optik_nerve

I went to dinner tonight one of the local restaurants in town and was seated next a table with 2 women and 3 older men.

I guess something happened with their order because the lady was making a huge fuss about having too much sauce on the pizza. She got pissy with the owner and was being a bitch to one of the waiters while her (I think) husband was saying it was fine with him and everything was alright. Eventually she stormed off and refused to wait another 15 - 20 minutes for another pizza that was correct by her standards. She basically made an ass of herself and her party she was with.

This leads me to wonder, how could somebody act like this over something so miniscule?

I can honestly say that if a situation like this happened to me, I would be more than happy to accept a new pizza but I probably wouldn't have complained about it in the first place.

What would you do in a situation like this?

shakran

I think it's a combination of factors. In the first place, a good number of people who are not in the service industry look down on those who are simply because they can. Gives them an opportunity to feel superior to someone. I learned that lesson hard and fast while putting myself through college working retail.

That combined with the fact that modern life is stressful as all hell, and with the fact that some people are just flippin' assholes, helps to explain her behavior.

In a situation like this, unless the pizza is swimming in sauce, I'll eat it. If I don't care for it, I'll mention that to the waitress. If they don't do something to make me happy, I'll firebomb the restaurant

In reality, I'll pay, and then never come back.

clavus

Dude, I was recently in a sandwich shop. It was their first day open and they were GIVING away sandwiches as a promotion. FREE.

There were poeple who found reasons to bitch, moan and act like assholes.

Hey, it's FREE. You don't like it? Fuckin' leave!

People need to mellow out and get some perspective.

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Ishmal

that is what i'd do as well...

i don't much like confrontation, especially over something so small. therefore i'd eat the Pizza, pay for it, and probely never go there again. maybe bad-mouthing the place to a few of my friends.
if someone insisted we go there for dinner again, i'd simply order something else or order a pizza with less sauce than usual.

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Martian

Eh. Som people are like that. I used to work in a coffee shop and got the same. Too much cream, not enough cream.

I figure if you're that bloody precise about these things, you ought to stay home and make your own coffee/pizza/whatever the hell else it is. A restaurant is entirely unable to foresee exactly how you like something, especially if you don't mention it beforehand (don't know if she did or not).

I feel bad for the husband, in all honesty. Poor guy was just out to enjoy a meal and gets thoroughly embarrassed by his wife.

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Fremen

I'd have just wrung the excess sauce out and chowed down. No need to get pissy about the whole thing.
There's no telling what the kitchen staff will do in retaliation.
Just it and beat it.

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canuckguy

I would have just eat what i could and left, never coming back would be my complaining. I am always a bit warry on complaining about food, i just assume the food is gonna contain spit or something else unpleasant when it comes back to the table. Not sure this lady felt the same! maybe she likes spit.

Johnny Pyro

I wouldn't say a thing. I would just deal with it.

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itch vaccine

Sauce is good man

I'd pay and never come back ^^^ just like the previous posts.

It's just too bad you're eating at a bad place which is why I never leave my favourite restaurants for food.

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ruggerp11

I like sauce, fuck her. How embarrassing for her husband and other people at the table.

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Sugarmouse

id jus eat what i wanted n leave the rest its only food ffs!
i agree ppl in the catering industry get looked down on-i have been on that side aswell...when someoene is been 'served'anythign by someoen else it seems to give them a superiority complex!
i hate eating out really..i like to know whats in food and know its me who hasnt washed my hands and not someoen else.....

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World's King

That is the most retarded thing in the world to complain about.

Steak overdone? Complain. Chicken not cooked all the way? Complain. Pasta comes out cold? Complain. Pizza has a little too much sauce? Shut your mouth, eat it, and leave.

I'm guess she had a bad day and was just looking for someone or something to take it out on. I used to get that all the time as a bartender. People getting off from a shit day and complaining about the beer being warm or their drink not being strong enough. Even if I don't agree I fix the problem and most times they just have one drink and leave. There is no reason to release all the negative energy. It comes back at you in the end. Trust me. If you're nice about it. You'll get taken care of. If you bitch and throw a hissy fit. You're gonna get proppa-fucked.

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ObieX

I like extra sauce on my pizza

Personally if i were there and she was making a huge fuss, and making the experience of my other customers unpleasant i would just point to the door.

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Siege

If she doesn't like extra sauce, she probably wouldn't of liked the "special" sauce that probably would've been added to her next pizza.

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guthmund

No doubt. I don't screw with the people who fix/serve my food. I've spent too much time in too many kitchens to know better. If I absolutely have to send something back, I make it a point to ask very, very politely.

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Charlatan

I always ask for my pizza with the sauce on the side...



not really but that would be a funny request...

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Paq

honestly, after working in a few restaurants, i can say taht i have never witnessed any overt damaging of food in retaliation for a guest sending it back. Normally, it's just a matter of the guest having a different notion of what they ordered in mind. It's not a big deal most of the time and not something the kitchen gets bitchy about.

hell, even things that come back several times (some people are just that picky) go out w/out an incident, mostly bc the kitchen staff doesnt' wanna deal with that order anymore.

I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but in restaurants ranging from applebee's quality to fine dining, i haven't seen it.

As for me, i'd probably not bitch unless it was just BAD. If my gf didn't like it, i'd ask if they could do something about it/get another/anything like that bc she is pickier than i am and i normally have a disarming voice/face. otherwise, i would probably just pay and not return. I pretty much only go where i know i like the food, anyway, and i'm fairly happy with the unknown places as well. Keep your expectations low and you'll be surprised more often

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Seeker

Couldn't agree more... but more easily said than done *sigh*

I would consider this woman as the epitome of the ego-centric society that is so prevalent today.

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raeanna74

I've tolerated much worse that too much sauce on a pizza. Not long ago we had a miserable experience that the Taco Bell that we frequent. It took them 45 minutes before they realized they'd lost our order. We gave it to them all over again since they couldn't find it but our receipt didn't give all the details. When we got it there were mistakes on all three of our meals. Tomatoes added, things switched even. It was a total wreck. We tried to calmly complain about the whole thing. They gave us 6 biscuits that we warmed up the next morning for breakfast.

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Paq

taco bell has biscuits???

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Fremen

They drop them in the beans.

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Rodney

Years ago I worked in a pizzeria -- basic, old-style pizza ovens, not the rotating monsters you get today. Guy orders a pizza, I figure him as German or Swiss because he's got the accent. I assembled a good pizza with plenty of everything, put it in the oven, checked it several times, popped the bubbles in the cheese early and often, rotated it in the ovens several times with the pizza paddle so all sides cook evenly. In the course of moving the pizza around, it touched the rear wall of the pizza oven for a few seconds, which made a dark mark on the crust -- I wouldn't even say a burn -- about the size of a dime. Served it to the guy, and he wouldn't eat it. Said it was burned, ruined because of the mark. I was young, tried to argue with him, but management smoothly moved in and told me to make him another one. I did.

And _I_ ate the first pizza -- damned good, too. Remember that -- when you turn down a pizza for piss-ant reasons, you're just giving the help a free meal or tomorrow's lunch to take home :-).

raeanna74

TacoBell/KFC Forgot about that part. lol

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ratbastid

I'm in the "squeeze off the excess, eat the pizza, pay and leave" camp. I guess if I really felt strongly about it, I might have a discreet word with the manager. I don't want to cause a scene, but if there was something really significantly wrong with the food, I'm sure the manager would want to know. If s/he wanted to do something to make it up to me, that would be okay, but that wouldn't be my goal.

fhqwhgads

There are people in this world that just love DRAMA. Making others think that they are "persecuted" makes them feel important, so they make it a point to always be the victim. As a result, the love to point out how other people are making thier life miserable... too much sauce on their pie, drycleaner didn't get the crease right, the new shoes they bought are poorly made, their doctor is incompetent... ugh. Too much drama....

Ustwo

Ever since I was a waiter, I think EVERYONE should be forced to be a waiter/waitress for 6 months. Teach them some manners.

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pan6467

I owned a pizza shop and it is hard to please everyone in how you make your product, eventually, I worked to please myself and did quite well..... till I gambled it away but that's another story.

As the owner I would have offered to satisfy her and if she kept bitching, I'd simply state that I appreciated her business but her actions were disturbing other people's meals. I'd then offer her a raincheck for a free dinner and ask her to leave and comeback when she was in a better mood.

Sometimes, people just are in bad moods and look for reasons to complain and since you are providing a service to them, they feel they can find a reason to complain and take their bad day out on you.

It happens, I've done it, not intentionally but I have done it. I have seen good friends, who are normally calm and cool do it. If you work with the public and take it personally, you'll go nuts. You just take the good with the bad, but in the end as the service provider, if someone crosses that line you simply ask them to leave and come back when they are calmer so that you can discuss how to satisfy them.

Sometimes they are pricks and never come back and sometimes.... sometimes they come back and appologize and you are able to work out a beneficial and acceptable agreement.

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absorbentishe

She must have been having a bad day, and something about the pizza set her off and off and off. People like that bug the crap out of me.

Now, on new years eve, my wife and our neighbors and I went to dinner at a steak place. I had eaten there years ago, and wasn't too happy with them, but I'm open minded enough to try again (about 10 years later). Well, the prime rib I ordered and received was crap, the potato was luke warm at best. I asked the waitress about it, about 15 minutes after it was served, since she never came back until then, and she took my plate. The owner comes out, and starts in on me about what I called crap. I tried to be diplomatic, but he kept throwing jabs and insults to me. I finally got up and left, with my wife and neighbors sitting there. I was so pissed, I had to walk it off. The owner basically said my taste buds are bad, and so am I. Well, when the 3 finally came out, he had taken my meal off the bill, but never appologized for his behavior. That is probably the first and only time I was restrained when dealing with a dick, and all 3 complimented me on it. Of course I will never go to that place again.
Follow up to this. My friend lives in the same neighborhood as the owner, and he's had the police called on him for acting like that at block parties. Dumb ass.

The_wall

As someone who's worked at the same restaurant for 3 years I've never seen a cook spit in someones food. Usually food gets sent back because people have a different definition of what meat should look like when its cooked, but the cooks have no problem trying to fix the situation.

As for the topic at hand, just last monday a waitress accidently put the wrong meal into the computer which sends the slips with the orders on it to the kitchen. So this waitress brings this lady the wrong meal and the lady completely flipped out. She called the waitress an idiot a moron, etc.... granted it was a pretty big mistake, but the lady completely over reacted and then left before her new meal was brought to her.

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la petite moi

Since I work at Starbucks, I constantly get people saying that I made the wrong drink for them, when they THEMSELVES ordered it. (For example, they say "Iced Mocha" and mean "Mocha Frappuccino".) Obviously, I just shrug it off and say, "Let me make you another drink." Sounds like the staff was doing the right thing, then.

If I were in the party with that woman, I would have told her to shut up. Especially if I were her significant other. I would never let nwlinkvxd or any of my close friends make that big of a jackass of themselves.

Then again, the woman might have had a really bad night. You never know in those kinds of situations.

wdevauld

I think the key here is in: 'got pissy with the owner and was being a bitch'

If you keep your cool, most often people will try to help you out. If you become confrontational, expect a confontation.

If you don't like pizza at a particular place, don't eat there anymore.

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Sugarmouse

THAT made me laugh.lol

i worked at TGI Fridays for years n some of the complaints were just laughable...ppl used to order things..and then say theyd ordered somehting else n wanted their £ back..after theyd eaten half of it...it was crap food tho i admit.lol

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Lasereth

You sound like the same type of person as me when it comes to restaurant food. If my order is wrong, I don't get mad at all. Working in the food industry shows you what food workers have to put up with. I work at a YMCA kitchen and we get crap like that quite often. I just don't see how anyone could be that upset over FOOD. Who fucking cares. Maybe it just takes a lot to get me "riled up." The only way I could get mad over food is if the order was absolutely disgusting and the restaurant refused to replace the order. I've gotten some pretty nasty things served to me, and even so, if the waiter/waitress replaces it then I don't even get annoyed.

-Lasereth

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StanT

I've never complained at a restaraunt, I simply don't come back. The worst I've ever done is walk out when service was atrocious. I tossed a few dollars on the table to cover drinks and left. No one noticed or said a word (which was exactly the problem in the first place).

Psycho Dad

I've had many a pizza from places that put too much sauce on them, and I've gone back and had some that were just fine from the same place. It is one of those "some days you step in it and some days you don't" things with me. I guess I just have bigger things to worry about than a piss poor pizza.

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pattycakes

lol u nailed it

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TopRamen66

You nailed it right on the head Working myself through college I've encountered numerous assholes that think they are better than you are for some reason, but nothing tops my current job on a dock at the local lake. Sun+Beer= Instant asshole! I spend half my day bickering with irate customers over miniscule problems.