“About eight years ago, I was starting a new job. I needed it. I had been laid off of a very good paying job about a year earlier and was working an ‘in-between job’ to get by until something better came along and this was it. I’m just a waiter but as anyone who works in the service industry knows not all serving jobs are alike. In the right place, I can bring home over a grand over the course of four nights.
Anyway, as the new guy, I was given the task of opening up the restaurant. This meant arranging tables and setting them up, stocking the bar and waiters station, counting the register, confirming reservations for the day. As I was new and still figuring out where things were and went, I came in about half an hour early to get ready for our 11:30 opening.
Before anyone else on staff showed up to work, a loud knock comes from our locked front door. I go to see who’s there and two elderly women want to come in and be seated for service. I told them we opened for service at 11:30 and they weren’t having it. They wanted to be seated NOW, they have a Groupon which was set to expire and they demanded service. They insisted our website stated we open at 10:30. Told them we couldn’t have people in the restaurant while we were setting up but we’d be happy to take care of them when we open. They demanded to speak to a manager, told them I was the only one here, then they asked me if I was a manager.
I said no and they replied with, ‘You look too stupid to be a manager.’
They then proceeded to seat themselves in our outdoor patio area. Fine. They were out of my way I could proceed with my tasks, except they decided to start calling the restaurant. The phone would ring, I would go over to pick it up, they would swear at me, hang up and then do it again. After the third or fourth time, I just let the phone ring, and the other old lady got up and just started pounding on the door to be let in while the other was on the phone letting it ring.
Mind you, even if I did let them in the cooks weren’t even in to start their own setup and prep.
At this point, the other waiter on schedule showed up and asked what’s going on. I explain he goes out to tell them the same things I did and they gave him the same work over treatment of yelling, demands, and insults. How dare we deny them service. We’re going to get fired, they’re going to have our jobs.
Then 11:30 rolled around, the kitchen was up and ready for service, we’re up and ready for service. The two old ladies barge in and shove their Groupon coupon in my co-worker’s face to which he replies ‘Ma’am. Our establishment does not accept Groupons. If you had read the name and address of the restaurant the Groupon is attached to and compared it to the name of our restaurant on the front door you’ve been pounding on for the past hour you would have discovered you are at the wrong restaurant.’
They slinked off.
Doesn’t end there. They went onto Zagat and posted a review about as long as this post over what a horrible restaurant experience they had, we were infested with rats, the place was filthy and we should all be fired and shut down.”
