Thursday, June 23, 2011

How Not To Get A Tip (And then maybe get fired.)

While on vacation this past weekend we had some amazing experiences, and some not so great ones. One of the bad ones was at a restaurants called Landry's. The food was pretty good and the server would have been just fine if she would have stopped getting onto Brenden.

Yep, she actually took it upon herself to tell my child how to behave. To say we were shocked would be an understatement. I've never dealt with this before so I wasn't quite sure what to do. In the end I got on their website and left them feedback about what had happened.

It didn't take long for them to reply. They asked for my phone number so they could call me. I thought they would ask me more about what she had said and done and then re-train her. The manager called me this morning and told me that after questioning the waitress she fired her. I was actually shocked. I didn't expect that to happen, although she did say that there were other problems and this was the last straw.

When she asked the waitress what had happened she was told that Brenden was standing on the chair and she was scared he would get hurt. #1 He was on his knees because he didn't have a booster seat. #2 We were right there and he never came close to falling. #3. She told him OVER and OVER about it, among other things.

I explained to the manager that every time she came over that she said something different to him. How to hold his food over his plate and to finish his food. Telling him to not touch a knife, which he didn't. He actually hands the knives to us now before we even ask. She was always shushing him when he wasn't even being loud. It was beyond ridiculous. I would have understood if she had said it once and then apologized for stepping in or something, but that was not the case. After we ate she showed him where to "drive" the boat, which was nice, but she also rushed him down the stairs, which was scary. The manager agreed that she was out of line and that she should have come to her if he was being a problem.

At the end of the call she invited us to return to the restaurant and I told her we would, which was my way of saying "Thank you." I definitely feel like it was handled and that we were taken care of, but I wish it hadn't happened in the first place.

Note to servers: if you feel something is wrong, get a manager, especially if it has to do with someone's child. If that child is running around like a heathen I completely understand that they are a hazard to themselves and other patrons. Heck, I'd even go to a manager for that.

And to all the great servers out there, THANK YOU. I promise we're good tippers. :)

2 comments:

  1. That's pretty unbelievable especially because he wasn't even doing anything to bother anyone or anything that was unsafe. However, I think that if a child is doing something dangerous then something needs to be said. Too often people turn a blind eye. Case in point:

    When I was a teenager my friends and I were at a local diner and there was a small child running around "like a heathen." One of the waitresses politely asked the child's parents to basically control their child. In response the parents were pretty rude to her and the child continued to run around the restaurant. Long story short a waitress carrying a fresh pot of coffee tripped over him and burned herself and the child.

    Now I don't hesitate to say something to the parents or child if something is unsafe. My latest incident was a kid LAYING DOWN ON AN ESCALATOR HOLY COW THOSE THINGS ARE SO DANGEROUS!

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  2. Exactly! Not long ago I saw two boys beating up on another boy in our neighborhood. I actually stopped and told them to quit. Not sure if it was the right thing to do, but I couldn't NOT do something.

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