"Another Food Biz Article" When the Customer is Wrong

It's one of the oldest adages of the retail world: "The customer is always right."

Of course, very often the customer is wrong. Every day customers behave in ways that make the lives of waiters, cashiers, customer service reps and other retail workers miserable. And in many cases, these customers don't even realize how annoying they're being.

To rectify this, we've decided to talk to the people on the other side of the cash register to find out what sort of customer behavior gets on their nerves. To kick things off, we got some veterans of the restaurant industry to dish on their secret pet peeves and give some advice to diners.

Great Expectations:

Think about the last time you cooked dinner. How long did it take? Forty-five minutes? An hour? More?

Trust the Chef:

"Everybody has a degree in something or other, but when they get to a restaurant, everyone thinks they have a doctorate in cooking," he says.

Don't Snap at the Waiters:

Everyone knows it can be frustrating to try to get your waiter's attention during a busy dinner shift, but there's a right way and a wrong way to flag down your server.

"Raise your hand or make eye contact; don't snap [your fingers] and don't wave," says Dublanica. And don't even think about physically grabbing a waiter as they walk by, especially if they're carrying something.

Closing Time:

"Don't come in five minutes before closing," pleads Dublanica. "The guys in the back have been there for 12 hours."

Likewise, Trombly singles out patrons who "stay really late when they're clearly the last people there."

And, of course, there are comments from this article:

I've been in this business for 30 plus years, and have seen all the good and bad in humanity. Yes, there is good in all of us! But, I have to say in all this time the worst most abusive customers are people of color. Sure, you have 1 or 2 once a year that break the trend, but for the most part its the same story. I hate to say this, because I am not a racist, but it is what it is.

Just because you get offended by hearing this fact doesn't mean its not true, and that real people (the majority of us) should not be able to voice our opinion. I really wish this were not the case. FYI I'm NOT white either; I'm Asian.