I Curse You, Foul Customer!

[Jester]

There are many times we want to curse out SC's. I don't do that--at least not to their face, though mentally is another story--but this is not what I am going to do here. I am going to actually curse some SC's I had today. Basically, I am going medieval on them. Literally.

I must preface this by saying I have not had a walkout in just about 8 years. That is right....8 years since the last time someone just walked out without paying. Today, I had two walkouts...within half an hour!

The Cheap Date

A couple in about their fifties were drinking at one of my tables. After a few drinks, they decided to settle up. The woman gave me her credit card, I ran the card, and she signed the slip, with tip, and gave it to me. This couple decided to order more drinks, but the woman told me the man would be paying for these. I figured, no problem, taking turns paying. That's fair. So they ordered their drinks, I brought them their drinks, they sat there and drank their drinks. All of this is quite normal. All this time, also, I was highly and frequently visible in my section and in the bar. I don't take smoke breaks, I didn't take any bathroom breaks, I was definitely around. However, the bar is quite large, and my section was on the opposite side of it from the service bar area. So I could not be keeping my eye on everything every second. Well, at one point I came into my section....and the couple was gone. History. Vanished. Not There. Had they moved? No. They weren't in the bar. Had they gone for a slight stroll on to the docks? Nope. Not there either. Maybe they'd gone a little further afield to check out some sights around the bar, and would be back. Well, no. Several hours later, still no sign of them. Never came looking for me at all.

Total bill: $12.75.
Total bill I had to pay after I reduced the drinks to employee prices (which is policy on walkouts): $7.75. Out of MY pocket.

I guess the man decided he would let the woman pay for some drinks, but when it came to be his turn, he would rather just take the drinks and consider them a gift from me. Which, in essence, they were, as I was not only out of any potential tip, but I paid eight bucks for their enjoyment.

So you, O Man of the Quick Step and Closed Wallet, I curse you! Thrice I curse your name and your existence! May you only date women who are cheaper and more manly looking than you! May your beer always be warm, and your tequila always have a worm! And may your food always be of small portions and cold temperature, and your pecker the same! These curses I lay upon thee!

We're REALLY In A Hurry!

Three guys, in about their forties or so, sat down at a table within half an hour of this. They ordered their drinks, and I went to get their drinks and others. I was gone for maybe 90 seconds, if that. When I came back...they were gone. Now, in our bar, a lot of people move around, and rarely bother telling their server, so I delivered the other drinks, and went looking. Not in another section. Not at the bar. Not on the docks. Nowhere! They had, in essense, split. Now, I realize some people are in a hurry, but usually they bother to tell us. These prizewinners gave no indication of being in a hurry to go anywhere or even of being in a hurry to get drinks. Also, sometimes people do need to run off after ordering drinks. In such situations, they will almost always find the server and say sorry, we have to leave, cancel our drinks. Did these men of the world do anything of the sort? Of course not, or I would not be putting their story here!

Now, since they had ordered and left, management could not say I had not kept a tab open at my own peril, as there was no chance to deliver drinks or start a tab! So I was able to comp their drinks, but the situation still makes me look bad, having TWO walkouts in one shift. While I did not have to pay out of pocket, I DID end up working for these nimrods without getting any compensation, other than to my myself or my bar. I wasted my time looking for them when I could have been providing more service to the guests that actually stuck around. All this Pissed Me Off!

So you, The Three Vanishing Amigos, I curse you! Thrice I curse your names and your existence! May you always be waiting a time longer than you have for any and all of your drinks. May you always be thirsty no matter what you drink! And may you always be sober, no matter in what quantity you drink! These curses I lay upon thee!

[captainvegetable02]

I can't imagine walking out without paying, I'd be too scared of getting caught. Also, I have morals. I know that stealing is wrong.
Technically, I did walk out of a restaurant without paying once, but it was definitely justified. My boyfriend and I went out to eat at one of our favorite restaurants (a place that's an Italian equivalent of Applebee's or Chili's - but not the one with the annoying commercials), and we have never had a problem with the service there. Things were pretty bad from the get-go that night, however. Afer being seated, our server (a young man who didn't look older than about 18) whom we had never seen before, waited a good ten minutes before showing up to take our drink order, which he returned with fairly quickly, but forgot to bring straws. Not a huge deal, but I have sensitive teeth so I need a straw for my ice water. He returned a short while later with our bread, quickly set it down without saying a word, and walked away without asking if we were ready to order, depite the fact that we had closed our menus. We didn't get straws. Also, this restaurant brings a plate of herbs/spices they mix with olive oil to dip the bread in, which he didn't do either. Again, not a big deal, the olive oil is on the tables and I'm perfectly capable of pouring it myself, but at this point we were pretty irritated. He returned to take our order another ten minutes later (still no straws, either, and we did ask again). He apologized for being "so busy, running around like a chicken with its head cut off." Umm, right. He had ONE other table that night, it was very slow. The other table was a middle-aged couple who were being lavished with attention. They were also seated just far enough away from us that our server was able to completely ignore us when we tried to get his attention. And after taking our order, he never returned. We waited AT LEAST 20 minutes for our food, straws, butter for the bread, etc. and he would sometimes make an appearance at the edge of the section, look around but avoid making eye contact, then disappear again. I realize that 20 minutes is not a tremendously long time to wait for the food, but we had had enough at that point. He should have at least been back to bring the other items we'd asked for, not to mention the fact that it was a very slow night, and we usually get our food in well under 20 minutes on slow nights. We were starving, so we left. The only thing we'd been served so far (besides the bread) was our drinks, which had barely been touched since we had no straws, and I'd only ordered water anyway. We would have forked over the $1.50 to cover the other drink but neither one of us carries cash. We never got around to calling to complain about our service, but we eat there frequently and never saw that server again. Too bad for him, because depite the fact that we're both tattooed, pierced, t-shirt-and-jeans wearers, we are very polite to service people and tip VERY well. The BARE minimum we tip for "acceptable" service is 20%, and it's usually closer to 25%-30%. For really good service, we've been known to tip up to 50%. I don't for sure if we got snubbed due to our looks (which happens very rarely) or if the server was new and didn't know what he was doing, but my only regret is that we didn't get to see the look on his face when he finally returned to the table after we'd left.

[nattie]

In most states the restaurants cannot make the server pay for a walkout. I had to chase some kids out into the parking lot Friday night because they only left me $20 on their $40 check.

[Becks]

Jester, no curses about neverending belly button lint? Tsk tsk tsk.

[Brighid45]

The sheer cheapass nerve and utter lack of consideration some people display never fails to amaze me. Excellent curses Jester! May they come to pass times three!

[Spiffy McMoron]

I'd be scared to walkout of a restuarant without paying the bill. And what would happen if the server caught me?

Either:
A) I happily pay up, knowing that the server is at the top of his/her game, and that I have been bested. Well played, old sport.
B) I announce that I have no money, in which case, I shouldn't have dined out in the first place. Thanks for the charity work, server. I'll try to get you a tax reciept.

Obviously, neither one of these options works for me. Hell, most of the time, it's a fight to try to even put $20 on the bill.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Jester, yes, these people definitely need to be cursed...

and a little Double, Double, boil them for your trouble...


(to paraphrase a few witches I know)

[tollbaby]

I was a bit steamed when I saw this storyline on PVP http://www.pvponline.com/article/2976/sun-nov-12 (it helps if you read the one before and maybe two or three after). Way to encourage idiots.

I used to get regular walk-outs at the lebanese place I worked at. I told the owner that I'd pay for them IF and WHEN he let me lock the door on my side of the restaurant. (it used to be two store-fronts, the cash register was by one door, but the other door, the one in my lounge, people could just duck out unnoticed). I used to lock it when the boss wasn't looking, since nobody ever came IN that door, they just ran out of it when they wanted to stiff me. *grumble* Somehow I'm not surprised that asshat went bankrupt and now drives a cab.

[Gawdzillers]

So you, O Man of the Quick Step and Closed Wallet, I curse you! Thrice I curse your name and your existence! May you only date women who are cheaper and more manly looking than you! May your beer always be warm, and your tequila always have a worm! And may your food always be of small portions and cold temperature, and your pecker the same! These curses I lay upon thee!

Incredible.

[Food Lady]

Having to pay because your SCs decided to STEAL from the bar is the most asinine thing I have ever heard. Your company owes you eight bucks and an apology.

I worked in a C-store over the summer and in this state, most are pump first, pay later, a completely idiotic policy if you ask me. One of my coworkers got written up for not being the Almighty Controller of the Universe and preventing a drive-off. Uh, she's 67 years old. Was she supposed to run out there and cane their car?? I'm sooooooo glad I don't work for that company anymore. I absolutely refuse to give them my money. I will let my car run out of gas before I will stop there.

[XCashier]

If only you could curse the drinks to cause nonstop nose hair growing and total impotence until they haul-arse back to the bar and pay for what they stole!


(hee hee! been looking for a reason to use that smiley! )

[Jester]

Having to pay because your SCs decided to STEAL from the bar is the most asinine thing I have ever heard. Your company owes you eight bucks and an apology.

Well, no. As they explained it to me, since I did not take a credit card from them to hold the tab, and I kept the tab open rather than asking for cash (this is a bar that serves food far more than it is in any way a restaurant), it is my responsibility. They DID let me rering it at employee prices (or it would have been about 13 bucks instead of 8), and that very reasoning is why they did not make me pay for the other walkout, where the guys ordered drinks and left before I even brought them. It makes sense, actually. It SUCKS, but it makes sense.

Honestly, it is not that big a deal, overall. It had been eight years since I had had a walkout. I shockingly did not have anyone walk out on December 30th, when in the balcony above the bar, i.e., up the freakin' stairs, I rang over $1900, where $1200-1400 is a very good day, and someone believed they had a record for the balcony at $1600. As behind as I was, as busy as we were, as long as everything, not one freakin' person bailed on their tab or attempted to run off. And this is a bar where it is not hard to do just that. So, whatever.

Here's to it being at least another eight years before I have to revisit this rant!

[SCSlave]

That's awful having to pay for that. It does make sense, I suppose, but it's still not fair. Too bad you couldn't re-open the first ticket and tack on those drinks.


I guess on the bright side, it wasn't a $1900 bill. THAT would suck.

[Kelly Lynne]

Well, no. As they explained it to me, since I did not take a credit card from them to hold the tab, and I kept the tab open rather than asking for cash (this is a bar that serves food far more than it is in any way a restaurant), it is my responsibility.

Okay, I'll give them that you could've taken a credit card, and that would've corrected the issue. However, I would still check to see if it's legal in your state for them to do that. Not that you'd necessarily push the issue for eight bucks, but it would be good to know if, in the future, someone walks out on a $200 or $300 tab.

[Gravekeeper]

I don't know how you guys on the frontlines do it. After 6 years in this industry I don't think I could function in a customer service environment that requires me to directly interact with people. I would not be able to restrain myself ;p. As is right now my coworkers hear an entirely different conversation then my callers thanks to my mute button:

"Good evening, Gravekeeper speaking..........sure, I can do that for you, just a sec <mute> you frothing sea hag."

Can't we just tag them? Like if SCs get caught doing something they get a little tag in their ear with a radio transmitter that can be used to track and identify them. That way when they come in you know to keep an eye on them. Then if they escape before you can address their idiocy you can just phone the Dept of Idiot Control's 24 hour hotline and have them tracked down by specially trained Half wit Wranglers.

Then next time they were at the parking lot at Walmart or something a chopper would swoop, peg him with a tranq dart, then they'd bundle him up and return him to the scene of the crime to make amends.

It wouldn't be hard to form. Hell, it could be a volunteer not for profit organization. I'd gladly devote some time every week to tagging and bagging the shallow end of humanity's genepool.

Oops....went off on a tangent again. Sorry. -.-