Admittedly, the customer is king, but Linda Sidot would like some people to stop taking things literally. Since several weeks, incivility and rude behavior are on the increase in his restaurant in Metz (Moselle). Monday August 15, 2022, she posted a message on the Facebook page of her establishment “Au Petit Louis” to express her frustration.
The straw that broke the camel’s back fell on Saturday evening in full service. “A client called me a fat whore, in front of everyone, says Linda. He had arrived 45 minutes late and now wanted to be served before everyone else. I cried about it.“
The devastating effect of comments
She lists the inappropriate attitudes repeated in recent weeks: customers who write bad reviews on the internet because they have been refused a discount, those who drink whole bottles of wine and then do not want to pay it because it was not not good or those again who speak badly to the waiters.
“They call them snapping their fingers, I’ve heard a ‘Move your ass’ or ‘How slow he is, he has two left hands'” – Linda Sidot.
These people are more and more in a hurry, and complain when their whole meal hasn’t arrived in thirty minutes. “But we cook local products and it’s homemade, we can’t go faster“, she replies.
What is most devastating is that these people then emit bad reviews on online recommendation sites. These ratings are of paramount importance to institutions, so they are all the more hurtful when they are unjustified, explains Linda: “Tourists look at them, and today we remain well rated, except that a negative opinion erases twenty positive ones.“
A demanding profession
Fortunately, there are still reasonable customers, like Guillaume, who is enjoying a piece of meat this afternoon. He reads comments on the internet. “But I don’t stop at a negative comment, I read several and look at the overall rating“, he assures. He adds that he also writes some, “but only when it’s positive, for the credibility of the establishment“.
Why is this incivility happening more now? Linda does not know how to say it and it does not concern tourists any more than locals. “We do this job with love, with passion, but when you get insulted, you work fifteen hours a day and you don’t see your family, we can’t let that go. We are not minions!“, protests the restaurateur installed for three years who simply calls for respect and patience.
