A Chili Reception
I had worked at Chili’s for about five years. I had so many experiences with rude people that I lost count, but one was by far the worst. I was waiting tables around graduation time and I had a party of 25 call ahead at about 7 pm, saying they would be arriving in 30 minutes. We set the table up for them and were anticipating their arrival.
They actually showed up about an hour and a half later than they said they would. We had since broken up the big table and seated other smaller parties there. When they arrived, they were angry that their table wasn’t ready for them. The really soft-spoken, sweet hostess who was working that night simply explained to them that we thought they had chosen somewhere else to go since they hadn’t come sooner. That’s when the Karen came out.
The lady who was speaking to the hostess immediately burst out, saying that we should have known that they were still coming. She then said out loud that she knew Chili’s “was a terrible idea,” and that we were all terrible at our jobs. Almost in tears, the hostess said that we would set up another table for them in a closed section and that I would take care of them.
These same people would always come in, be rude to everyone, NEVER tip, and constantly complain so they could get free food. When I waited on large parties by myself, I always started everyone with water just because it takes some time to get everyone’s drink order and get it out to them. I figured it was better to at least have some water available while waiting.
As soon as we got them settled in, several started complaining that they didn’t have water and that I was rude not to offer them a different option. I simply explained I would be bringing them whatever they would like and that the water was just to hold them for the time being. Apparently, that wasn’t good enough for them. They told me I was an idiot and said, “Get this mess out of my face”, referring to the water.
Most of them ordered strawberry lemonade, so I made all of the drinks and brought them out to them. The group then started to complain, “This stuff tastes nasty”. They told me it didn’t taste anything like what it did last time. I told them that we made it by the same measurements every time, but that I would be glad to make a new batch for them.
I went and poured out what we had and made another batch of strawberry lemonade. I took it out to them, and they again complained that it was nasty. I offered to get them something else, and they said, “We just want a waiter that isn’t an idiot and knows how to make strawberry lemonade”. I got the manager to explain that we made our strawberry lemonade the same way every time.
They rolled their eyes and told the manager that I was being rude to them. Then, when they started eating their meals, they began to be even more disrespectful to me. They started pouring their drinks out on the floor on purpose, throwing food at me and insulting me right in front of my face. I had a couple of other tables complain that this large party was being extremely loud, which they were.
I went over and asked if they minded being a little quieter as they were disturbing the other tables in the restaurant. One kid then yelled, “OH, YOU THINK I’M TOO LOUD”? They all started being even louder than before, and some tables even got up and left. That was the final straw. I yelled over them and told them they were no longer welcome at our restaurant.
That shut them up. One kid told me that I couldn’t do that, and I said, “When you start causing our other good paying customers to leave, I can do what I want, now get out”. They had the nerve to ask for boxes of their food that they hadn’t touched because they were too busy being loud. I told them that I couldn’t care less if they wanted their food and that they needed to leave.
My manager and I stood at the door smiling, watching them all walk out. One girl told me that I had ruined her graduation party. I informed her that she had no class and got what she deserved. A few of them stayed and talked to my manager, begging him to allow them back because it was their favorite place to eat. He told them they cost the company money when they came in, and they were never welcomed back.