Banned in Florida

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by Aaron Seefeldt

Than I for one am an idiot. Of course this is based on the opinion of a Snowman.

Charlie sits down in your restaurant and orders a ribeye steak, cooked medium rare. Four minutes later, he starts barking at the waitress, asking what's taking so long. She apologizes and says she will check on it for him. On her way back to the kitchen, she stops at another table to grab their credit card and just as she's beginning to ask how everything was, she gets interrupted by Charlie. Charlie doesn't like his fork. He says it looks dull. He was expecting a shinier fork. The waitress apologizes to the other table and brings Charlie a new set of silverware. As she walks away, you overhear Charlie complaining to the other guests about how slow the service is and how the steakhouse across the street is so much better. Four minutes later, his steak is ready. You grab it from the kitchen and deliver it yourself. You note the steam rising from the plate and say, "careful, the plate is hot" as you set it down in front of him. One minute later, Charlie complains that his knife is dull. As the waitress hands him a new knife, he drops the old one on the floor. He then proceeds to make a sexually inappropriate comment to her as she bends over to pick it up. A few minutes later, Charlie again interrupts the waitress as she's taking an order at another table. He wants to speak to the manager. You walk over and he complains that his steak is cold (after eating 3/4 of it). You offer to reheat it for him, but he declines and starts berating you in front of the other customers. He says he's not paying for his food. You decide that Charlie is just having a bad day, so you comp his meal and apologize. You invite him to come back and to give you another try. "The customer is always right."

Two days later, Charlie returns. But Charlie is still Charlie, and he pulls the same routine with another waitress. This time, she's in tears. You have to take over her section for her while she goes outside for some fresh air and to calm her nerves. Fast forward to the check... Charlie again asks for a comp. His steak is again 3/4 eaten. Today, he just didn't like it. It wasn't cooked right. He asked for medium rare and he "didn't get it" (the steak is clearly pink).

You have 3 choices.

1) You apologize and again comp Charlie's meal. The customer is always right.

2) You tell Charlie that you're sorry, but you cannot comp his meal today and that he should have complained before the steak was nearly finished if he had a problem with it.

3) You tell Charlie the scumbag to go f* himself and that he is no longer welcome at your restaurant.

If you chose option #1, you're an idiot, and it's going to end up costing you your business. If you chose option #2, then you have come to the realization that in fact no, the customer is not always right. But you made a mistake by not 86ing Charlie from the premises. And, if like me, you would have chosen option #3, then it's a moot point because Charlie's ass would have been kicked out on the first visit, not the second one. And you will have earned the respect of your staff.