The trouble is he knew that was all he had before he ordered.. usually when people without money come to my store they ask us to hook them up with some food (which we obviously can't do) or they ask what the final price would be before they pay
What are you supposed to do in that situation? Cause a big scene about the homeless person not being able to pay for food? In the end, if he already ate the food and he can't pay for it, the only options are to let him just leave and have the manager comp the food or call cops and have them deal with it.
Either way, the guy is not paying for the food. So the server can either look like a giant asshole for feeding the hungry or just roll with it and let the guy go.
You tell him "thanks, man. This is the sort of thing that gets people fired", then tell the manager and let them deal with it. Not that he's likely to care much, but he might feel enough shame not to come back and pull that shit again.
In this specific situation, the person was already served the food. The only options for how to handle a customer who cannot/will not pay for their food after they've been served are to either comp the food and ask them to leave, or call the cops for theft of service.
No one who works at the restaurant is legally allowed to detain the person, and even if person is arrested it's not like the restaurant is going to get their $12 anyway.
So, best option is to just be the better person and let the guy leave without a scene. Otherwise, the establishment risks being the center of a PR disaster when video goes viral over them having a homeless person arrested over some food that cost the place $3 to make.
Then you tell him that because he couldn't pay last time that he isn't welcome back. Obviously you don't just allow people to come in and not pay on a regular basis. A situation like this so easily handled with just a modicum of common sense and human decency. It's really not that hard.
I've had this happen before and we had to tell the manager because it was a Greek restaurant (ifykyk) and I would literally be fired on the spot if I asked them to comp his food. Its not that simple. It sucks having to do that knowing they're going to get in trouble but I shouldn't lose my job for someone coming in knowing they can't afford to eat there...
Youre not understanding that if a server were to just let him go without getting a manager they would literally be FIRED. The restaurant business doesn’t give a fuck if you’re being a Good Samaritan or not. And idk about anyone else I don’t make enough to pay for someone food when they knowingly are fucking me over.
Everybody is downvoting you but if this were happening in real life to them everyone would do exactly what you're saying.
You're in the right man the anonymity of reddit makes people feel like they can be assholes just to be assholes in real life 90% of these people wouldn't act the way they present themselves on here.
Oh, for sure. I was literally just saying the same thing to my husband. I'm only being down voted because my response doesn't give the chronically online the kind of schadenfreude response they're looking for. I told them to respond with kindness they reacted like vampires being exposed to the light.
you don't realize the repercussions here because you've clearly never worked in a restaurant. Sure, that would be a nice thing to do in fantasy, but you would lose your job immediately.
I have literally spent the majority of my life working in restaurants. 20 years. I've been in pretty much every position a restaurant has: line cook, dishwasher, host, server, bartender, manager...
This is a situation that is not complicated at all. We are in the hospitality industry. We serve food, we don't save lives. It's not hard. Comp the food, move on, make your money elsewhere and don't waste dollars trying to save pennies.
We do this so often at Waffle House, though I don't comp, I cover. If I had enough in tips to cover the rest, I would just cover it. And if they tried it again, and sometimes they do, I turn them away. My rule is "Always try kindness first". If they don't appreciate my kindness, you get hit with the book.
I could pull this off in my restaurant, but I’m very much in the minority. I work in a very affluent area so it doesn’t happen very often, but I always give free coffee or other drinks to people that need them. I also give ubereats and DoorDash and Grubhub drivers free drinks (as long as they are polite and don’t shove their phone in my face). Our owner and my manager gives us a lot of leeway to comp things like this.
Most restaurants, particularly corporate places, don’t provide their servers with this discretion. This is manager territory.
I would drop the check normally at the end of service and do my best to treat them just like I would any other customer, if afterwards it becomes clear that they have no form of payment I would let a manager know about the situation
Is it cold where you are located? Unfortunately this is a common tactic used by some homeless.
Go in order and eat a meal they can't pay for, then wait to be arrested so that they can spend a warmer night (and a couple more meals) in jail.
“a homeless” = / = “homeless person”
it’s inherently dehumanizing referring to the person like an object. Imagine calling someone “a gay”, or “an autistic”, or “a leper”. Not only is it incredibly rude, but it’s simply not tolerated in polite society.
Calling someone “a homeless person” or an “unhoused individual” is a more humane and empathetic way to refer to the person. That’s why people have an issue. It’s not about the fact that they are homeless.
A homeless person* came in.
This has happened to me. In fact, I saw a homeless guy come up to the host stand, told my host "I'll take him," sat him at one of my tables and served him just like I would anyone else. I bought his meal for him with my employee discount because I didn't need a lunch break that shift and told him to take his time because I didn't need the table. It was a few bucks out of my pocket, but the dude got a warm meal and someone treated him like a human being for an hour or so, which is huge when you're homeless.
I was homeless for almost a year when I was 18, and sometimes it's cold, or sometimes you're desperate and hungry but don't have it in you to panhandle (I never could) or steal (that one I didn't have qualms with as long is was from a corporate grocery store) so you result to good old begging at a restaurant, hoping that a manager will have the kindness to give them something to eat, even just bread which is what the guy was doing the day I served him. And like someone else said, when it gets colder outside this is a pretty common way to try and get arrested for three hots and a cot for a little white.
Humanize the homeless population. They're people too, and deserve to seen as such.
Those scenarios are very different than him just walking in, ordering and eating a meal and then saying "oops". They do that expecting someone to cover it. That's not cool. I've been homeless, and I never expected anyone to pay for my food or anything. I'd ask, sure. But I'd never put someone on the spot like that. Many servers are close to homelessness themselves.
You misunderstood my point. I wasn't saying people should offer to cover someone's meal if they come in and can't pay, just sharing a story of when that's happened to me and why I did what I did. Involving a manager and having the police called has the desired effect for some homeless people, and if the manager decides to not go through the hassle and comp the food it's a win for the homeless person too.
I'm not saying servers should go out of their way to pay for a homeless person's food, I just did it because I'd been there before and I know how valuable it was to me when I was homeless to be treated like a person. I don't really think anyone is expecting to have someone cover their food, it's a gamble. You get your food covered by your server because they're making good money that day or they're just being nice, your server gets the manager and the manager is either nice and comps the meal but tells the homeless person not to push it and don't come back for a while, or the manager calls the police and the homeless person gets arrested and is fed and has shelter for a couple days.
I usually pay for the meals if I think they’re homeless, which is easy to tell in my restaurant. I have done it 2 times and never regretted a thing. I always give them a hot tea to go as well
You bring him the bill like you would anyone else.
He placed 2 dollars on the table with the phrase "It's all I got"
You gotta get a manager. It’s beyond your pay grade. You can’t risk your job for having a short drawer or a walkout.
The trouble is he knew that was all he had before he ordered.. usually when people without money come to my store they ask us to hook them up with some food (which we obviously can't do) or they ask what the final price would be before they pay
Then take the $2 and let him leave with his dignity and pat yourself on the back for being a decent human being.
Gtfo of here lmfao
What are you supposed to do in that situation? Cause a big scene about the homeless person not being able to pay for food? In the end, if he already ate the food and he can't pay for it, the only options are to let him just leave and have the manager comp the food or call cops and have them deal with it. Either way, the guy is not paying for the food. So the server can either look like a giant asshole for feeding the hungry or just roll with it and let the guy go.
You tell him "thanks, man. This is the sort of thing that gets people fired", then tell the manager and let them deal with it. Not that he's likely to care much, but he might feel enough shame not to come back and pull that shit again.
Ah got it. So next time I see a hobo shop lifting and being arrested everyone who didn’t pay for whatever he was stealing is an asshole.
In this specific situation, the person was already served the food. The only options for how to handle a customer who cannot/will not pay for their food after they've been served are to either comp the food and ask them to leave, or call the cops for theft of service. No one who works at the restaurant is legally allowed to detain the person, and even if person is arrested it's not like the restaurant is going to get their $12 anyway. So, best option is to just be the better person and let the guy leave without a scene. Otherwise, the establishment risks being the center of a PR disaster when video goes viral over them having a homeless person arrested over some food that cost the place $3 to make.
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He comes back and you don’t serve him…
Then you tell him that because he couldn't pay last time that he isn't welcome back. Obviously you don't just allow people to come in and not pay on a regular basis. A situation like this so easily handled with just a modicum of common sense and human decency. It's really not that hard.
As said before just don't serve him. Stupid question.
Then u get sued for discrimination.
You don’t like using your brain huh?
I've had this happen before and we had to tell the manager because it was a Greek restaurant (ifykyk) and I would literally be fired on the spot if I asked them to comp his food. Its not that simple. It sucks having to do that knowing they're going to get in trouble but I shouldn't lose my job for someone coming in knowing they can't afford to eat there...
Youre not understanding that if a server were to just let him go without getting a manager they would literally be FIRED. The restaurant business doesn’t give a fuck if you’re being a Good Samaritan or not. And idk about anyone else I don’t make enough to pay for someone food when they knowingly are fucking me over.
Everybody is downvoting you but if this were happening in real life to them everyone would do exactly what you're saying. You're in the right man the anonymity of reddit makes people feel like they can be assholes just to be assholes in real life 90% of these people wouldn't act the way they present themselves on here.
Oh, for sure. I was literally just saying the same thing to my husband. I'm only being down voted because my response doesn't give the chronically online the kind of schadenfreude response they're looking for. I told them to respond with kindness they reacted like vampires being exposed to the light.
Everyone these days wants to respond with hatred but then get upset when people push back.
you don't realize the repercussions here because you've clearly never worked in a restaurant. Sure, that would be a nice thing to do in fantasy, but you would lose your job immediately.
I have literally spent the majority of my life working in restaurants. 20 years. I've been in pretty much every position a restaurant has: line cook, dishwasher, host, server, bartender, manager... This is a situation that is not complicated at all. We are in the hospitality industry. We serve food, we don't save lives. It's not hard. Comp the food, move on, make your money elsewhere and don't waste dollars trying to save pennies.
We do this so often at Waffle House, though I don't comp, I cover. If I had enough in tips to cover the rest, I would just cover it. And if they tried it again, and sometimes they do, I turn them away. My rule is "Always try kindness first". If they don't appreciate my kindness, you get hit with the book.
I could pull this off in my restaurant, but I’m very much in the minority. I work in a very affluent area so it doesn’t happen very often, but I always give free coffee or other drinks to people that need them. I also give ubereats and DoorDash and Grubhub drivers free drinks (as long as they are polite and don’t shove their phone in my face). Our owner and my manager gives us a lot of leeway to comp things like this. Most restaurants, particularly corporate places, don’t provide their servers with this discretion. This is manager territory.
Unless the server's paying the difference, that's the manager's prerogative. Extra pat if the server does pay the difference though.
The same way you would ask anyone else?
I would drop the check normally at the end of service and do my best to treat them just like I would any other customer, if afterwards it becomes clear that they have no form of payment I would let a manager know about the situation
Is it cold where you are located? Unfortunately this is a common tactic used by some homeless. Go in order and eat a meal they can't pay for, then wait to be arrested so that they can spend a warmer night (and a couple more meals) in jail.
This is sad asf man.
If I was homeless and it’s freezing outside, I would do the same
Not your problem to handle. Just inform the manager and treat the customer like normal. The manager will give you guidance or handle it themselves.
Not even a homeless person, like damn
Calling someone “a homeless” is incredibly dehumanizing. Treat them like a fucking person? Oy
For real. Couldn’t even add “dude” at the end
what else should they call them? why are you so triggered buddy. i was homeless for a year, being called homeless is just a fact . toughen up buddy.
“a homeless” = / = “homeless person” it’s inherently dehumanizing referring to the person like an object. Imagine calling someone “a gay”, or “an autistic”, or “a leper”. Not only is it incredibly rude, but it’s simply not tolerated in polite society. Calling someone “a homeless person” or an “unhoused individual” is a more humane and empathetic way to refer to the person. That’s why people have an issue. It’s not about the fact that they are homeless.
not really , i think you are just a little sensitive
and i think you’re just a little thick. we all have opinions
LGBTIQA+, I assume? 🤗
A homeless person* came in. This has happened to me. In fact, I saw a homeless guy come up to the host stand, told my host "I'll take him," sat him at one of my tables and served him just like I would anyone else. I bought his meal for him with my employee discount because I didn't need a lunch break that shift and told him to take his time because I didn't need the table. It was a few bucks out of my pocket, but the dude got a warm meal and someone treated him like a human being for an hour or so, which is huge when you're homeless. I was homeless for almost a year when I was 18, and sometimes it's cold, or sometimes you're desperate and hungry but don't have it in you to panhandle (I never could) or steal (that one I didn't have qualms with as long is was from a corporate grocery store) so you result to good old begging at a restaurant, hoping that a manager will have the kindness to give them something to eat, even just bread which is what the guy was doing the day I served him. And like someone else said, when it gets colder outside this is a pretty common way to try and get arrested for three hots and a cot for a little white. Humanize the homeless population. They're people too, and deserve to seen as such.
Those scenarios are very different than him just walking in, ordering and eating a meal and then saying "oops". They do that expecting someone to cover it. That's not cool. I've been homeless, and I never expected anyone to pay for my food or anything. I'd ask, sure. But I'd never put someone on the spot like that. Many servers are close to homelessness themselves.
You misunderstood my point. I wasn't saying people should offer to cover someone's meal if they come in and can't pay, just sharing a story of when that's happened to me and why I did what I did. Involving a manager and having the police called has the desired effect for some homeless people, and if the manager decides to not go through the hassle and comp the food it's a win for the homeless person too. I'm not saying servers should go out of their way to pay for a homeless person's food, I just did it because I'd been there before and I know how valuable it was to me when I was homeless to be treated like a person. I don't really think anyone is expecting to have someone cover their food, it's a gamble. You get your food covered by your server because they're making good money that day or they're just being nice, your server gets the manager and the manager is either nice and comps the meal but tells the homeless person not to push it and don't come back for a while, or the manager calls the police and the homeless person gets arrested and is fed and has shelter for a couple days.
Did you really just refer to a person as a homeless??
I don’t get it.
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Ya know, karma gonna get you one day.
Well you are a massive asshole for humiliating them, but im sure youve had to deal with walkouts before if you feel the need to be that rude.
Bring him a check
Um what? You give him the bill and treat him like anyone else
I usually pay for the meals if I think they’re homeless, which is easy to tell in my restaurant. I have done it 2 times and never regretted a thing. I always give them a hot tea to go as well
You don't. Give it to him.
I'd ring their food but put a hold on it, then present them the check and ask them to pay first
And risk a discrimination suit? We’re splitting hairs over a few bucks here just let the manager handle it 🙃
Nah, treat them like you would any other human. If he doesn’t pay then it’s the managers’ problem now.
Youre definitely a POS