The man stomped back up to the host stand after a mere five minutes of him being sat. He asked us if he could speak with the manager, so we nicely stepped away to fetch our manager from the kitchen. She swiftly walked up to the host stand and with a friendly voice asked the man what she could do for him. Without any hesitation at all the man started screaming at our manager, making odd accusations about us not caring about our guests. She tried to calm him and get him away from the host stand so all our remaining waiting guests did not have to hear this belligerent man scream at the top of his lungs about nonsense. He refused as he questioned why we should care about the other guests if we did not care about him and his family. She finally got him away from the front door and he was demanding numbers. He wanted her number and our corporate manager's number. The best and easiest thing she could do was just give him what he wanted, the same thing that she taught us to do. He then decided to call the corporate manager right there on the spot. It was funny that he did not pick up the phone, but he angrily told us he was going to eat and if he did not get a phone call back in the next few days there was going to be hell to pay. Our corporate manager made us write letters of apology to this man, and inside the envelopes were coupons that allowed him to get a certain amount of free meals. We wanted so badly to yell and scream back at this man, but there was an unwritten rule that we knew held us from doing so. We knew if we did that we would be in heaps of trouble and could ultimately lead to us getting fired. It is hard to hold back your emotions some time, but when dealing with Customer Service it is part of the job.
I work in food service too and thank god we are able to vent inside the building and aren't so easy on people about getting free food. We have people drive off on orders, say they ordered things and try and get it free and have people just outright lie. The good thing is we always have a witness. We have people bring food back a week later saying it was cold just to get something for free. Or say they spoke with a manager with a name that we don't have in the store just to try and fabricate a story i totally feel your pain on this one and wish we were able to be more vocal because customers can be so rude.
ReplyDeleteI used to be a host also. I used to work at T.G.I. Friday's. And dealing with angry, unruly, rude customers was always a part of my daily routine. People get mad at the host maybe because they didn't like their seat or don't understand the personality of the host. Maybe he just wanted the free food, but life ain't free. And then they stomp around making sure everyone has their full attention while they make a fool out of themselves, you, the restaurant, and the managers. I can't believe you had to write apology letters to a man who obviously was not handling the situation as professionally and maturely as you. Corporations just suck in general.
ReplyDeleteI hate it when people act so rudely toward those who politely host them. It is downright appalling. If you are treated with respect, then you should return the respect in kind. Why do people insist on making others' lives difficult? Corporations care more about their customers than their employees. No one should be penalized for doing the right thing.
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