‘She needs customer service training’: Customers arrive at restaurant on New Year's night during closing, leave entitled review and tip 4% despite server's excellent service

Author image for Lana DeGaetano
Lana DeGaetano • "Show me to me please."
Jan 3, 2025 10:00 AM EST

Customer service workers often work holidays that other workforce employees have off on. In a perfect world, every individual in the workforce would be able to spend the holidays with their loved ones and steer clear of the Karens and Kevins who often frequent restaurants and retail stores during Christmas, New Year's, and the like.

Unfortunately, we do not live in a perfect world, so many customer service employees have to face entitled customers on days that should be reserved for relaxing and spending time with family and friends. The most important thing to remember as a customer service employee (from a former customer service employee) is: Smile! Even when you really don't want to. The user who posted this story did exactly that when a group of customers came into the establishment right as they're closing, and the customers still had something to complain about.

That's the thing about customer service—you can't please everyone. Someone will always find something to complain about, and in this story's case, the customers ran rampant in a falsified poor review despite the user giving them excellent customer service and allowing them to hang out at the restaurant two hours past closing time. Scroll below to get all the details.

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  • "I was so beyond frustrated at this point because by the time they leave it's around 10:40 and we closed nearly 2 hours prior."
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • table left a review after staying nearly 2 hours after close on new years night.
    via imnaturalselection
  • i had a table last night who came in at 9pm, we close at 9pm by the way and it's new year's eve. so i let them know when they sit down (because my manager told me to even after i kept asking him to communicate this to them) that we unfortunately are closed
    via imnaturalselection
  • so i would need to know their order as soon as possible. i said this and i said i was going to get their drinks and i got all of their drinks (7 top who mind you only 3 were there, the mom her daughter and her husband)
    via imnaturalselection
  • so i get the drink order because at this point bartenders are coming up to me telling me they need the bar order because at this point it's 9:10 pm and they are closing. so i get their drink order in and i give them more time to order. then my manager is
    via imnaturalselection
  • literally telling me if i don't get their order in right now that they can't order so i go up to them and i let them know that unfortunately i do need to know their order and if they don't mind if they can call their friends.
    via imnaturalselection
  • i also asked the husband who ordered a blue moon if he needed any orange slices and i said this knowing that i would personally cut them. anyway, i get the order and put it in. i come back and they are taking a picture and i
    via imnaturalselection
  • smile and offer to take it for them. i even clean off the camera and i take the picture and they looked good and so i complimented them and said they looked really nice. the baby at one point was crying and i was
    via imnaturalselection
  • going to bring her something to color with but then her pizza came and she was happy and so i was laughing and smiling. i checked up on them multiple times and asked if they needed extra sauce or if there was anything i could get for them and
    via imnaturalselection
  • they said no. then 2 other people join the party around 9:40 and are eating their food and i check up on them throughout it. then i see that a table at the end still had their food untouched because there are 2 empty seats so i ask if i should pack it up for them and she said no they are still coming.
    via imnaturalselection

  • Already, this is a customer service nightmare. On New Year's Day, at 9 PM, when the restaurant is about to close, a large group of people come walking and claim that they have a reservation. The group likely did have a reservation, but many restaurants use third-party websites like Resy and OpenTable. When an establishment uses these third-party sites, hiccups can happen and then you're left serving a table when you should be clocking out for the night.

    This group's reservation doesn't only affect the user as a server, but the bartender, kitchen staff, and manager as well. Despite this major inconvenience, this user tried her best to be as accommodating as possible while gently reminding the customers of the time. After all, the establishment's open hours are likely available on Google, so the customers probably already knew they were going to have a quicker bite to eat than they'd like—especially on a holiday. Though everything seemed fine, this user was in for more than she thought.

  • so i tell my manager that they have more people coming and he's like this is ridiculous i'm locking the doors we literally closed almost an hour ago. and so idk what to do but i felt like it was r de so i did not say anything. then they come around
    via imnaturalselection
  • 10 and so then when she tries the food i asked her if everything is okay and she said yes and i saw her boyfriend didn't have a drink so i offered to get him water or something to drink and he said no. i give it a few minutes and i check up on them again and clear plates.
    via imnaturalselection
  • XVO ABC TUV 3DF 6 NO WAY
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+
  • at this point it's around 10:30 and they spilt checks and then the woman tips me 4% and so i was sooo frustrated at this point and i said "i am sorry did i do something wrong with my service." she said no you were fine i just don't have more cash
    via imnaturalselection
  • and i just said "oh okay." mind you, i wrote "thank you! happy new years" on their checks. her other friend tipped me 10% and i was so beyond frustrated at this point because by the time they leave it's around 10:40 and we closed nearly 2 hours prior. then she wrote this TERRIBLE review the next day saying this:
    via imnaturalselection
  • well my manager told me this morning that she wrote a terrible review and this is what she said "Great food, I couldn't taste well. BUT worse experience ever with our server. I made a reservation at 9 (edit: they made it online i have NO idea how it got
    via imnaturalselection
  • Cheezburger Image 10449856000
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+
  • approved i believe it was a third party site) accept it, when I got on the table (party of 7), we arrive early (3 members of my family) she introduced herself and tell that we have to order ASAP and also for the rest, cause the kitchen is close, and literally I just seat on the table, and she
    via imnaturalselection
  • keep asking can you call them? And I was like in shock. The rush from her was intense. To put the cherry on the top, at the moment of the bill, I left a 5$ tip and she asked me if she did something wrong on her service, and I was like for real? And after that she literally took the receipt of my
    via imnaturalselection
  • hand with attitude and to my friend she literally throw he's receipt on the table. Not coming back for sure. I was a waitress too and if you don't want to work on a busy day like New Years and you just want work to get the h | out of there, then don't go. That's it. She needs customer service training."
    via imnaturalselection
  • mind you I NEVER snatched it because it was on the table and i NEVER threw the receipt i placed it down on the table. my own manager said this review is so out of my character because i only get good reviews. to the extent where i am the only server at my restaurant who has ever gotten a gift card from corporate with one of my reviews attached to it.
    via imnaturalselection
  • it's just so so shi y.
    via imnaturalselection
  • MelMomma The manager should not be telegraphing information to the table through you. The manager should be sat the table... managing. You are there to serve and satisfy customers. The manager is there to enforce policy.
    via MelMomma
  • magiccitybhm First and foremost, your owner/manager needs to figure out how a reservation was made for 9:00 when you close at 9:00. Second, the manager absolutely should have been the one to go to the table and address all of this. Frankly, the manager should never have approved even seating them at closing time when only three of the seven were there.
    via magiccitybhm
  • This isn't on you. Your manager screwed all of this up.
    via magiccitybhm
  • mysticblackfox This makes me so mad that lady was never a server or she was a terrible one because who in the service industry would ever sit down at a restaurant when they close!! I really hate people like that they are so full of it smh. Also manager should have stepped in and told them they would have to go somewhere else.
    via mysticblackfox

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customer service entitled customer entitlement server karen-customer customers reddit story customer entitled customers server life entitled late customer reddit thread r-entitled Reddit tales from your server entitled people karen customer
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