Most people call the manager over to complain about the food or the service only after they’ve eaten and are ready to pay. But waiters and waitresses actually want you to complain the moment you have an issue, and they’ll be happy to fix it. The problem is, you might just not realize that. Reddit users, who’ve waited tables, talked about the other irritating things customers do without a second thought.
We at The Elite Indian know how hard waiters and waitresses try to do their jobs well and to accommodate us. So we’d like to tell you about some things you should stop doing to make their jobs a little easier.
- This might seem counter-intuitive, but I hate it when customers don’t complain about something, at least not until after the fact, when it comes time for the bill and it’s too late to try and fix their issue. I’d rather have you happy with my ability to accommodate you when it comes time for the tip, than to have nothing to do. @PinkWhiteandGreen
- I no longer work in a restaurant, but I’d say grabbing the plate out of our hands as we are trying to put it on the table. It’s a bad idea, especially when soup is involved. @[deleted]
- People who try to clean their own table using dry napkins. You leave a bigger mess than what I would have had by just cleaning it myself. @Lucavious
- Leaving your cellphone on the table puts me on edge, I might spill something on it. @Sunny_
- When we bring you to your table, please try not to point all the way across the restaurant for a seat over there and then say no to a couple of tables over there until you find one you like. You can’t always have it your way. We will try to be as accommodating as possible, but it messes up the rotation and seating charts and quite frankly is exceedingly annoying. @datass630
- When people seat themselves at dirty tables and sit there wondering when they’re going to get served. If we’re busy and you sat yourselves at a dirty table, you’re going to have a bad time. @turnipstealer
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- Letting your little kids order for themselves when the place is packed and we’re really busy and don’t have time to have your kid take 5 minutes to order. @datass630
- People who take napkins from the table next to them. Please just ask — I’ll give you like 10 napkins just so you don’t do this. @turnipstealer
- People who don’t move stuff out the way on the table (phones, wallets, drinks) so I can put their food down (since usually both hands are full with food), they just sit there looking at me like I’m a full-on spastic. @turnipstealer
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- Please don’t stack your plates into a monolithic pile, thinking that it helps us. It doesn’t, it actually makes things harder. I might want to stack 3 entree plates on my arm and then put the other small plates and silverware on top of that. If everyone stacks things, I can only bus 2 people’s plates at a time, if I stack them, I can get so many more. @mouthbabies
- Parents, for the love of God, please stop insisting on a booth if you need a highchair. It is a fire hazard to put a highchair at the end of a booth. It blocks the aisle for everyone trying to walk by, not to mention how awful it is to try to deliver your drinks and food around your kid. @indecentXpo5ure
- Putting your napkins in your glass once you’re finished. They get gross and soggy and have to be picked out by hand before the glass can go in the dishwasher. Blurgh… @Scbobf
- Not understanding that we get paid $2.63 an hour and your tip is our livelihood. Also — WE tip the bar, bussers, and expediters. If you skimp on my tip and then go out of your way to also tip the busser, they are getting double tips on top of a $7 an hour payrate, while I am getting less than half of my tips. @hirahira1365
- Having a screaming child or letting your child make a huge mess. This adds a lot of stress to servers and bussers since no one likes having to listen to a screaming baby, and then having to clean up a huge mess. My restaurant has a time limit on cleaning tables and having to clean kids’ messes usually puts me over the time limit, and makes the wait longer for other customers who are waiting to be seated. @[deleted]
Have you ever worked as a waiter or waitress? What other annoying things do customers do without realizing it? Please share your thoughts in the comments!
