to their country. Whites have been called Nazi's and KKK'ers for refusing to bow to the will of non-white customers. Then there are the few creepy loners who go shopping just to find some masturbation material. Fun job, eh?

as a waiter i find that every other customer is a complete dick. of course the other 50% are lovely and i'm quite happy to get anything they want for them. it's when people get arsey about one simple mistake and then obviously the only thing to do then is to make the rest of their meal hell. many people seem to foget that just because someone is serving them that does not therefore make them an automaton at their beck and call.

QFT

Then I spit in his beer for the next two months.
My respect for you plummets with this extremely disgusting revelation. :(

perhaps. but i don't think that's the waiting staff's responsibility. for minimum wage (which is what you get for waitering over here most places) i think that's outwith the job description.

you get paid well then.....min wage here is 6.95 an hour and servers get 2.65 an hour plus tips.....and that was what they got before min wage went up, and when it goes up again in july it is staying there still. And dealing with people with complicated orders is never a big deal as long as they are patient, but people wonder why when they treat their server lousy and come back time and time again leaveing bad tips that they get treated bad by the waitstaff.

That is not intended towards you smunkee....I have had regulars in the past like you with the same orders same day etc....and they always seem to be patient and treat the staff as well as they are treated.

so, I went out to eat tonight at a restaurant that I eat at about once a week, and OMG, I had the worst service ever.........first they bring my salad with croûtons, which is a big no-no, and so I explain that they need to bring me a new salad without croûtons, then they bring that, and they bring hubby's with cheese, which is also a big no-no, so they fix that, and then when they bring us our food, they forget his fries and my dipping sauce, and so I tell them, and they bring the sauce on the plate with the fries, and expect that to be okay, when I explain that I need new sauce because the container touched his fries that have flour coating on them so I can't touch the container or I will get sick......the freaking waitress says "no you don't" :eek: :mad: WTF?! if I ask for something she should just bring it right?........then I ask for a glass of ice because all mine melted in my tea, and she brings me a glass of tea with no ice..........:headbang: so, I asked for the manager, and she says "why?"

anyway, since we are in there at least once a week, he took care of our dinner, I am pretty sure she got yelled at. The reason I go to the same restaurant all the time is because I know that my order is complicated, and I know that they usually get everything right and the manager has the same health condition I do, so he trained them not to screw up like this. I order the same thing, the exact same way every time, we all do, the whole family, every single time our order? exactly the same. Since I used to be a waitress I get pretty pissed when they don't do their job in the way I would have done it.

so, you got any stories of bad service? ever been a waiter or waitress? got stories of bad customers?
After reading the rest of your posts, all I can say is GAL......that is short for get a life.

The waitress serving you was not familiar with you and your "special customer" status and you expect her to be a freaking mind reader to boot? :p

not food but shoes

i was in a shoeshop on Oxford St in London, and (unsurprisingly) wanted to try on a shoe
there are two staff - one already busy with a customer, the other hanging off the register. so i approach register-boy with the shoe i like, and ask for it in my size. he replies that he's not allowed to leave the till unattended. i ask if someone else could help me, he shrugs
i ponder for a few seconds what to do - give up the shoe and go somewhere else or wait to see if someone else appears
i'm not too keen on just walking out, as this is about the fifth or sixth shoe shop i've been in this afternoon, and had the same apathetic crap at the rest of them too

at this point three or four more staff emerge from a curtain at the far end of the store, walk past me, register-boy and the till, and out a door behind the till. i ask if one of them could help me, and receive another shrug
now i can't exactly serve myself, it's hardly an unusual request, and by this point i've run out of patience
so i take three paces back from the counter and throw the shoe at him - aiming waist-height
he obliges me for the first time by turning his hips to avoid the shoe and instead presenting his ass for the impact

as i stormed out i couldn't help notice the quiet smirk on the face of the staff member who was doing her job

Smunk, I can totally sympathize with the allergy problem. I am deathly allergic to latex. I'm always being told that my allergy doesn't exist, the things I say will kill me won't actually kill me.... Like some mouth breather knows more than my doc.
The worst expiesience I've had was in a very nice piercing studio. I told the clerk what earrings I wanted and asked if he could please change his gloves to non-latex. He was fine, but some asshat piercer preceded to butt in and explain to the entire room that it wasn't necessary. I calmly explained how I've been living with this for the past five years and have had enough ER visits because I couldn't breathe to learn what's bad for my health. He kept loudly insisting I ''didn't know how this allergy worked.'' I asked him if he really thought if knew more than my doctor and if he was really willing to wager my life on that hunch. He backed down but never apologized. Several customers walked out during this exchange.
And they are supposedly the best in town.

I have been on both sides of the issue - being a waiter with absurd customers, and being a punter getting horrid service.

I have a lot of sympathy for most servers (been there, done that) especially if it has been a busy night or they have bad management, but I also know firsthand what counts as a reasonable level of service. I do not hesitate to not leave a tip if the service was horrid, and I leave at least a 20% if the service was good.

Though honestly I base my tip more on the level of service than the amount on the bill - a waitress at the local Steak&Egg getting 20% on a $8 tab is a bit insulting for far better service than I got at a nice restaurant with a $120 bill.

$2 for great service (25% at the S&E) or $12 for shitty service (10% for the idiot at the nice place). It doesn't take a genius to figure out tipping on percentages is silly.



There is one waitress I have to give major props.

A bunch of people get together the last Tuesday of every month (for just over 3 years now) and we generally ask for this one waitress. We have anywhere between 15 and 30 people show up and she takes care of everyone by herself. She knows all the regulars by name, knows what we like, is quick and accurate no matter how many orders she is dealing with at once, and we get a quick turnaround with drinks. We even have a habit of mingling around a lot but she still finds us to give us our drinks or bills (we each pay separately) no matter where in the restaurant we might have wandered off to.

Every once in a while she is out sick, working the bar (against her objections for that night), or visiting family back in Serbia. Those nights we get 3 or 4 servers who are incompetent. Orders get mixed up, drinks take almost an hour, paying is almost as much of a hassle as just ordering, and just bad service altogether even though on those nights we try to stay in the same seats to make it easier on them.

Strangely enough the management doesn't seem to be able to remember about us yet... if whoever's turn it is to call ahead to double check things will be setup forgets or looses track of time, and our waitress isnt there, it is a total shock and surprise. Over 3 years, and they can't seem to remember this big group on a set monthly schedule on a slow night...

I'll be bright and cheerful and have good stories!

First good story: I accidently paid 100 dollars for a 60 dollar meal, incl 10 dollar tip (yes, the waiter was that good and no, 20% is a lot for a tip). And the waiter brought back the forty dollars that I overtipped :o

I was too surprised by my stupid mistake to adequately reward him (more than the 10 dollar tip he had already gotten :p ) for his honesty.

Second good story: First time in the US. First time in a restaurant. I had no clue that there were free refills. It was a quiet day :p And then, I finish my drink. All of a sudden, a waitress comes up and changes the drink :o I was so surprised and thought it was so awesome that I just had to mention it here.

But bad stories? Well... I usually blame the cook ;) For example, there was one rather large dinner that I went to where they 1) ran out of water, but not wine (that would have been worse), 2) The only vegetarian got so much more food, but we're talking food for 80+ euro. So you know, even us meat-eaters (everyone else) should at least have gotten a fair amount, but noooooo... stupid french gourmette cuisine. Tastes good, but it just isn't filling.

But waiters waiters waiters... Hmm... nope, can't say I have any notable bad experiences.

I don't like "proper" restaurants with waiters and waitresses. I don't like being waited on hand and foot; it makes me uncomfortable.
I much prefer pubs, where you go up to the bar to order food, you go up to the bar to order drinks. Payment is done at the bar (usually when you order). The only "waiting" that's done is bringing you your food, and taking away the dishes.
It's a much better system, I think.

Then, she yells at the cashier, "Hey you prostitue looking bitch! Your fucking machine ain't workin!" The cashier then walked up, pressed no thanks on the screen, and swiped the bitches card. Wow this has been a long paragraph. That is the worst I have seen, but I've heard worse. Cashiers have had coffee and tupperware thrown at them, been called all combinations of 'bitch', 'slut', 'whore', 'crack-ho', 'retard' and '****'. Some also like to give out more personal insults. The older woman have been told that their husbands made them get jobs because they are sick of having them around home. The college age students have been told that they 'understand how you can give up on yourself and accept this place as your fate' and the highschool students have been told to 'get used to this' and 'this will be your life'. Non-white cashiers have been accused of playing favorites with people of their own race, or told to go back to their country. Whites have been called Nazi's and KKK'ers for refusing to bow to the will of non-white customers.

:eek:
And I thought Canadians were nice and polite :(
That's even worse than I'd expect in England...

After reading the rest of your posts, all I can say is GAL......that is short for get a life.

The waitress serving you was not familiar with you and your "special customer" status and you expect her to be a freaking mind reader to boot? :p

I was very patient with her until she started to argue with me. When I go to a restaurant and drop $100 I expect to get what I ordered how I ordered it, if something is wrong I expect that it will be fixed, I don't want to hear excuses, I don't want to hear how "you don't need that", I don't want the wait staff to roll their eyes at me, and I certainly don't want to hear them complain about me while I am still there.

I was a waitress for a year, I co-owned a restaurant for nearly 2 years, I know how this works. When the customer asks for something you bring it, when you screw up their order you apologize and fix it, and when they are complete asshats you wait until they are gone, and complain about them with your friends back in the kitchen where the other customers don't hear.

What would you have me do? not mention her mistakes? that would be real fun until I ended up in the hospital. :rolleyes:

well I once went to some dodgy Indian restaurant (well it was more Sri lanka if you ask me but that has nothing to do with anything)

Well what basically transpired was the waiter hit on my girl-ride-person-thing-friend failing miserably many times particularly when he gave me an arm wrestle before salting my food extremely heavily so that I would drink up his dreadful cobra beer

All of that was of course no different from any other restaurant but what really egged me was as I was leaving he asked me to do a pamphlet of his place offering a discount card in return now me being the nice type I am I gave him my number and did it :(

...

so, you got any stories of bad service? ever been a waiter or waitress? got stories of bad customers?

I love bad service, actually.

A person who can't follow orders and doesn't do their best for the company which is paying their wages fills me with hope for the human race.

I partlicularly like it when a waiter/waitress quits right before my eyes and it's the manager who has to step up and suck some arse! :cool:

Now normally, I leave a flat 20% tip for reasonable service, and more for really good service. However, that seemed like "really trying to fuck you over" service, so I didn't feel she deserved much of anything. I put down a couple bucks. Some of our party thought she deserved nothing; some thought that was too little. I shrugged and said that was what I was putting down; anyone else wanted to put down more, that was their choice.

When I get bad service, I'll either leave just a penny, or I'll write something on a napkin, like "Tip: Don't eat yellow snow."

Then again, maybe I have become far too used to Japanese customer service.

Or lack there of. It depends. I've had my fair share of bad service even here in Osaka. The last time I had a serious problem (which primarily, but not only, involved people who'd been seated and ordered 5 minutes after me recieving an order of the exact same food I'd ordered before they came in before I got my order), I complained to the manager and didn't go back for more than 3 months after having been a 1-2 times a week customer for almost a year. They got the message.

Institutionalized tipping is quite wrong.

The proprietor is basically saying "I employ the chefs, kitchen hands, cleaners, maintenance contractors, accountants and decorators. You, the customer, employ the waiters. I pay them a stipend to cover the slow nights."

Can you tip the head chef for his bold use of cardamom in the aloo palak? No. If you are an important customer, the head chef might come out wiping his hands to recieve your compliments, but whatever benefit the chef might get from that (burning the paneer, more likely) is reflected on the business. Important customer insists on congratulating the chef, other customers are impressed.

It's a business, for Xsake. The satisfaction of the customer is measured by how many customers turn up. The individual performance of the wait staff is just part of it (a small part of it to my mind, I find paying for "service" to be not much more than social prostitution.)
Why should the decor, the atmosphere, the quality of the ingredients, the storage and preparation, the cleanliness of the kitchen, be regarded as a package "good restaurant/cafe" but the service be dissociated from that given it's own little free market?

One simle reason: waiter staff are bottom of the pecking order. Getting shat apon by the customers, blamed for every fuckup in the kitchen and doing unpaid overtime cleaning pots when the apprentice chef quits are just part of it: the wait staff are the most dispensible employees. No surprise that they are usually young.

Not always. I like the senior wait staff who just take your order when you're ready, know everything on the menu, and get the order right. I don't expect them to be anything more than civil, and I give them a tiny tip to show I'm not displeased with them personally.

The US way has spread, unfortunately, to many other countries. The effect of that is to dock the wages of wait staff in the expectation that they will get tips. On a slow night, they get just about fuckall, while the salaried staff get a nice slow night on full pay.

That was way too long. Going back to making jokes now.

Oddly enough, I have not had a customer blow up in my face at work. Sure, a few people have tried, but they saw my apathy to it, and just shut up. Then again, I make sure never to leave a legitimate reason to yell, I can be confident that they will not follow up because they are largely baseless.

The other cashiers however, get put through hell. We have a self checkout, which is basically there because on person can serve six customers at once. It is fairly popular as you get out the door faster, and you don't have to talk to a cashier (which the asocial and people buying lube seem to like). The machine itself walks you throw too. Seriously, a 10 year old can get it. It tells you what to do at every screen, and it only gives you one or two choices at a time. People have a hard time listening to the prompts. Example: When you are paying by debit card, it asks if you would like cash back. This one woman got to that screen picked up the pinpad and started swiping her card. After about two minutes she figured out that something was wrong, and it cancel on the screen. Then she went through the some set of screens (Order (Pay Now)->Method of Payment (Debit)-> Cash Back then heard the same prompt "Select the amount for cash back, or press 'No Thanks' to continue." low and behold, she started swiping again. A shook my head, as I was waiting to buy food for my break, and watching her phail at listening counts towards it. Then, she yells at the cashier, "Hey you prostitue looking bitch! Your fucking machine ain't workin!" The cashier then walked up, pressed no thanks on the screen, and swiped the bitches card. Wow this has been a long paragraph. That is the worst I have seen, but I've heard worse. Cashiers have had coffee and tupperware thrown at them, been called all combinations of 'bitch', 'slut', 'whore', 'crack-ho', 'retard' and '****'. Some also like to give out more personal insults. The older woman have been told that their husbands made them get jobs because they are sick of having them around home. The college age students have been told that they 'understand how you can give up on yourself and accept this place as your fate' and the highschool students have been told to 'get used to this' and 'this will be your life'. Non-white cashiers have been accused of playing favorites with people of their own race, or told to go back to their country. Whites have been called Nazi's and KKK'ers for refusing to bow to the will of non-white customers. Then there are the few creepy loners who go shopping just to find some masturbation material. Fun job, eh?
Wow. You and Kanabia should open a support group. :/

I agree with Nobel Hobos.

Not that wait(er/resse)s get many tips from me. A) service charge is included in the bill, and B) I rarely have much (if any) cash on me with which to tip (my wallet currently contains one euro in cash, and that's not even legal tender here; I use it for shopping trolleys).

I almost always get along great with my waiter or waitress. I'm not terribly picky and have no know allergies. I have complained before,but never had food replaced-Once I complain,I dont eat or drink anymore there.
I love to tip well for good service and better for exceptional service,which I often find to be the case.
Most people that deal with me want to please me.

I almost always get along great with my waiter or waitress. I'm not terribly picky and have no know allergies. I have complained before,but never had food replaced-Once I complain,I dont eat or drink anymore there.
I love to tip well for good service and better for exceptional service,which I often find to be the case.
Most people that deal with me want to please me.

I only have issues at Indian restaurants (go figure). They tend to be really gung-ho about putting nuts of any sort on food, from almonds to cashews, pistacchios, etc.

I happen to be deathly allergic to all kinds of nuts except peanuts (as they are not actually a nut.) So I have to be careful and explain to them not to put any nuts on anything.

They still tend to f- up pretty often, but I usually leave a good tip anyway.

I imagine that if I had some life or well being threatening allergy, I would contact the manager or maitre de before hand-Let him know-"Hey-I have a serious food allergy-not too common,but are you able to favilitate me because I want to eat at your place and bring my family or friends"

Can he guarantee that you can be served a meal minus ingredients or contact with the offending items? Maybe. Then you get there-see teh guy in person-thats the time to tip him subtly-Let him know-"I'm the guy that will die if I consume nuts or gluten or anything with shellfish ingredients".

In a decent place,you could expect the guy to accomodate you and make sure you wait-person is on board too.

20 years ago, you'd be out of luck,but I think these deadly allergies are becoming more well known or common and restaurants are probably starting to consider how to properly handle a customer with specific needs.

If you get a place that deals well with you-accomodates you with little fuss-tip well and enjoy being a regular.

you get paid well then.....min wage here is 6.95 an hour and servers get 2.65 an hour plus tips.....and that was what they got before min wage went up, and when it goes up again in july it is staying there still. And dealing with people with complicated orders is never a big deal as long as they are patient, but people wonder why when they treat their server lousy and come back time and time again leaveing bad tips that they get treated bad by the waitstaff.

That is not intended towards you smunkee....I have had regulars in the past like you with the same orders same day etc....and they always seem to be patient and treat the staff as well as they are treated.

Yeah, it always amazes me that a party of 6 with multiple substitutions on every course gets miffed when you are not taking their order quickly enough or get lost with their order. It also amazes me that some people are like "can I substitute the mashed potatoes with the lobster tail?" (true story) People expect that they're going to go to a run of the mill chain restaurant and get treated like they are eating at the Ritz Carlton and that always baffles me. When I go to Mickey D's I expect MD service. At no point should the waiter or waitress be rude to you, but if you and your kids have drank 6 sodas before the salad course while they are very busy they may well get a little aggravated. When I got to the Water Club on the FDR Drive I expect to be well attended to. Smunkee is in a rather unique position as she truly has a disease and needs gluten free food. There's a difference between not liking something and it making you ill. If you're at McDonald's and you've bought a value meal for $4.79 and they just so happen to put onions on your food then you 1. pick them off 2. Eat and and accept that next time they'll hopefully get it right. If it becomes a constant then you shouldn't eat there anymore.

Yeah, it always amazes me that a party of 6 with multiple substitutions on every course gets miffed when you are not taking their order quickly enough or get lost with their order. It also amazes me that some people are like "can I substitute the mashed potatoes with the lobster tail?" (true story) People expect that they're going to go to a run of the mill chain restaurant and get treated like they are eating at the Ritz Carlton and that always baffles me. When I go to Mickey D's I expect MD service. At no point should the waiter or waitress be rude to you, but if you and your kids have drank 6 sodas before the salad course while they are very busy they may well get a little aggravated. When I got to the Water Club on the FDR Drive I expect to be well attended to. Smunkee is in a rather unique position as she truly has a disease and needs gluten free food. There's a difference between not liking something and it making you ill. If you're at McDonald's and you've bought a value meal for $4.79 and they just so happen to put onions on your food then you 1. pick them off 2. Eat and and accept that next time they'll hopefully get it right. If it becomes a constant then you shouldn't eat there anymore.

Well, exactly. Smunkee said that she goes there often because they are good at dealing with her particular needs (the manager has the same affliction). Something obviously broke down because she's not had bad service there before. And it was only after more than one foul-ups that she asked for the manager (and a waiter or waitress who asks me why I want to see the manager has immediately forfeited even the possibility of a tip).

And ooooh, the Water Club! :D

Well, exactly. Smunkee said that she goes there often because they are good at dealing with her particular needs (the manager has the same affliction). Something obviously broke down because she's not had bad service there before. And it was only after more than one foul-ups that she asked for the manager (and a waiter or waitress who asks me why I want to see the manager has immediately forfeited even the possibility of a tip).

And ooooh, the Water Club! :D

The Water Club is beautiful and give you a great view of the East River. You can sit and watch the scene and starts as you dine on some of the most delicious food in NYC. I highly recommend it to anyone visiting the city that wants a romantic place to eat. It's pricey, spending about 200+ for two people to dine is not something you do often, but it's wonderful every now and again. The roads in that area make it difficult to get there and mapquest is no help. Ask someone who's a native NYer if you want to go, or take a cab.

The Water Club is beautiful and give you a great view of the East River. You can sit and watch the scene and starts as you dine on some of the most delicious food in NYC. I highly recommend it to anyone visiting the city that wants a romantic place to eat. It's pricey, spending about 200+ for two people to dine is not something you do often, but it's wonderful every now and again. The roads in that area make it difficult to get there and mapquest is no help. Ask someone who's a native NYer if you want to go, or take a cab.

Oh, I know, I've been there a couple of times. I was just sighing over your mention of it. :D

*Snip*
The audacity! :eek: Don't they realize that their purpose in life is to serve their customers well? :rolleyes:

I imagine that if I had some life or well being threatening allergy, I would contact the manager or maitre de before hand-Let him know-"Hey-I have a serious food allergy-not too common,but are you able to favilitate me because I want to eat at your place and bring my family or friends"

Can he guarantee that you can be served a meal minus ingredients or contact with the offending items? Maybe. Then you get there-see teh guy in person-thats the time to tip him subtly-Let him know-"I'm the guy that will die if I consume nuts or gluten or anything with shellfish ingredients".

In a decent place,you could expect the guy to accomodate you and make sure you wait-person is on board too.

20 years ago, you'd be out of luck,but I think these deadly allergies are becoming more well known or common and restaurants are probably starting to consider how to properly handle a customer with specific needs.

If you get a place that deals well with you-accomodates you with little fuss-tip well and enjoy being a regular.

I know the manager, he expects us at the same time every week, he even saw us come in last night, I guess it just wasn't the right night to go since my regular waiter was sick :(

I know the manager, he expects us at the same time every week, he even saw us come in last night, I guess it just wasn't the right night to go since my regular waiter was sick :(

I'm trying to look at things from your perspective and dont think I could enjoy eating out when so much is at risk.

maybe you need to call ahead from now on and make sure the forces of evil havent aligned against you again. Make sure the manager and the waiter that know your situation and care about your well being are there first.
If they arent-I wouldnt risk it-not with what the consequences you describe.

Someone that doesnt take it seriously or figures to themselves that this or that couldnt possibly hurt you could make a real problem for you.

Wow. You and Kanabia should open a support group. :/

Something bad happened to Kanabia?!?:eek: :eek: :eek:

Or lack there of. It depends. I've had my fair share of bad service even here in Osaka. The last time I had a serious problem (which primarily, but not only, involved people who'd been seated and ordered 5 minutes after me recieving an order of the exact same food I'd ordered before they came in before I got my order), I complained to the manager and didn't go back for more than 3 months after having been a 1-2 times a week customer for almost a year. They got the message.
Could be the big city vs. inaka-land thing (I'm excluding Tokyo for obvious reasons). For me, I've run into the Japanese obsession for NOT making mistakes and ANY mistakes that are made must bring eternal shame to the company.

Case in point, I bought a book from a bookstore in Matsumoto and read about halfway through when I discovered that the book had been misprinted and restarted halfway through the book. I took it and the recipt back to the store and explained what happened and asked to switch books to a new copy.

The cashier appoligied to me, her partner apologied to me, the MANAGER came out to apologize to me, the book was quickly taken from me and switched to a new copy AFTER the cashier had me personally check that the defect wasn't in the new copy, and I got a lot more apologies and bows before I got out of the store.

I was giving this a second thought this evening. Not Smunk's case, in particular - just thinking more about the role of the waitron. It occurs to me that servility doesn't come easily to everybody. I know I loathed my own, blessedly brief experiences in the food service industry. Maybe that's why I prefer to be left alone when dining in restaurants - maybe on some fundamental, however irrational level, I disapprove of being served. I dunno, I'm just somewhat - uncomfortable with the whole ritual of dining out.

Hmm. Interesting. Never thought about it that way before.

Could be the big city vs. inaka-land thing (I'm excluding Tokyo for obvious reasons). For me, I've run into the Japanese obsession for NOT making mistakes and ANY mistakes that are made must bring eternal shame to the company.
Which is a good thing. :) They need to export this mentality to the rest of the West.

Which is a good thing. :) They need to export this mentality to the rest of the West.
I wish they would sometime, I really do.

*Heh* It makes the national news if the Shinkansen (bullet train) is 2 minutes late (No joke).

I was giving this a second thought this evening. Not Smunk's case, in particular - just thinking more about the role of the waitron. It occurs to me that servility doesn't come easily to everybody. I know I loathed my own, blessedly brief experiences in the food service industry. Maybe that's why I prefer to be left alone when dining in restaurants - maybe on some fundamental, however irrational level, I disapprove of being served. I dunno, I'm just somewhat - uncomfortable with the whole ritual of dining out.

Hmm. Interesting. Never thought about it that way before.

yeah i told my parents that once and they told me to not be so ungrateful (it was my birthday meal out). i too feel uncomfortable with being waited on, it does feel wrong. i'm totally in the wrong line of work.

It takes intelligence, attention to detail, patience, a sense of humor and courtesy to be restaurant server. This does not translate as servility to me. I feel that servers do need to be paid more, it's a demanding job. But, when I go to a restaurant, I do expect decent service (I usually tip between 15 and 20%, for exceptional service as much 25-30%)

yeah i told my parents that once and they told me to not be so ungrateful (it was my birthday meal out). i too feel uncomfortable with being waited on, it does feel wrong. i'm totally in the wrong line of work.

really? it doesn't bother me a bit, neither does it bother me to serve others.

Something bad happened to Kanabia?!?:eek: :eek: :eek:
He was eaten alive by rabid wolves, and, what's worse, they only left a 5% tip.
Which is a good thing. :) They need to export this mentality to the rest of the West.
I really prefer they tone down on the customer service though. I've been to far too many restaurants where the Asian waitstaff are creepily efficient in their service.
First, rearranging the table before I sit down, then rearranging it again when drinks are brought. While I eat, they wait about 10 feet away, and I can just feel their eyes burning through the back of my skull the whole time.
And then, as soon as I look done, they descend like vultures.
*shudders*

It takes intelligence, attention to detail, patience, a sense of humor and courtesy to be restaurant server. This does not translate as servility to me. I feel that servers do need to be paid more, it's a demanding job. But, when I go to a restaurant, I do expect decent service (I usually tip between 15 and 20%, for exceptional service as much 25-30%)

being a waitress was the second most stressful job I have ever had, it sucked, to make $2.05 an hour and really have to work hard for my tips (I worked at one of the only restaurants in town open after the bars closed, and drunks don't like to tip)

Oddly enough, I have not had a customer blow up in my face at work. Sure, a few people have tried, but they saw my apathy to it, and just shut up. Then again, I make sure never to leave a legitimate reason to yell, I can be confident that they will not follow up because they are largely baseless.

The other cashiers however, get put through hell. We have a self checkout, which is basically there because on person can serve six customers at once. It is fairly popular as you get out the door faster, and you don't have to talk to a cashier (which the asocial and people buying lube seem to like). The machine itself walks you throw too. Seriously, a 10 year old can get it. It tells you what to do at every screen, and it only gives you one or two choices at a time. People have a hard time listening to the prompts. Example: When you are paying by debit card, it asks if you would like cash back. This one woman got to that screen picked up the pinpad and started swiping her card. After about two minutes she figured out that something was wrong, and it cancel on the screen. Then she went through the some set of screens (Order (Pay Now)->Method of Payment (Debit)-> Cash Back then heard the same prompt "Select the amount for cash back, or press 'No Thanks' to continue." low and behold, she started swiping again. A shook my head, as I was waiting to buy food for my break, and watching her phail at listening counts towards it. Then, she yells at the cashier, "Hey you prostitue looking bitch! Your fucking machine ain't workin!" The cashier then walked up, pressed no thanks on the screen, and swiped the bitches card. Wow this has been a long paragraph. That is the worst I have seen, but I've heard worse. Cashiers have had coffee and tupperware thrown at them, been called all combinations of 'bitch', 'slut', 'whore', 'crack-ho', 'retard' and '****'. Some also like to give out more personal insults. The older woman have been told that their husbands made them get jobs because they are sick of having them around home. The college age students have been told that they 'understand how you can give up on yourself and accept this place as your fate' and the highschool students have been told to 'get used to this' and 'this will be your life'. Non-white cashiers have been accused of playing favorites with people of their own race, or told to go back to their country. Whites have been called Nazi's and KKK'ers for refusing to bow to the will of non-white customers. Then there are the few creepy loners who go shopping just to find some masturbation material. Fun job, eh?

Wal-Mart?

Wal-Mart?

My guess would've been Shop-Rite.

My guess would've been Shop-Rite.

no, has to be a grocery store. Even grumpy people who don't like shopping have to buy food.

Shop-Rite IS a grocery store.
Either my town is too small or too Canadian.

no, has to be a grocery store. Even grumpy people who don't like shopping have to buy food.

Shop-Rite IS a grocery store.

Oddly enough, I have not had a customer blow up in my face at work. Sure, a few people have tried, but they saw my apathy to it, and just shut up. Then again, I make sure never to leave a legitimate reason to yell, I can be confident that they will not follow up because they are largely baseless.

The other cashiers however, get put through hell. We have a self checkout, which is basically there because on person can serve six customers at once. It is fairly popular as you get out the door faster, and you don't have to talk to a cashier (which the asocial and people buying lube seem to like). The machine itself walks you throw too. Seriously, a 10 year old can get it. It tells you what to do at every screen, and it only gives you one or two choices at a time. People have a hard time listening to the prompts. Example: When you are paying by debit card, it asks if you would like cash back. This one woman got to that screen picked up the pinpad and started swiping her card. After about two minutes she figured out that something was wrong, and it cancel on the screen. Then she went through the some set of screens (Order (Pay Now)->Method of Payment (Debit)-> Cash Back then heard the same prompt "Select the amount for cash back, or press 'No Thanks' to continue." low and behold, she started swiping again. A shook my head, as I was waiting to buy food for my break, and watching her phail at listening counts towards it. Then, she yells at the cashier, "Hey you prostitue looking bitch! Your fucking machine ain't workin!" The cashier then walked up, pressed no thanks on the screen, and swiped the bitches card. Wow this has been a long paragraph. That is the worst I have seen, but I've heard worse. Cashiers have had coffee and tupperware thrown at them, been called all combinations of 'bitch', 'slut', 'whore', 'crack-ho', 'retard' and '****'. Some also like to give out more personal insults. The older woman have been told that their husbands made them get jobs because they are sick of having them around home. The college age students have been told that they 'understand how you can give up on yourself and accept this place as your fate' and the highschool students have been told to 'get used to this' and 'this will be your life'. Non-white cashiers have been accused of playing favorites with people of their own race, or told to go back to their country. Whites have been called Nazi's and KKK'ers for refusing to bow to the will of non-white customers. Then there are the few creepy loners who go shopping just to find some masturbation material. Fun job, eh?

Wow. You and Kanabia should open a support group. :/


Yeah, I can relate to some of that. Mental abuse (particularly the "you're here because you're worthless" people), and at times, physical violence. I've been hit before. For fuckall in the way of pay.

Could be the big city vs. inaka-land thing (I'm excluding Tokyo for obvious reasons). For me, I've run into the Japanese obsession for NOT making mistakes and ANY mistakes that are made must bring eternal shame to the company.

Case in point, I bought a book from a bookstore in Matsumoto and read about halfway through when I discovered that the book had been misprinted and restarted halfway through the book. I took it and the recipt back to the store and explained what happened and asked to switch books to a new copy.

The cashier appoligied to me, her partner apologied to me, the MANAGER came out to apologize to me, the book was quickly taken from me and switched to a new copy AFTER the cashier had me personally check that the defect wasn't in the new copy, and I got a lot more apologies and bows before I got out of the store.

God I love Japan.

I really prefer they tone down on the customer service though. I've been to far too many restaurants where the Asian waitstaff are creepily efficient in their service.
First, rearranging the table before I sit down, then rearranging it again when drinks are brought. While I eat, they wait about 10 feet away, and I can just feel their eyes burning through the back of my skull the whole time.
And then, as soon as I look done, they descend like vultures.
*shudders*
Yes, I think the Japanese represent the other side of the spectrum - that which overcompensates. I shudder to imagine what their clothing salespersons must be like.

Could be the big city vs. inaka-land thing (I'm excluding Tokyo for obvious reasons). For me, I've run into the Japanese obsession for NOT making mistakes and ANY mistakes that are made must bring eternal shame to the company.

Case in point, I bought a book from a bookstore in Matsumoto and read about halfway through when I discovered that the book had been misprinted and restarted halfway through the book. I took it and the recipt back to the store and explained what happened and asked to switch books to a new copy.

The cashier appoligied to me, her partner apologied to me, the MANAGER came out to apologize to me, the book was quickly taken from me and switched to a new copy AFTER the cashier had me personally check that the defect wasn't in the new copy, and I got a lot more apologies and bows before I got out of the store.

Nah, just a rarity.

Yes, I think the Japanese represent the other side of the spectrum - that which overcompensates. I shudder to imagine what their clothing salespersons must be like.

Most of the time good. But there was one guy who jerked open the dressing room curtain when I had my pants down trying on a pair of shorts. He couldn't just tell me not to wear shoes in there through the curtain. Noooo... :mad:

first they bring my salad with croûtons, which is a big no-no, and so I explain that they need to bring me a new salad without croûtons

Pick out the croûtons?

*shrug*

Pick out the croûtons?

*shrug*

As Smunkee's made abundantly clear, that's no good. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coeliac_disease

Nah, just a rarity.
Bad service is a rarity or getting good service is a rarity? :confused:

As Smunkee's made abundantly clear, that's no good. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coeliac_disease

Ah.

*didn't read the whole thread*

My wife has been a restaurant manager for 15 years so I've heard it all from both sides. I let her do the tipping when we go out as she loves good service and hates bad service. She tips between 2 cents and 100%.

The best wait staff would never go for a "no tip" situation. Yes they get less than $3/hr but when the tips are added up they make more than the manager and don't claim half of it on their taxes (although they are legally supposed to) Then there are those than go home with the $3 and wonder why. It's really a commission sales job. And the best cut out a territory of customers that they know and that are good tippers. It's really mind reading at times, they have to know if a customer likes to talk or be left alone, wants refills or ice or just wants to be left alone. There is really a lot of psychology and insight that the best know instinctively.

A good manager never yells at the wait staff in front of the customers. The good manager solves the customer's problem as fast and satisfactory as possible then takes the waiter to the back office.

If you got a new waiter, have a little tolerance. Remember your first day on any job. I'm sure things didn't go right. A new wait person probably couldn't conceive of such allergies. But as someone said, she should take care of the customer first then go to the kitchen and do her bitching quietly after you leave. If you're a regular, someone back there will explain the problem. If this person continues to have problems, they won't stay for the $3/hr long.

True story:

My ex-friend was once a waiter who got fired on his first day. A couple walked in, settled at a table, and he stomped over, and barked, "What do you want?" Clearly shaken, they started to answer, and he repeated, "What do you want?"

The man said, "Well, sir, we're not ready to order ye-"

"Well, hurry up, I ain't got all day."

Finally, they gave him their orders. He started to walk off, when the woman asked, "Sir, could we please get our drinks?"

He rolled his eyes, muttered, "I have to do everything around here..." and moments later, he brought them their requested drinks, slamming the glasses down onto the table and getting their shirts wet. "Oops, sorry," he said sarcastically.

Later, when he brought them their food, he slammed it on the table, muttered, "Here, pay up front when you're done."

A few minutes later, as he walked by, the woman asked, "Sir, aren't you going to ask us how our food is?"

He replied, "Pfft, what do I care? I'm just here to get paid!"

Afterwards, the couple had a little chat with the manager. The guy was fired the same day. :p

Afterwards, the couple had a little chat with the manager. The guy was fired the same day. :p
What an idiot. :) No one is going to pay you to be rude to them. I wonder if he learnt anything from it...

I was very patient with her until she started to argue with me. When I go to a restaurant and drop $100 I expect to get what I ordered how I ordered it, if something is wrong I expect that it will be fixed, I don't want to hear excuses, I don't want to hear how "you don't need that", I don't want the wait staff to roll their eyes at me, and I certainly don't want to hear them complain about me while I am still there.

I was a waitress for a year, I co-owned a restaurant for nearly 2 years, I know how this works. When the customer asks for something you bring it, when you screw up their order you apologize and fix it, and when they are complete asshats you wait until they are gone, and complain about them with your friends back in the kitchen where the other customers don't hear.

What would you have me do? not mention her mistakes? that would be real fun until I ended up in the hospital. :rolleyes:
To be honest, I just think you are stuck in your "pity party" mode and want to complain. Get a grip.....there are a lot more people out there that are far worse of then you.

Pocket the $100 next time and go get your teeth fixed? :eek:

Wal-Mart?
Thankfully not. I've heard horror stories from the ex Wal-Mart employees.

My guess would've been Shop-Rite.

WFT is Shop-Rite? and why can't they spell their own name correctly?

To be honest, I just think you are stuck in your "pity party" mode and want to complain. Get a grip.....there are a lot more people out there that are far worse of then you.
Why so cynical? She is a paying customer, and thus she has all the right to demand good service.

Why so cynical? She is a paying customer, and thus she has all the right to demand good service.
You may think that I am being cynical, wheras I think Smunkee will see it as me trying to help her. Read some of her blog (http://smunkee.blogspot.com/2007_02_01_archive.html) and perhaps you can make the connect?

One of the local cafes here has appalling service.
One time I went in there, sat down and browsed the menu. There were little stars next to some of the items. Intrigued I asked the waitress what this meant. She had no idea, so went and got the manager. The manager explained to me that the star meant one could order a kids' meal version of said menu item for 1/2 price.
Why is this appalling service, you're asking yourself?

Because that's as far as the service went. The manager went away, and the waitress wouldn't serve me after that. I tried to get her attention several times, but she went and served others who came in after me. I gave up and sat there reading the paper for the next 45 minutes before walking out. Not once did either the waitresses nor the manager come up and ask me for my order.


Last time I went (last time as THE LAST time) I ordered a vegetarian pizza. 75 minutes later (after the table of 8 who had come in and ordered after me had received their food), it finally arrived:
A meatlovers pizza.
I complained.
They took it away.
Came back 10 minutes later, and apologised. Apparently they'd given my order to someone at the table of 8 next to me (who didn't complain - just scoffed it down without noticing the lack of meat and over-abundance of vegetables).
They then offered to make me a vegetarian pizza, but warned me it would take them another hour (at least), as they were busy and my order would now be placed at the bottom of the list.
Their other option was me having the meaty pizza instead (which they helpfully suggested I could pick the meat off - leaving, well, pretty much nothing but dough). Annoyed but very hungry (I'd come in for lunch and it was now after 3pm) I agreed.
By this time it was cold.
When I asked for it to be warmed, I was told it would take 20 minutes, as they were 'busy'.

Oddly enough, when I went to walk out they were suddenly so unbusy that all three of them (waitress, waiter and manager) could attend to my bill.

I explain it every time. I tell them I am allergic to bread and that even a crumb will make me sick, so they need to wash their hands, and the grill the meat is cooked on, and the prep area, and that my food can never ever touch anything that has flour. That's why I go to the same place, the same time, the same day of the week, all the time, it's easier once they know me for them not to think I am a whack job.

I think that's the point where it actually becomes *easier* to kill with you tiny breadcrumbs than even try to get your order right.

To be honest, I just think you are stuck in your "pity party" mode and want to complain. Get a grip.....there are a lot more people out there that are far worse of then you.

Pocket the $100 next time and go get your teeth fixed? :eek:

maybe you don't understand the point of my blog.....whatever, anyway. I am not in the middle of my pity party, I rant on there, that's how I get rid of stress. I never complain IRL, until things get so ridiculous that I have to.

I think that's the point where it actually becomes *easier* to kill with you tiny breadcrumbs than even try to get your order right.

it probably is. I guess, according to most in this thread, I should give up on going out of the house. I am sure CanukHeaven would be happy, I mean I wouldn't ever have anything to have a "pity party" about.

For a 50% tip, I'd come in on my day off, or hacking up a lung (back when I did that for a living) before I'd let anyone else near you. ;)

Around here 25% is considered a "normal" tip. If you want the waiter or waitress to remember who you are, and really make things nice, it has to be around 50%.

I recommend that people tip heavily, and try to get the same waitperson, because otherwise, you don't know what you're eating.

WFT is Shop-Rite? and why can't they spell their own name correctly?

Oy vey...

Bad customers...bad customers...lets name one from the many I have served at work.

Okay I work on a meat counter in a local superstore where I prepare and seel the meat. One night a customer comes into me and says I would like a 500g (roughly 1lb) of rump steak. Now the smallets cuts that can possibly be cut that are worth selling are over a kilo and about 1/2 an inch thick. It is basically impossible to cut anything smaller without risking serious injury to yourself. This is the following convo:

Me: I'm sorry but we're not allowed to cut things that small as it is dangerous. I can offer you this steak here (points to smallest steak on the counter)

Her: No I want a 500g steak but I want it thick.


Me: Well even a thin steak weighs about a kilo so a thick 500g steak isn't really possible to cut.

Her: Have you even had any butchers training?! I used to work for the British Meat Standards Agency and also on a meat counter! (Here I could tell she was lying)

I'm thinking well if you worked oon a meat counter then you'd fucking know it was impossible. Luckily my manager appeared:

Her: This man here won't cut the meat how I want it.

I explain to manager the situation:

Manager: He isn't allowed to cut meat thea small as the rest would be worthless and it is also very dangerous.

Her: Fine! I'll go somewhere else.

Yes, I think the Japanese represent the other side of the spectrum - that which overcompensates. I shudder to imagine what their clothing salespersons must be like.

But what are they overcompensating for?? HAHAHAHA ZING!

One time in a restaurant friends and me had to wait at least an hour before the waitress even took our order and then another before we got our food.
We'd been there a year before, with a guitar and singing songs the entire evening, eventually all other guests were singing with us so that might had something to do with it.

maybe you don't understand the point of my blog.....whatever, anyway. I am not in the middle of my pity party, I rant on there, that's how I get rid of stress. I never complain IRL, until things get so ridiculous that I have to.

I was a waiter for a long time and a bartender and I think you have every right to expect, at a restaurant you've frequented with the same expectations every time, that they are quite capable of meeting your needs with the proper person managing the table. You didn't get that person this time. I would have spoken with the manager and asked that he ensure that not happen again. Had I been your server I would have expected to have been written up. Good service is a part of the experience and precisely why a service restaurant costs more than a fast-food restaurant.

Quite honestly, I worked with a few mentally-challenged individuals who were excellent servers. We weren't brain surgeons. The job simply requires an attention to detail and caring about your customer's experience. Given the reasoning behind your requests, it's clear this server was being completely unreasonable. You were only asking that she not endanger you.

The really bad customers are the Wed night and Sunday PM after church crowd. They go to church and get their sins forgiven so they have to go out and start over again. Then "tip" with a religious tract brochure on which they have written that the wait person is going to hell because they work Sundays.

The really bad customers are the Wed night and Sunday PM after church crowd. They go to church and get their sins forgiven so they have to go out and start over again. Then "tip" with a religious tract brochure on which they have written that the wait person is going to hell because they work Sundays.
Fuck, that is worse than what happens were I work.

The really bad customers are the Wed night and Sunday PM after church crowd. They go to church and get their sins forgiven so they have to go out and start over again. Then "tip" with a religious tract brochure on which they have written that the wait person is going to hell because they work Sundays.

I remember those, they were rushing around the hostess area trying to get a seat before anyone else, one person would leave church early and show up 5 minutes before lunch rush "I need a table for 16" :rolleyes:

The really bad customers are the Wed night and Sunday PM after church crowd. They go to church and get their sins forgiven so they have to go out and start over again. Then "tip" with a religious tract brochure on which they have written that the wait person is going to hell because they work Sundays.

Dear god, and I thought Indians were bad tippers. Hell, I KNOW Indians are bad tippers, and this still takes the cake.

Behold the awesome power of faith to make you a complete douchebag to people "beneath you."

Bad customers...bad customers...lets name one from the many I have served at work.

Okay I work on a meat counter in a local superstore where I prepare and seel the meat. One night a customer comes into me and says I would like a 500g (roughly 1lb) of rump steak. Now the smallets cuts that can possibly be cut that are worth selling are over a kilo and about 1/2 an inch thick. It is basically impossible to cut anything smaller without risking serious injury to yourself. This is the following convo:

Me: I'm sorry but we're not allowed to cut things that small as it is dangerous. I can offer you this steak here (points to smallest steak on the counter)

Her: No I want a 500g steak but I want it thick.


Me: Well even a thin steak weighs about a kilo so a thick 500g steak isn't really possible to cut.

Her: Have you even had any butchers training?! I used to work for the British Meat Standards Agency and also on a meat counter! (Here I could tell she was lying)

I'm thinking well if you worked oon a meat counter then you'd fucking know it was impossible. Luckily my manager appeared:

Her: This man here won't cut the meat how I want it.

I explain to manager the situation:

Manager: He isn't allowed to cut meat thea small as the rest would be worthless and it is also very dangerous.

Her: Fine! I'll go somewhere else.


you only sell meat in 1kg sizes?

geez i can go to my local grocery store and get beef sliced thin enough to make beef jerky out of.

you only sell meat in 1kg sizes?

geez i can go to my local grocery store and get beef sliced thin enough to make beef jerky out of.

Sliced isn't the same thing as cut, though. It seems sensible that you can only cut a certain minimum size of meat, for safety reasons, while slicing can be done easily with a machine.

Sliced isn't the same thing as cut, though. It seems sensible that you can only cut a certain minimum size of meat, for safety reasons, while slicing can be done easily with a machine.

i suppose but you walk into a store that sells meat that it has cut up itself and you make what would anywhere else be a totally reasonable request. when the guy behind the counter says he cant do it, i would, as she did, assume that he's a lying lazy sack of shit who cant be bothered to do what i asked.

i would have been astounded when the manager told me that they were indeed that lousy a store.

Dear god, and I thought Indians were bad tippers. Hell, I KNOW Indians are bad tippers, and this still takes the cake.

Behold the awesome power of faith to make you a complete douchebag to people "beneath you."

I worked as a waiter for a long time. It was a pretty common perception that black people, Europeans, Indans, Christians (particularly Baptists), rednecks and other groups were bad tippers. I find having these kinds of delusions is a sure way to lose money.

I find almost anyone can be a bad tipper and almost anyone can be a good tipper and like any other job you should have a pride in your work that drives you to do the best job possible at EVERY table.

I had a table come into Mountain Jack's when I was working there. For our town it was one of the better steak places. It was a woman who was dressed kind of cheaply, boobs pushed into her face, spandex pants, long dangly earings and a lot of very noticeable jewelry. Unusual for MJ's. Her husband was with her in dirty jeans, a t-shirt, boots and a cowboy hat. He had a dip in until he went in the bathroom to remove it. No one wanted to wait on them. They ended up getting two of our most expensive meals, several appetizers (in that order), our most expensive dessert and a bottle of Dom Perignon and a few beers. I treated them like I treat every table and because of that they got excited to be there and had a great time. I made an over 50% tip on a several hundred dollar table on a night where I made almost nothing else.

Another night we had a revival at the assembly hall acroos the street from the TGIF I worked at. We were almost closed when an entirely black, Baptist group came in. There were hardly any of us there so we were way understaffed for a full restaurant. Everyone was complaining about how we would be there all night and not make any money. I offered to take every table people would give me. I was honest with the tables telling them food was going to be terribly slow because they'd all come in together and because we had to reset up our line. I told them I would however ensure their drinks were ALWAYS full and that their food would be hot when it finally arrived. I waited on nearly a third of the restaurant last night and my tables were the last ones out. They got slow service, but I was honest and their drinks were always full and their food was hot when they got it. I made a small fortune when everyone else went home with almost nothing. I finished the night with a higher 25% tip average.

Prejudices are only a benefit to you when your safety is involved and it's necessary to not give people the benefit of the doubt. That's rarely the case when talking about waiting tables and they're usually wrong as often as they're right. For servers prejudices are simply going to take money out of your pockets.

Things I have learned from eating in resteraunts.

Rule #1 Never send food back. If it isn't right tell the waitress you are not paying for it and are leaving. If necessary ask for the manager.

Rule #2 If they make one mistake that you can live with, OK. If they make a second mistake, ask for the manager

Rule #3 If there is ever any doubt, refer to rule #1.

In Smun's case, the second mistake was time to ask for the manager and insist on another server.

i suppose but you walk into a store that sells meat that it has cut up itself and you make what would anywhere else be a totally reasonable request. when the guy behind the counter says he cant do it, i would, as she did, assume that he's a lying lazy sack of shit who cant be bothered to do what i asked.

i would have been astounded when the manager told me that they were indeed that lousy a store.

From what I understand of what he's saying, it's not the norm for any butcher shop in that area to cut meat that fine. I've seen the meat cutters they have there, essentially they're like the power saws used to cut wood planks with. Making it smaller than 1kg's worth would have resulted in lost thumbs.

Whereas if you use a butcher's knife to slice it, that's a different story. The problem was with how the lady worded her request.

Afterwards, the couple had a little chat with the manager. The guy was fired the same day. :p

Yeah, I can't understand why with the great service he gave. How FIENDISH of them. :D

From what I understand of what he's saying, it's not the norm for any butcher shop in that area to cut meat that fine. I've seen the meat cutters they have there, essentially they're like the power saws used to cut wood planks with. Making it smaller than 1kg's worth would have resulted in lost thumbs.

Whereas if you use a butcher's knife to slice it, that's a different story. The problem was with how the lady worded her request.

there isnt much sense in talking about lousy meat policy. i suppose its because it was a superstore and they dont cater to customers

the point that goes with the topic is that its sometimes hard to tell if the person you are dealing with is being a lying lazy sack of shit or if they are telling you the truth about the substandard policies of the place they work at. many of the people who deal with the public are the victims of the lousy policies of their employers. they catch the ration of shit that should rightfully go to the management that decided the policy.

To be honest, I just think you are stuck in your "pity party" mode and want to complain. Get a grip.....there are a lot more people out there that are far worse of then you.

Pocket the $100 next time and go get your teeth fixed? :eek:

Obviously you don't understand food allergies that can kill you. My wife oredered a patty melt sanwich with white bread. When it came, it was on rye and she is highly alergic to rye bread. We sent the sandwich back (mistsake #1) and when it came it was on white bread as requested. My wife took one bite and said, "There is rye bread in here." She pealed the sandwich apart and sure enough between the two slices of white bread there was the meat, the melted cheese, and one slice of rye bread. Things got very ugly after that.

Obviously you don't understand food allergies that can kill you. My wife oredered a patty melt sanwich with white bread. When it came, it was on rye and she is highly alergic to rye bread. We sent the sandwich back (mistsake #1) and when it came it was on white bread as requested. My wife took one bite and said, "There is rye bread in here." She pealed the sandwich apart and sure enough between the two slices of white bread there was the meat, the melted cheese, and one slice of rye bread. Things got very ugly after that.

If any nut product is in anything my mother consumes, she has to use an epi-pen or get to the hospital, because her airway and throat close up. She could die within about ten minutes if she gets no treatment -- and let me tell you, having witnessed a few near misses AFTER asking what's in the food and TELLING that any nuts could kill her -- it's not a joke.

When planning my wedding reception, it will be in every contract we have for food service, both for the cake and the wedding food: no nut products whatsoever.

Sliced isn't the same thing as cut, though. It seems sensible that you can only cut a certain minimum size of meat, for safety reasons, while slicing can be done easily with a machine.

I can buy a hand cut 1/2 lb peice of meat at my local grocery store. The person who cuts it is a butcher and is trained to cut meat.

My old room mate has the nut allergy that bad. Keeps his epi-pen handy at all times when we go out to eat.

My allergy thankfully is still at the "throat only partially closing" phase. Severe discomfort, but I have yet to have serious risk of injury from it.

Be careful -- it tends to get worse with each exposure to the allergy trigger.

If any nut product is in anything my mother consumes, she has to use an epi-pen or get to the hospital, because her airway and throat close up. She could die within about ten minutes if she gets no treatment -- and let me tell you, having witnessed a few near misses AFTER asking what's in the food and TELLING that any nuts could kill her -- it's not a joke.

When planning my wedding reception, it will be in every contract we have for food service, both for the cake and the wedding food: no nut products whatsoever.

My old room mate has the nut allergy that bad. Keeps his epi-pen handy at all times when we go out to eat.

My allergy thankfully is still at the "throat only partially closing" phase. Severe discomfort, but I have yet to have serious risk of injury from it.