how are you with service staff?

[Kid Presentable]

i'm usually so indifferent, it's to my own detriment. i very rarely complain, and think people who expect to be lavished upon because they're spending money are just cunts.

sometimes i can be a dick when i try to crack a joke and they don't get it because it's either shit or they just are too busy to really listen.

[Otis Driftwood]

Absolutely! I never encountered an unfriendly staffer. I'm fine if they're as brief in their dealings with me as I'm with them which works just fine. Some customers wanna be pampered and treated like royalty. To hell with them. They've never looked from the other side at the masses of sheeple standing in front of the counter.

[Kid Presentable]

i can't stand people who "tsk tsk" at things that service staff do. they fully forget themselves. i'd "tsk" if a waitperson took a shit on my plate, perhaps.

[cookiepuss]

my boss complains about everything. If I were a server I'd spit in his food. My boss is an ass.


I never complain about anything...even when I probably should.

[abcdefz]

Service staff -- I'm human to them, but at the same time, I don't fawn over them or expect them to make me happy or entertain me
or be an outlet for my or my friends' flirtations. I at least say hello, but I don't feel obligated to befriend them or anything. Generally,
I'm hoping they just do their job and go away, checking back to make sure things are good or glasses are filled or whatever (if it's
a restaurant; if it's, say, someone at a hotel delivering fresh shirts, thanks, bye).

Do your job, do it well and with decency, and you'll get about a really good tip. Thanks.

[Kid Presentable]

fuck, i forgot about all the tipping in the u.s. you guys must have to deal with some phony obsequious shits sometimes.

[Kid Presentable]

service staff on the phone are bastards, they've hung up on me a few times, cunts.

oh crafty.

[Kid Presentable]

you guys don't tip down under? wow. in some restaurants over here they add 10% to your bill so you can't not tip even if you wanted to (n)

there's an unwritten expectation to tip, i guess. some do tip, some don't. it's not like staff get paid really badly, but it's a shitty job either way.

i forgot about tips in the u.k too. when we used to work at gastro-pubs around England the wife would be able to keep us going on about 60 squids worth of tips a week.

[Drederick Tatum]

having been a waiter myself, I'm usually very nice to those in that particular industry. its a pretty shitty job and if I do complain about the food, I try to let them know that I know it's not their fault. some people seem to think that waiting staff actually cook the stuff too.

[Kid Presentable]

having been a waiter myself, I'm usually very nice to those in that particular industry. its a pretty shitty job and if I do complain about the food, I try to let them know that I know it's not their fault. some people seem to think that waiting staff actually cook the stuff too.

and at the end of the day it's the cook who wanks into returned food, anyway. i told some uppity bitch at a friends house that every meal her mother complains about being "sub-par" probably comes back with a grip of jism in it. once i explained what grip meant, she then realised her mum was a wankers taste-tester.

i refuse to work as a waiter again. hungry cow-eyed cunts looking to me to help them with everything.

[Documad]

I want them to bring me my food, and refill my water and coffee. I want them to do that without leaning on the back of my chair or stepping on my feet. There's a waiter at this restaurant where I eat lunch about once a week and he is constantly stepping on my feet and I swear that they're always under the table. The tables are lined up along a bench and stacked in really close and he insists on standing in between the tables even while taking orders instead of standing behind the person who's sitting in the chair.

My pet peeve is servers who want to talk to me. I don't want to discuss the book I'm reading if I'm alone and I surely don't want to hear about the server's hopes of becoming a dancer while I'm dining with a friend.

One person really bugs me -- the woman who works at the coffee shop where I stop on the way to work. She always smiles and says "how's your morning going?" and I want to say "it's going shitty because I'm on my way to work." I don't think that people should be cheery in the morning unless the customer initiates it.

I have about a hundred more comments re servers but I'll stop now.

[Otis Driftwood]

If I were you I'd brew my own at home. Why go out amongst sheeple if they only annoy you? Or why not change the locality?

[Kid Presentable]

I want them to bring me my food, and refill my water and coffee. I want them to do that without leaning on the back of my chair or stepping on my feet. There's a waiter at this restaurant where I eat lunch about once a week and he is constantly stepping on my feet and I swear that they're always under the table. The tables are lined up along a bench and stacked in really close and he insists on standing in between the tables even while taking orders instead of standing behind the person who's sitting in the chair.

My pet peeve is servers who want to talk to me. I don't want to discuss the book I'm reading if I'm alone and I surely don't want to hear about the server's hopes of becoming a dancer while I'm dining with a friend.

One person really bugs me -- the woman who works at the coffee shop where I stop on the way to work. She always smiles and says "how's your morning going?" and I want to say "it's going shitty because I'm on my way to work." I don't think that people should be cheery in the morning unless the customer initiates it.

I have about a hundred more comments re servers but I'll stop now.
Nah man, for the sake of balance keep em coming. (y)

[DandyFop]

having been a waiter myself, I'm usually very nice to those in that particular industry. its a pretty shitty job and if I do complain about the food, I try to let them know that I know it's not their fault. some people seem to think that waiting staff actually cook the stuff too.

Same. I try to help them out too, it's just in my nature. Meaning, asking for additional things all at once instead of each time they come back (if you are busy this can fuck you over big time), trying not to dilly dally when they're waiting for your order, etc. It's a pretty interesting job

[marsdaddy]

Often, people in the US who work as service staff are young, just passing through, and/or unqualified to do other work. My company hired a consulting company to improve our customer service scores. The guy who came in to talk to us told a story about a restaurant chain where the management wanted to know how to find more friendly service staff and his answer was, "hire friendly people." Most people who work as service staff (and maybe this is true, in general?) are not happy people.

That being said, I'm usually pretty easy on the service staff, unless they're rude. Though I did realize a couple of weeks back the difference between good service and excellent service is HUGE!

[Otis Driftwood]

I remember about two years ago, there was a thread complaining about a service persons outrageous impudence and effrontery like every day. :cool:

[Tzar]

i treat service staff as nicely as i can and make 'em feel like... 'safe' so to speak. i don't want them to feel like they have to be on their toes with me. working as a supervisor in a major supermarket, i'd probably say supermarkets are second to probably airports when it comes to "customer first"-type shit.

if a cd store has lines of people at the checkouts, people just assume 'wow it's busy'; if a bar has a line of people on the end of it, people just assume ' wow this bar is busy'; if a supermarket checkout has 2 trolleys cued behind it at 8:30am - that's it, the store is under-staffed and has poor customer service and is worse than *insert-name-of-other-supermarket*.

customers can be the biggest cunts on earth.

[laura]

Often, people in the US who work as service staff are young, just passing through, and/or unqualified to do other work. this is so true.. and not only in US! (I am doing a thesis on restaurant business..)
My company hired a consulting company to improve our customer service scores. The guy who came in to talk to us told a story about a restaurant chain where the management wanted to know how to find more friendly service staff and his answer was, "hire friendly people." Most people who work as service staff (and maybe this is true, in general?) are not happy people. again: so true!
waiting staff work during lunch/dinner time, dont sit in a office, they just do that job before starting another career... they are unpaid and restaurant owners dont care the way they do they job, they have to be fast, walk (not all restaurants are fast food) they dont understand that front-line people has to be happy to do their job, so this means happy customer, so this means re-purchasing and "word of mouth"..
there are not many other way to make a restaurant better..

[Nivvie]

With service staff in all areas I just want basic even if totally un-meant politeness. I don't need a smile, and I do complain when sonething's not right, but always in a very civil way. Again, as has been said before, it's usually not the service staff's fault if there's something wrong.

A wee while back in a coffee shop there was this waiter who couldn't shut up (in spite of not geting much conversation back), and when they're like that I begin to get the feeling they're fishing for tips. I also was a waitress for a bit, and it's odd how sometimes a quiet group or person can leave a huge tip and someone whose been laughing and joking with e waitress for a good few hours can not tip at all.

What I hate most is being ignored in shops. When a member of staff is so busy talking to another server, or texting someone, that they take your money without saying a word, not even telling you the total. That's happening a lot more to since people are on the phone a whole lot more.

[Kid Presentable]

in the past i've been pretty rude to one or two people. i guess other elements of service, like at the dole office. everybody argues with centrelink (social security?).