UKC

Has anyone ever gone into a shop, restaurant, cafe or whatever, and been in a sutuation where somebody else who comes in after you gets served before you?

What do you do in such a situation?

In reply to mypyrex: If that happens to me and I'm seriously p*ssed off, I'll wait for the order/meal to be cooked and given to me, then I'll walk out infront of them without touching or paying for it. Never came to much bother in the past doing it and it tells the business quite clearly to get it sorted.

In reply to mypyrex:

Head for the ladies...?

Happened to me last night in Bala. Waited until the waitress eventually "saw" me then got up, said so I could be heard "Those two gentleman came in five minutes AFTER me" and walked out.

In reply to 5cifi:


Really?

OP: Just shrug it off, it happens, there's never any malice in it. People occasionally make mistakes, there's no point getting wound up about it.
jk

In reply to mypyrex:

hmmm...depends how long it is. If you mean the person who came in after you got served a few mins before you - well tough quit whinging. Most good staff can keep track of who came in when etc, but even then will occaisionally get it wrong. If you're a bit stressed and having a bad day it's easy to mix up the order.

If you mean you were sat there ages and several people were served while you seemed to have been forgotten, did you try asking how long it would be to remind them you were waiting? Again occaisionally it happens that someone gets forgotten. If you give a polite reminder staff should rush to make sure you're served straight away and basically try and make up for a mistake. If you sit there for ages grumbling to yourself then you've only got yourself to blame.

If you did mention it and they still didn't serve you you should complain. Usually then you'll at least be offered a discount on your food and you've got the option of saying it's taken too long and you need to leave. Up to you then if you go back another time or not. Unfortunate but there ya go.

as to above saying wait until it's served then walking out - that's pathetic and pissy

In reply to mypyrex: I find it quite rude when you hold a door open for someone , and get the invisible treatment . I have been known to thank the person for allowing me the privilege of holding the door in said position .

In reply to 5cifi: THat's rather over the top. Often the person serving hasn't noticed, or if taking orders for food is taking a batch of orders before going back to the kitchen.

If in a restaurant, if they take someone elses order 1st and you have been waiting longer, if they then go to the kitchen to give the order rather than go to your table to take your order. Talk to waiter, waitress, say "I am really sorry but we have been waiting longer than ..... can you please take our order". Had to do that once or twice, always got prompt service afterwards.

If in behind the counter service situation and the server hasn't seen whose 1st, you are 1st and someone tries to get served before you, just say. "I am sorry, you must not have seen, but I have been waiting longer, I would like to be served", never failed to work.

If in a pub/bar, if its busy the barstaff don't really have a chance so it usually ends up survival of the fittest though nowing who is going to be served next then asking them to ask the bar staff to serve you next often works.

There you go, no need to teach people a lesson, be abusive or anything else.

In reply to 5cifi & mypyrex:


Really? Are you often in a big rush to eat? :-P

In reply to Scarab9:

Got a good 20% discount for this at Cafe Rouge, they took the order then we seemed to disappear from the radar. After 40mins I spoke to the waitress who literally ran round sorting things out! Wasn't particularly bothered as I wasn't in a rush but the money off was nice, especially as they did it without asking.

Point is she had made "eye contact" with me before the other two came in. She took their order and took it to the kitchen and then came to my table. In such cases I usually prefer to take my custom elsewhere and make my point without being rude.

In reply to all

i used to play in a jazz trio in a little restaurant and we would often look at each other to check we were there. it was fun sometimes when we had finished a tune to no acknowledgment at all to just play the last four bars and end over and over till there was a little applause.
i know we wern't there to entertain them.

dan

In reply to mypyrex:

2 reasons why this will happen to you-

1) They're doing it on purpose to annoy you (for whatever reason)

2) They genuinely haven't realised

Ask yourself the following, does it matter? Will they care if you 'take your custom elsewhere'? Will you waste more time and energy worrying about it than actually just shrugging it off?
and finally.....
Is it time to stop moaning?

In reply to mypyrex:

A few years ago my wife and I with our 2 girls had been climbing at Dunkeld and afterwards went into a cafe on the main street for tea and cakes. Place wasn't big nor was it full but we weren't spoken to even though they saw us come in. Waited quietly as the staff seemed busy but after a good few minutes another couple came in and were immediately waited on, while still not even coming near us. So we got up and left, could hear a discussion among staff as we went out door. We were then accused by person in charge, in middle of street, with leaving without paying for our food. There was a rather one-sided exchange of "pleasantries" as I explained the situation to her. Then left her gawping with the other people in street just looking at her confusion.

In reply to monkey1:

From the point of view of good manners/customer relations - yes it does matter
Will they care if you 'take your custom elsewhere'?
Possibly not except that I'm not going to pass a reccomendation on to anyone

In reply to mypyrex: who said that!? ..



Better to be assertive than passive-aggressive (and get wound up in the process)..but easier said than done, if one is English...

People do make mistakes, just remind them......between if your dinner takes 40L? Minutes, then complain. If you have to wait too long in a bar, move position, or watering hole.

In reply to mypyrex:

The point I'm trying to make is that there are plenty of things in life worth worrying about - and this isn't one of them.

I'm sure it's nothing personal, which is well worth noting before you go and get all wound up about it

People (like those serving) make mistakes, but it is quite rude if someone who came in after you doesn't acknowledge to the server that there is someone waiting.

In reply to mypyrex:

This happened to a fellow at the head of the queue in Waterstones' Cafe last week. He looked around comically and exclaimed in a loud voice "I must be invisible which means they won't notice if I stuff my pockets with these..." before he could grab a handful of assorted biscotti a waitress had appeared with pencil, paper and an attentive smile.

I am hobbit-like in my ability to become invisible in plain sight, it sometimes has advantages...

In reply to the crabbit man: Off topic but whatever happened to the green shed that used to sell tea and scones.It was just at the start of the village. You always got good service there.
sjm

In reply to mypyrex:

Used to happen to me after climbing at Froggatt, and going to the Chequers for a drink and/or a snack. Would get ignored to the point where I am at the bar, and waiting customers are three deep behind me, and those behind me were getting served.

On one occasion, we gave up, and went outside and into the toilet next door, whereupon one of the bar staff rushed in and told us we couldn't use the toilet as we weren't paying customers!

This was in the seventies, and no doubt the Chequers has changed hands since then, but I still have never been since.

In reply to jkarran:

Ditto.

Sometimes you can see that they haven't served you first when they should have. e.g. once in a quiet country pub up in bonnie scotland. In a party of 6/7, 2 tables of locals were served there meals before ours were cooked despite us arriving there first. On that occiason I stayed as the group wanted to eat, although I would have been happy to go.

Few months ago whilst skiiing in France, 2 tables of locals (big families) had came in got the big meal before my smallish Pizza came. So I went, took my meal abit higher up the mountain and that was fine.

Its ok if they make a genuine mistake, but often they don't. If if they don't, they'll know about it.

In reply to mypyrex:
As a barman, I'm well aware that this does happen. There are two reasons.

1. It's a genuine mistake and no bad feelings are intended. Happens all the time at a busy bar. No point in getting wound up about it.
2. The customer is being rude and pushy, in which case they will generally get ignored.

People seem to be amazed by point two, but you would be surprised how many people think they have a right to be served before others who were there before them. In these cases, most barstaff will simply ignore them for as long as possible. Courtesy goes both ways.

I refer everyone to this Facebook group:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10421080172&ref=search&sid=28...

In reply to Only a hill:

A good barman will see new customers coming in and serve them before the person stood at the bar with a nearly empty pint waiting to be served, with the comment, 'you have had one already, will sort you out next'. That sort of barman will always get me coming back.

In reply to sutty:
Agreed, strategies like this make everyone's life more pleasant, as does table service in the Boots Bar on quiet days (we usually just call the food order number out at the bar).

In reply to Only a hill:

So we stand there,money out,politely waiting whilst being ignored in favour of those with "bar presence".



Ah,the British service industry.Doncha just luvvit?

In reply to Only a hill:
(we usually just call the food order number out at the bar).


May be I am over sensitive but one of things that puts me off the Clachaig is numbers being bellowed out in an aggressive voice at ever increasing volume .

In reply to sjminfife:

Do you mean the start of the village as you come in off the A9?
My memory is no longer what it was and I've not been climbing at Dunkeld for a few years. I vaguely remember something there if that is what you mean but didn't know it sold goodies.

In reply to MG:

I can see how that can be off-putting at times! In our defence, running food can be pretty crazy on a busy day and the kitchen has been known to grind to a complete halt just because the runner was tied up trying to find a customer. It's also pretty hard to hear the food order numbers from the far corner of the bar, so shouting is necessary I'm afraid!

In reply to Only a hill:

No need to shout, go and see how they do it in Morrison's sometime. Big plastic number handed to customer to place on their table, or like Outside with wooden spoon with number on.

In reply to Only a hill:

You missed
3. The barman just isn't very good, has no idea who is coming and going and is just serving the nearest/most conspicuous person each time he returns with the last person's change. The same barman probably thinks everyone is very rude, and can't quite understand why so many of the customers act like they're a bit pissed off with him.

In reply to mypyrex: Summon up all the flatulence I'm capable of...

In reply to Only a hill:

It's incredibily poor practice. People are paying for more than just having food thrown at them, you know.

Sxx

In reply to Sarah G:
Which is why we have table service in the lounge bar ...

I quite like Sutty's suggestion of handing out numbered signs, but I'm not sure how it would be implemented in practice. On a busy summer's day we might have fifty or sixty food checks on the go in the boots bar at any given time. I suppose more staff, two or three dedicated runners perhaps, could overcome the problem.

In reply to Only a hill:

In fact the establishment in question has about fifteen tables. Last night, when I went in, four of them were occupied - hardly "busy"

BTW I'm not wound up about it; I just raised it as a topic of conversation and wondered how others dealt with it.

In reply to roksteady:

Nice one

In reply to mypyrex: I have it every time I go into a pub and wait at the bar (a rare event) and sometimes in restaurants. I bugger off elsewhere.

In reply to mypyrex: yes today in boots .. stood at till with item in one hand , money in the other . The person behind the counter was talking to her friends for around 5/8 min , then turned to me and said oooh sorry i didnt realise you wanted serving

In reply to mypyrex:

Have I ever been invisible?

Only when I need to be: http://www.pbase.com/chris_craggs/image/120348872


Chris

In reply to 5cifi:


They'll be able to tell by thought transferrence exactly why you walked out, of course, and either:


a) will pay more attention in future

or b) Think what a tosser, why did he do that?

Yes it happens some time with me and i also opposed that but later on i stop reacting to all this .
It matters a lot when you are in hurry and the waiter serve the food to a person who came after me .