‘You just lost a customer’: Customer gets removed from restaurant after owner stands up to him for yelling at one of the servers who messed up his receipt

Author image for Eleonora Bader
Eleonora Bader
May 11, 2024 7:00 AM EDT

As someone who has worked a lot in customer service, I can assure you that I have never seen a coworker react badly to a customer yelling, 'You just lost a customer!'. Because the honest truth is, we just didn't care. I can promise you it's quite universal, as anyone working a minimum wage job just isn't getting paid enough to care.

One man entered a restaurant to have a nice meal with his wife. At first, all was going well. They got their food, ate it up, talked, whatever. Then he asked for the bill, and here is where the server made a mistake. But it wasn't the end of the world, and the server certainly didn't deserve what the man did next. Luckily, the owner wasn't having it, and he got involved. Scroll down to read the full, detailed account of events, and then for more stories like this one, check out this hiring manager who belittled the wrong candidate.

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  • 01
    "You just lost a customer."
    via Canva
  • 02
    The owner of the restaurant kicked out one of my tables for yelling at me about a receipt
    via u/aaanon5402
  • 03
    It was my first day at a pizza restaurant. This place was always SLAMMED... it's really where I learned how to be a good server, before that I worked at over staffed burger joints or Italian restaurants. Things were moving pretty fast but I was doing surprisingly well. I had about 10 tables and I was used to 3-4 table sections. I will never forget this couple that came in and sat down at table 24. They were an old couple. I'm talking both gray haired and over dressed to be at a pizza restaurant.
    via u/aaanon5402
  • 04
    I did mess up. The man at table 24 handed me his card to close out. I'm BUSY.. like didn't even have time to pick a v e if I had one, busy. I go to the computer and swipe his card. Admittedly I forgot to print out the itemized receipt, which I get can be very frustrating. Man at table 24 had every right to be upset. But instead of asking me to grab the itemized receipt, he began to LOUDLY, in a small room, with a deep and firm tone tell me how horrible I am at my job. That no wonder I only got a
    via u/aaanon5402
  • 05
    wouldn't let me walk away when I tried. So now all of my other tables just saw me get ripped a new a ole, and I'm in the weeds after wasting time getting yelled at by this guy. The owner of the restaurant must have come in at some point. He saw this man yelling at me, came up to the table and did the most bad as thing I've ever seen. Owner: "Excuse me sir," he says to the man at table 24, "I am the owner of this establishment. I'm not sure what the problem is here and frankly, I don't care. What
    via u/aaanon5402
  • 06
    waitress. So I'm going to ask you and your wife to leave and not come back to my restaurant." Man at table 24: "Fine but you'll be losing our business." Owner: "I really don't care, and don't want people like you in my restaurant anyway." It was the coolest s it I had ever seen. The owner STOOD THERE AND WAITED for these people to leave. It was f g bad a 5.
    via u/aaanon5402
  • 07
    After they left the owner came up to me and said: "F those people. You're doing a great job and I wouldn't have hired you if you didn't show potential. If anyone else talks to you like that I want you to tell them to fk off and get out. I don't want their money." Coolest. Boss. Ever.
    via u/aaanon5402
  • 08
    sweetrhymepurereason Awesome story. I had a great boss once who liked to say "the customer is always right, but that guy is not our customer anymore." 5.1k Reply Share bizzarepeanut When I worked as a manager at my previous restaurant you were not allowed to say customer EVER. You had to say guest. They were all rolled up in that corporate a counts" no matter how f kissing, “every penny ng racquet. So anytime I had gotten a little s'for standing up for one of my servers or not folding and compin
    via u/sweetrhymepurereason, u/bizzarepeanut
  • 09
    was over cooked after they licked their plate clean. While being reprimanded one of the higher ups would always say that "customer is always right" b hit. I would always retort with something along the lines of, "well good thing they aren't a customer and since they are a guest they better fi g behave like one."
    via u/bizzarepeanut
  • 10
    knickknacksnackery So I'm going to ask you and your wife to leave and not come back to my restaurant. Fine but you'll be losing our business. That was the intent, yes. 441 Reply Share
    via u/knickknacksnackery
  • 11
    jacksonblackwell24. Serving made me realize some people think our lives depend on their business exclusively. I don't need your $5 tip to pay my bills, if you are gonna and moan the entire time you come out to eat at one of my tables, your tip isn't worth the trouble and I'd honestly rather clean toilets for my base pay (not really, don't tell my boss I said that) 368 Reply Share
    via u/jacksonblackwell24
  • 12
    FoxtrotSierraTango When I was bouncing, I used to tell misbehaving people that I would rather not take their tip/bribe because then I'd be obligated to put up with their b it all night. I told them they'd better be on their best behavior which included being very polite to my cocktail waitresses or else I'd remove them. 111 Reply Share ...
    via u/FoxtrotSierraTango
  • 13
    IronicDespair I love when people threaten to never come back again because they decided to throw a temper tantrum. We don't want customers like that anyway good riddance. 169 Reply Share Endblock My favorite part is that they said it after being told never to come back. you can't ban us because we're never coming back!
    via u/IronicDespair, u/Endblock
  • 14
    [deleted] employees! love when bosses stand up for their 513 Reply Share UnthawedAge Any boss who thinks keeping a customer at the expense of an employee is wack. Always back up your employees. You really want to go shorthanded for a little bit while trying to hire a replacement? 216 Reply Share
    via u/deleted, u/UnthawedAge
  • 15
    KrossCheckN· I never understood how anyone could be rude to waiters or waitresses. Like, you could easily stay at home and cook your own d. n food. Instead you choose to go out in public and make an a ⚫ of yourself? Okay. Good call. Food can't be ready at the snap of a finger if it needs to be cooked. Sit your a down, talk to whoever you're there with, play on your phone if you're there alone, just shut the fi up instead of screaming at people like a big ol' bag of c S. And what would you even d
    via u/KrossCheckN
  • 16
    some high security safe forever. I work in retail, I know what people do with their receipts. Most of them wind up crumpled up in carts or on the floor. 249 Reply Share [deleted] People enjoy the illusion of power over others. A friend/co worker told me last night that he serves a regular customer who enjoys taking the merchant copy receipt. Just to stiff the server and see if she can get away with it. E ' got joy out of it.
    via u/deleted
  • 17
    Plus most people are insanely lazy. My spot serves breakfast (I don't k with brunch or breakfast tho) but those servers tell me that oatmeal is a top seller. LIKE YOU'RE TOO LAZY TO MAKE OATMEAL AT HOME. SMH. At least hollandaise takes patience. 130 Reply Share
    via u/deleted
  • 18
    828Ashby828 Had a former boss grab a 'customer' by the ear and escort him out of the restaurant after he made a long term employee cry. I was maybe 16, just starting in the restaurant business... Besides my current job, I have never seen a manager stand up for the employees like that guy did. 80 Reply Share
    via u/828Ashby828
  • 19
    Tinabird20- Im lucky my current job is bartending and I work by myself. My boss knows I take a healthy dose of people's before Im done. So whenever I tell him this person needs to be banned Im never questioned. 52 Reply Share
    via u/Tinabird20
  • 20
    jmerridew124. The owner is a dude who's waited tables before. 36 Reply Share Omegablade0 Best owners/managers are the ones who started at the bottom 34 Reply Share ...
    via u/jmerridew124, u/Omegablade0

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management customer service boss establishment manager server pizza workplace stories reddit customers bills workplace paycheck food waitress tales from your server check receipt
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