They’ve infiltrated the customers minds……………..

While corporate restaurants have tried their darnedest to turn their servers into robots, (albeit ones with personality) they have instead created a whole new class of customer, many of whom we have discussed here. This attitudinal (my word) mind shift became even more apparent after I went back to working at a privately owned establishment. It would seem that the corporate restaurants are saying to anyone who has ever wanted to scam free food, “Visit us! Come up with some bogus complaint, we’ll take it off the bill!” Example: “We didn’t like the calamari. It wasn’t crisp enough.”

“No problem, we’ll take if off the bill!”

Every time that happens the server groans….because that is less money the server will be tipped on. It doesn’t matter that nine tenths of the calamari was eaten.

Then you get the groups that turn this into a tag-team event.

“She doesn’t like her Chicken Marsala.”

“Yeah, we all tasted it (thus turning her entrée into an appetizer for the entire table) and no one liked it, so she’s gonna need to order something else.”

So not only is the Chicken Marsala, which again, was mostly eaten, taken off the bill, but the new entrée will also be comped, (because of the inconvenience), but mostly because the corporate managers are scared shitless that someone may go on line when they get home and write a letter to corporate. They will probably be sitting there with a thesaurus as they write this letter, so it can be embellished as much as possible, in hopes of getting yet more free stuff from corporate.

For anyone who’s interested, this table just got about 35 to 40 dollars worth of free stuff, and the server will not be compensated for all the extra work that had to be done.

I’ve seen entire bills get comped because people complained so much, yet they ate the food, and what they didn’t finish, they took home with them. One family does this on a regular basis. I believe they consider this an art form. Then they drive away in their $60,000.00 car. What would happen at a private restaurant? They would have to pay their bill, and probably never come back. So what’s worse? People who never come back? Or, people who cost you money every time they walk in the door?

Oh, and nice job teaching your kids how to scam….you’re a real pillar of society.