Saturday Evening Dinner gone BAD - you will not believe what happened!!!!!

adixon24 wrote: Still can't believe this happened...What do you think? Here goes, my family came in for a late Christmas Celebration this weekend from G.A. we went to Outback Rest. Saturday evening around 6:00 for dinner. It wasn't really crowded and we didnt wait long. We enjoyed dinner, finished eating, and the waitress cleared our table. We were debating desert and were catching up on the past few months. A customer walks up to our table and says "I hate to be rude, but my family and I are waiting to eat and we've been waiting on you to leave for an hour. We have 10 people in our party and you are holding up this table and they won't sit us until you leave" Might I add that they may had waited an hour, but we had only been finished eating 15 minutes or so. My family and I were so shocked we were at a loss for words. As we were leaving I told this same man that his actions were indeed rude, and he began to get loud in front of the now crowded rest. Then another man with the party had a few comments to add when we left.

I was totally shocked , first of all how did they even know what table if an employee had not told them what table would be theirs?

Since when is there a time limit when you go to a rest.?

Who does this? I've waited hours for a table, and other times have left because of a wait, but what do you expect when you have a party of 10, in the city, on a weekend night?

What would you have done?

Jamison'smama replied: I would immediately email the Outback Customer Relations Department and let them know what happened.

Kaitlin'smom replied: I agree contact outback customer relations as well as the manager of the one you were at. That is just rude some one would have had to tell them they had to wait till you all left.

ediep replied: OMG!!! The NERVE!!!! That is so incredibly beyond RUDE!! I think after his comment I would have stayed and ordered dessert and several refills of coffee while I slowly drank it!!!!

booey2 replied: That is totally uncalled for. I would definitely either call or email them and let them know what happened. The last time we had a bad meal or terrible service it was at a TGIF in Niagara Falls Ontario and after I emailed them they called me and event sent us a $50 gift certificate so we would come back. We did and it was just as bad as the first time, needless to say we will never go back to TGIF's unless it was completely paid for and even then we would think twice about it. The employee that said something should be reprimanded.

Sarah&Mackenzie replied:
Totally agree!!!!

MamaJAM replied: I would complain to the restaurant you were in as well as the corporate office about what happened. First off - you had every right to be there and there isn't a time-limit as to how long you can take to eat and chat. Secondly - you should NEVER have been harassed while at your table -- that was completely uncalled for and the hostess/waitstaff should NEVER have allowed that to happen.
Lastly - the idiots who came to your table and then got loud upon your leaving are just barbaric morons (IMO). If they were ticked about the wait - they should have left and gone somewhere else. It's not your fault the restaurant didn't have other large-party arrangements available...if they felt the need to complain they should have done so to the hostess/waitstaff. They had no right to confront you - and to make you feel rushed to get out....if you wanted dessert - you should have had it.


Pretty much everywhere we go with our kids we need the 'large-table' or we need to wait until they have 2 tables side-by-side to put together for us. Just DH, the kids and I are a party of 7. We expect to have to wait at most places -- and avoid popular/busy restaurants at the busiest times. This group surely should have known they would have a wait on a Sat night.

I'm sorry you had to deal with a bunch of dips...and that they put a damper on your nice family time out.

CosmetologyMommy replied: I would have had a few choice words...........

C&K*s Mommie replied: Too bad, so sad. Just because he had approached you, then in turn I would have taken more time to chew & savor every bite of my dessert, and then enjoy the company of my family for longer than neccessary.

to what everyone else has said, too. Call the customer relations and let them know.

I also agree totally with Judy (MamaJAM), that was totally uncalled for, and it IS to be expected to have a wait with such a large party.

And the NERVE of him yelling, and speaking rudely to a woman He needs to go back and get some hometraining from his momma.

PhiMuMommy replied: you are nicer than me... i have been a waitress and a host as well as a patron.. and it was rude on the host part to let them know it was you.. the waitress was prolly wanting a little break anyways... if that had happened to me i would have just smiled and said "well this is people i haven't seen for awhile so make yourselves comfortable ok?" it isn't your problem to move unless you had been there for hours upon hours...and chances are they could have fit them in somewhere else... like in two booths across from eachother and the other family opted to wait.. it was totally not your fault.. just that they are rude..

but just for saying that i would have totally sat there at least another 45 minutes.. i would have most definantly ordered desserts...lol.

PrairieMom replied:
Thats TOTALLY what I would do, smirking twards the waiting area the whole time! What a creep! who has that kind of nerve?! I would also e-mail coustomer relations. Maybe you can get a few free drinks or a dessert out of it!

Insanemomof3 replied: OMG I would have stayed there an extra 15 mins or so just to make them wait. How incredibly rude!!!

3xsthefun replied: OMG! That was extremely rude of them!

fashionmumofboys replied: Sorry, that you got some rude people approaching you. That was so uncalled for. Glad you told that man that he was rude. Good for you, I would have done the same.

I would also complain to the head office and tell them your bad experience there. I hope they will be nice enough to compensate you maybe with a gift certificate or something.

Good luck.

redchief replied: Most restaurants expect larger parties to spend somewhere around 30-45 minutes at table after all the food has been finished. It just takes that long to get everything together. Rarely do I even have a check before 15 or 20 minutes after eating has passed. That's neither here nor there; I would have ordered another round of drinks had that pompous 4$$ come to MY table. Then I would have quietly told him that I would tie up the table for the rest of the evening, so he needn't bother speaking with me again. Then I would have spoken with the manager about the host/hostess allowing such behavior to occur.

But that's just the evil-man in me that would make me do such a thing. I would definitely contact Outback's customer service people about the incident. Their people must control their clients; it's not up to you.

adixon24 replied: Thanks everyone I did drop an email to Outback today but no reply yet....I did have a few choice words but was so shocked it came at a delay....I'll keep ya posted!

Hillbilly Housewife replied: you know - a party of 10 - i can relate - when we go to a restaurant, it's usually with my mom & g-ma, and dh's parentd, plus the kids. We take up lots of space... but we usually only go to a place where trhey take reservations, or we go for breakfast instead of dinner. Shorter wait.

But NEVER would we tell people to hurry up. NEVER.

A party of 9 (us) isn't easy to accomodate without the means... but STILL. I totally would have stayed there a lot longer than planned.... have the cake, and eat it too. lol

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied: I would have said "is there a sign on the table saying reserved for *#^$*#$^ like you???" I have also been a hostess and waitress and would never tell a customer what table is there's next nor would I let a customer harass another table. DH and I NEVER go to Outback because personally I think the customer service is awful.

Sorry that happened.

CantWait replied: Well I'm a B I would have sat there even longer also...savoured every bit of my dessert, and ordered another cup of coffee, all while eyeing the SOB and giving him the lip.

I would definetly get in contact with the head office though, and voice your unappreciation for staff's behaviour.

Freckled Momma replied: How rude!! Who does that???

to what everyone else said...especially the staying there longer just for spite... Maybe even requesting to see the manager and explain how you were just harassed by a waiting customer, make them deal with it too...that group should have been kicked out and refused service, imo.