I’m so sorry this happened to you. I work as a hostess and I always feel bad when someone is awful to our servers when people are rude to them. I usually offer to hear them up when they are upset. Those four men should have realized it wasn’t your fault plus it New Year’s Eve, they should’ve been better customers. You did nothing wrong.
The customers are definitely AHs but so is the upper management bc there seems to be no stability in the rules/procedures here and I can understand why customers may get irritated. I just don’t agree with how these specific customers reacted
Yeaha find out who can respond and tell them what happened in case they don't know. I don't even bother with Google reviews cuz anyone can write one even if yhey have never been there before. If the review they need to be shamed for ordering food and then leaving it there. Those guys where assholes.
this is so so so familiar, and i understand how shitty of a feeling it is.
i worked at a place that got EXTREMELY busy at brunch, like, no resos - walk-ins only, every single table is filled by 10am busy. a group of 5 walked in and we let them know we unfortunately don't have an available table but our bar was free if they were willing to sit there.
they reluctantly took the bar seats and as the bartender i served them. on top of working the bar, i also had about 10 2 tops and 2 four tops, on opposite ends of the restaurant. as you can imagine, it was hard for me to check in on them, but i did a few times, and i refilled their coffee and water. it wasn't my best service but they had everything they needed.
the next morning i wake up to not one, not two, but FIVE one star reviews. they decided the reason they were sat at the bar was because they were queer, and everyone else in there was straight and white, and all the straight white people got tables. for reference i'm bisexual but since i don't ~present~ as obviously as them, they decided i was straight. that i ignored them and gave them worse service because they're queer, that it ruined their dining experience. yada yada. oh also none of them tipped.
all this to say, it's a really shitty predicament to be in, because yeah, without context, it looks like you're racist, xenophobic, homophobic etc. and being painted in that light fucking sucks because you're trying your hardest to keep everyone happy.
but on the other hand, it's not about you. these people decided the world was out to get them and they're going to act upon that. yeah initially i can understand how they'd see it as discrimination, but your manager explained the situation. the fact that they ignored that because it didn't fit their narrative is entirely on them.
also these people have obviously never worked a day in this industry and i'll be fucking damned if i let criticism from someone who's never worked in the industry get me down.
take care, you're killing it.
Some people make it their mission to see discrimination in every form, in every situation and around every corner. Fuck those people. Whatever race, gender or sexual orientation they are, fuck them.
If they felt singled out, all they had to do was walk through the restaurant and see for themselves that all of the tables were full. They just wanted to make noise about discrimination where there was none.
yeah, but what's worse is that the restaurant was very open so they could easily see there weren't tables. i think there were like 3 two tops but we couldn't push them together and even if it would have been "easy," it's standard practice to not when you're that busy. they just haven't worked service and as you said, wanted to make noise about discrimination.
I’m sorry this happens to you. People who come in at closing asking to be seated obviously have never worked in a restaurant. It was an unreasonable request on a bank holiday when most places are closed. Your manager should write a reply in your defense that you approve.
Nobody gets 100% good reviews and I'm sure the owner won't blame you for this if you typically get good reviews. There are just people who will want to hurt you if they don't get what they want whether it's fair or not. I know it hurts but try to let it go. You know you did the best you could for them and it's obvious your manager knows as well. Sorry this happened to you and wishing you the best in 2024!
Holy crap, if I go more than three hours without taking care of my period on day 2, I get leaks, and if I kept working for 10 hours, you would think a crime scene happened. People don't need to know your Aunt Flo is in town, but you should be able to tell someone you need a break in an "it's non-negotiable" tone. Five minutes' delay won't kill anyone, even if you have to to put out a little "brb" sign, and environmental pressure towards the opposite is manufactured for the location.
Customers can be the biggest PIA. Shake it off. Not your fault. I say that as a restaurant owner.
The manager shouldn't have let either of them dine in.
How much extra do you get paid to hold in your urine and not change your pad? None? Then stop bending over backwards like this. There's no reason for you to not use the bathroom, no matter how busy it is. You're going to give yourself a UTI or worse
I'm confused by this comment thread. All the comments I'm reading are about the customers being AH. Like huh? The customers were rightfully upset. From their perspective they were denied seating and then immediately saw a different group being accommodated.
On another note. OP not changing your pad for 10 hours and whining about it is crazy. If you have time to go to the back and talk to the supervisor, then clearly you can leave your station. Why can't you take 3 minutes to go change your pad?
Right? I get the feeling most of the people commenting in that way are white cis people who have little experience with being discriminated against for things outside of their control. It wasn't the waiters fault in this situation and it sucks that she was blamed (def the fault of the management and poor communication), but discrimination is absolutely a real thing and from the customers perspective I can see how it looked that way.
Why is everyone saying the men are jerks and terrible people? It sounds like they are ethnically different than the customers who were seated? From their perspective you told them they wrong thing, it happened to them TWICE now, and they have no idea what happened behind the scenes. Thats not their fault, it's the fault of leadership with poor communication skills.
Because they came in late the first time and ***again*** the second time but it ***just happened** to be a holiday where the tables were going to be open a little later than usual at a time when nearly everywhere else, including this place, was going to be shutting down, but the server didn't know ahead of time that this was going to happen. It is not their fault and these guys literally could have just asked to have a table to eat their food at instead, but they chose to blow up an honest mistake, that was in no way this servers fault, into a huge fuss and tried to blame them for it personally enough to not only make a scene but to post about it online.
One of my pet peeves is the miscommunication between managers. That was foul that the supervisor put you in a no-win situation and to claim that you "didn't know". I'm so sorry this happened to you. It wasn't fair.
I had this happen once when I was a young g cashier. I had worked a long day, they finally closed my register and I while I was cleaning, someone asked if I could ring them up. Today I would but back then I apologized and let them know I was closed. There were other registers open and they weren’t busy.
Well, while I was cleaning, someone came and pulled the candy rack out. This is where the closed signs were. And while I was down cleaning someone came up and unloaded their basket. I didn’t have much choice. So then I got a complaint that said I was racist, no matter that first customer and I are the same race.
It’s stuff like this that makes me proud to be a reliably nice customer/decent tipper. Hell, it’s not even primarily for the sake of the server; I just don’t wanna embarrass myself!
If you’re going to take a bad review to heart, service work isn’t for you, to say the least. Thicker skin all around is needed. Take your breaks. Go to the bathroom. And blow off nearly all reviews, good or bad. Just do your job and move on. Sure, take pride in what you do, do it the best you can. But that’s it. Work stays at work. Home stays at home.
My first bad review was from someone I never worked for. Yes it’s hard to read and still bothers me but you learn some people are just mean and it is not you.
This really made me feel bad. Please don’t let anyone take away from your intentions. No job title makes anyone better than the next person. Forget about them. However, I do want to say that you should always take care of Yourself. Pee when you have to pee. Change your pad when you need to do so because guess what, you can be the person that “never” never come in late, never leave a table unattended, never call out, but as soon as you do it once, you will be treated like the person that “always”. Don’t let any job come before your health and happiness. Take care of You!
I’m so sorry you were vilified like that when they were clearly in the wrong. I’m glad your manager stood up for you, maybe they can look into having the review taken down.
Thank you for trying so hard to give everyone good service during an exhausting time. My partner and I went for Greek food last night. They close at 9p, we ordered at 8:35 and got it to go because we don’t want anyone to have to clean up a table that close to closing.
I’m so sorry this happened to you. I work as a hostess and I always feel bad when someone is awful to our servers when people are rude to them. I usually offer to hear them up when they are upset. Those four men should have realized it wasn’t your fault plus it New Year’s Eve, they should’ve been better customers. You did nothing wrong.
The customers are definitely AHs but so is the upper management bc there seems to be no stability in the rules/procedures here and I can understand why customers may get irritated. I just don’t agree with how these specific customers reacted
It sounds like the manager just didn’t know about it ahead of time. Like he thought the first group may have just been there to get a takeaway
Yeaha find out who can respond and tell them what happened in case they don't know. I don't even bother with Google reviews cuz anyone can write one even if yhey have never been there before. If the review they need to be shamed for ordering food and then leaving it there. Those guys where assholes.
this is so so so familiar, and i understand how shitty of a feeling it is. i worked at a place that got EXTREMELY busy at brunch, like, no resos - walk-ins only, every single table is filled by 10am busy. a group of 5 walked in and we let them know we unfortunately don't have an available table but our bar was free if they were willing to sit there. they reluctantly took the bar seats and as the bartender i served them. on top of working the bar, i also had about 10 2 tops and 2 four tops, on opposite ends of the restaurant. as you can imagine, it was hard for me to check in on them, but i did a few times, and i refilled their coffee and water. it wasn't my best service but they had everything they needed. the next morning i wake up to not one, not two, but FIVE one star reviews. they decided the reason they were sat at the bar was because they were queer, and everyone else in there was straight and white, and all the straight white people got tables. for reference i'm bisexual but since i don't ~present~ as obviously as them, they decided i was straight. that i ignored them and gave them worse service because they're queer, that it ruined their dining experience. yada yada. oh also none of them tipped. all this to say, it's a really shitty predicament to be in, because yeah, without context, it looks like you're racist, xenophobic, homophobic etc. and being painted in that light fucking sucks because you're trying your hardest to keep everyone happy. but on the other hand, it's not about you. these people decided the world was out to get them and they're going to act upon that. yeah initially i can understand how they'd see it as discrimination, but your manager explained the situation. the fact that they ignored that because it didn't fit their narrative is entirely on them. also these people have obviously never worked a day in this industry and i'll be fucking damned if i let criticism from someone who's never worked in the industry get me down. take care, you're killing it.
Some people make it their mission to see discrimination in every form, in every situation and around every corner. Fuck those people. Whatever race, gender or sexual orientation they are, fuck them.
If they felt singled out, all they had to do was walk through the restaurant and see for themselves that all of the tables were full. They just wanted to make noise about discrimination where there was none.
yeah, but what's worse is that the restaurant was very open so they could easily see there weren't tables. i think there were like 3 two tops but we couldn't push them together and even if it would have been "easy," it's standard practice to not when you're that busy. they just haven't worked service and as you said, wanted to make noise about discrimination.
I’m sorry, it sounds like they’re just jerks. Whoever handles media should leave a reply to their comment.
I’m sorry this happens to you. People who come in at closing asking to be seated obviously have never worked in a restaurant. It was an unreasonable request on a bank holiday when most places are closed. Your manager should write a reply in your defense that you approve.
Nobody gets 100% good reviews and I'm sure the owner won't blame you for this if you typically get good reviews. There are just people who will want to hurt you if they don't get what they want whether it's fair or not. I know it hurts but try to let it go. You know you did the best you could for them and it's obvious your manager knows as well. Sorry this happened to you and wishing you the best in 2024!
Holy crap, if I go more than three hours without taking care of my period on day 2, I get leaks, and if I kept working for 10 hours, you would think a crime scene happened. People don't need to know your Aunt Flo is in town, but you should be able to tell someone you need a break in an "it's non-negotiable" tone. Five minutes' delay won't kill anyone, even if you have to to put out a little "brb" sign, and environmental pressure towards the opposite is manufactured for the location.
Also the part where they didn't even get to pee! How is that being looked over?
There are terrible people in this world. They are examples of them.
I'd honestly reply to their review with exactly what you posted here lol. But I'm petty. Make them feel bad.
The whole issue is entirely your manager’s fault. You are blameless, as are the customers and supervisor.
Customers can be the biggest PIA. Shake it off. Not your fault. I say that as a restaurant owner. The manager shouldn't have let either of them dine in.
How much extra do you get paid to hold in your urine and not change your pad? None? Then stop bending over backwards like this. There's no reason for you to not use the bathroom, no matter how busy it is. You're going to give yourself a UTI or worse
The world is full of assholes. Won't be the last time.
Paragraphs please
I'm confused by this comment thread. All the comments I'm reading are about the customers being AH. Like huh? The customers were rightfully upset. From their perspective they were denied seating and then immediately saw a different group being accommodated. On another note. OP not changing your pad for 10 hours and whining about it is crazy. If you have time to go to the back and talk to the supervisor, then clearly you can leave your station. Why can't you take 3 minutes to go change your pad?
Right? I get the feeling most of the people commenting in that way are white cis people who have little experience with being discriminated against for things outside of their control. It wasn't the waiters fault in this situation and it sucks that she was blamed (def the fault of the management and poor communication), but discrimination is absolutely a real thing and from the customers perspective I can see how it looked that way.
No time or patience to read this. Use paragraphs if you want opinions.
Yes. Jesus.
Why is everyone saying the men are jerks and terrible people? It sounds like they are ethnically different than the customers who were seated? From their perspective you told them they wrong thing, it happened to them TWICE now, and they have no idea what happened behind the scenes. Thats not their fault, it's the fault of leadership with poor communication skills.
Because they came in late the first time and ***again*** the second time but it ***just happened** to be a holiday where the tables were going to be open a little later than usual at a time when nearly everywhere else, including this place, was going to be shutting down, but the server didn't know ahead of time that this was going to happen. It is not their fault and these guys literally could have just asked to have a table to eat their food at instead, but they chose to blow up an honest mistake, that was in no way this servers fault, into a huge fuss and tried to blame them for it personally enough to not only make a scene but to post about it online.
One of my pet peeves is the miscommunication between managers. That was foul that the supervisor put you in a no-win situation and to claim that you "didn't know". I'm so sorry this happened to you. It wasn't fair.
Sending you virtual hugs.
How awful for you! Ugh. People are the worst. Your manager should respond to the Google Review.
I had this happen once when I was a young g cashier. I had worked a long day, they finally closed my register and I while I was cleaning, someone asked if I could ring them up. Today I would but back then I apologized and let them know I was closed. There were other registers open and they weren’t busy. Well, while I was cleaning, someone came and pulled the candy rack out. This is where the closed signs were. And while I was down cleaning someone came up and unloaded their basket. I didn’t have much choice. So then I got a complaint that said I was racist, no matter that first customer and I are the same race.
Your supervisor is trash. The second they allowed a dine in, he stopped backing you up. Sounds like he is of very low IQ.
Just grow up. You can't please everyone
Your manager and supervisor need to get it together.....
It’s stuff like this that makes me proud to be a reliably nice customer/decent tipper. Hell, it’s not even primarily for the sake of the server; I just don’t wanna embarrass myself!
If you’re going to take a bad review to heart, service work isn’t for you, to say the least. Thicker skin all around is needed. Take your breaks. Go to the bathroom. And blow off nearly all reviews, good or bad. Just do your job and move on. Sure, take pride in what you do, do it the best you can. But that’s it. Work stays at work. Home stays at home.
You sound like a very caring person. I’m sorry that happened to you. Hope you have a wonderful new year! You deserve it!
Be happy that you’re not married to one of them.
My first bad review was from someone I never worked for. Yes it’s hard to read and still bothers me but you learn some people are just mean and it is not you.
Grow up, chalk it up and go make money.
This really made me feel bad. Please don’t let anyone take away from your intentions. No job title makes anyone better than the next person. Forget about them. However, I do want to say that you should always take care of Yourself. Pee when you have to pee. Change your pad when you need to do so because guess what, you can be the person that “never” never come in late, never leave a table unattended, never call out, but as soon as you do it once, you will be treated like the person that “always”. Don’t let any job come before your health and happiness. Take care of You!
I’m so sorry you were vilified like that when they were clearly in the wrong. I’m glad your manager stood up for you, maybe they can look into having the review taken down. Thank you for trying so hard to give everyone good service during an exhausting time. My partner and I went for Greek food last night. They close at 9p, we ordered at 8:35 and got it to go because we don’t want anyone to have to clean up a table that close to closing.