# The customer is always right!!!!



## danman (Nov 11, 2005)

Hi everyone, I am new here, so I don't know if anybody has done a similar thread or not but here goes. I had a customer come up to me and ask if my moroccan spiced Calimari salad was totally VEGAN as he was very strict about his eating habits. Vegan..........Calimari............you've got to be kidding me, are there people out there that really are this stupid. PS. He actually ordered the dish and left the calimari on the side of the plate. W**KER. Stupid Customers or other Kitchen staff Let me know!!!!


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## castironchef (Oct 10, 2005)

Gotta love the food fadists. I mean, someone's got to. Right?


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## botanique (Mar 23, 2005)

ROTFLMAO -- I hope that translates

You have to look at it this way -- our job is a service, not only to provide sustinance but to educate. As a cook, I aim to please. As a customer, if I do not understand something, I want the "person in charge" of the meal (or runners in between) to help me with my stupidity. 

But (still laughing) that's a pretty good one.


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## liv4fud (Jul 14, 2005)

i began a vegetarian
didn't know if calamari (or even pepperoni) was non veg / veg.


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Of course, true vegetarians don't really pay much attention to other foods. What really cracks me up is the guest who comes up to the Baron of Beef carving station and requests--with a straight face-- for "A slice crispy on the outside, but rare in the the inside"...


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## chefdude (Jan 20, 2005)

Free range calamari :lol: Was doing a pan seared steak with peppercorns and brandy cream. Customer ordered it with sauce on the side. OK no prob. He sent it back because he didn't like pepper grrrr. While I was cooking his replacement meal of venison the waiter informed me that the customer had kept the side of brandy cream, which also had peppercorns in it, and was eating it with his bread and raving about the great flavor to the rest of the table. The customer is #1 even when they're a doofus.


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## markv (May 16, 2003)

The stupidity of man never ceases to amaze me.

I was doing a cooking demo in a supermarket. I'm wearing my chef jacket, there's an array of foods laid out on this long table, there's stuff on my stove simmering, I'm in the middle of a frigging supermarket, and I'm slicing vegetables when a woman walks up and asks:

What are you making.......................food?

No lady I'm rebuilding a DC-10 engine.

The customer is usually wrong but is _treated_ like they're always right.

Mark


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## bigdog (Nov 20, 2005)

I can be both a cook/server's favorite customer or worst enemy. From the favorite customer side, I'm on a seefood diet. I see food, I eat it! TNT, bottom line!

As for being a worst enemy, if something served is completely FUBAR, I get a little disgruntled, which will escalate from there. Now, I don't mean to imply I'm a bully looking for a fight, but I'm spending my hard earned money on something, and I want it to be good.

I remember a time when I ordered a NY Strip (not from a steakhouse, first mistake) and asked for medium to medium well. I got the plate and the steak looked great, until I cut into it. It started mooing at me! I graciously ate the rest of the plate as it was a busy night, and when the server came by to check up, I showed her the steak. She offered to get the manager for me, which she did. The next thing she did cracked me up. She asked if I wanted it redone, and I said no. She took the plate back into the kitchen and yelled "who the **** cooked this steak?" I was impressed.

Not so much with the manager though. I ate the rice pilaf and veggies, and all the manager would do is take a lousy buck off the bill. Thanks for nothing, for crying out loud! However, my extroverted server was the one ringing the bill for payment, and when I told her the manager only gave a buck off, she was appalled (sp?) and gave me another 5 bucks off. That really impressed me. On a ticket that would have been about $20, the server walked away with more then what I actually paid for the ticket!


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## lwp (Oct 28, 2005)

That was your second mistake! 

_(Just kidding...sorta  )_

Regarding the topic being discussed, my policy is that the customer is always right with the disclaimer that their money is buying them food and service... not a license to behave like an arse.


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## chefatl (Jun 2, 2004)

I had 2 customers come in for lunch one day and they were complaining from the minute they walked in. They didn't like their table, didn't like the silver or china, didn't like the tea or coffee and it kept going. They had their soups and were still complaining. By this point being fed up, I walked out and pulled the soups from them. I said " it is obvious that we will never be able to satisfy you. Please leave. Maybe Dairy Queen down the road will be able to meet your expectations." They left and were back 2 days later and became regular customers. 
I will bend over backwards for my customers and staff, but I don't have to put up that.


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## someday (Aug 15, 2003)

I'm a server at a nice restaurant currently, and I will tell you that it's danm infuriating when someone orders something medium well to medium. Or even medium rare to medium. What does that even mean? First of all, there is no standard for the whole temperature thing anyways throughout the industry--why try to confuse the cooks and servers even more my ordering it like that?

My advice--order it by how you want it to look in the middle. Say "I want my steak to be warm and pink with a thin strip of red in the middle." Fine, at my place thats Medium. 9/10 times, someone goes "I want my steak M to MW." I go "How do you want it to look?" 

"Pink in the middle"

"Sir, thats how our MW looks" 

"OK thats fine..."

Or whatever, something like that. Also, I always ask the guest to cut into the steak in front of me right when they get the food so they can see what it looks like and if it's wrong we can fix it. Also, if there is every ANY question, always under-order it, cause it's a lot less time consuming to fix. Better to be undercooked than over and have to start with a new steak.

But I would say 9/10 times it can be prevented. But when someone comes to me and says M to MW I think a) This person is an idiot who doesn't know what they are doing or b) This person eats at a lot of bad restaurants and doesn't know what they are doing.

Hope that helps.


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## lentil (Sep 8, 2003)

QUOTE_But I would say 9/10 times it can be prevented. But when someone comes to me and says M to MW I think a) This person is an idiot who doesn't know what they are doing or b) This person eats at a lot of bad restaurants and doesn't know what they are doing._UNQUOTE

Or maybe this person simply prefers his/her steak more well done. Personal taste isn't idiotic, it's...well....personal.


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

I used to work for a guy whose favorite saying was:

"The customer is always right....but there are some customers you just don't need."

He was absolutely right. There are some people you cannot satisfy, no matter how hard you try. Better than they'd never come through the door. 

And if you really want to hear stupid questions, try being an historic reenactor for awhile. "Is that a real fire," is the least of them.


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## token (Jul 11, 2009)

almost everyday while I'm walking around taking inventory, someone who is eating stops me and asks "excuse me, are you the chef?"...

ummm, judging by the white/black chef jacked, the striped pants and the black crocs....yes I would assume I am. 

I often want to answer "nah, I just hang out here wearing this apparel for sh!ts and giggles." but I like to be professional.


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## m.d.hughes (Apr 28, 2007)

the customer must always be seen to be right, then we just smile and take their money


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## just jim (Oct 18, 2007)

Gee lentil, a nearly 4 year old thread?
:lol:


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## lentil (Sep 8, 2003)

Yeah, that's weird. I surely didn't go looking for it. I think it was on that list of threads that pops up when you get on. Anyway, I stand by my comment....whatever it was!:blush:


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## line_grunt (Jul 1, 2009)

Wow didn't realise this was such an old thread, but **** i gotta add my own 2 bobs worth anyway.

The other night for service a vegan lady walks in and requests we do something strictly vegan for her...like we have all the time in the world. But of course the customer is always right so we did exactly what she asked. Now, she is a raw vegan, meaning nothing cooked and only veggies and salad. Astounding!!!

Anyways I made a kick *** salad, it had the works on it, even pine nuts and grated carrot, I was very proud. However...Of course I did the stupid thing and grated the carrot with the same grater i used to grate cheese for a seperate plate...stupid I know, but time was an issue and I wasn't thinking in Vegan mode. The food went out and the server came back 10 minutes later and told me the lady loved the salad but was angry and upset that a small amount of cheese had fallen onto the side of her plate as a result of the grater. She was very upset. I even went and apologised personally to her and she was still fuming. Surprised she had that much energy to be honest.

Anyways, its a hotel restuarant and she decided to stay in the hotel a few days, so we were graced by her presence at meal times for a couple of days...oh what joy. But the real crunch, came when the next night she ordered the white chocolate cheese cake we have on the dinner menu. I went out to front of house and explained to her in my most diplomatic way that not only did the cheesecake contain cream cheese, it also contained white chocolate, and it certainly was not raw. She just nodded and smiled and said that was not a problem and to bring her the cheesecake. I walked away completely baffled, was this the same woman?!?!?! I mean what the **** am I supposed to think!?!?!? very confused.

SO I guess even when the customer is wrong....the customer is right because they are paying the wage....but dam doesn't mean they are always correct, polite or sane lol.


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## phaedrus (Dec 23, 2004)

Vegans annoy the crap out of me, no offense to any of you here! You obviously aren't much of a foodie if you eat such a narrow slice of what's out there. I can understand people who's religions impose dietary restrictions but the current "I'm so precious" attitude is infuriating. Do people really think it's reasonable to expect special vegan dishes at BK or Pizza Hut?

But vegans are nearly as bad the all the "No-G" dufusses out there. If you have celiac disease I can feel for you, no doubt- gluten will make you all sorts of sick. But only %0.5 of the public has celiac; everyone else just watches too much Oprah and Dr. Phil. Food fads are obnoxious enough but the no gluten thing is particularly moronic. At least two or three times per shift (and much more on the weekend) a server or expo will approach me to ask if a certain dish has gluten. Usually while we're slammed, of course. When I'm really busy I'll tell them to assume it has gluten and order something else, or better yet, go somewhere else. Okay, I don't have the luxury of the last part...


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## chefelle (Feb 17, 2007)

Line_Grunt....you had a vegan who was doing raw foods too? Oh...now THAT is a treat.


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## blueicus (Mar 16, 2005)

Funny enough, I too had to serve a similar sort of customer recently... it's sort of disturbing


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## cstanford (Jul 3, 2008)

Love that. We surely do think alike.


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## line_grunt (Jul 1, 2009)

LMFAO thanx guys I was hoping my post would spark somehting lol...

and yes chefelle, it was just my lucky night lol

I'm a vegetarian myself, but I don't preach it, I don't go around shouting to the world that fact. I still work with meat, butcher it, cook it and even taste meat dishes I'm cooking (nothing more than a teaspoon of ocurse lol). Now I know how good meat is. It tastes fantastic when done properly and seafood especially. An dI love cooking with meat. For me it's an ethical thing....but like I said I don't like to preach. My beliefs and morales are my own, and I think everyone's are their own as well. My point is I wouldn't go to a restaurant and demand a special dish be made for me. I'd order form the menu, with what they could offer. If there as nothing on that menu for me I would vote with my feet (and allet) and go someplace else. Because why should my beliefs inconvience the poor sod who is busy as **** out back. My point is if your a "raw food vegan" don't inconvenience me...kitchen karma I tells ya lol.

I don't mind the challenge, but don't go and eat a white choc cheesecake the next night lol.

and don't even get me started on gluten free. I agree, that only a very small percentage of people are gluten intolerant, and I definately agree that most people just don't eat it because they saw something on tv or in a magazine. I do alot of baking and pastry work aswell as normal line cooking and prep cooking and man...nothing frustrates me more than gluten free bread/pastry...what is the point seriously?!?!?! bread is all about gluten, especially wholemeal and malthouse.

I don't angry or upset with these types of "dietary requirements" that people seem to be getting more and more, I just get confused and disappointed that people aren't experiencing what the food of the world has to offer.

Sorry had to throw in another 2 bob worth there.....getting it off my chest...thanx for listening chef talk community...you guys are like a therapy group lol


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## chefelle (Feb 17, 2007)

I had a vegan create a big fuss in the restaurant I worked in by bringing in her own birthday cake regardless of the fact that I offer vegan options on my dessert menu. Anyway...that was alright..didn't mind that too much. What I did mind was when said vegan had the waitress cut up the cake and use my dessert sauces and whipped cream (real, full fat, from a COW whipped cream) and passed out the dessert to the ENTIRE RESTAURANT--approx 50 people! NOW--my dessert sales during lunch service were around 80 percent---80 percent of all diners ordered dessert. All that money was lost for the restaurant. AND I WAS MAD. It's a restaurant not a potluck, people. Holy. 

Two weeks later same vegan comes back from an Indian dinner we were doing. And expressly wanted GHEE on her roti. Yeah...that's the sort of stuff that makes you crazy. 

So I can totally relate to the white chocolate cheesecake thing. 

Gluten free baking drives me nuts as well. I don't mind doing baking for people who truly have an allergy. But I get annoyed when people walk into my shop because they have heard I do gluten free baking and are mad when I don't have a ton of gluten free options in house. I always do a few items to have on hand....but let's get real here....I am a bakery...the main ingredient in the vast majority of my food is FLOUR...how in the world can I guarantee that a gluten free product that is in a display case is not going to come in contact with any flour whatsoever? I can't. And if someone with severe celiac's disease eats something that has even a speck of flour on it and gets sick and dies....I'm liable. And I doubt my insurance would cover that.

Lately I will do gluten free baking and I take every precaution possible to ensure there is no gluten contamination but I still warn the customer that I am not a dedicated gluten free facility and while I will do my very best I cannot guarantee that the product will be free from the faintest trace of wheat in spite of my best efforts.

Don't get me started on vegans who follow the raw food diet. It's even worse when they "find" some untested recipes they want you to make for them. The last time that happened I ended up with what I called "The Original Poop Tart". It looked like an asphalt shell with a tar centre. It tasted so bad--both my boss and I threw up. In the end I got carte blanche to create my own raw food options--had to be vegan AND organic as well. Created some great stuff...and then was asked to also include my lemon chiffon cake. Honestly.....


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

The problem isn't really with vegetarians and vegans. It's with the fact that people jump on trends, and don't really know what they mean. Real vegans would have never ordered or eaten those other items.

Reminds me of a bicycle tour we once took. On those trips you usually chip in and the guides buy all the lunch stuff. Most of the others had announced, loudly, that they were vegetarians. So the guides had purchased only a small amount of smoked turkey for Friend Wife and me. Nothing else was meat based. 

We were the last to arrive at the lunch spot, and guess what was gone? They'd scoffed that turkey like there was no tomorrow.

But it gets better. That night, at the inn, there was salmon on the menu. Every one of them, after expressing great glee, ordered the salmon. I couldn't help asking, sotto voce, what kind of bush a salmon grew on.

People like that make my teeth ache. But, alas, there's not much we can do about them.


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## greyeaglem (Apr 17, 2006)

Someday: There _are_ industry standards for cooking steaks. Rare is red and cool inside, med.rare, red and warm, med is pink and set inside (should look like a coral sunset inside) and med. well can have a light strip of pink in the middle or be done through with no pink. Either is acceptable for med. well. A well done steak will be done inside with charring on the outside. The person ordering MR-M wants their steak a little redder inside than med would be, and the M-MW wants to make sure they have the light pink strip in the middle. Anyone who doesn't know this has no business cooking steaks. It's a good idea though, to do what you are doing and ask how they want it to look as the customers sometimes don't know how to order it. I cooked a steak for a guy one night 3 times before it was what he wanted. He felt bad, and I told him not to. What he wanted was M/MW. I told him that's what it's called, or he can tell the kitchen he wants it at 145 deg. Problem solved, he was happy because now he'll get exactly what he wants. He had originally ordered the steak MR. As for the funny customer requests, I work in a seafood place. I had a vegetarian come in one night and ask for salmon, but she didn't want it cooked near any other food and wanted it cooked on something we never cooked anything else on. We got a big hoot out of that. "Hey, bust out that new broiler we've been saving in case someone wants their food cooked on somehting brand new." I don't mind vegetarians, especially if they call ahead so I can line up some kind of dish for them. What I get a kick out of are the ones who eat seafood, (for some reason salmon) because of some rule about how long the animal can think. Seems a salmon can only hold a thought for 30 sec. or something so it's O.K. to eat it. They better be careful, with rules like that I culd have open season on half the human population. We recently did a local food expo for a charity. As I said earlier, we are a seafood place. We brought along a vintage sign we have that says XYZ Fish House. A lady came up and asked if there was any fish in anything we were serving. I looked at the guy I was working with, we managed to keep straight faces as we replied "Yes." After she walked away, I said "What, does our sign say XYZ @%*& Tofu House???" They're out there, and they let them drive!!!!


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