Steven I Need to Speak With You

This is what I heard from the supervisor upon entering the restaurant yesterday after being off for 3 days.

Right away I thought this cannot be good at all and it wasn't. A table I had a couple of weeks ago lodged a complaint about myself on email. I remember this table like yesterday.

Three people are stopping by to have a bite to eat on their way home which is still a hour or so drive from where I work. They have had what looks like a beer already before arriving and order another round. They seem friendly enough but I have a feeling I have to pay special attention to this table for some reason. Maybe on the inside they were not that friendly. However I do gain some rapport with them and making sure they get the service everyone expects. Also they mention that they eat at the restaurant by the same name locally too so they are pretty familiar with the menu etc...

I clear the entrees away and offer them the dessert menu to see if they would like a dessert but say everything was great but they were full and they have that drive ahead of them. The weather outside was not great either so I presented them with the tab that was $91 and change.

I wished them a safe trip and thanked them for coming this evening.

In the bill fold I see they have a $100 Gift Certificate and a $20 dollar bill. As always when this happens I ask if that is okay and do they need any change. The man says no that is for you. A good tip but not anything out of the ordinary or I would have questioned it. They seem genuinely pleased with the meal and since they are use to eating at same restaurant locally I figured everything was fine and they just were pleased with the meal and service. So the tip amounted with the balance on the gift card of $8 and change plus $20 was pretty nice of them I thought and I thanked them once again and wished them a safe trip back.

Well in my section I get a couple more tables and I was busy with that , but during this time they are just sitting there and not moving but I figured like a lot of people they were finishing up their beers and chatting a bit before heading out. Then I glance over again and the guy is looking at me so I go over there and ask if everything is alright?

I will use the name , Dick to give him a proper name. Dick says , do we get the gift card back? My jaw drops realizing Dick wanted his gift card with the balance of $8 and something change back still on it. I apologize immediately and explain I have closed the gift card and did not know he wanted it back. So to make amends I apologize once again saying I misunderstood and that at that precise moment because I could not give it back to him I pulled out $10 right away and handed it to him to cover the balance of the gift card that was left. Hoping that was enough I made a joke about I didn't think they needed it back with only that amount on it and that I understood when he said ok that it was for the gift card and $20.

I apologize again and thank them and wish them a nice trip and they leave.

So the email says they did not know they could leave a tip with the balance that was left on the gift card. For christ's sake Dick where have you been the last 59 years? Now if it was about getting change back for the $20 I think he would have had every right to be pissed off. But how was I to know when he said it was okay that it was for the $20 and not the gift card that had a balance on it of $8 something! Usually when someone tells me it is okay that means everything.

Then he said I slapped the $10 down which is ludicrous because what I did is not hesitate to pay him back the $10 covering more than the balance remaining on the gift card. Geez I would have at that moment given back his $20 too but that would not have been a good idea.

Well in hindsight had I known the guy was going to send a lousy email back on this I would have just called the manager over to wipe the tears from Dick's eyes!

Now I have to go into work even earlier today to have a meeting with the manager on this. And yes he will get a phone call and I am sure another gift certificate to play the same game with another waiter hopefully in Scarboro where he normally eats to pull the same routine.

What a guy!