We have a man come into the pub every day and order a house whiskey. He’ll usually have two or three of these and then head on home. As with many of my regulars, I can have their drinks on the bar as soon as they walk through the door.
One particular day, I am busy and working alone behind the bar. [Regular] enters whilst I am serving a party of four and have another two people waiting. I smile politely and greet him.
Me: “I’ll be with you soon.”
When I have rung up the order for the party of four, I promptly move on to the next person. [Regular] coughs.
Regular: “Ahem. Where is mine?”
Me: “I will be as quick as I can. I just need to sort out these people’s drinks.”
Regular: *Shouting* “Is this how you look after loyal regulars?! You’re appalling at your job! Where’s your manager?”
I kept my cool and continued serving the customer who had at this point offered to wait if I wanted to serve [Regular] first, but out of principle, I wouldn’t back down.
I finished their order and grabbed the phone, dialling the number of the owner of the pub. I explained to [Regular] that I was ringing the manager for him.
When she answered, I briefly explained what had happened and passed the phone along to [Regular]. Whilst he was on the phone with [Owner], I prepared his drink and placed it before him.
Now, I can’t be sure what the phone call actually consisted of, but I know he wasn’t happy, so he took his glass of whiskey and walked out of the building, without payment.
He got barred from entering the establishment again and proceeded to spread the rumour around our little village that I was an abusive member of staff who made threats towards him.
Luckily, we have CCTV in the pub, which proved that I had done nothing wrong, but I am glad that I won’t have to serve him again!