Bad Customer = Bad Service?

I saw this Huff Post article shared on Facebook this morning that I just had to comment on, because the writer is SPOT ON. Essentially, the writer goes through this bizarre interchange she saw at a burger joint by another customer and has written an op-ed, and here's the part that had me yelling "Amen" from the rooftops:

And that brings us to the possible answer to that query you posed in the midst of your ketchup rant. You asked: "Why can't I ever f*cking get good customer service?" Well, ma'am, that might have something to do with you being a vulgar, miserable, malicious person. Maybe you get bad customer service because you're a bad customer. Did you ever consider that possibility?

It's SO true! As a gal that has worked at two major restaurant chains in her early twenties, I can tell you without question, that the customer is NOT always right.

Just working for those tips!

Like when I worked at Hard Rock and had to walk back to the kitchen with half eaten BBQ chicken that the customer suddenly decided wasn't good so that it could be replaced. Or when I'd spend over an hour laughing and schmoozing with a table of Ladies Who Lunch at the Cheesecake Factory only to be left a paltry 10% tip while they drive off in their Bentleys (which I could always see them retrieving from the valet stand right outside). I've dealt with some iffy folks, but I've only ever been yelled at once, and realistically it wasn't that bad... I wasn't even yelled at when I dropped a caesar salad on a teenager.

And here's one of the hubs, doing that barista thing

But I've been a customer plenty of times and I've seen people like the woman in the article: the ones that think they can yell at the staff because they are the customer; the ones that yell at the Starbucks barista because their drink is too hot or there isn't milk at the condiment stand; the ones that try to use social media to shame an establishment using pictures of their screaming children as bait; the ones that hold up an entire line because there is ketchup on a burger rather than being a grown up and scraping it off like the rest of us. Oh yes, I've seen plenty of those people. The author is totally right, as a server/barista/cashier/postal worker you can see those people a mile away and you know that no matter what you do they are going to throw a stink, so they get the service they deserve - you know, the same way that the nice people get fantastic service.

So go forth and order whatever you'd like, as long as it's not the people behind the counter.

Love and Bacon,
Kelsey