No service in the service industry

  by: Speed6 Guy

So I was out to eat last week. I went to a middle class steakhouse with a fun theme. We had to call ahead to get seating, this place is always busy. When we got to the door there was a jumble of people milling around as if they were lost. So I worked my way through the crowd to talk to the host. They asked for my number they gave me and then yelled back at one of the five employees to get us to our table. We got to the table witch was still full of the last persons baked potato. The young lady just wiped it off with her hand and said well there you go and walked away. As we sat and glanced at the menu, the waitress walked passed us and said “be right with Ya, it is nuts tonight”. She went over and took the order of the table next to us. Then 5 minutes later she walked by again and said “did you guys get your drinks?” I said we haven’t ordered yet. She said “K be right back”. My wife and I looked at each other and said wow. She came back got our order and rushed away again. Has I looked around I noticed that there was a lot of employees just kind of hanging out everywhere. Are drinks came and she took our food order and ran off with a “thanx”. My wife had red wine instead of white zin and I had Bud Light not a Coors light. We where like WFT. The man in the table next to us said “I think you got our drinks and we got yours”. Sure enough they had our drinks and we had gotten theirs. We made the switch with a thank you. Our waitress then came back with a tray full of food and began to pass it out. It was all the wrong stuff, I told her this isn’t our food. The waitress said “sure it is your food your table 12 and this is the order you gave me. I looked at her and said “no this is not our food I had steak and she had pork chops, and this is fish and chicken”. She was like “O sorry” in a very snooty tone. She took the food back to the kitchen. The man next to us leaned over and said that was our food with a chuckle. I laughed with him for a second until I had a tap on my shoulder. I look back and it was a man in a very Sears looking dress shirt. He said “Sir is there an issue with your food?” I said “yes it was not ours it was this table’s food”. The man said “O very sorry sir I will have the waitress bring it out ASAP, Thank You”. The man behind me said “thanx it has been 30 minutes and our food is now just on its way”. After 20 more minutes we had our food and the other table had there food.

I asked my wife what the hell has happened to service. She has herself been a waitress at several different places. She said the problem is the training that company’s give there staff. All too often they give you too many tables to take care of and not enough training to handle the work.

I myself have worked in the service industry and not just busting fights up as a bouncer. I have worked at the state fair for the better part of my life. This has given me a lot of training and real world experience. So on with how I think things need to change.

1. Take time to look at what you’re touching. If you would not like to see people picking there nose or touching there face just before they grab the plate that your food is on, don’t do it to other people. In short leave your hands out of your hair, off your face and out of your pockets.
2. Write stuff down. Not everyone out there can remember everything. Don’t think it makes you look dumb to write stuff down. It is far better to get the right food or drinks to the right table then it is to have to go back with all the wrong stuff. And for god sake don’t just put in what you think they said as an order and then get it wrong and have to remake their food in a rush. As a last resort go back and ask again.
3. Speak up and clearly. Talk at a volume that is just louder then the rest of the table is speaking. That way everyone at the table will know you are taking orders and to be ready when it is their turn. This will also help if there is someone at the table who is hard of hearing. Then you will notice that it is hard for them to hear you and you need to speak even louder.
4. Never ever stop cleaning up. Always have a rag in your hand or a broom to keep the place clean. My favorite thing to tell people who think they have nothing to do is “You got time to lean you got time to clean”.
5. Never say “No”. I don’t care what the hell the person is asking for never tell a costumer no. Use other words like I will look into that. And if it is way outlandish have the manager go over and speak with them.
6. Never fight with a customer or other employees for that matter. Like I said I have been in the food/service industry for a long time, I know there are some people that will never ever be happy. When (not if) you come across this person just ask them to wait and go get the manager. It is NOT your job as a waitperson to deal with an unhappy customer. Never raise your voice or shout at the costumer. Kindness kills is what my mom told me and she is right. It is very hard for someone to get out of hand when you are being very polite.
7. Don’t take more tables then you can handle. When you have too many tables you will never be able to serve those costumers well. Your tips will suffer and most of the time that is way you wanted more tables in the first place.
8. Learn to count change. It is very surprising to me how few people know how to count change back properly. That is your tip money you are giving away if you give the wrong change so always take the time to count change.
9. This one is more for cocktail wait staff. Never assume the change is your tip. Always and I mean always give back all the change the person gets. Never think o they don’t want this 50 cents or 75 cents. Have it ready to give to the person. They will see that you are not trying to scam the change and more often then you think give you a bigger tip.


That is just a bit of what the service industry has forgotten about. I could get into the fact that a lot of places just don’t care that they have bad staff. But if the place you work doesn’t make you do these things doesn’t mean you should not do them. I tip on the way I am served not on the fact THAT I am served.

Do you have a comment on the above Blog? Do you have a need to tell your side of the story? Use the following to do so as you wish.

hit counter