Okay just a warning this is more a rant then anything else as I'm rather agitated. If it doesn't belong here I apologize it just didn't seem like random banter.

I would like to think that I'm a very easy going person when it comes to customer service. I'm not that hard to please and a modest smile and hello will go a long way with me. I work in an industry that, despite what most people might think, is 90% customer service and 10% what I actually trained for. I know how hard it can get and I know how difficult it can be providing good customer service when you're having a really nasty day. Things are busy, everything is backed up, people are getting impatient and upset and there's not much you can do about it other then brown nose them and hope it appeases them, your boss is getting on your nerves, your social life is going through a major upset, you're failing a really important class, and you didn't get enough sleep last night to deal with it all. Yet you still have to suck it up and smile a little and try your best not to bite the head off of every person that comes through the door. After all it isn't the customers fault that your life is shit that day. They didn't come into the establishment with the intention of making your life miserable they just wanted to use their money to pay for a service being offered to them (granted there are some miserable yahoos out there, but we're not talking about them right now. We're talking about your average Joe blow). This is why when my server isn't peppy or cheerful or is kind of a downer I don't judge. As long as they're polite and attentive like they should be I'm perfectly happy and comfortable.

Today I had one of the worst experiences in customer service ever when it comes to restaurants. I went to Outback with the girl I just broke up with (very long story there) to get a good steak dinner to ease our case of the Mondays. We went ahead and made table reservations and only had a ten minute wait. As we got to our booth we were just sitting down and barely had our coats off when our waitress comes up and basically snaps at us "What can I get you to drink." There was no hello. There was not even an introduction of her name. We didn't even have time to sit down and look at our menu and see what drinks they might have. When we told her this she just snapped "Well I can come back then." and almost left before we stopped her and basically just said water for now. She left again and we didn't see her for a while, but when she did came back she just asked if we wanted an appetizer. I know that might sound harmless, but the tone of her voice and the rushed way she spoke oozed disdain for us. She didn't want to be there, she didn't want us to be there, she wasn't enjoying what she was doing and she wasn't making any effort to hide it.

We ordered the Bloomin' Onion and before either of us could say anything else she just left. Didn't even ask us if that was all just took off. By this point my ex was fuming. She's the same way as me in that she just expects good manners and she's happy.

Well we didn't see her again, not even when our appetizer was ready. Another waiter delivered it to us. At this point my ex demanded to see the manager. Before the manager came our waitress finally showed up to take our order. Just as we were about to give it he came and just quietly stood behind her and watched. Now at this point I would still be more then willing to forgive her if she admitted that she wasn't as attentive as she should have been, apologized and just did a better job. No free coupons or demanding that she be fired. We just wanted an apology. And this is where things shocked me the most. When she noticed that he was there she threw her hands up and just left! Didn't take our order, didn't wait to hear what we had to say, just threw her hands up like she was fed up with the whole thing and left. She had the air of someone that was constantly getting complained about and somehow felt that it wasn't her fault, but maybe that's just my agitation with the whole situation talking. Might I also add, btw, that several times I noticed her behind out booth in this little cubby, standing around talking to the other servers and doing nothing. So she couldn't be that busy if she had time to stand around and chit chat.

Well we explained to the manager what was going on and he was very kind and understanding and immediately replaced her with a new waitress that was just wonderful. Afterward we had a very pleasant dinner, we left a tip, and we tried to thank the manager for taking care of things so promptly, but he was so busy he didn't notice us so we just shrugged and left. Honestly I don't think either of us will be going back there anyway when there's another, better Outback just a little bit further away.

I guess it just really burns me because I try and work so hard at providing the best customer service I can no matter how much I feel like beating my head against a brick wall, that when I receive service like this I just want to scream. I pay to much money when I got to restaurants to be treated so poorly.