So you hang up the phone after Um Um Poopy Head.
In fact my favourite roti place has a little ceramic urn that says “Ashes of problem customers” on the side.
(That’s not even why they’re my favourite. They actually make great roti too.)
Funny. I’ll bet 20 bucks she raised a huge hissy and got no sympathy at all. She apparently thinks the fact that she *might * spend some money there gives her the right to be rude and inconsiderate. I’m very glad they threw her out and from her comments she needs it to happen again and again until she suspects that maybe it’s her attitude that’s the problem.
Yep. Soon to be followed by a call from the irate parent.
If she’s surprised that this happened to her, she’s of the type that will never learn, no matter how often it happens.
“I’m sorry, I thought it was a crank call. We’re very busy here tonight, so I didn’t want to hold up our other customers. How may I help you?”
I could be wrong, but I think only the party who made the call can break the connection.
OTOH, if it’s busy in the store, having the phone tied up just means one less thing to do.
That hasn’t been true in most of the USA for a few decades now. Try it.
Just what sort of King of the World[sup]TM[/sup] idiot do you have to be to show up with your book for a single dinner during the rush hours at a restaurant?
I eat with a book. A lot. I show up no earlier than 8 PM, and make a point to tell my server that if I’m getting in the way after I’ve finished my meal, I’ll be glad to leave. I’ve never been pushed on my way, and always get great service when I do this. (I’ll admit, it helps that I tip well, and really want nothing more than regular refills.) But doing this at a resturant’s busy time? Sheesh.
One of my campus eateries has one of those! Heh heh 
So, if I do not happen to have a date I am not allowed to eat dinner at dinnertime?
My hairstylist has one of those too. She’s great.
I take a book on my lunch break all the time. Why would reading while you eat be any kind of an inconvenience or take any longer than eating with a friend? It’s not like I hang out for an hour after I’ve paid.
But that “positive impression” may well amount to a conclusion by the idiot customer that here is a place whose spineless manager caves in to unreasonable demands - an attractive future target.
As for the idiot’s friends, some may understand she tends to be unreasonable and thus be able to correctly interpret her tale of rejection. Others, being like her, may feel incensed and avoid the place - thus reducing the chances of similar future unpleasantness.
I HOPE that OtakuLoki is talking about a single diner with a book who LINGERS reading at the table after the meal is finished and the check is ready and waiting to be paid, while new diners are waiting to be seated. That’s rude whether you’re lingering with a book or yakking with your friends. The restaurant needs the table to serve other customers. Go linger at a bar or coffeeshop.
Yeah, I know, “I paid for this table and I’ll stay as long as I like!” No you didn’t. You paid for the meal and the use of the table while you were eating. Get out and let somebody else have their turn.
But it’s nobody’s business whether diners entertain themselves with a solitary book or conversation with dinner partners while they’re eating. I don’t do so often, but every so often I know I’ll be dining out alone, and I bring a book to occupy myself. And vacate the table as expediently as if I were in a group.
Scarlett67 has it right. I’m talking about the guy who chooses his resturant for A/C, and free beverage refills. Not just going in to get your meal quickly, and leave.
If the resturant is dead, I don’t see anything wrong with lingering.
If they need the table, though, that’s something else entirely. Staying to linger over my book and beverage is rude.
I always do this. ALWAYS. Unless the person is very obviously being a lazy dick. And it’s not just “I’m sorry, I’m afraid we can’t x, it’s against company policy” or “I can’t, the computer won’t let me” – it’s “Yeah, we don’t do that” or just a flat “No”.
Giving me a reason why, even if I don’t like the reason, will prompt a “Damn. DAMN. I know this isn’t your fault but this is REALLY frustrating.”
Being a dick about it will get a “Fine, you can’t do anything. Please transfer me to someone who can. What was your name again?”
There’s a local medical clinic with staff who pull this kind of shit (Beddington Medical Clinic for you Calgarians - staffed by the bitches from hell) regularly. They are the most willfully unhelpful “professionals” I’ve run into in a long time. The kicker - they have a sign in their clinic saying rudeness to and abuse of staff will not be tolerated. Not enough rolleyes in the world. I understand why they have the sign now - the staff baits clients.
Then I misread your first post. Sorry about that. I agree with this completely.
I like to use “Would it help if I asked you to put in my file that I called you everything but a decent human being? I don’t want to, or intend to, but if you think it might help, can we just incorporate it by reference?” Usually the customer service person laughs and we get on with what he or she can do to try to fix my problem.
Arianne