The Demanding Customer

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. But as the level of romance rises, so does the level of customer demands.

Along with New Years Eve, and Mother’s Day, February 14th is the busiest night for dining out. More often than not, restaurant servers choose to forego their own Valentine’s plans in favour of working. People who haven’t experienced Valentine’s Day as a waiter or waitress might be thinking, Why would anyone choose to subject themselves to demanding diners on the most romantic day of the year? There’s only one simple answer to this question: Money.

However, even though servers have the ability to make a good living on Valentine’s Day, the money doesn’t always come easily. Servers have to work hard to earn tips on February 14th by putting up with a lot of customer demands. Everyone wants the most romantic Valentines experience in hopes of impressing their significant others; and as servers, we have to go above and beyond the call of duty to meet their demands.

To intensify an evening of romance, demanding customers want the best table with maximum ambience, the best bottle of champagne at a reasonable price, and premiere service with a great deal of privacy.

To waiters and waitresses, demanding customers appear annoyingly arrogant and supremely stubborn – especially on Valentine’s Day. But if you are able to look beyond your customers’ egos and make them feel special by giving in to [at least some of] their requests, at the end of the day, you just might find your pockets lined with wads of green, red and brown paper.