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The Audacity of Hopeless Humans
By: Patrick Maguire
Book Chapter: Customer Hall of Shame
Posted: 11/9/2010
Of Moxie and Men
I’m not the only one who thinks that the epidemic of ‘entitlemania’ is raging out of control. The last post about the customer requesting a gift certificate for the doggie bag left behind generated 3,479 hits to the website on Friday alone. Thanks to the folks behind The Consumerist, Universal Hub, MC Slim JB and everyone who shared the link and commented on the post.
Denouncing entitlement and arrogance is one of the primary objectives of the blog and book project. The overwhelming, passionate responses from readers indicate that people are sick and tired of witnessing boorish behavior from fellow human beings.
Well, it gets better…
On Saturday night, I joined some friends for dinner at one of Boston’s best steak houses. The food and service were tremendous, as always. After acknowledging the doggie bag post, our server shared a story of his own.
A customer who allegedly lost a gift card worth 150 dollars called the restaurant to share his misfortune. The staff tried to no avail to track down the purchaser of the gift card to cancel it and issue a replacement. After considering the options, and identifying the gentleman as a previous customer, the manager invited him in to dine on the house. The guest accepted the offer, came to the restaurant and ran up a bill of $100. When the customer received the check, the manager told him, as promised, that the meal was complimentary.
What happened next boggles the mind.
Instead of expressing gratitude, the guest requested an additional 50 dollars to make up for the difference between his meal and the original gift card amount!! The manager politely explained that the gratis meal was a good faith gesture to the customer who conceded that HE lost the card and someone could still try to redeem it.
Well, as the old expression goes, You can’t win for losing. Despite the manager’s best efforts to work with the customer and ameliorate the situation, the ‘gentleman’ left enraged and has never returned. You really can’t make this shit up.
Do you still think the customer is always right?
Please keep the stories, comments and emails coming.
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32 Responses to “The Audacity of Hopeless Humans”
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Permalink | Posted in Customer Hall of Shame | 32 Comments »
Thanks for posting this. How crass of the customer! Sadly I bet he didn’t tip!
“…the ‘gentleman’ left enraged and has never returned.”
Then you’re all set! No more shitbag customer!
Scary that the outcome of that story was predictable. These creeps who do this are just that. Creeps. I am sorry for the manager making such a great effort for someone who he thought was a good customer. I hope he has some peace of mind knowing nothing was going to be enough for this guy and he really went beyond what most restaurants would ever do.
You’ve got to be joking. This is the kind of stuff that just boggles the mind..a sense of entitlement for sure..but in my opinion just plain rude..I wouldn’t want this guy back.
While these stories can be entertaining, the mis-use of “The Customer is ALWAYS Right” never ceases to amaze me. (Was it Walmart’s founder who said, “The customer may be King, but he’s NOT always right.”) I recently heard this story: A couple recently dined at a family owned Brazilian restaurant, I believe in Cambridge or Somerville. The woman questioned if the black-bean soup was vegetarian. The server answered that it was not (it was served with crumbled bacon on top, not mixed in), but that it could be prepared vegetarian. The customer responded, “okay, I’ll have that.” Whether the server knew she wanted it vegetarian and made a mistake, or thought she was ordering it as usually prepared is unknown, but the soup was brought to the table with chopped scallions and bacon on top. The customer didn’t look, took a big spoonful, realized she’d eaten bacon, and proceeded to run to the restroom to throw up. While she was doing that, her boyfriend proceeded to completely finish his own meal, and the remainder of her meal (including the bowl of soup). When she emerged from the restroom, she loudly bitched out the server. The owner arrived and tried to appease her, and they gave the couple the entire meal (which was substantial) on the house. She seemed satisfied and left. The next day, she called the restaurant and demanded, “What are you going to do for me?” The owner explained they had paid for the entire meal, that the boyfriend had thoroughly enjoyed. A week later, they receive a letter in the mail. She’s suing them over one spoonful of soup.
This is obviously insane, but in no way surprises me. There is literally nothing a customer could do that would surprise me anymore.
OT: I’d be curious to hear about how most restaurants deal with customers who show up at the door before you’re opened and set up, then stand there expecting to be let in and given service. Seen this quite a bit recently.
Never to return, I fear not. He’ll return to use the gift cert. that he thought he lost and hadn’t. Without a word of apology of course.
customer got drunk on several bottles of chateau margaux. staggered in shirtsleeves to the toilet. fell against a handrail and got the handrail end knob caught in his trouser pocket. successfully sued for new trousers. is there no end to the brazen ?
It’s quite funny that this all happened this past weekend… I work at one of the best steakhouses and once I got the last post regarding the doggie bag, I shared with everyone at the restaurant… on that very same day, I waited on this couple and here is the final tally:
– 30 minutes to order
– $ 30 bottle of Merlot (which she described as “one of the best” she ever had)???
– 7 servings of butter
– 3 baskets of bread + half loaf of bread to take home
– full cup of shaved cheese because she likes to add on her salad
– beautiful cut of 14 oz sirloin, dry aged that the husband had a third and thought that was too tough so we cook another 10 oz filet for something “more tender”
– basket of truffle fries (which they had half) but didn’t liked…? we get them another side of mashed potatoes that they didn’t touch but requested to take home
– 2 orders of asparagus – the first 1/2 order was “too hard” and the other full order was taken home
– free dessert because was her husband’s birthday
– with 3 hours on the table, I was bringing the check and she told me that at the point she just want to “relax” and maybe later she would have her dessert
– 4 hours dinner, we comp the husband steak, the sides and the check came down to $120
– she paid with $ 200 gift card and she mention that she would leave a “very nice tip” because the service was “exceptional”
– once I brought back the gift card receipt, she put $25 tip on that and ask me if I could bring the “balance” back in cash because she’d leave town on the weekend ???
And I still have friends that mention that my job is easy…
That was a great food faith gesture on the manager’s part and shameful of the customer’s part.
On the question asked……
Personally I don’t think the customer is always right but they are never wrong. Meeting a guest where they are and then guiding the guest and the establishment into a win-win situation is great mamangement. Most of the time this can be done. A guest could have completely incorrect info (i used to work for a steakhouse that had another steakhouse next door. Guests frequently got the two places confused. In the guest eyes they had been in my place but in reality they were next door. My job was to meet them as I said and create a win-win.
The entitlement and arrogance is incredible. Having the customer walk away is a bonus…the only problem is that the customer will pass along negative remarks far and wide. And it is almost always true the negative remark has a farther reaching audience than the postive remarks.
No good deed goes unpunished. Sad commentary on humanity. Good people, however, keep doing the good deeds despite the punishment. At some point the unentitled will inherit the earth!
Personally, I like the positive “human to human” stories better!
Not surprised. So wrong. And to Ed, I’m sorry guy. I’ve had that customer before and will probably have them again. to all you awesome Servers, Just keep doing the good that you do. It’s tough, but for the most part I really love my job.
That guest was so pathetic! The house performed to perfection, over and beyond the call of duty. It shall come back to them 1000 fold! Of that you can be sure!
Ciao,
Pen
Way back as a 17 year old rookie it was obvious to me that the “customer is always right” theory was BS. NOBODY can ever be ALWAYS right. It is this very policy that produces the douchebags we see everyday. SPARE THE ROD, SPOIL THE CHILD!!!!
Wow….
Wow…some people are just so ungrateful! He’s lucky that he had the complimentary $100 dinner. There are A LOT of places that wouldn’t have given him anything.
It is an unfortunate reality that in our business of true customer service (so many other businesses have no idea what “customer service” means), when we provide professional customer service, the parasites of society show up at the door. It is our true desire to serve and please the customer. But if after we have gone way above and beyond what even that person would do for others… if they then complain at that point, then f__k off, there’s door, get the hell out.
I’ve been in the business for 20 years now….too many stories to tell! At this point, the customer is always “drunk,” not right! LOL
After nearly 40 years in this business I’m scarcely surprised but this one was ridiculous by any standard.
I have worked as a barista in a coffee bar in Portland Oregon, as a barman in London, and as front line tech support for a software company and dealt with BIG customers in telco. The customer is ALWAYS right. But often misguided, misinformed, and missing the point entirely.
So many restaurant people are nagged by the “bad word of mouth” potential in refusing cheapies and scammers their every whim. What one must realize is that people who are so extremely money-grubbing have two kinds of friends/acquaintances: others who’re just as entitled and outrageous as them (you don’t want any of these people eating away at your margin) and people who have a more realistic outlook on life and therefore don’t pay attention to their complaints.
Remember, there’re people who go out frequently and complain every single time, no matter how far you bend over backward for them. Let ’em patronize the corporate chains, where comp is a way of life for the smallest complaint and only the shareholders suffer the loss.
Those who believe the customer is always right must also be mindful of the fact that a complainer, particularly one who’s outspoken or loud, will impact the experience of other parties nearby their table. Suffice it to say I believe there’re just some customers that a restaurant’s better off without.
Yelp.com recently published a review of a restaurant in our area. The “reviewer” admitted that the food was fabulous, the service impeccable and the ambience lovely. Why, then, one star? ‘Cause this reviewer said that all the lobster she wanted to take home wasn’t in her doggie bag. The server, when contacted by the customer on the phone, apologized, and I think the MOD apologized.
The jury’s still out on whether or not scars on one’s Yelp rating cause serious damage to a restaurant’s bottom line. But I find it troublesome that Yelp provides a vehicle for hysterical customers to reap revenge on a place that won’t put up with entitled behavior. Kudos to Yelp, by the way, for the way the filters work — single-experience one-star and five-star reviews are filed and don’t affect the average.
Big Paulie- Once again, your insightful perspective is greatly appreciated. There have been countless times when I have been dining at a restaurant or a bar at a restaurant, and witnessed abusive, obnoxious behavior that was tolerated by management because they wanted to appease the guest. It’s wrong to allow it. A lot of managers and owners don’t have the backbone and/or experience to know that the ‘collateral damage’ caused by a horrible guest can have a huge detrimental ‘ripple effect’ on their business.
So many times I just sit in wonder with so many stories that occur in our (beloved) industry. I commend the Management team of that particular establishment for doing “The right thing”, and espress my sympathy to them of the negative outcome. After working in this industry for well over 20 years.. nothing ceases to amaze me.
It never surprises me that people will go out of their way to help another person only to end up being slapped in the face with unreasonable demands when the situation should have been in a reasonable persons mind resolved with gratitude on the customers part. The
manager in this story went beyond duty and it’s commendable to have such good faith towards the guest. I have a million bad customer stories I hope that we touch on other subjects I would love to add to this.
As a customer service advocate I think we have to be careful not to allow these less than desirable situations to cause us to become cynical. I refer to it as the 2% factor. Two percent of all humans are “unsatifiable” (if that’s a word). I believe this to be the case in all walks of life. You could have bought this guy a Mercedes and sent him on a trip to Hawaii and he would have questioned your choice of airline and why it wasn’t a BMW! In a past life we actually tried to teach our people how to deal with “unsatifiable” customers and it backfired. Managers started to assume customers were in that 2% who in reality were not. It became a license for some managers to deal inappropriately with good customers. This may not be a popular opinion, but at the end of the day, dealing with these situations “comes with the terrritory”. From my perspective 2% of your customers are not right. The other 98% are. Obviously I pulled these percentages out of thin air but it’s not about the percentages it’s about keeping things in perspective.
I work at one of the top steak houses in town, and have never seen this scam before. This was two weeks ago.
A party of two rings up a bill of $198.00 at their table, nice wine, good service, and wants to pay with a $200 gift card. The card is refused as payment at the computer, as it has a zero balance on it. So… a phone call is made to the corporate office, out of state to either verify, or correct the problem. Turns out that the “gift card” holder had ordered the card on-line, and once it had been received in the mail, two months previously, canceled payment on it via the credit card that it had been charged on. The restaurant, in turn, voided the code bar on the gift card, rendering it worthless. The date of purchase, on-line, as well as the date of cancelation, including the customer’s name was then printed out in the office. Once it was verified that the card holder was indeed, the customer at the table, another form of payment was requested. They were well dressed, doggie bags in hand, and pretending that they hadn’t a clue regarding the situation when it was all there in black and white, hot off the press, in front of them. Rather than calling the police (may have been a good idea), the G.M. let them walk away, doggie bags in hand. The waiter as well as the valet parking attendent were stiffed, needless to say. This is a new one on me, no less a crime than passing couterfeit bills, but for the sake of not causing a scene, this well dressed middle-aged couple schemed us for a free evening out, with no shame, what-so-ever.
we get a few people like this at my work… last cup day had a large group walk into the restaurant relatively intoxicated, so we told them that they would not be getting any alcohol until their meals arrived when we would reassess the situation. there was instant bitching and moaning, but they sat down and ordered their meals. meals come out, and one woman in group asks for a wine list. almost immediately says “well this wine list is shit. and far too over-priced. we won’t be drinking here” to which im thinking, sweet, gives you a chance to sober up. meals come out, 30 seconds later we get a click from the same woman complaining her meal was not presented in the way she wanted, and she didnt want to look at a meal she didnt order. it was explained to said customer that each restaurant has its own interpretation of that meal, and this was ours. she didnt accept that explanation so my manager said “fine, i’ll take it away” to which she said, “oh no! i’ll eat it!” (i love my manager’s reply to that statement) “nope. we wouldnt want you to look at something you didnt order” and walked off. it was brilliant.
more recently was the guy who paid for $1500 of meals for a function before being told by a friend that everyone was supposed to pay separately. he then proceeds to demand a cash refund from the manager and when we count out the safe and the till and realise that we dont have that much in any kind of cash he says “give me the refund, or i’ll just call the bank and cancel the transaction. then youre fucked”
we were shocked at the instant turn around from what had been a lovely customer. it ended with all his friends paid him the price of their meals in cash.. not quite sure why the hell they couldnt have done that to start with and saved us the 40 minutes of stress.
Craziness. I don’t have a story like that but I just cannot wrap my mind around the ingratitude of many many human beings (especially Americans obviously) who could use a serious head check and some history lessons.
Intelligent folks know that unhappy people have always taken out their frustrations about their own shortcomings on others they see as lower on the ladder of success. Perspective is relative, and if those folks who twist with pain when faced with a situation they should take a moment longer to appreciate actually did, there would be an over abundance of love and successful businesses.
Also, people who like to go to restaurants (hotels, etc.) for the sake of stepping on someone’s face need to stay home, learn how to cook and stop needing their mommies so damn bad.
Love this blog, p.s.!
My lesson comes from Westword’s annual Best of Denver list in the early 90’s. The paper posted the best Italian restaurant and then gave credit to “reader’s choice”, that being The Olive Garden. Now the Olive Garden is not bad, though there might be some discussion on that point, but it is not the best Italian restaurant in Denver, then or now. From that point on I knew the customer was not always right. So Chris #10 in my mind the customer can be wrong.
Off topic, for the bored I have new posts for the fall.
I used to manage a homeless shelter for the Salvation Army, and as you know they have a free meal/soup kitchen.I have had homeless people complain about the food. I have also heard them tell each other what the other soup kitchen was having and decide to go to the other one.Some of the new staff members like myself were shocked and we could not figure out the level of ingratitude. Then we figured it out,,,these people had been given so much for free that they felt entitled. Entitlement(EGO) is the problem