Hospitality workers share their worst customer interactions, from the demanding to the outright disrespectful

It’s usually fairly easy to tell when someone has never done a customer service job, from the unreasonable demands they make to the lack of grace they have for the tiniest of mistakes – and this is something Melbourne-based café worker, Liam Heitmann-Ryce-LeMercier, is painfully aware of.

Compared to his previous jobs in marketing and content creation, Liam said hospitality was far tougher, writing in an article for The Age that the industry was like ‘being in a boot camp’.

Rudeness from customers was among the worst parts of the role, with the part-time freelance writer claiming he’s learned a lot about ‘the lack of respect some believe you deserve when wearing an apron.’

‘It’s an unwinnable contradiction,’ Liam continued. ‘Wait staff occupy the unskilled peripherals of the workforce, yet there is hell to pay if we fail to magic up 12 espresso martinis the moment they’re asked for.’

Certain behaviours are more egregious, like people asking him why he hasn’t got a ‘proper job’, but general bad manners, such as not saying thank you or complaining about minor delays during busy periods, are an everyday thing in service roles.

While naming and shaming the worst offenders they’ve come across would likely cost them their careers, by sharing their experiences, these hospitality workers (some of whom have chosen to withhold their last names and workplaces for privacy reasons) can at least inspire people to take a look at their own attitudes.

So if you see yourself in their tales of unpleasant punters, perhaps it’s worth a rethink.

Brendan Padfield, owner of The Unruly Pig, Suffolk:

‘We had a table of eight booked on a Saturday night for 8.15pm but they failed to turn up. I thus waited and then phoned the customer to enquire if they were running late and the response was: ”No we are not late, we are just not coming”.

‘I explained that it would have been helpful and courteous to know in advance as tables are normally in high demand (but at 9pm, as a country pub, it was then most unlikely we would now be able to resell and make up the covers).

‘To this, they replied: “Listen mate, I book three differing venues most Saturdays and I decide where we are actually going to eat at the pub beforehand. I am the customer that’s your f***ing problem. Now f*** off”.’

Laura, restaurant manager/owner, Australia:

‘There are almost too many to choose from! I used to work by the beach and serve some interesting people. I had to tell a coffee customer he couldn’t eat a takeaway kebab in our dining area. He told me to “get the f*** away from him” and then proceeded to smash his kebab into the table and tell me to clean it.

‘I was also called a “f***ing bitch” for telling someone they couldn’t sit on a reserved table.’

Katrina Rohman, marketing manager at a UK hotel group and staycation blogger at Real Girls Travel, Cardiff:

‘In the 15 years I’ve worked in hospitality, I’ve been screamed at by far too many people. Some examples include a woman wanting a full refund for a three-night stay because a bird watched her get dressed and, when we ran an online promotion where guests had to input the word AUTUMN to get a discount, a gentleman who couldn’t spell it and went berserk because he missed the offer.

‘Not forgetting my all-time favourite; a guest who was furious because housekeeping disposed of the sex toy she left in the bedroom. She called to say she had forgotten it and wanted it posted back.’

Alisha, restaurant manager/owner, Australia:

‘Middle aged men absolutely love to comment on your appearance. One customer saw my arm tattoos and called me “a clown with no future” and asked “what are you going to do when you get a real job?”, despite me being the restaurant owner.’

Chrissy, barista, Australia:

‘I’m from Vietnam and have a strong accent with good English. A customer would not leave me alone while I made coffee, and I couldn’t get away from him.

‘He kept asking me to say different things in my accent and then mimicked me after each phrase. No one laughed or gave him any attention. He left.’

Jamie Tullis, assistant food and beverage manager at Hazel, Glasgow:

‘I’ve worked in hospitality for eight years and fortunately haven’t had too many experiences with rude customers, but it does happen from time to time. I think sometimes rude customers can be conflated with demanding customers, or sometimes people just having a bad day. It happens to us all. I usually chalk it up to that and brush it off. Regardless, you always kill with kindness.

‘The biggest issues I’ve encountered stem from cutting people off – refusing to sell any more alcohol. The funniest one was in a previous job when I was 18 or 19, I was working the bar at a wedding when a group ordered some Jaeger bombs. The last guy in the group took his shot, put the glass down and threw up into the glass. Then he looked at me and ordered two gin and tonics. When I told him no, he started getting annoyed, and his friend asked why I wasn’t serving him. I just pointed at the glass and he took his friend away.’

Rachel, bar manager, Australia:

I’m Vietnamese, and my coworker is from Hong Kong; I am often told “don’t worry your brother took my order”.’

Jonathan Kleeman, executive head sommelier at Story Group restaurants, London:

‘There have been numerous instances I’ve experienced, particularly in the last year or so. I’d say things have actually gotten worse since the lockdown. Unfortunately, people seem to have lost their manners rather than gained them.

‘One instance occurred at one of the sites I’ve worked at. We had a manager who was a fully qualified chartered accountant and had a degree in marine biology. Yet, a guest asked her, “What real job are you getting into after this?” or “What are you studying for?” implying that being a manager at a restaurant is not a real job.

‘Another experience I had was when I worked at a five-star hotel. After enjoying a long conversation with me, a lady was absolutely shocked to find out that I had gone to a state school and not a private school. She even stopped the restaurant manager, who wasn’t English and didn’t understand the classism, to explain, “Can you believe he didn’t go to private school? He speaks so well for someone who went to a state school.”

‘Then there are the odd and crazy things people do. Besides always trying to stay as late as they can in restaurants or constantly lying and name-dropping to claim they know the owner or the chef, there are other bizarre incidents.

‘One particularly strange event happened at a site where someone defecated into a hand towel in our toilets and then put it back into the dirty hand towel basket. There was no obvious reason for this, and we had no guests that night who were particularly drunk or acting outrageously. This person appeared completely normal but still chose to do something so inexplicable.’

Jessica Lindsay