Fed-up customer decides to dine and dash after server ignores them for their entire stay and fails to bring in their food for over 40 minutes: ‘He wouldn't even look in my direction’

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Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Jan 20, 2025 10:00 AM EST

Anyone who has ever worked in customer service knows that days on jobs like these never look the same. Every day, every hour even, is a new adventure and a challenge, and you have to handle whatever the job (or a customer, for that matter) throws on you, and do it with a smile. 

Being a server at a restaurant, many tips (not the money kind, the other kind) are there to help you avoid certain challenges on the job. Exactly how long should pass between the time you sit your guests down to the time you come to take their orders, what greetings you should use, and the items on the menu you should recommend. Some tips are basic, some are actual gems. There are probably hundreds of guidebooks for servers to use when they start the job, to ensure that customers always leave their table happy and content. 

If you're letting 40 minutes pass by while your customer waits for their food, and you didn't once check up on them or let them know of the delay, you should definitely expect them to be mad about it, as they should. Just as the customer in the story below was before they decided to dine and dash.

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  • 01
    JON S Ba MEN'S 11 561 11 13 7-905 211 #JETO BUH STERL 1-1617ZZ NOILIOOV BOZ NOT OU BYN TERAN STA
    via tirc83
  • 02

    "I dined and dashed last night because the service was so bad"

    Having worked in customer service for so many years I have great leniency for when things go wrong but last night just broke me.
    via Ghostspider1989
  • 03
    I ordered a cocktail, an appetizer being chips and dip and my entree being a steak. After I got my cocktail it was 40 minutes until anyone came by my table again.
    via Ghostspider1989
  • 04
    I saw my server serving the table adjacent to mine and they got their food however he wouldnt even look in my direction for me to get his attention.
    via Ghostspider1989
  • 05
    Now I wouldnt mind a wait, as I understand that the kitchen gets backed up or whatever. But for 40 minutes at least communicate something or ask if I want another drink for f's sake.
    via Ghostspider1989
  • 06
    When my food finally did arrive after 40 minutes it was just my entree, no appetizer. I reminded them and they would bring it over but at that point I was already checked out.
    via Ghostspider1989
  • 07
    I ate what I could finish as I got kind of full and then I waited for them to come by again as I wanted the check and a to go box. However at
    via Ghostspider1989
  • 08
    this point I realized they simply wouldn't be coming back at all. So I said f and straight up left. I was seriously so pied off at this point.
    via Ghostspider1989
  • 09
    I never in my life thought I would dine and dash but they piced me off so much last night.
    via Ghostspider1989

  • It should be a basic rule for servers that if a guest's food is going to take longer than 20 minutes to arrive, they should be notified about it. No one should sit at a restaurant and wait for their food for that long without knowing what is taking so long.

    Does that justify a ‘Dine and Dash’? Debatable. But it's definitely not something that should happen in a restaurant that respects itself. Hopefully, the server in this story has learned his lesson.

  • 10
    peanutbutterhoneybee As a server, I would have done the same thing
    via peanutbutterhoneybee
  • 11
    kaelindoman Usually I wouldn't say yea but.. yea waiting that long for just an app and not even given the chance to ask if you'd be okay with the wait is a good reason to d&d.
    via kaelindoman
  • 12
    External-Bobcat-8800 I'm still trying to work out how a steak is an entree? Did I read it incorrectly?
    via External-Bobcat-8800
  • 13
    Ghostspider1989 OP In America the entree is the main course of the meal
    via Ghostspider1989
  • 14
    Cheezburger Image 10456762624
    via Skitterphoto
  • 15
    gemmygem86 So you waited almost 2 house for food? I would of left long ago
    via gemmygem86
  • 16
    Ghostspider1989 OP Maybe I worded things wrong, my bad. I ordered my drink and then 40 minutes later I got my entree.
    via Ghostspider1989
  • 17
    But during those 40 minutes nobody came by to check up on me or ask if I wanted another drink or update me.
    via Ghostspider1989
  • 18
    mymixtapeisfiyah Trying to get some more details OP, did u approach anyone from front of house about the issues, or instead of waiting for them to come to your table, did you seek out anyone? Obviously the etiquette on their part was
    via mymixtapeisfiyah
  • 19
    awful, but sometimes low staffing in kitchen and floor can lead to customers being lost in the fray. Did the servers seem checked out from everyone or just you in particular?
    via mymixtapeisfiyah
  • 20
    Ghostspider 1989 OP Approaching someone was gonna be a last resort for me however after I got my food I was already checked out.
    via Ghostspider1989
  • 21
    As for my server, idk if they had an issue with me or what but I did see them serving other tables when I was still waiting
    via Ghostspider1989
  • 22
    Zeebie Surprised by the reaction here. You still ate the food and drank the cocktail. Theft is theft. Calling it dined and dashed makes people feel better about themselves.
    via Zeebie_
  • 23
    Poor service doesn't give you the right to steal. It gives you the right to complain, or to seek a discount, or give a 1 star review on google. I'm also sure it wouldn't have been small amount either. Guessing $40+
    via Zeebie_
  • 24
    Ghostspider 1989 OP It was about $50 or so yeah. I stand by what I did however
    via Ghostspider1989
  • 25
    Velveteen Coffee That's not dine & dash that's having places to be and not having all night.
    via Velveteen_Coffee
  • 26
    drphillovestoparty Good for you, they ignore you, you ignore them. They want to get paid they need to treat people properly.
    via drphillovestoparty

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customer service guests server customers dine and dash reddit story restaurant server life food service bill food diner Reddit money check restaurant server
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