A restaurant manager who goes by @buddy.love711 on TikTok said he asked a customer to leave after her lunch visit, during which she made several complaints, including a negative review that she posted while still being in the restaurant! The manager's account of the incident has over 100,000 likes and comments from viewers who mostly supported the manager and his server.
The manager said in the video that the woman came to the restaurant alone and asked to speak to him, as she was upset because some of the dishes she remembered were no longer on the menu. He explained that the restaurant had updated its menu several months ago and that she had not been to the restaurant for two or three years. Still, the manager said that he was sorry and offered some other dishes, one of which he personally recommended. But the customer kept looking at the menu and telling the server that she needed more time.
As more customers arrived, so the manager asked his server, who was attending to other tables, to repeatedly check on the woman. The customer eventually asked the server to refill her drink, which the manager viewed as another sign that she was becoming impatient.
But then a complaint from a corporate guest reached the manager by email. He later learned that the complaint came from the same customer, who claimed that she had been waiting for over 20 minutes and that her server had been neglecting her. The manager then went to the table himself and took the customer's order while her server was attending a newly seated party of six people. He also offered her an entrée similar to one that she had earlier enjoyed. But her complaints continued.
After the meal was served, the woman said that she had not been given bread before the food. But the manager said that this restaurant had never served bread in all the years he had been with the company. She then allegedly complained that the main course did not taste like the dish which had been discontinued.
So the manager removed the main course from her table and handed her a menu again so that she could order a different dish. At that point, he got another alert: a one-star Google review from the customer. In this review, the customer criticized the service and the management, while she was still inside the restaurant. It was at this point that the manager decided to ask her to leave.
The manager's account of the encounter drew support from several viewers.
He then said, "I'm just gonna fire this customer," and added that he did not want his server to have to deal with her anymore. He then went over to the woman, showed her the review and informed her that the staff had tried to deal with her complaints. He ultimately asked her to leave, as they could not meet her expectations. The video's text overlay read, “Let’s normalize firing bad customers.”
Several commenters praised the manager for standing up for his employee. One of them shared a story in which a server had convinced a chef to prepare a dish that was no longer on the menu for her during her pregnancy. With that, she said that showing respect to restaurant workers can make a big difference. Some people wondered why a customer who had been away for two or three years should expect the menu to be the same. Several found it odd that the customer called the restaurant from inside to ask for a refill.
The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the identity of the customer or the restaurant involved in the video. The details above are based solely on @buddy.love711's account shared on TikTok.
