A restaurant manager says he asked a customer to leave after a series of complaints during her lunch visit, including a one-star Google review she posted while still inside the restaurant.
The manager, who uses the TikTok handle @buddy.love711, shared his account of the incident in a video that received more than 100,000 likes and comments. Most viewers appeared to support the manager and his server.
Customer complained about the updated menu
According to the manager, the woman arrived alone and asked to speak with him because several dishes she remembered were no longer available. He explained that the restaurant had updated its menu several months earlier and that she had not visited in two or three years.
The manager said he apologized and suggested alternative dishes, including one he personally recommended. However, the customer continued looking at the menu and told the server that she needed more time.
As more guests arrived, the manager asked the server, who was serving other tables, to check on the woman repeatedly. The customer eventually asked the server to refill her drink, which the manager viewed as another indication that she was becoming impatient.
The manager later received an email complaint from a corporate guest. He said he discovered that the complaint had come from the same customer, who claimed she had been waiting for more than 20 minutes and that her server had been neglecting her.
He then went to the table and took the customer’s order himself while her server attended to a newly seated party of six. The manager also offered her an entrée similar to a dish she had previously enjoyed, but he said her complaints continued.
Manager says he asked customer to leave
After the meal arrived, the woman reportedly complained that she had not been served bread beforehand. The manager said the restaurant had never served bread during all the years he had worked for the company.
He also said she complained that the main course did not taste like the discontinued dish she had wanted. The manager removed the entrée from the table and gave her another menu so she could order a different dish.
At that point, he received an alert about a one-star Google review from the customer. The review criticized the restaurant’s service and management, and the manager said it had been posted while she was still inside the restaurant.
He then decided to ask her to leave.
“I’m just gonna fire this customer,” he said in the video, adding that he did not want his server to continue dealing with her. He showed the woman the review and told her that the staff had tried to address her complaints. He ultimately asked her to leave because the restaurant could not meet her expectations.
The video’s text overlay read, “Let’s normalize firing bad customers.”
Image Credit: TikTok| @buddylove711
Viewers support restaurant manager
Several commenters praised the manager for defending his employee. One commenter shared a story about a server who persuaded a chef to prepare a discontinued dish for her during pregnancy, arguing that treating restaurant workers with respect can make a significant difference.
Other viewers questioned why a customer who had not visited the restaurant for two or three years would expect the menu to remain unchanged. Some also found it unusual that she called the restaurant from inside to request a drink refill.
The Daily Dot said it was unable to independently verify the identity of the customer or the restaurant featured in the video. The details are based solely on @buddy.love711’s account shared on TikTok.
