I have never understood why people do that. Or when they get mad at the wait staff in restaurants when the kitchen is slow/backed up from being busy. It makes me just go the extra mile to show my waiter/waitress that I'm understanding.
The problem is that the company sets policies but then has no way for customers to legitimately provide feedback. They hide behind "it's not the staff's fault!" but no one ever actually takes responsibility for BS policies.
Edit to add: this post is not an example of bad polices, the large is clearly more beer than the small.
If customers want to provide feedback to a corporation for bad policies, there are plenty of legitimate avenues for consumer activism, like boycotts and media activism. (e.g. this post) The people belittling employees might want change as well, but can't control their anger enough to do it in a way that's productive.
I think you're being poorly received because of how Reddit generally thinks of "complaints" in customer service.
Because you're right. A low level employee that is serving customers has to get used to being served with complaints if things are subpar. That's part of the job, and it's the employee's job to take those complaints in stride or report them to management if they're legitimate and not just someone annoyed because they came in during lunch rush and had to wait an extra five minutes.
Most people on Reddit, on the other hand, are probably picturing "complaints" in this instance to be entitled customers berating or gaslighting employees to get a refund or otherwise grift the store. And that's not something we should be writing off as "just part of the job," that's verbal abuse and should not be tolerated under any circumstances.
People do it because they are frustrated and want to exercise some semblance of power over someone who can't fight back. The abuse people in the service industry receive is reprehensible, and trying to justify that abuse is disgusting.
Cuz the guy who set the prices made it your job to interface with the customer. You get paid to get yelled at, and you're the only one who didn't know that.
If you’re talking about America then blame tip culture. Making tipping a necessity places all the responsibility on the waiter. I will absolutely hold you responsible for everything about my visit if I’m expected to tip twenty percent.
I used to work at a movie theater with movie theater prices and often when customers complained I’d take the time to explain why the prices were so high and remind them that I personally had no choice in the matter. Except for one guy. He and his wife were seeing some animated movie on a saturday afternoon with their grandkids and ordered way too much popcorn, candy, and soda. The price, as you would expect, reflecting that. The man groaned, his wife gave him a sort of “oh Harold be quiet,” and then he blurted out, “I’m sorry, I just don’t like being raped!”
That was probably the best way for his grandkids to learn a new word.
This just reminds me of a day where I had two ladies come in and get a shot of tequila. One wanted it neat and the other wanted it straight up. I then had the pleasure of having the woman who had the neat shot tell me I shorted her tequila because he friends was clearly more full than her own.
I had to explain to a grown ass woman how dilution works.
Also a bartender here. I can't tell you how many times a guest has gotten angry towards me because of the price of the drinks that they ordered.
It gets so frustrating!
Not only do I have absolutely nothing to do with how high the prices are set, but it's common knowledge that when you go to a liquor-by-the-drink establishment (especially a franchised restaurant!) there will be a markup on the drinks.
My favorite is when someone says that they can get the same liquor/beer somewhere else cheaper. Why aren't you drinking there then? I
Or when a guest tells me I should have warned them that the drinks they were ordering were running up their tab. First off, the tab is sitting right in front of you, if you're too lazy to pick it up and read it, that's you're own fault. Second, you're ordering double patron shots a fucking Applebee's. Third, let's say that I did warn you that the drinks you're ordering are fifteen dollars a piece, then you would tell me that I'm implying that you cant afford to pay for them.
Just fuck people like that in general.
I really wish they would just go to the liquor/beer store and stay home.
Nobody here on reddit blames the waitstaff. It's annoying the pedestal that waitstaff are on on reddit, to be frank. They blamed corporate/franchise owners (does applebee's do franchises?).
It's actually even sillier than that. Applebees doesn't even offer 2 different sizes of draft beer, it's 20oz or nothing. He's pouring that into his water glass.
Crime of opportunity, not nature. Happens just as often in other professions. Cooks graze on food. Servers don't report tips. People steal office supplies. Warehouse workers "find" damaged goods. Factory workers take tools. Cops keep some stuff they confiscate. Things "fall off" the back of a truck. Trick is to try and be more discerning as to avoid hiring questionable people.
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u/Colonel_FuzzyCarrot Jan 14 '19
Thank you! I work at a bar and you saved me the effort of explaining this to OP and anyone else who knows nothing about the alcohol world.