customer service

Last week I had supper with a girlfriend.  We opted to to go to Pizza Delight as it was close to where I get my hair done, and I was meeting her after my hair appointment.  It's not like it was 5-star dining, so we weren't expecting any award-winning service or anything like that.  But, as a consumer, one is entitled to having a few expectations of food service, I think, whether you find yourself at your nearest Tim Hortons or a fine dining avenue. 

To start, I waited longer than I should have at the door for a table.  It was later in the evening, so there was no supper crowd the staff were contending with.  They were just, well...not there.  Finally a very friendly girl offered to get me seated, and offered to get me a drink while I waited for my friend to join.  Moments later, the same friendly girl sees my friend to our booth, and my friend was offered equally friendly service for her drink.

Then came our waitress.  She laid down two menus, mute...and walked away.  My friend and I both shared a raised eyebrow.  Not five minutes later the mute waitress returned, pen in hand, asking if we were ready to order.  We politely asked for another few minutes, wondering where that friendly girl went to.

My friend was torn between a few items on the menu - and had a question.  There is a "combo" special advertised for a certain price, and, the exact same dish advertised on the main part of the menu for a few dollars less.  She wanted to know what the difference was.  Was the combo one a little larger?  Did it come with another side dish, perhaps?  The menu made them appear identical.  Perhaps it was a typo? Inquiring minds want to know!  And we were inquiring minds!

So when the mute waitress returned once more, my friend approaches her, asking what the difference was between the two menu items.  She looked rather blankly, and said, "Wow.  That's kinda wierd".  We voiced our query ..., "Is that one a bigger serving?  Does it come with an extra side?"... Her reply, "uuuhhh,...I dunnno".  Not, "Let me find that out for you", even.  Just, "That's wierd...he he.  Are you ready to order?"

SERIOUSLY.

To give you a mental picture, she looked like she'd just fallen off the turnip truck.  Her long hair was pulled back in a pony tail that may have started out in the back, but had slid to the side, hanging there, loosely.  When she wasn't talking (which was most of the time), her lips just sorta gaped open.  Oh, and the finale?  When my friend went to pay for her bill she handed her Visa to the waitress.  She brought it back, and stood over her, waiting for her to calculate the tip and sign. 

Needless to say the tip wasn't favorable.  Nor did it even cover the tax.

I can't make this sh!t up.  I sure hope she has bigger aspirations in life than to perfect the skill of being a waitress.