i'm a very nice customer
although i have had plenty of reasons to complain.
the main one that springs to mind happened a couple of years ago. i'd gone to lunch with my parents(they were paying), after a hard morning's shopping. we had been to the restaurant several times before, due to the fact that it was owned by the son of my mother's best friend.
the restaurant was practically empty this particular day, so we were seated immediately by a very friendly young waitress, who then proceeded to take our order. as it was a cold day, we decided on tea instead of the usual diet cokes, accompanied by rather tasty seafood pizzas. the waitress trotted off, over the cotswold stone-tiled floor, to fetch our drinks.
we sat and chatted for several minutes, until the clicking of the waitresses' heels on the uneven stone floor heralded the arrival of our tea.
unfortunately, the floor was a little too uneven for such heels.
as the waitress rounded the table, her heel skidded from under her, tilting her tray, which deposited a full pot of steaming hot tea all over my stomach and legs.

i may have yelled a little at this point.

the poor girl was mortified. her apologies were swift and profuse, her tears barely held in check. as i wasn't badly injured, i merely asked for a towel to dry myself off slightly. i didn't want to upset the girl any further over what had been an accident.
her supervisor, however, did not share my views.
he called her to the bar, where she received the most humiliating dressing-down i have ever heard and, believe me, EVERYBODY heard it. i stood up, walked over to him and asked him what his problem was.
"oh, i'm terribly sorry miss," he smarmed, "i'm just addressing my waitress over her little accident."
"it sounds more to me like you're giving her a bollocking in front of everybody here. i haven't complained, there's no real harm done, so i really don't think this is necessary, do you?"
i walked back to my seat, leaving him gibbering platitudes to my back. we finished our meal, paid for it(not so much as a discount) and left.
what annoyed me wasn't being scalded but finding out the next day that the poor waitress had been sacked the minute we left.
what annoyed me almost as much was my mother complaining to her friend and receiving a free meal next time she went.
what did i get? fuck all except for a mildly burned stomach and a ruined blouse.

it's all very well saying customers can be annoying, but all too often, so can the staff.
especially the ones with a bit of power.
( Smash Monkey lowering the tone of the whole internet, Fri 5 Sep 2008, 1:36, Reply)