Working in the service industry, restaurant employees often encounter entitled customers who push the boundaries of common decency. However, there are those special moments when the restaurant staff can turn the tables and give these entitled individuals a taste of their own medicine. In this collection of stories, restaurant employees share the time they finally got back at an entitled customer.
From the snappy finger-snapper to the condescending “critic,” these tales of revenge serve as a reminder that restaurant staff can be resourceful and ingenious when dealing with entitled behavior. Each story showcases a unique encounter where the staff members found creative ways to address the entitlement and teach these customers a valuable lesson.
With a dash of humor, wit, and a touch of karma, these stories will leave you cheering for the restaurant employees who refused to be intimidated. They highlight the resilience and cleverness displayed by those who have experienced the trials and tribulations of working in the food service industry.
So sit back, relax, and prepare to be entertained as restaurant employees share their tales of triumph over entitled customers. Perhaps these stories will not only bring a smile to your face but also remind us all of the importance of treating service staff with respect and kindness.
That’s Where Snapping Gets You
I worked in a small local café. Most of the customers were down-to-earth people who respected the waitstaff but we had one customer with a habit of snapping his fingers to demand “immediate attention.” The snapping was annoying but he finally took things too far when he berated another waitress for taking more than two whole minutes to refill his water.
As a waitstaff, we decided we had to teach the customer a lesson. We landed on a solution and the next time he came in, his waiter took as long as possible to fulfill any request he made. The customer’s coffee was served lukewarm, the food arrived a bit cold, and their dessert took an unusually long time to reach the table. The waiter feigned apologies, all the while we were enjoying the customer’s growing frustration.
Eventually, the customer called for the manager ready to go ballistic for the slight against him. To his surprise, the manager, who wasn’t in on our plan, offered a sincere apology and promptly offered a complimentary meal on their next visit. The customer, realizing it was the waitstaff out to get him, left the café in embarrassment and to my knowledge, never returned.
Chef Brought The Heat
I was a chef at a high-end restaurant. Most of our customers knew how to behave themselves as they were paying a pretty penny for their meals and regardless, the waitstaff never dragged me into customer conflicts unless things really got out of hand. However, one day, our waitstaff encountered a customer who seemed to take delight in terrorizing them.
His waitress came back to the kitchen to inform me what was going on with tears welling up in her eyes. I wasn’t in the mood to get into a shouting match and throw the man out of the restaurant that day so I decided to put a little something special in his risotto.
The risotto was impeccably presented but secretly infused with fiery spices.
The waitstaff informed me the customer immediately dug into his meal as “it was about time he got his food.” His face turned bright red and he immediately began gulping down glasses of water in desperation. He seemed to realize what had happened because, in defeat, he asked for the check between gulps of water.
The waitress, who was previously on the verge of tears, could barely contain her laughter. The customer’s condescending attitude had finally been spiced with a taste of humility.
People Forget Who Actually Has The Power
I was a waitress in a high-end restaurant. The pay was great as most of our customers were generous people but unfortunately, money doesn’t buy class for some people. One of my regulars would always ask for my recommendation and then criticize my choice, the restaurant, and of course, me as a person, after tasting the meal. And you guessed it, he tipped like sh*t.
One day, I finally had enough. When he asked for my recommendation I suggested a dish that was “expensive, extravagant, and known for its exquisite presentation.” I could see his eyes lighting up at the thought of “hating” something everyone else seemed to love.
Little did he know, I informed the chef of his antics and suggested that he make the dish “god awful.” To my delight, the chef overcooked the meat, made the sauce as if he had never read a recipe in his life, and basically microwaved the side. It was perfectly horrendous.
As the dish was presented, the customer’s face twisted with disappointment. It was clear that their meal had been ruined. Obviously, he enjoyed the restaurant’s food and just wanted to take out the rest of his life’s frustrations on me every visit.
I maintained a professional smile and offered sincere apologies. I had the dish replaced so quickly that it was obvious we served him a horrible dish on purpose. It seemed to remind him of the true power dynamic of the restaurant and humble him in his future visits.
This Isn’t A Starbucks
I worked at a popular restaurant where a customer would regularly occupy a table for hours, nursing a single cup of coffee. They never ordered any food. Just one single coffee. It would have been one thing if the customer did this during the middle of the afternoon before the dinner rush but I’m talking peak hours. As a result, we often had angry customers waiting around for a table as the demand was quite high due to the popularity of our restaurant.
We tried bringing it up to our manager but he claimed there was nothing he could do about it as the customer wasn’t being disorderly, they were just extremely slow.
One day, a clever waiter decided how to solve our problem. When the customer ordered their usual cup of coffee, the waiter brought it to the table with a timer set for 15 minutes. After the timer went off, the waiter politely informed the customer that their time at the table was up and they had to leave or order food.
As you might expect, the customer went nuts screaming at the waiter that they could drink their coffee as slowly as they wanted to. It caused quite a scene to the point that it attracted the attention of the manager.
Due to the commotion, the manager had no choice but to do his job and ask the customer to leave and at least during my shifts, the customer hasn’t returned.
