Would you be pissed if a waitress did this to you?

[Anonymous]

Today DH and I had lunch at a new restaurant we had never been to before. It is the kind of place where you order and pay at a register and your food is brought to you at the table. At the end of the meal, we decided we wanted dessert, so the waitress brought it to us, and told us just to pay at the register when we were done. So we ate, and went back in and paid, and the waitress was standing next to the cashier, so we thought she saw.

As we are leaving, though, our waitress comes running out into the parking lot, shouting, YOU HAVE TO PAY, DID YOU PAY? And we said that we had paid, but she kept asking. It got kind of embarrassing, since everybody on the patio was watching by now. The waitress kept motioning at us, but there was a little bit of a language barrier or else she did not believe us. I wasnt about to go in and pay twice, though. So DH and I left.

Every time I think of this encounter, I get more and more pissed off. This place is one block from our house, and a few of our neighbors and kids classmates parents were there. I am sure to some of them it looked like we were skipping out on a check.

Am I overreacting if I send a note to management to tell them what happened? Do you think there is any point?

[Anonymous]

Did you leave her a tip? Maybe that's why she was making a scene.

A short, polite note to management might prevent this from happening to future customers.

[Anonymous]

You can send a note to management, but really, I would just move on.

My first job was waitressing - if a customer left without paying, I had to take the fall for it. If there was a language barrier/if she was from another country, then she may have been afraid of losing pay, or her job.

She was over the top, but really, is it THAT big of a deal?

[Anonymous]

Overreacting. She obviously didn't think you paid because why else would she have done what she did?

[Anonymous]

Op here...it's not as big a deal as corn buying etiquette for sure. This is a new Place though and we talked to the owner at dinner and liked him a lot and Enjoyed his food. Just thinking it might make a difference to him, to know his staff might hold him back.

[Anonymous]

Let it go. Id think the people who saw it would wonder more what the he'll was wrong with the waitress then whether or not you paid.

[Anonymous]

She was at the register when we paid. Just not paying attention to whom she was serving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:and the waitress was standing next to the cashier, so we thought she saw.

As we are leaving, though, our waitress comes running out into the parking lot, shouting, YOU HAVE TO PAY, DID YOU PAY? And we said that we had paid, but she kept asking. It got kind of embarrassing, since everybody on the patio was watching by now.

you care too much what other people think
let it go and forget about it
and do not go back to that place

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I'd be pissed. If I had the time/inclination, I wouldn't have left, I would have marched back into the restaurant, asked to see a manager, and had him/her run a report from the register. Or talk to the cashier. Which is what she ought to have done before she started chasing you down, screaming.

[Anonymous]

Yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Overreacting. She obviously didn't think you paid because why else would she have done what she did?

Why didn't you just show her your receipt? Did you stiff her?

[Anonymous]

I would be outwardly polite and inwardly offended.
I would not complain.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't write a letter, but I would definitely call the manager to express my concern. If it happened to you, it could happen again. Maybe they need to re-think what should be done in situations where folks decide on dessert after having paid for their meal?

[Anonymous]

yes, I'd be mad, but after venting I'd probably laugh it off.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I'd be pissed because of being embarrassed.