So I understand some people have been privileged and have never had to serve in a restaurant. For those of you who've come into a restaurant, never having been a server, do not act like you know the answers to how to run such a business.
Let me give a real life example. I had a gentlemen come in, and he was sat in my section. At this point in the day we were on what we like to call a "False Wait." This is when we put new guests on a wait because we are backed up in the kitchen, short staffed, or both. We do this because if we sat everyone right away customers would expect to be served when there is no one available to do so, or they would be adding to a BUTT load of tickets in the kitchen who already have too much to handle at the moment. (there are only so many things you can put on a grill, and so many friers to fry up the food!)
This man I got stuck with was sat and as soon as I got to his table he said "Why were we asked to wait when there are tables open?" So I VERY kindly replied "Because we are very backed up and if you were to be sat earlier we may not have been able to get to you right away. So we have you wait up front to keep from overloading the staff, or making you feel like you are being ignored." He decided my response was not good enough and rebutted with "But we could at least have been sat and given some drinks!!!" So I nicely restated myself and took their drink order.
Long story short he would have found a reason to complain either way! Had we sat him and he waited for me for more than 30 seconds, or if I had to say "Oh I know you're here but I wont be able to put your food in for another fifteen minutes," he would have been pissed that he was sat and not able to be taken care of... So it was a lose lose for myself. Good news was by the end of their visit the food was so good it put him in a better mood and they tipped me well over 20% of their bill.
So here is the lesson to learn from this. If you come into a restaurant and see open tables, but you are still asked to wait, DO NOT PUT UP A FUSS! There are aspects you do not see/understand beyond the fact there are open tables in the room!
On another note, TIPPING!!!! I had a table during this mess of an afternoon which was a table of six, and I kept getting sat with more tables as I was taking just their drink order. Also, to my luck, the lady at the table (Mother) had resting bitch face, meaning she seemed in quite the sour mood the entire time. They got all their food and drinks in a timely manor, with little waiting time between. (Might I add it was no secret I was busy, I WAS RUNNING AROUND..... like a chicken with my head cut off...) She mentions to me she had a free burger on their Royalty Card (hint hint for where I work) and asked if I could make sure it came off the bill. So I did that, and dropped of their bill and credit card, a WHOLE 10$ cheaper. When I got back to check my tip after they had left I was LIVID! The bill after the discount was 51 dollars... the lady left me five dollars and wrote (GREAT SERVICE! THANK YOU!) This my friends is what the service industry calls a "Verbal TIP" and they are NOT WELCOME! Tip me in money! You just saved ten dollars... NOW GIVE IT BACK!
LESSON: if you use coupons or get a discount, always tip on the amount before the discounts.... And tip on the service, not the food. If your server is rude and clearly not caring about your table then tip as you please, but we do not make your food or control how quickly it is cooked.
I hope I have enlighten those who were unaware of some inner workings of the service industry. If you learned nothing then I was at least able to complain about the stuff I put up with!
PPPS: If you are a server comment with some of your stories, I would love to hear about all the fun things happening in SERVERLIFE!
No comments:
Post a Comment