I work at a Chinese restaurant as a host. I mostly take orders for takeout on the phone and seat guests. On weekdays, we have a lunch special where the meal comes with fried rice instead of steamed, soup, and an eggroll or wontons. The number of people looking at the menu, which lists all these options, and asking me what comes with the special is astonishing, but this customer takes the cake.

Customer: “Hi, I’d like to order takeout.”

Me: “Sure, what can I get you?”

Customer: “Can I get [meal]?”

Me: “Of course. Would you like that as a dinner entree or the lunch special?”

Customer: “Oh, what’s the difference?”

Me: “The entree comes with a larger portion of the meal with steamed rice. The special comes with a smaller portion, fried rice, a choice of an eggroll or wontons, and a choice of soup.”

Customer: “Okay, I’ll take the lunch special.”

Me: “What would you like with that?”

Customer: “What do you mean?”

Me: “Would you like an eggroll or wontons?”

Customer: “Oh, I didn’t know it came with that. I’ll take an eggroll.”

Me: “And what kind of soup?”

Customer: “Oh, it comes with soup? I didn’t know it came with that.”

Me: “…”

Related:
No Soup For You!, Part 3
No Soup For You!, Part 2
No Soup For You!

I’m a server at a restaurant in a larger city. A lot of streets in our city are under construction, and all of the detours can make it somewhat difficult for customers to figure out how to get into our parking lot.

One day, a group of adults gets seated in my area. I bring them their menus.

Customer: “We’re waiting on one more person to join us; he’s driving himself and didn’t know where to go with all of the construction.”

I bring the group their drinks and take their orders.

Me: “Would you like me to wait for your friend and take his order when he arrives so he can have hot food?”

Customer: “No, we’ll just give you his order now so he can just sit down and eat instead of having to wait for his food to be cooked.”

Twenty minutes later, the man still hasn’t arrived.

Me: “Would you like me to take his food back to the kitchen to be remade since it’s probably getting cold by now?”

Customer: “He’s really close, and he’s not picky, so he’ll eat it anyway.”

Ten minutes after THAT, the man finally arrives and joins the group at the table… only to take one bite of his food, and ask:

Late Customer: *Very politely* “Can I please have my meal remade? It’s getting cold.”

I brought him his fresh food, and the other people tried to convince him to eat as fast as possible so they could get on with whatever they were doing that day. After he took a few bites, the group got fed up waiting, and walked out… without paying for anything.

I felt so sorry for him that I offered to get him a free dessert because they had been so rude to him. He declined and just said that he was used to that kind of behavior from them. He took the time to properly enjoy his meal, was perfectly friendly and polite the entire time, and left a good tip even after they stuck him with the entire bill.

I don’t know who any of the people were, or how this man knew them, but they certainly don’t deserve someone like him in their lives.

The restaurant I work at is a “test market” where we won’t get certain items that others of the same chain would get. A man comes in, reading from his phone, ordering for his family.

Customer: “I’ll take a Toasted Tuscan—”

Me: “Oh, I’m sorry, we don’t have that. We’re part of a test market and that item did not return to this location.”

Customer: “My daughter looked at the website; you do have it.”

Me: “Did she look at the general website or the one for this location? We don’t make the tomato confit, but we can substitute it with regular tomatoes.”

Customer: *Now yelling* “No, you do have it! It’s on your website!”

Me: “I’m sorry, but we’re part of a test market and we didn’t get a lot of items returning.”

My general manager hears him yelling from the production line and comes over.

General Manager: “What seems to be the problem?”

Customer: “She said you don’t have the sandwich, but it’s on your website!”

General Manager: “We actually do not have it. It’s not on our website, but it’s on the general website. We are part of a test market, and as a result, we don’t have a lot of things on the general website. I can put some tomatoes in the oven but it’s not going to taste the same.”

He grumbles at us before walking to an empty table and calling his wife.

General Manager: *Whispering to me* “It’s just a sandwich.”

We can hear yelling coming from the other line since the table is on the other side of the bakery glass. A minute later, the customer returns with his face red and orders something different.

Customer: “My daughter was looking at the wrong website.”

My general manager smiles and walks back to the production line. Once I’ve finished the customer’s order and give him his receipt, he drops $2 in the tip jar. 

Customer: “I’m sorry. My wife yelled at me and said I need to tip you because it wasn’t your fault. She said you’re just a worker and our daughter should’ve been on your website.”

I was with the chain for over two years and he was the only customer to admit they were wrong, let alone apologize.

I have six women sitting at a table for lunch celebrating one lady’s birthday. They are super demanding, dismissive, and condescending, and they basically have me running around all shift.

Lady: *Demanding* “You need to split our check by seat, and then divide [Birthday Lady]’s bill onto all our tabs so she doesn’t have to pay.”

It’s not super hard, but it’s time-consuming and kind of a hassle to swipe cards or make change for five different tabs.

In the end, I only make about 10% in tips off of the table. They all leave. I’m a bit upset about being treated like crap and not even being paid well for it. All of a sudden, the birthday lady walks up to me at the door of the kitchen and hands me $20.

Birthday Lady: *Smiling* “I know how they can be. Thanks.”

Faith in humanity restored!

My area is under a weather advisory. I worked late and couldn’t get to the grocery store, and after clearing the driveway, neither my wife nor I want to cook. We figure the roads are good enough to order delivery and tip generously. Then, I get a call from the delivery company.

Employee: “I’m calling from [Company] to let you know that your driver has experienced an emergency and cannot fulfill the delivery. Would you like a refund or for someone else to be sent out?”

Me: “If the first driver had an emergency, how can I ask someone else to try? I’ll take a refund.”

Employee: “Don’t worry; there was no issue with your address. The driver just had an accident.”

I felt so terrible for the driver, but who says something like that as if it makes it okay? I wasn’t sure if he was just doing his script, so I didn’t want to chew him out. I just repeated that I wanted the refund because I couldn’t ask another person to try.