Bragging about tampering with customer food

[Lace Neil Singer]

I once went into a bar and ordered an Alien Secretion. They didn't know how to make one but the menu said that they make custom drinks.

Again to drive my point like a tractor-trailer through a plate glass window...the menu, printed by the owners of the bar, said that they "We'll cheerfully make any drink not on the menu, provided we have the ingredients".

Now again, they didn't know how to make one so I told them that it was 4oz glass with 1/3 each Midori, Malibu Rum, and Pineapple Juice, on ice, shaken. Pretty simple drink. They had all the stuff (even the pineapple juice was in a large carafe so they didn't have to open a can) so I felt that the <sigh> of "GAWD! These customers are making my life a living hell!" was rather unwarranted.

I agree. At my local, sometimes if I feel like it, I will ask the bar staff to make me a Jellybeans (vodka, blackcurrant, Archers peach and lemonade). I'm happy to pay for the ingredients, and it's not as tho it's difficult to make. I've asked at other bars, and every one has made it for me. I will ask politely; if for some reason, a barman/maid said "Sorry, we don't make custom drinks," I'd suck it up and ask for a generic drink. I think the SCness that comes from asking for a custom drink is the people who either aren't grateful for the time spent by the staff in making it (ie, not saying please and thank you; over here, we don't tip bar staff as such) or who throw a bitch fit when refused.

[Rapscallion]

... Oh why do you guys never post those stories for us to read and mock for ourselves? I would have loved to see those bastards, and really let them know how wrong and sick it is.

We usually keep inappropriate posts hidden and explain why. For some people, they get it. They realise what we do and why, and we don't lose a poster. If we held them up to ridicule in public, they'd almost certainly be chased away.

Rapscallion

[draggar]

Messing with other people's food is just wrong - people can get very sick from food. Once we (work) went to a comedy club that served dinner. Everyone's dinner came except mine (and I had a chicken pasta dish, nothing to extravagant). I asked and still no food. 15 minutes later, no food and I asked. I finally got my food towards the end of the main act.

It was cold and it looked like it had been sitting for a while. I ate three bites and I *knew* something was wrong - either it was very poorly prepared or something was done to it. I mentioned it to the supervisor who was paying but he shrugged it off. That night and the next day I was sicker than I had ever been.

If I had paid for the food then I would have compalined big time. Luckily this club is not local to me so I don't have to worry about going there again.

I've noticed that a lot of them are complaining because they have to do their jobs. Suck it up and if you can't, go find another one.

So what if the resturant closes at 11PM, someone comes in at 10:55 - YOU'RE STILL OPEN. If you have an issue with this then have the management either close an hour earlier or schedule people an hour AFTER close. If I'm just getting out of a movie and see someplace that is open, if I'm hungery I'll go in. Why should I get poisoned food because I came in when your establishment is OPEN??

Others have touched on the bartenders and mixed drinks so I won't go there.

As for poor tippers, if they're a regular then let mangement know. They can have a talk with the people.

Comment cards - so if I leave a comment card explaining how crappy the service was (because it was) and leave my contact information so I can discuss it with management - I might get harassed by the store employees? How f-ing mature. How about learning to do your job better. If my service was crappy then I'll leave negative comments. If my service was good, I'll leave good comments.

Adding tips onto credit card bills - that's plain THEFT. I always cross out the tip area where a tip isn't warranted (pickup, etc.) or when I leave a cash tip. I also check to make sure that they request the correct amount from the bank - if they don't I'm on the phone with the bank and insist on pressing charges against the resturant.

Yes, there are bad customers but there are far better ways of dealing with them. If they are trouble on a regular basis then management can ask them not to come back - this is perfectly legal. But if a customer is being bad because they're making you do your job (within reason) then get a new one.

Edit: I've been reading though the site and so far "Pay Per View" has been my favorite. The server did NOTHING to their food, nothing at all but the people still suspected. This is proof you don't need to do anything to get your point across.

[Hobbs]

I wonder if there's any legal recourse agaisnt this site. I mean, they are admitting to committing a crime, and the fact that some post their names and locations should be at least something to go on (I'm also sure that the government could get ahold of IPs from users).

[guywithashovel]

Fuck that. (Please note that when I say "you" or "your", I'm referring to hypothetical people employed to perform certain function and not Guywithashovel) Fuck the whole concept of the "unwritten rule".

How the fuck am *I* supposed to know these unwritten rules? I go into a bar and there is a blended drink on the menu. If it's on the menu, then it's a menu item that your establishment offers. Which means that if it sounds really yummy and I want one then your job (you know, the reason they hired you in the first place?) is to goddamn make it. If you don't want to then ask the establishment to remove it from the list, find another bartender to make it for you, or find a different place of employment that doesn't serve said beverage.

Yeah, that's how I feel, too. I mean, if the bar doesn't want to make elaborate drinks, that's their business. But if that's the case, they shouldn't put them on the menu, or at least put up a sign that says something like "We don't make drinks consisting of more than "x number" ingredients."

[kokopuff3]

I've had people cuss me, threaten me, and harass myself and my co-workers, and it has never crossed my mind to tamper with their food. Besides being illegal, I hold myself to a higher moral code than to do so..it would really bother me to know that a SC could make me sink to that level. Food, which everyone needs to live should not be tampered with, no matter what the circumstance is.

[kibbles]

I agree with Mongo, if you don't want to do your job an employee should find another job and quit their whining.

[Rapscallion]

As for AlAnon/Emax, there are a couple of clarifications to make.

Reprimanded? We never went near the infraction system. We explained what the rules were and why.

When we move something to a more appropriate location, we usually leave a thread redirect notice up for an automatic week or so. We don't have time to PM everyone, and quite frankly with someone showing a thin skin it's more of a chore and likely to make them think you're picking on them if you just simply explain that. When it gets to a certain level, you know anything you do is going to be seen as an attack, no matter what you do.

Rapscallion

[Boozy]

I've had people cuss me, threaten me, and harass myself and my co-workers, and it has never crossed my mind to tamper with their food.

Me neither.

I worked for a restaurant for five years, and not once did I nor anyone I worked with tamper with someone's meal. We put up with all sorts of abuse, but we never spit in someone's food (or anything like that).

It's not really satisfying, is it? I mean, you can't tell someone you spit in their food. You can't "teach them a lesson" if they don't even know about it.

[crashhelmet]

I've had a friend brag about tampering before. I wouldn't put it past him to actually do it, but at the same time I wouldn't put it past him to be lieing about it and simply expressing what he wanted to do to the order.

Me, myself, I've never been guilty of tampering with a customer's food or drink. As a bartender, if it was a customer that I hated and wanted to never return, I'd do the bare minimum in serving them. Short or standard pour when everyone else got a heavier pour, give them the warmest beers or glasses in the cooler, take my time getting to them, etc.

I will say though.... There are drinks we despise making and most often involve a blender or other out of the ordinary tools. Making one is no big deal. Multiple? Expect a short pour.

The worst I had ever done to anyone was put eye drops into the coffee of a teacher I hated. Tasteless, odorless, and gives them the runs. Immature? Sure. I was 12 at the time, so somewhat expected. But to this day, I still say he deserved worse.

CH

[McDreidel09]

I will say though.... There are drinks we despise making and most often involve a blender or other out of the ordinary tools. Making one is no big deal. Multiple? Expect a short pour.CH

Why would you give them a short pour for ordering multiples? I'm no SC and I do have the patience of a saint, but I would be pretty irritable if my friends and I ordered drinks and were shorted, even if we were polite, tipped well, and didn't act like jackasses, all because we all happened to want a blended drink. Especially at the prices I saw a few years back at a small, rinky dink bar, when I worked for the person who owned both the bar and the ice cream stand (where I worked, not the bar).

[draggar]

I wonder if there's any legal recourse agaisnt this site. I mean, they are admitting to committing a crime, and the fact that some post their names and locations should be at least something to go on (I'm also sure that the government could get ahold of IPs from users).

I'm sure there is.

The domain the site is based on is a .com - the .com registry is in the USA and is subject to US laws (and yes, this has been enforced before).

The domain is registered though privacy (but a simple subpoena (sp?) can get around that.

The registrar is TuCows based out of Toronto, Ontario and subject to Canadian laws (I'm sure a lot of the things they mention in the site are illegal in .ca land, too).

The DNS (where the site may be hosted) is also registered though privacy at TuCows - again subject to Canadian laws.

The real question is - is enforcing this worth law enforcement's time?

[AdminAssistant]

Why would you give them a short pour for ordering multiples? I'm no SC and I do have the patience of a saint, but I would be pretty irritable if my friends and I ordered drinks and were shorted, even if we were polite, tipped well, and didn't act like jackasses, all because we all happened to want a blended drink.

Yep.

I don't drink blended or frozen drinks, but I cannot see the difference between pouring ingredients into a blender and pouring ingredients into a shaker. Pretty much everything short of shots straight up and draft beer is going to require some kind of effort.

[Plaidman]

I wonder if there's any legal recourse agaisnt this site. I mean, they are admitting to committing a crime, and the fact that some post their names and locations should be at least something to go on (I'm also sure that the government could get ahold of IPs from users).

Not to mention there isn't proof. People claim they've done things all the time, to show off or to become popular and cool. We've had that happen at CS.

No way any of them, would ever fully admit to any officer that yes, we did do this. Likely claim they didn't, have no idea what they are talking about, or better, "prove it" to the courts. Seeing as some of those stories are likely years ago, from places that are closed, and having NO idea who they did it too, makes it very very difficult to press any kinds of charges if any of them really did do what they claim.

(Find it hard to belive that a bartender just happened to have prescription based laxatives for a drink, then bragging. Ether she was bragging to her friends that she herself had to go to a doctor to go to bathroom, or a coworker just gave up a laxative without any type of shame. Not that it's shameful that people need those, but would you willingly admit that your taking them is my point).

[crashhelmet]

Why would you give them a short pour for ordering multiples? I'm no SC and I do have the patience of a saint, but I would be pretty irritable if my friends and I ordered drinks and were shorted, even if we were polite, tipped well, and didn't act like jackasses, all because we all happened to want a blended drink. Especially at the prices I saw a few years back at a small, rinky dink bar, when I worked for the person who owned both the bar and the ice cream stand (where I worked, not the bar).

The idea is to get you to order something else. To a bartender, the phrase "time is money" is very literal. If we have to spend a lot of time making a single drink or even more time making multiples of said drink, we're losing out on what can be made from other customers, not to mention the risk of losing customers because they can't get a drink quick enough.

CH