When a customer is unsatisfied with their meal or beverage or a worker makes a mistake, restaurants sometimes “comp” (i.e., complimentary) the item, waiving it off their ticket. However, this has become common practice, consisting of three to five percent of a restaurant’s total sales. One server reveals how customers are becoming comfortable with requesting comps for outlandish reasons in a video with 1.3 million views.
The half-empty second beverage
In the first installment of her “restaurant chronicles,” server Saydie (@realslimsaydie) inquires of her 10,500 followers, “Wait, why are people so comfortable asking for comps?” Then, she reveals the two comps she had during her shift through skits where she portrayed herself and the customers.
“Hey, could you take off her second drink off the bill?” the customer asked. The reason? ”She could hardly drink it.” Curious, Saydie questioned, “What was wrong with it so I can tell my manager?”
“Oh, nothing. She just couldn’t finish it,” the customer replied. “It tasted perfect. She just didn’t finish it, so if you could just take it off the bill.”
This left Saydie shocked. “Y’all brave ’cause my order can be halfway [expletive] up, not even [expletive] near right, and I would not ask for it to be taken off,” she said.
The ‘too sweet’ dessert
Next, Saydie shared the second comp. “I’m so sorry, girl. My dessert is too sweet, so I’m just gonna say ‘no’ to this,” the customer said. Although she understood, the content creator was still dumbfounded. “Like, I get it. Desserts can be too sweet but, like, asking for a comp for something like that is crazy.”
However, this didn’t sit well with her managers. “Well, my managers are like, ‘Stop making mistakes. You have too many comps.’”
The Daily Dot reached out to Saydie via TikTok comment and direct message. The video has amassed 1.2 million views.
Restaurant workers resonated
“I’ve had people do that then ask for a box for it,” one viewer wrote.
“Someone sent a seafood pasta back last night because it smelled like seafood,” another shared.
“I had a table not want to pay their bill bc it was so expensive and I was like… the prices were all listed on the menu including drinks and add ons yall chose to run your bill that high,” a third recalled.
“This girl ate 3 pieces out of 8 of her second Philly roll and asked me why she was paying for the full thing like???” a fourth revealed.
“Today was SO BAD. My restaurant hit a record in comps,” a fifth stated.
@realslimsaydie My managers are asking what mistakes I made for there to be comps & these are reasons hahah
♬ original sound – Saydie 💌🪩💫
What happens if a restaurant has too many comps?
Comping a meal or beverage can be a quick fix when dealing with certain customers. However, it can impact restaurants in several ways if it happens too often. “In excess, comps could hurt your profit margin, impact your servers’ tips, and encourage guests to have an unrealistic expectation of future comps,” per Touch Bistro.
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