Never work in hospitality. Strangest things people have complained about.

[KnopkaPixie]

Here's some to get us started:

"There's broken glass on this steak."
It was fancy coarse ground salt.

"I can't eat from a square plate. It's bad feng shui."

Any more?

Oh god the swappers!

A cafe I worked in had an offer on that was a regular black/white filter coffee or tea with a toasted teacake and butter. The amount of customers who asked for one of the more expensive speciality coffees (latte/mocha/cappuccino etc) or a soft drink instead of filter coffee. It was like groundhog day explaining they can have said coffee but they'll be charged for the more expensive coffee and teacake separately as its not the offer!

This was 20 years ago, nowadays it's usually "upgrade for 50p extra" or whatever and those coffees are really common anyway now.

If they’re eating meat and dairy then you aren’t dealing with actual vegans and “allergy people”, are you? The correct label for that group is liars and/or selfish arseholes. 😉

Sorry but I'm thinking of Michael Micintyre when he said "and when the server won't accept the note, a Scottish person always appears from the queue to say (Michael now using Scottish accent) "excuse me pal, I think you'll find that that's legal tender!" 😅

Well no, Northern Ireland isn’t part of Great Britain and they also have retail banks that issue notes similar to RBS, Clydesdale & BoS. Presumably you actually mean the U.K.

The pens don’t work on polymer bank notes! BoE has standard counterfeit checks for the new notes, but it’s up to each bank in Scotland to install their own anti-counterfeit measures, and it’s not in any way reasonable to expect people to have intimate knowledge of 3 different branded notes when they might come across a Scottish note once a month.

And for the last time Scottish bank notes are not legal tender, not even in Scotland. Shout all you like, but it’s not anti-Scot sentiment, it’s businesses attempting to protect themselves from fraud and admin burden.

Years ago in Orlando DD ordered Mac n Cheese and the server brought out chocolate sauce to drizzle over promising it was an unusual but delicious combo.

DD said it worked, but she was about 11 at the time and very polite.

The many people who ordered jacket potatoes with cold fillings and salad and then sat talking for 20 mins and came back to say their potatoes were cold.
We actually used to have a code word for flaming awkward customers. One particular guy was code named “pineapple”. I went I to Costa yesterday ( one I haven’t been to before) and there he was. I was triggered and felt like shouting “here’s pineapple!”

I'm sorry, 12 hours later and I'm still thinking of @Persianpaws ' 'chippie man'...

🍟🤣

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebeck_v._McDonald%27s_Restaurants

"The plaintiff, Stella Liebeck (1912–2004), a 79-year-old woman, purchased hot coffee from a McDonald's restaurant, accidentally spilled it in her lap, and suffered third-degree burns in her pelvic region. She was hospitalized for eight days while undergoing skin grafting, followed by two years of medical treatment. Liebeck sought to settle with McDonald's for $20,000 to cover her medical expenses. When McDonald's refused, Liebeck's attorney filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico, accusing McDonald's of gross negligence.

Liebeck's attorneys argued that, at 180–190 °F (82–88 °C), McDonald's coffee was defective, and more likely to cause serious injury than coffee served at any other establishment. The jury found that McDonald's was 80 percent responsible for the incident."

No one is shouting and I'm not sure what northern Ireland has to do with it?

Bottom line is people go on about. us all being British but unless you're English it doesn't really matter when it comes to banknotes.

Yes it's American and they are 250 years out of date. In the intervening centuries we have called it macaroni cheese.

@LemonadeSunshine what a distressing situation for everyone concerned. Hats off to your DH for stepping in to help the poor man.

I love the story about your aunt, what a lovely gesture by the staff!

Are you referring to the case in which an elderly woman ended up with third-degree burns to her pelvic and groin area, after the Mcdonalds in question served coffee that was heated to at least 82 degrees celsius? Burns which required multiple skin grafts, 8 days in hospital, and two years of recovery?

"Liebeck went into shock and was taken to an emergency room at a hospital. She suffered third-degree burns on six percent of her skin and lesser burns over sixteen percent. She remained in the hospital for eight days while she underwent skin grafting. During this period, Liebeck lost 20 pounds (9.1 kg), nearly 20 percent of her body weight, reducing her to 83 pounds (38 kg). After the hospital stay, Liebeck needed care for three weeks, which was provided by her daughter. Liebeck suffered permanent disfigurement after the incident and was partially disabled for two years."

The case is widely remembered to be a frivolous one, but this is greatly in part due to corporate efforts. A large settlement is not often granted easily. It is in a corporation's best interests that the general public considers any cases against them to be grabby and overblown, as it leads to them being held less liable for unsafe practices.

My steak tartare is raw

You're committed. 😄

People in Scotland are perfectly able to refuse bank of England notes should they wish.

Try using a Scottish £50 note in Scotland, most places won't take them.

That’s like walkers chicken crisps which used to be veggie whilst cheese and onion weren’t.

I think I’ll stick with our own version - much nicer! Many thanks for all the responses, though.

I like my macaroni cheese with plenty of lovely sauce. 😁

Shocking revelation! If you leave it for a few minutes it will cool down.

😂
sorry nothing to add but this has made my evening😂😂😂

I mean she was badly injured and the coffee was very hot - but on the other hand putting the cardboard cup between your legs and removing the lid was not the most sensible action. I think that her contributory negligence was one of the reasons that the damages were substantially knocked down on appeal.

I think this case is why we get the "caution hot coffee" warnings on the lids of takeaway cups nowadays

Pub landlady here:
*"Why do you not serve gammon on Sundays?" We served chicken, beef and lamb, there was enough choice and the menu was nothing to do with me but picked by my boss (I was bar manager then)

• I don't like the football. Can you turn it off please? During a huge England match when there were two other pubs in the same row of shops.

Or Sunday of last week at my pub

• "Can I see your menu please" Oh sorry, we aren't currently serving food, but just a minute along the road, the pub has a lovely menu if they're still serving at 8.30pm "Ugh, but we wanted to eat here, this is a joke" Gives me a 2/5 review on Google. For not having food when we don't advertise food anywhere and there are 27 other pubs to go to.

Or
"Why do you make people pay for parking, that's disgusting"
We don't. At all. Not even a Parking Eye camera thing.. literally have signs up saying our customers are encouraged to leave their car safely and collect the day after. Bloke wouldn't have it. Swore he saw a pay for sign. He didn't. Ended up telling him to leave.

Don't get me started on men in general an their belief that as I work behind a bar I must be "up for it". I work with my husband, it's not OK for any bloke to touch any bar staff up.

This is very sensible.

I remember a while ago buying in a supermarket, think it was Lidl, steak tartare in a prepared pack. The steak already minced, sachet of olive oil and a packet of parmesan. You just had to combine. As I recall, it was enough for one as a light meal, or I thought, really good as a starter for 2 maybe 3.

It’s not the bee itself that would bother me, but they often carry mites. Not harmful to humans I suppose, but I just don’t fancy them floating around in my wine. A pp makes it clear she wouldn’t react any differently if it had been a fly in the drink instead. And that not even a bird relieving itself into the customer’s food or drink on the premises would warrant a replacement!! I find that an almost incredible attitude.

I think it was terribly bad service on this occasion I have to say. By the time you’ve factored in loss of a tip and loss of repeat custom I don’t think it’s a decision that makes financial sense either.

I can't believe that 16 hours and 10 pages have gone by, and as far as I can tell nobody has yet asked... were there, in fact, two old men having oral sex in the corner?