Minor celebs wife being rude in pub

[cattreatsanddragrace]

Went to a country pub yesterday with my partner. Nice little place in the Surrey countryside, part of a chain, not fine dining. Very busy as the weather was really good, some stressed looking teenage girls trying to serve everyone. Kids play area in the garden and a bar in the garden area for drinks. We were sat on the patio attached to the restaurant.

A minor TV celeb, his wife, and another couple were sat across from us. The wife of the minor celeb complained a few times (that I heard).

First time: That one of the starters came out fractionally behind one of the others. (It was busy, there were four of them, the waitress can only carry two plates?!)

Second time: that the prawns in their prawn cocktail were inedible. (To be fair, I'd let this complaint slide as I didn't eat the prawn cocktail. It could have been bad). The waitress apologised and had a new dish made for them.

Third time: and this is the one that got me. The mains came, and the waitress went to put the plates down. The wife of the celeb laughed and stopped the waitress, and told her that "you don't serve plates from that side" aka the waitress was stood on the wrong side of her putting her plate down. She made the waitress go round the other side and put her plate down. This wasn't a silver service Michelin starred restaurant where you might expect such things. Just a standard pub.

So my (lighthearted) AIBU - do I sell this story to the Daily Mail and name and shame?

Why is this in AIBU?

Any rights to anonymity are foregone when you conduct yourself like a complete twat in public, imo.

Ugh snooty cow. I hated waitressing because of people like that.

Bradley Walsh is the worst. I'm hardly surprised his wife is as well.

Last sentence of first post explains.

Yip I definitely would. I hate people that are rude to hospitality staff. Have done similar before, would do the same again.

Couldn’t care less if one of the people at the table hosts a quiz show

No use without photos!

Her spouse has shit all to do with it

💯 name and shame, cannot stand people being rude towards waiting staff, it’s a thankless task already never mind shitty customers!

"The issue is not complaining about the food. If the food id bad or not as advertised then of course you have the right to complain although I would do it discreetly to the manager and not to the waitress, who didn't prepare it)."

Pmsl, yes of course you'd leave the table to scurry around trying to find the manager. All extremely discreetly of course so as not to disturb the waitress. Patronising as fuck @Dramatico

You know part of the skill set of waiting staff is to handle problems with the food served (which she did). But yeah, go above her incompetent little head and find the boss 🤦🏽‍♀️🤣

Minor celebrities should be completely ignored at all times, but TBH some people working in service roles are not the sharpest thinkers?

Well no, not when that entails trying to deliberately humiliate someone in front of a pub restaurant full of people for a bit of superiority and validation."

Well that's a fucking leap and apparently they were in a busy beer garden, not a quiet dining room.

From the OP -

Third time: and this is the one that got me. The mains came, and the waitress went to put the plates down. The wife of the celeb laughed and stopped the waitress, and told her that "you don't serve plates from that side" aka the waitress was stood on the wrong side of her putting her plate down. She made the waitress go round the other side and put her plate down. This wasn't a silver service Michelin starred restaurant where you might expect such things. Just a standard pub.

Laughing at someone and insisting they serve from the other side "You don't serve plates from that side". Advice would have been "It'd be easier to go from that side" helpful would have been moving things out of the way that you have decided were in the way and the woman was just being 'helpful'. It was an attempt to show someone up for not doing something that's not expected in that environment. And the fact it's a beer garden doesn't change that, the other people at the table heard, as did OP's table.

As for the starter, who knows 🤷🏽‍♀️ define fractionally behind. If you think they've missed part of your order then the normal thing to do is ask them. What's so rude about that?
Who knows? You apparently, as you've labelled it poor service and decided it was missing, rather than the logical answer that the waitress already has a plate in each hand, no further hands available and the 3rd starter is on it's way either behind her with another server or she's going back to get it. I wouldn't say it's rude in isolation but it's impatient and quite silly really to ask at that point, I've had people do it to me, if given the chance I'll say the rest is on the way but some people can't wait that long and love to think they've got the opportunity to show you've done something wrong even when you haven't, and jump on the fact that you've only brought two plates with your two hands (sometimes 3 depending on how heavy/stable/ hot the plates are or if it's a liquid like soup).

This woman's whole attitude as described by the OP is the type of customer who looks for a reason to complain and show the waiting staff up and if that opportunity doesn't present itself, they create it.

Yeah, she's rude and a precious little flower but unless you literally tracking down every whingy little mare you encounter in public then it'd be a bit weird to @ her on social media.

She was rude but the waitress should have served from the left really. Nobody wants to be leaned over when being served. I would have kept quiet though.

I've worked in food service for eight years and absolutely would rather complaints of this nature were made to the manager, who I regularly deferred to when customers were being twats.

Go patronise yourself, @FullFatPhil

What a patronising arsehole she is. If she wants special Michelin service then she should do the staff at chain pubs a favour a fuck off to a posh restaurant instead. Simple as that.
The waitresses at the chain pub don’t care which direction her plate should from. It might be super duper important to her because of her lifestyle she’s accustomed to, but that’s her problem.

No one can say this even happened. Lynch mob behaviour.

"I've worked in food service for eight years and absolutely would rather complaints of this nature were made to the manager, who I regularly deferred to when customers were being twats.

Go patronise yourself, @FullFatPhil"

How do you get through 8 years without being able to handle someone saying "excuse me, these prawns aren't cooked, please can you take them back"?! You're very thin skinned for that job.

When I worked in a place like the op described, the manager spent half the day sitting in her office. It would've been hilarious if every time someone had an issue with their food they got up to discreetly try and find her 🤣. And all because they think I can't do my job. So patronising.

I don't think it is patronising to take complaints straight to a manager. Waiting staff are paid a pittance and more often than not the service issue is not something that is within their control. Most issues in restaurants are do to with inadequate staffing levels, kitchen problems, or stocking issues - all managerial level problems. Complaining to waiting staff, then places the responsibility of addressing these issues on the lowest paid member of staff. Many waiting staff will not relay the issues to management for fear of having shifts cut or being put on the shittest shifts or even being sacked. They also more often than not have no authority to compensate you in any way, so if you want items removed from your bill etc they usually need this to be authorised a manager anyway.

My dsil would be the same and she's only a celebrity in her own head😆
We had just moved house when they visited and dh gave her a glass of prosecco.
She complained loudly that it had been served in a wine glass, shock horror.
I mean it's only prosecco ffs. Drink it or leave it!

And yes of course waiting staff should be asked to return cold or burnt or inedible food to the kitchen, letting someone know that the food is not right is not the same as making a complaint.

There are many users who aren't confident that anything happened at all. Based on the fact it's an anonymous person saying something about a person none of us know. So no-one here can be confident anything happened.

So maybe thinking she deserves to be exposed and called a cunt is wrong?

You keep focusing on the idea that the story might be false - of course it might be. As might any story you've ever heard, ever. Everything you see on the news could be false. I can't control that, no one can.

My point, and your point that the story might be false, are mutually exclusive.

The only, and very simple, point that I'm making, is that IF this story is true, and IF she has been rude unnecessarily to the pub staff, THEN it's not "unfair" for people to expose her for it, as some are claiming.

And if a manager is sitting in the office all day then that is contributing to the problem. A manager should be spending the necessary time dealing with complaints and allowing the waiting staff to be getting on with waiting - thus avoiding more complaints from customers who are having to wait to be served, to pay or who's food is sitting at the pass getting cold or dry under the lights.

I know my posts are off topic but I feel so sorry for waiting staff in poorly managed restaurants/bars.