Dear waiter I stiffed the other night:

The BBQ Pit
1

Fuck you. When we came into the restaurant it felt like we weren’t even wanted there. I thought it was just me being paranoid, but no, everyone else agreed: you didn’t want us there. It didn’t matter that every other time we’ve graced your establishment, we’ve always tipped 20%. You probably took us for a bunch of bad tippers because of our youth and the way we were dressed, so fuck you.

When I tried to order food a half hour before closing time, you sneered at me. “We’re closing soon.” Yeah, in thirty fucking minutes! You finally allowed me to order but were none too pleased about it, and it’s not just me, everyone in the group felt your resentment. Listen, I used to be a waitress. We had a closing time but we were supposed to happily serve food right up until then, and not hassle the customer, even if their meal goes for another hour. The food serving ending time and the closing time are separate concepts and I have a hard time believing your manager would want you to give us the bum’s rush right at the time the kitchen closes.

Oh, but here’s where it gets interesting: you start taking our food away. The nachos we ordered right after coming in at ten and have been nursing all night–you snatch them out from under us, because “sorry sir, the dishwasher is being loaded.” The fuck? You do not do that to customers, not if you want to stay in business. And you do not roll your eyes when we ask for a take-home container. Again, we all saw you, we know you did it.

You also do not overcharge a customer (me) three dollars on a drink I have had multiple times before. I know you are lying about that being the correct price, because it is my third-favorite drink and I order it all the time. And the menu had my price on it too. Just saying.

I figured that I had a legitimate concern when you came back with the wrong receipt and I asked if my friend’s debit card would be charged that amount, but from the way your eyes rolled into the back of your head, I suppose you disagreed. You might want to get that checked by the way, it could be a serious medical condition.

But oh, the discomfort. You and your waiter cronies stared at us as we finished our drinks at a semi-leisurely pace, even though there were other people in the bar (to be fair, sometimes the view switched from us to them, but everyone agreed we were the main attraction). Did your manager know you were staring at us like the guy from Scanners? We’ll never know, since you wouldn’t get him for us. But I think he would be less than pleased, somehow, that you were making paying, well-tipping customers feel so uncomfortable when we are just trying to finish our drinks.

Due to all this, we decide to leave you a Canadian penny as tip, with a list of helpful suggestions (really they were, I didn’t just write “shove it up your ass” though I might have liked to). So right before we leave you get all up in my face (since I was the one who wrote the note, which you know as you were watching me like a hawk) and say “oh, I’ll remember you.” Um, okay, it’s been three years since I have waited tables but from what I remember you do NOT go up to the table to collect the tip before it has been vacated and you do NOT comment on the tip! Especially when you know damn well why you are getting this tip, creepy man who tries to take away our plates and treats us like morons.

Oh, and I cannot stress this enough: do not flip off your customers through the window! And yes, you did do it, even though your cronies backed you up and said you couldn’t possibly have done it. WE ALL SAW YOU. Again, we could not get the manager. You all have a sweet little cover-up going on, don’t you?

Seriously, I have never stiffed a waiter before. Left ten percent? Sometimes. But you are the first I have left a penny to and I am glad I did it. Of course, I am not so glad that I can’t go back to your place of business because it was a really great bar and I’ve had a lot of great times there. What happened in the space of the last month to make it so awful I’ll never know, since I’m not going back.

Fuck you for making it so I can never go to my favorite bar again. I hope your shitty service gets your whole fucking establishment shut down. Maybe then your manager will come out of his office, though I doubt he even knows what kind of an asshole you and your friends are.

And because this is the Pit: fucknugget.

That is all.

2

Find out who owns the place and mail your story to them. I’m quite sure they would be very interested.

3

Good lord, that’s the worst service I’ve heard of that didn’t result in a class action lawsuit. Have you considered sending an email to the restaurant’s owner, or dropping by during the early afternoon to have a word with the manager? A simple, calm word with the manager–especially if you can refer to wait staff who’ve served you previously and might be able to back you up–might get one asshole waiter fired, and some free meals and drinks for you and your friends.

Daniel

4

Seconded, and e-mail which place this was so I can avoid it in future. I’ve fallen in with a bunch of people who’ve been trying new restaurants, and it’ll be nice to know where not to go.

5

Wow. Let’s hope the situation is self-correcting, and therefore temporary. Have you considered calling the manager?

6

Sounds like he had the hots for you.

:dubious:

maybe not.

7

Not to mention the possible interesting contents of said free meals and drinks (depending on how many people the idiot waiter is buddies with).

I’d write the manager/owner a letter and not return.

8

I don’t mind saying it on a public messageboard–it was the Sharp Edge in Bloomfield (Pittsburgh). Hopefully this will sap their business a little.

I’m thinking about writing a letter/email but I didn’t even catch the server’s name, he was so rude he didn’t even give us his name. (First words: “what do you want?” Not hello, not welcome to the Sharp Edge, just whaddayawant. Yeah.) Part of me just wants to say “fuck it” and watch the place burn but part of me wants to save it (because it really used to be such a nice place). I am going to see what my friends think so we can all sign it together, might have more effect that way.

9

I’d call or write the manager - or the owner. Most resturants would much rather lose a bad waiter than a good customer.

10

Davenportavenger if you don’t go back to your favorite bar…The Terrorists Win! :frowning:

11

Had my food been taken away before I was finished I wouldn’t have paid for the meal. The waiter is lucky you didn’t subtract the cost of the nachos from the ticket as I would have done.

12

When my girlfriend and I were on vacation in Bermuda a few months ago, we were out on the town and got hungry. So we started scanning for restaurants. We found a nice one that wasn’t too busy with outdoor seating. So we sat down and patiently waited for a server to come over. While we were waiting, we were looking over the menu and both decided that we were going to order (more than) a few alcoholic drinks and a steak each. I was more than willing to put up a nice amount of money, since this was our last night there and we hadn’t had a really nice dinner yet, at least one that wasn’t on the cruise ship.

We patiently waited while our server was flirting with some locals at another table. When I finally caught her eye, she came over, sighed heavily, and said, “Whadya want?” I was taken aback, but we ordered. She kept getting everything wrong, and what’s worse is she didn’t seem to care. Also, our orders apparently frustrated her, as we didn’t quite order the same thing. For example, we both ordered baked potatoes, but I didn’t want sour cream on mine. This annoyed her quite a bit.

After she left, we decided that we didn’t feel like eating at a place where we were a chore and not a customer. So we got up and left.

About 15 minutes later, as we were browsing a store, the restaurant manager came in. He angrily asked if we had just ordered a big meal and left. I told him yes. He asked why and I said, “Because you hired an mean-spirited lady to act as your server, who would rather flirt with locals than take our order without giving us a bunch of shit for it. It’s too bad, too. I was prepared to spend about $150 at your establishment.” He apologized and left.

We had to walk by the place again on our way back to the ship. The look she gave me might have killed a weaker man. I just smiled and waved back.

I hope she had to pay for that meal out of her paycheck. Served her right.

13

Oh, we put the nachos into the take-home container that he didn’t want to give us. Probably slowing down the dishwashing cycle in the progress, too bad.

Believe me I would like to go back but even if it’s under new management and this guy is fired some of the servers might remember me and do unspeakable things to my food. Because they all seem to band together there. I think things would have been better if we’d have been allowed to talk to the manager but “the manager is out.” Sigh.

The worst part is, this place was walkable from my house, meaning no worries about designated drivers or bus schedules. There is no other place like it within walking distance. Just a bunch of sports bars with watered down Yuengling and loud TVs.

14

I’d go back just long enough to get the waiter’s name, if nothing else. Then write the letter.

And bummer about pissing off the whole waitstaff, but that’s already done. Best you can hope for now is to spread a little misery their way.

15

I’d still write, whether I meant to return or not, and whether I thought there might be retaliation. Anyway, he’d probably spit in your food (again) regardless if what you do, if you ever see him again.

16

I dunno–if the server is really that bad, I’m not sure how much the other servers will back him up. If the manager offers you free meals, you could always mention your worry that your food will be sabotaged, and see how he responds. If nothing else, you could order the meals over the phone and get them to go :). Or order bottled beer.

Daniel

17

Mention the whole waitstaff in your letter. If the managers gets really pissed, he’ll fire the whole bunch and you can go back safely. But make it your goal to get his ass shitcanned as soon as possible. Write letters to the manager, the owner, the newspaper, the local TV station, then follw them up with personal visits.

But you nailed the waiter right. He is, and always will be a fucknugget.

18

To play devil’s advocate here because no one has commented upon your mistake in this fiasco.

The waiter was rude, no doubt. He was also wrong for not putting on a happy face. But anyone who comes to a restaurant prepared to have a nice leasurely meal, drinks and socialize is not being considerate to show up 30 minutes before closing. You also should never expect to get the same quality and service at that time. It simply rarely happens. Cooks clean up, waiters do their side work, everyone patiently waiting for that closing lock up.

Employees want to go home as close to possible at the closing time. You say people can order up until the closing time on the door and that is true but it isn’t encouraged and certainly not appreciated by the staff. Unfortunately for you, your party got a pissy waiter who wasn’t willing to put on a happy face for the people that just extended his already long day by at least an other hour by thinking it was perfectly okay to keep him and his coworkers as long as they felt like being there for their own private enjoyment of the evening.
Not nice especially as a self proclaimed ex server you should know that.

I’ve been in that same position; very happy to find a place opened that will still serve me a meal late in the evening. However, the first thing I do is apologize and the second thing I do is tell them we will be fast and friendly and be gone ASAP so our server can go home.
I would imagine if you had done the same, his attitude would have drastically improved. Maybe not, he seemed cranky already but at least it would have been a bit better.
Peace

19

The kitchen typically closes an hour before the bar does, or at least it does at the bars I frequent. If the bar closes at 2am, the kitchen will close at 1am. This leads me to believe that they arrived at 12:30am.

20

Having worked at jobs that required face time with the public prior, I have nothing but sympathy for servers and generally tip 20%, as the difference between 15 & 20 is usually pretty marginal. But it bloody well chaps my hide that anyone would suggest I apologise to someone else for doing their job, which I am ostensibly paying them to do! People coming in close to end time is a reality for anyone, not matter what profession they’re in. Would you suggest everyone pre-emptively apologise to their doctor for being squeezed in before the end of the workday? What about my clients, when they’ve disregarded my instructions so badly that my transactions run 2 to 3 hours overtime as I clean up everyone’s messes? My goodwill only extends so far. The drag at the end of the day is there for all of us, especially those of us in “service” professions. If you hate the job that much, switch.

I don’t need to apologise to anyone for coming in during regular business hours. I’m pleasant, tip accordingly for the extra burden & try to be fast about it. It seems like davenportavenger didn’t even get the chance to do any of these things.