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I switched shifts to get away from her! (Rant=Long)

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  • I switched shifts to get away from her! (Rant=Long)

    I've been saving this one for when the boards came back up

    We have this woman who comes into our restaurant fairly often and she's blind. The ONLY reason I mention that is because it pertains to how and why she does certain things when she visits us.

    She's never been rude or mean...to me. She's had problems with other employees though. I'm not sure exactly why she likes some servers over others, but I know that she has not left a tip before and asked to speak to a manager before. Normally, she comes in during the Saturday morning shift and she basically needs a babysitter (which ended up being me, but that's a story for another time). Because she would normally come on Saturday mornings during lunch and we weren't as busy as during the dinner shift, she could have someone take her to the bathroom and take her across the parking lot to another store (yes, EVERY week I had to do that...). Eventually, I got tired of having to take care of her like that every week and not get anything for it other than a "thank you" (which was fine until she started being rude to the servers). I switched to Saturday nights because there's more tips, cooler servers, and to get away from her. Not nice, but true.

    A few Fridays ago, I'm working a double. Dinner time rolls around and we go on a wait. No biggie, being on a wait gives me an element of control that I wouldn't have normally and I'm more than comfortable running a waitlist. Then I see Her coming through the door with the dog and an escourt I didn't recognize. "Oh great" I mutter and pray that she doesn't need someone to walk her across the parking lot because I didn't have hostesses to spare on a Friday night.

    Problem #1: She couldn't understand that we were on a wait and kept asking "You don't have a table for just one?" over and over again. I kept trying to tell her that first of all we had no tables for just one and they all seat at least four and there were no table open at all currently. No matter what I said to her, she couldn't understand that. She asked how she would know it was her turn to be sat and then didn't want a pager when I explained how it worked (it will flash, vibrate, and beep all at the same time when we page it). That's not a problem because there were no other blind ladies with dogs in the restaurant, she would be easy to find. She then kept insisting that she didn't want us to forget about her. I kept trying to assure her that we wouldn't forget about her and we were going down through the names on the list in order. Meanwhile, her escourt hasn't left yet and is watching her to see if she wants to stay. When it's clear that she's chosen to stay (and through all of this has not mentioned anything about being on a time restraint) the escourt says to call as soon as she's done eating (I guess so she can come pick her up) and then leaves. I have one of my other hostesses lead N (the blind lady) where there is a bench so she can sit while she waits.

    Problem #2: After five minutes, N wanders out into the aisle (blocking other customer traffic) where another (very nice) customer imediately notices that she's blind and asks if he can be of assitence. She mumbles something to him, he comes back to me says that this woman's blind (like I can't figure that one out) and she needs help. I told him that she was already on the wait list and he shrugs and goes about his business. N starts asking my other hostess, C, if her table is ready yet. C tries to explain again about the wait list and N begins to demand "why didn't we tell her that while the cab was still here so she could have left" over and over with every explanation C gives her. That's when she starts telling C about whatever time restraints she has, not a moment before *shakes head*. N demands to speak with a manager. Manager comes out talks to her briefly, asks if there isn't a table we can get for her now (just to get her to leave him alone because he doesn't feel like dealing with her either). Her name is two from the top of the list at this point, she only has a few more minutes to go and her total wait time would be far less than the 20 minutes I orignally told her, more like 10ish. We seat her anyway, thankfully, we're a small restaurant and all the other waiting guests could hear and/or see what was going on and no one complained that she got sat sooner than they did.

    Problem #3: She's been to our restaurant many times before, she's had the menu (the WHOLE menu) read to her many times before. I understand that she goes to other restaurants as well (I've even seen her other places when I've been off duty) and it would be hard to remember who has what food. She also has dietary restrictions which makes everyone else's life in addition to hers a little more interesting. The server, A, she's been given is one of my favs, absolutely nice and funny girl, she'll bend over backwards for you, so long as she knows that you're nice and worth it. A reads N the whole menu, twice. When N has questions about a certain dish, A answers knowledgably like with any other customer because other customers do ask the same/similar questions. N orders a dish with two (2) chicken breasts (important!). The dish comes out, A even cuts everything up for her so it's easier for her to eat. N accuses A of lying to her, saying that A told her 3 chicken breats not 2.

    Problem #4: N gets over the chicken breats, finishes her meal, orders the cobbler for dessert. Accuses A of stealing some of her cobbler. Then accuses A of giving her child-sized portions of everything, treating her like a child, etc. N now wants to speak to the manager again. Manager comes back out and sits down across the table from her and listens to all of her rants about how bad her server was and blah blah blah. N doesn't want to leave a tip now, she gets Manager to tell her what her bill is and hands the money off to Manager and makes sure that Manager brings back her change. You would think that would be the end of it now that she's paid her bill.

    Problem #5: She gets up from her table and waits out in our foyer (it's really a little box between our outer doors and our enter and exit doors) for her ride I guess. One of the other servers goes out to see if N would like help out to her car or something. N says something about not tipping her server and wanting her server to come back out and talk to her. Lol, like that was going to happen. As it happens, A had *just* gotten another table ( ) and was too busy to come out and talk.

    N wasn't all bad. A's next table actually happened to ask casually if all of A's tables had been treating her right tonight. Of course A had to mention (in an abridged version of course) the whole episode with N. That nice couple happened to leave her a nice tip too. I had also just been "cut" (translates into "you can clock out and go home now") and my fiance was coming up for dinner with me when I let him know I was off. We sat in A's section and also left her a nice tip. It was the least I could do for seating such an SC in her section, I felt bad but it was the closest table we had and I thought it would get her off our backs. Oh well. A said that if it wasn't for all the employees in the back making her laugh, N would have made her cry.

    The whole situation reminded me of another post before the boards went down, asking if an elderly woman was really an SC or should they have given her some slack. I said it then, I'll say it again now, it's not whether you're disabled or elderly, your race doesn't matter, it's your behavior, your attitude, and your outrageous demands that make you an SC. N has been moved from Minor Annoyance to an Offical Sucky Customer.
    Love is admiration without envy, familiarity without contempt, and chocolate without asking.

  • #2
    i agree; she goes well out of her way to be more than just your average sc. too bad she can't be banned for her behavior; i can see where that would lead (lawsuits, the poor pitiful blind woman crap, ugh), so that won't happen (unfortunately).

    here's a case where someone takes full advantage of their disability, uses it to abuse others, then hides behind it when someone takes exception to her behavior.

    a karmic wish for her...
    look! it's ghengis khan!
    Sorry, but while I can do many things, extracting heads from anuses isn't one of them. (so sayeth the irv)

    Comment


    • #3
      I understand that the blind customer has extra needs more so than other customers but... she just seems to be a little to handicap convienent if you know what i mean... needing special treatment when it suits her like being suited quickly and then using it as an excuse when shes expected to do things "normal" people can... like tip

      next time she treats a waitress like that have the manager serve her....it will satisfy her entitlement quota and she wont have to wait to complain to the manager when she doesnt like whats going on
      I wasnt put on this earth to make you feel like a man ~ Mary Bertone

      Comment


      • #4
        Quoth Kiwi
        ... next time she treats a waitress like that have the manager serve her....it will satisfy her entitlement quota and she wont have to wait to complain to the manager when she doesnt like whats going on
        Great idea - pass the SC up the chain.

        Our job description doesn't include being abused (or taken advantage of) like this.

        Comment


        • #5
          GRRR! It's people like that lady who give the rest of us disabled a bad name. I suspect some of this behavior is simply to get more attention; still, harassing people and hiding behind your disability to do it earns you the title of Sucky Customer for sure! What a jerk.

          Comment


          • #6
            Reminds me of this blind woman that came to my till once; she complained about everything in the store, told me that my dividers were in the wrong place (they weren't, they were placed where they wouldn't keep falling on the floor as I don't want to keep ducking down every five seconds to pick them up) said that she shouldn't have to queue cuz she was blind then had a go at me cuz her card went to PIN not signature and had another go at me cuz i wouldn't put it to signature. We're not allowed to do this under any circs; if a customer wants their card to go to signature they have to ask their bank. To finish, she said "Well, I'm not coming here again"; mark of a true SC.
            People who don't like cats were probably mice in an earlier life.
            My DeviantArt.

            Comment


            • #7
              Quoth Kiwi
              next time she treats a waitress like that have the manager serve her....it will satisfy her entitlement quota and she wont have to wait to complain to the manager when she doesnt like whats going on
              I wish we could do that, but the managers want to have as little to do with her as possible. We have no problem going out of our way to do whatever she asks, but when she starts accusing us of treating her like a child or stealing her food, and not appreciate or even recognize what we have done to make her comfortable and enjoy her visit, that's when we don't want to do a thing to help her.
              Love is admiration without envy, familiarity without contempt, and chocolate without asking.

              Comment


              • #8
                On the other side of the 'disabed customer' continuum, I once had an elderly gentleman lead into the store by another elderly gent (and, yes, they both deserved to be called gentlemen.) I saw them walk in, and asked if they needed any help? "No, no, we're just looking, thank you." So, I left them be, so I could ring out customers. About thirty minutes later, I'm making my rounds to check on customers, and bump into these gents again, repeat the question? "Oh, no, thank you, we're still looking." Okay, I'm still off the hook, wander the store another thirty minutes, return to them, ask them some 'open-ended questions' to find out what they're in the store to find. One of them is looking for our John Wayne movies, to see if we have any he doesn't. I offer to help him find the John Wayne movies, as I just sorted the section a few days prior. He says he'd already been through it, and was just trying to determine if he was missing any, and did I have any movie reccomendations?
                I grin, as I love to get people to watch the more off-beat movies, the stuff that was panned by critics and theater goers (Mike Myers 'Cat in the Hat', baby!) So, I double check some of his movie preferences, and then tell him about Brokedown Palace, letting him know the ending was extremely powerful, and thus, I still remember it. The movie was otherwise unremarkable until the ending, and then it took on a whole different meaning. He thanks me for the reccomendation, then asks if we have any in the store. "Yes, I know we do, I saw one as I walked back here..." and I lead them right to it, and put the only copy in his hands, as I figured out a little earlier that the gent was blind, and I figured handing it directly to him would be easier than having him fumble around to find it. He tells me "Okay, I'll try it, and we'll b back to give you a review." I check him out.

                Three weeks later, an elderly gent walks into the store, walks right up to me, and says, "Your reccomendation was right on, thanks for the suggestion." Now, I'd been having a crappy day at that point, so it took me a moment to recognize the gent as the one who was leading his friend around. And of course, having my ego stroked always pleased me up, so I was smiling most of the rest of the day, once I realised what I'd reccomended to him and his friend.
                "I call murder on that!"

                Comment


                • #9
                  Quoth Juwl
                  On the other side of the 'disabed customer' continuum, I once had an elderly gentleman lead into the store by another elderly gent (and, yes, they both deserved to be called gentlemen.) I saw them walk in, and asked if they needed any help? "No, no, we're just looking, thank you." So, I left them be, so I could ring out customers. About thirty minutes later, I'm making my rounds to check on customers, and bump into these gents again, repeat the question? "Oh, no, thank you, we're still looking." Okay, I'm still off the hook, wander the store another thirty minutes, return to them, ask them some 'open-ended questions' to find out what they're in the store to find. One of them is looking for our John Wayne movies, to see if we have any he doesn't. I offer to help him find the John Wayne movies, as I just sorted the section a few days prior. He says he'd already been through it, and was just trying to determine if he was missing any, and did I have any movie reccomendations?
                  I grin, as I love to get people to watch the more off-beat movies, the stuff that was panned by critics and theater goers (Mike Myers 'Cat in the Hat', baby!) So, I double check some of his movie preferences, and then tell him about Brokedown Palace, letting him know the ending was extremely powerful, and thus, I still remember it. The movie was otherwise unremarkable until the ending, and then it took on a whole different meaning. He thanks me for the reccomendation, then asks if we have any in the store. "Yes, I know we do, I saw one as I walked back here..." and I lead them right to it, and put the only copy in his hands, as I figured out a little earlier that the gent was blind, and I figured handing it directly to him would be easier than having him fumble around to find it. He tells me "Okay, I'll try it, and we'll b back to give you a review." I check him out.

                  Three weeks later, an elderly gent walks into the store, walks right up to me, and says, "Your reccomendation was right on, thanks for the suggestion." Now, I'd been having a crappy day at that point, so it took me a moment to recognize the gent as the one who was leading his friend around. And of course, having my ego stroked always pleased me up, so I was smiling most of the rest of the day, once I realised what I'd reccomended to him and his friend.
                  Aww, that's awesome. Those two guys sounded really nice, I wish they would come into my restaurant. I'm glad he came back to tell you they enjoyed the movie. I have no problem with elderly or disabled customers, and I'm more than willing to bend over backwards to help them out, it's when they turn into SCs that I really treat them like I would any other SC...No discrimination here
                  Love is admiration without envy, familiarity without contempt, and chocolate without asking.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    They were great gentlemen, it's too bad I never saw them in the West County store before it closed... and, might I ask, where did you get the jar of dirt?
                    "I call murder on that!"

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      lol, it's not that I have a jar of dirt myself, although I will be working on having a small one...it's a line from the new Pirates of The Caribbean movie. I'm a film major so my signature will have all sorts of random movie quotes in it from time to time
                      Love is admiration without envy, familiarity without contempt, and chocolate without asking.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Quoth CherryCokeKissez
                        not appreciate or even recognize what we have done to make her comfortable and enjoy her visit, that's when we don't want to do a thing to help her.
                        well then I hate to sound harsh but, then stop.

                        stop going the extra mile, let her know (politely, always kill them with kindness) that your not going to put up with it anymore. do everything you have to but nothing more.

                        treat her like any other customer. Dont seat her first no matter how much she complains, dont stick around to listen to her complain etc (always easyier said than done right) it just sounds as if she knows she has you guys wrapped around her little finger and shes milking it.

                        shes either going to buck up her ideas or start going elsewhere. shes acting like a spoilt child, so treat her like one.

                        if you can, stand up to management, if she wants to complain, INSIST to the manager that she said she would ONLY deal with a manager (stretch the truth if you have to) find out how to manipluate your manager eg some of mine would do anything if I needed saving, as in, I just cant do it right and you always do it perfect, or play up how mad corporate might be if she complains etc.
                        I wasnt put on this earth to make you feel like a man ~ Mary Bertone

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Quoth Kiwi
                          well then I hate to sound harsh but, then stop.

                          stop going the extra mile, let her know (politely, always kill them with kindness) that your not going to put up with it anymore. do everything you have to but nothing more.

                          treat her like any other customer.
                          I have to agree - my boss did a favor for a 'customer' once, and we're still paying for that. Now, we treat him with a minimum of service - unfortunately, it hasn't stopped him yet.

                          When I get a chance, I'll post it...

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            When I worked at Budget, we had a deaf customer that would try and act like he "hadn't understood," what the terms were every time he rented. Every time he returned, he had a "problem," and my coworkers and I would just cringe when they saw him coming. Finally, we started communicating with him through writing, keeping the papers we wrote out our discussions on, and making him a copy for "his records." The first time he returned a car after, he tried to get up to his old tricks, and we just pulled out the piece of paper and said, "No, you knew about that, see? And you have a copy too." Soon enough, he started pestering Hertz instead.
                            Dips: The best karma happens when you let a jerk bash themselves senseless on the wall of your polite indifference.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              CCK, I'm with Kiwi on this one. You and the staff have been kind to a fault and now you're getting paid back with bratty behavior. Unacceptable. Kiwi's approach is a good one--be polite, be kind, and absolutely no more putting up with tantrums, lies, etc.

                              I know this is far easier said than done, especially since we're not the ones who have to deal with this woman. But it seems to me she's obviously decided to manipulate and intimidate the lot of you, so--no more extra consideration. She gets the same amount of polite attention and care any customer would. If that isn't enough, she can go somewhere else to eat, just like anyone else.

                              If you were just ranting and not looking for advice, my apologies. But I think you and the rest of the staff at your restaurant deserve better, especially since you were doing your best to be kind to someone who has it tougher in some ways than the rest of us.

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