Getting Owned By The Owner, Part 27

I live in a little podunk town, situated along a highway. If you were to sneeze on your way past, closing your eyes for said sneeze would probably make you miss us entirely. We have exactly two chain restaurants, and the rest of the food places are owned by a local, with local employees. Our main source of business comes during the summer, when vacationers take advantage of our campgrounds.

Once I came of age, I applied to one of the local restaurants to work, and it was here that I got this story. Framed and hung on the walls within the employee area are two emails. Here they are, paraphrased.

Email #1:

“To the manager of this establishment,

“On [date] at [time], I came into your restaurant, where I was treated abominably by your staff. The girl at the counter was called [Employee], and she refused to serve me until every last other customer had been served and she could no longer ignore me.

“Then, when I tried to order, she got very snarky and disrespectful toward me and refused to type anything into the computer.

“When I told her that she was being disrespectful and that I wanted a manager, she told me that I could not talk to a manager, only to her, and she was not going to ‘put up with my nonsense,’ and she ordered me to leave. She then humiliated me in front of staff and customers alike by disparaging my intelligence.

“I expect you to take appropriate action against [Employee] for this kind of behavior.

“Signed, [Entitled Customer]”

Email #2:

“Dear [Entitled Customer],

“Allow me to correct several inaccuracies in your email, corroborated by our security cameras which caught the video and audio of the incident in question.

“On [date] and [time], our business was experiencing a rush due to an influx of vacationers coming to our little town. You entered our restaurant, walked past a long line of customers who were there before you, and pounded on our host stand with your fist, demanding to be seated before everyone else.

“The person at the counter, [Employee], is the Owner of our business and was pitching in to assist with the crowds. [Employee], the Owner, asked you to join the line and to wait your turn, offering you a menu to help you pick your selection while you waited. You refused to join the line, and you refused to take the menu, so the Owner served everyone else before you.

“When the crowd had thinned, you then ordered food from a [Well-Known Burger Chain], which we do not even have in our town. The nearest business of that chain is over forty-five miles down the highway. The Owner told you that you were in [Painfully Obviously A Mexican-Style Restaurant] and that we did not have anything on our menu that approximated food from [Well-Known Burger Chain].

“You looked the Owner in the eyes and said that you were the Owner’s Wife and that the Owner’s career would be over with a single phone call.

“You seemed to be very angry when the Owner laughed in your face and informed you that you were trying an extremely old and extremely common scam. The Owner then informed you that she was, in fact, the Owner of the business and that there was no one of higher authority for you to talk to. The Owner then told you that you were Wife #52, and that she also apparently had 47 husbands, 127 sisters, 76 brothers, and well over 200 miscellaneous family members, all of whom have tried scams similar to yours.

“You were told that you could take a menu and order from the available food we do actually serve, or you could take your nonsense elsewhere.

“You then claimed that the Owner was lying about being the Owner and asked if she thought you were stupid.

“The Owner replied that you should not ask questions if you do not want an honest answer and told you to leave if you were not going to behave like a civilized human being.

“As I, myself, am only a manager, I cannot and will not take any action against my own boss on your behalf. She has informed me that you are no longer welcome in our restaurant.

“As such, I will consider this matter closed.

“Sincerely, [Manager]”

I have watched the video in question, as the owner likes to share it with all new hires as part of the onboarding and as an example of how customers try to scam our business. The owner had over a hundred spouses of each gender, over two hundred siblings, and nearly a thousand random family members by the time I graduated from the community college and moved on to a job in my field. It’s amazing how many people come to little towns, where everyone knows everyone, and try to claim to be related to a business owner.

Related:
Owned By The Owner And They’re Not Even There
Getting Owned By The Owner, Part 26
Getting Owned By The Owner, Part 25
Getting Owned By The Owner, Part 24
Getting Owned By The Owner, Part 23