Top 10 Worst Customers You’ll Serve In The Food Industry

Whatever you decide to do with your career, customer service is an important skill to have. Some customers are better than others and you’ll get a few that are just plain awful. I’ve worked at two jobs in the food service industry and I’ve had some terrible people as customers. There are some great people that you’ll work with, and customers who make you like what you’re doing.  But you should know what you’re getting into before applying for a customer service job. I’ve collected ten stories about the worst experiences I’ve had dealing with customers.

1. “Ok, here’s how we’re gonna do this”

These people suck. At my first concessions job I’d have customers come up to the counter and by the look in their eyes, I’d know they were seconds away from making my job harder than it needed to be. They’d actually try to reach over the counter and try to micromanage exactly what I was doing, and yell at me if I didn’t scoop their popcorn exactly how they wanted it done. STFU bro. Really it’s popcorn, not a heart transplant.

2. Postal over popcorn

An older mn would come in every week, and as soon as we saw him enter a mass groan would erupt amongst the employees.  No matter how busy we were he’d insist on virgin popcorn, untouched by man. We’d gently scoop the popcorn into the bag and if we patted it down he’d scream. And when I say scream I’m not exaggerating. He obviously had anger management issues because from his opening sentence to the end of the interaction his voice never went below what could be called barely concealed rage.

3. Drunk People

Serving drunk people sucks because their sloppy and inconsiderate. They come up to the counter barely coherent and irritable, expecting us to understand their slurs. Concessions and the bar were connected at my second job, and when the bartender stopped serving them, they’d come up to my demanding more alcohol. Sorry, gtfo.

4. Bitches

These bitches think they can be nasty and then get first-rate customer service. They’ll demand the full list of ingredients in each dish and then just get water. Or, they’ll blame us for the wait time when servers have no control over how long the kitchen takes with their food.

5. MORE

At my first job, almost every customer that came up to the counter complained that the butter dispenser wasn’t self-serve. In order to get as much butter as they think they deserve, they would demand more butter even though I put extra on already. And then they’d have the nerve to come up to me 5 seconds later and tell me I must redo it because their popcorn is too buttery. Sigh.

6. Buys $100+ worth of food, doesn’t tip

This person is usually very demanding and difficult and believes himself above everyone else. He has the money to burn to buy one hundred bucks of food and receives excellent customer service ungratefully. Then, after putting up with his crap, he doesn’t tip. I hate you.

7. The guy who thinks we’re machines

A customer walks up, doesn’t make eye contact and places their orders. When I ask them a question, they look through me and get irritable, like the machine isn’t operating correctly. So, they say their command louder, like they’re talking to Siri and she’s not giving them the answer they want. Bitch, I’m just asking how you want your steak cooked, calm down.

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8. 6 Different Forms of Payment

Having a few different forms of payment is not necessarily annoying to your server. However, it takes more time to go through each payment, and when you’re asking why it’s taking so long and bitching that I’m stupid etc. etc. that’s how you make the list. Servers go through your payment as fast as possible, but restraint computers are usually old and slow so be patient.

9. Bad Parents with rude kids

I usually love when kids come up because their cuteness is so refreshing from the rude adults. There have been a few exceptions. Parents who let their kids be disrespectful to the wait staff are bad parents. I’ve had kids throw things at me and yell and the parent said NOTHING. If I did that as a kid I’d have the disrespect spanked out of me. #Makekidsrespectfulagain.

10. Vegans

This applies to anyone on a restrictive diet. Asking for a detailed list of all the ingredients in a complex dish is just rude. Get something off the vegetarian menu or ask for something that is easy to describe.

Do you work in customer service? Share your worst customer experiences in the comments!

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