Unfiltered Story #218505

(I just recently started a job at a 50’s themed diner, it’s my first customer service job, so I’m still getting a handle on how the ordering system works, but this was just ridiculous. A customer comes in and sits down, she is my table so I go to take her order, she’s a very sweet lady, telling me about how she used to take her son here when he was younger. Also note, the current owner bought the place years ago from the original owner, but we just recently changed the menu.)

Customer: I’ll have the hotdog, but just chili and onions.

Me: Alright your order will be right out.

*I go to put her order in the system, writing no junk, just chili and cheese. I didn’t realize the mistake I made. I go check on my other table, who have been bery sweet this whole time. Then, I go back to her to see if she wants a refill, and she keeps me there, talking to me for a while, I think it’s sweet, she reminded me of my grandmother. I here the chefs bell ding and see her order is ready.*

Me: Oh, it looks like your order is ready ma’am, let me go get that for you.

Customer: *All smiles* Alright.

*I go grab the plate, and bring it right out to her*

Customer: I ordered this with just chili and onions.

Me: *Just now realizing my mistake* Oh I am so sorry ma’am that is absolutely my fault, would you like me to take it back for you? *I have to ask this because we aren’t supposed to take it back if the customer doesn’t tell us too*

Customer: I don’t like cheese!

Me: OK, would you like me to take it back?

Customer: I don’t like cheese!

Me: *Realizing she’s not going to outright tell me to take it back* Alright ma’am, I’ll just take that back for you.

*I go to the chefs and tell them it was my screw up not theirs, and ask them to change it to what she asked. I watched them scrap the whole thing and make an entirely new hotdog with chili and onions, I take it back to the table, appologize profusely for my mistake, she says its alright and starts eating. I leave to go check on my other table, then go wrap silverware. While I’m wrapping the silverware, I see the customer come up*

Customer: Excuse me, I hat e to tell you this, but the weenie is cold.

Me: *knowing it couldn’t be because I saw the chefs deep fry it themselves* Oh, I’m so sorry about that ma’am is there anything I can do to help?

Customer: No, I just thought I’d tell you, I’m very dissapointed.

*She goes back to her table. About ten minutes have passed before she comes back up to the counter*

Customer: Excuse me, I forgot to tell you, but the chili is cold too.

Me: Oh, goodness, I’m so sorry ma’am, what can I do to help you?

Customer: Can I speak to your manager?

Me: Of course ma’am.

*We don’t actually have managers at our diner, just supervisors and the owner who happened to be there at the time. So, I went and got him.*

Me: [Owner] there’s a lqdy out there who wants to talk to you. *I explain to him what happened*

Owner: Has she eaten any more of the hotdog?

Me: Yes she’s eaten almost all of it.

Owner: *Very obviously not wanting to deal with this right now because he’s busy* Just tell her her meal is free.

Me: Ok

*I go back to the womans table and see that she has eaten the entire hotdog*

Me: Ma’am, again I’m so sorry about the mix-up, but the owner can’t come out to talk to you because he’s very busy, but, he’s given me permission to give you your meal for free.

Customer: Well that’s all good, but I’d still like to speak to him.

Me: Alright, let me see if I can go get him out here.

*I go back again, talk to the owner he still can’t get out here to speak to her, so I go back and tell her he can’t come out, she says fine, and proceeds to sit there for another 30 minutes. She eventually gets up and comes to the cash register.*

Me: Don’t worry about it ma’am, your meal is free.

Customer: I know, I just wanted to say, I’m very dissapointed in this place, and I don’t have time to wait for the owner any more.

Me: I’m sorry ma’am I thought I’d told you before that he was unable to come out to talk to you.

Customer: Yeah, but if he can’t make the time to come out and talk to his customers then clearly he doesn’t actually care about us.

*At this point one of my coworkers, who I’d been explaining the story to while it was happening, comes up to listen to the customer talking, she doesn’t say anything, just listens.*

Customer: You know, it’s so dissapointing, when I would come here with my son, we never got bad service like this, it must be the new generation.

Me: Actually ma’am the new owner isn’t part of the original family, he bought the company a few years ago. *He’s also around the same age as the original owner, not exactly “millenial” material.

Customer: Oh well, it must be because he’s young, all of you young people don’t know what you’re doing. I’m very dissapointed.

*She then walks out, and I turned to my coworker, wondering what she’d say*

Coworker: Wow, that was weird, don’t worry though, I know theres no way the hotdog could’ve been cold, they have to deep fry it, and the chili is always kept warm specifically so something like this wouldn’t happen. She was probably just riding your mistake to get a free meal.

(And that was my first “Can I speak to your manager?” experience.)