I preferred the deaf woman. The following is yet another transcription of yet another customer dispute that occurred the other day. This, unlike the last one I posted, was verbal and relatively quick, but no less irritating. Brief setup: I'm the only front-of-house employee in the restaurant when a young woman enters. She looks at the menu for about two seconds before deciding on our special omelet of the day (containing tomato, squash, scallions, ham, and cheddar), but without the ham. Well-acquainted with our restaurant's policies, I know there's no way in hell the kitchen will modify a special like that, so we proceed to squabble. Did I mention the woman had her sunglasses on the entire time, despite being indoors? According to Larry David, that means she's either blind or an asshole. I'm opting for the latter.
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Customer (after I politely deny her request to remove the ham): "Well, what, is it pre-made or something?"
Me: "No, it's not pre-made, I'm afraid we just don't modify anything that's on our written specials board. If you'd like, you can always create your own omelet from the regular menu."
Customer: "I'm a vegetarian - you're telling me I can't have that omelet made without meat?!"
Me: "That particular omelet, no, but again, you can easily create a vegetarian omelet from our regular menu. Also, we have a variety of really delicious vegetarian egg dishes up there, like our southwest burrito, truffle egg toast, and strata. The strata's an Italian-based, deep-dish egg..."
Customer (cutting me off): "I know what strata is! I don't why you're being so difficult, the other gentleman who's behind the register lets me do this. I've done it all the time."
Me (caught off-guard by her complete lie, a look of bewilderment slips through my polite mask): "Um, we never modify our specials. I've worked here for three years and we've never done that."
Customer: "The other man does it for me."
Me: "No, he doesn't. Now I'm sorry, ma'am - I don't make the rules, but I do have to enforce them."
Customer: "There! That's just it - you said 'rules'. You shouldn't say that, because I'm the customer, and now you're just insulting me."
Me: "Insulting you?"
Customer: "Yes!"
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And with that, the woman storms out as the two diners sitting at the bar burst into laughter. They witnessed the whole thing, sympathized with me, and we proceeded to have a good yuk about it. It's reassuring to know that at least some of our customers aren't insane.
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how about this: i will a CUSTOM ORDER omelet with tomato, squash, scallions, and cheddar.
ReplyDeletesuck my dick, taste.
No can do. Squash and scallions aren't among the list of items one can put in a custom omelet (kinda making the special somewhat exclusive). I definitely hear you, but when she doesn't even take the two seconds to consider our dozens of vegetarian egg options and is rude to boot, it's hard for me to sympathize.
ReplyDeletePlease. Chef, reach over to your left and grab the squash,and throw it in the omelet.
ReplyDeletefood isnt "art" if you allow it to be custom made. unless its made with squash and scallions, apparently.
get off it. the customer pre-maturely flipped out. but admit that not making an omelet substitution is INSANE.
i must say, this is not good PR for taste.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Subtract one item from an omelet that ISN'T pre-made. Not hard. Taste has no defense here.
ReplyDeleteWhoa, whoa, whoa - by no means have I crossed over to the dark side. This post was meant as a critique of not the customer's reasonable request (for the record, yes, I agree with you guys - but again, that's not the point here), but rather her behavior afterward. I don't know if she watched "Falling Down" too many times over the years or whatever, but regardless, when I witness an adult melting down (this time at me, personally) over something so inconsequential, it makes me sick to my stomach. Lady, even if you ARE right, few things excuse a public tantrum - least of all that. It's an omelet. Feel free to get over it.
ReplyDeletei get your point. if i was denied the substitution, id just roll my eyes with a big "really? you cant remove the ham?" before ordering something else. but then i probably wouldnt eat there anymore.
ReplyDelete"i just want a breakfast sandwich at 10:07, and breakfast service ends at 10! ARGGGGGHHH!!"
Sorry if you expected your audience here to just automatically agree with you - it seems they do not. Maybe you should wear name tags so she can be specific about who the "other man" is, who is (according to her) so accommodating.
ReplyDeleteI know, talk about egg on my face (Get it - Egg? Omelets? BREAKFAST??? Yuk yuk yuk). But again, my aim was never to sing the praises of the restaurant's modification policies. Not the point of this post.
ReplyDeleteAnd no, nametags won't be necessary, as I'm one of the three male front-of-house employees (and one of those remaining two never goes near the register to ring in customer orders). I know exactly who the woman was talking about, and no, he has NEVER accommodated her like she described - even asked him about it myself. A total lie.