‘Yet The Food Tastes The Same At Every Table’: Tennessee Server Says This Common Request Makes You A Bad Customer Without Realizing It

You might think that tipping is the only thing that makes you a good restaurant customer. You’d be wrong.

Servers typically make just $2.13 per hour before gratuities. Given this, many try their best to be good customers when they go to restaurants.

This could include leaving a big tip or simply not making too much of a stink if something is wrong with your order.

However, one server says that this innocent request might make you a bad customer. Why?

What’s Wrong With This One Question?

In a video with over 612,000 views, TikTok user Sav Pierce (@savkaypierce) says that there are some requests that customers make that could give them a worse dining experience.

“One of my most firmly held beliefs as a server is that people who say they always have bad service in restaurants are probably bad customers,” Pierce starts.

“And it’s not always their fault, OK?” she continues. “Some people don’t know that what they’re doing is making them a bad customer or that what they’re doing could be causing them to have a bad time.”

As evidence, she recounts a recent experience she had as a server.

According to Pierce, a couple walked into her restaurant. Another server attempted to seat them in his section—to which the couple responded by getting “mad.”

“They’re like, ‘Why would you try to seat us over here? … We don’t want to sit by the bar area,” Pierce recalls.

What Are Server Sections?

Pierce notes that, generally speaking, servers often have “sections” of the restaurant for which they are the designated server.

“You have a section, your set tables, and they rotate seating in those sections as guests come in so that you have time to greet each table, get them drinks, take orders,” she explains. “It helps create a rhythm of the restaurant.”

Pierce says that asking to be seated in another section, while perfectly fine, may impact one’s service. In the case of the aforementioned couple, it meant that Pierce was now responsible for multiple tables and could not devote a substantial amount of time to them.

In contrast, had the couple stayed in their original section, they would have been attended to by their own server.

The Couple Gets Angry

There were more downsides to being seated in Pierce’s section. The couple was sitting next to a family with children. Soon, they asked to be moved to another section.

When Pierce informed them of why they were sitting there and that she was happy to move them to another section, the man reacted with frustration. Instead of taking Pierce up on her offer to move them, he instead declared that it was “fine” and continued sitting next to the family.

“They’re all mad now, and they’re now sitting with this family. My attention to them is limited because it’s split between four other tables,” Pierce says. “They would have had a server with 100% attentiveness to them, because they would have been his only table. But because they didn’t want to be adjacent to the empty bar… because they were very particular about where they wanted to sit—which is fine!—it did cause them to experience service that they may have considered ‘not good.’”

Servers Are There For You

Pierce concludes by reminding viewers that servers are there to help you have a great dining experience.

“If you walk into a restaurant, and the host goes to take you somewhere, and it feels random, or you’re like, ‘Why am I sitting here?’ Maybe, just be cool with it,” she advises. “It’s OK to ask to move, but maybe just be cool with it, you know? Is it really gonna make that big of a difference?”

“If they give you options, great. You request a booth, that’s totally fine. I want you to be comfortable,” she continues. “We’re not trying to make you have a bad time. If anything, we’re trying to set it up so that everybody has a good time. That’s the goal, always.”

Other Server Pet Peeves

If you’re trying to be a good customer, you might want to be aware of other server pet peeves.

On Reddit, servers constantly share the things that customers do that bother them.

“People who sit on the patio and complain about bugs and the weather. You are outdoors, you know,” says one server.

“The only thing that bothers me is when people say they’re ready to order when they’re not,” offered another. “They act like they have to order right this very second or they will starve to death, when they haven’t even looked at the sides. It drives me crazyyyyyyy.”

“Ordering something, modifying it, and then sending it back because they don’t like what THEY created,” noted a third.

That said, many of the complaints aligned with the general message of Pierce’s video. In short, servers are there to help you create the ideal dining experience. Consequently, you should work with them to allow them to do that.

How Common Is This Question?

In an email to BroBible, Pierce said that people asking to be moved was relatively common.

“I would say at least once a day someone would like to be moved from the table we are intending to sit them at,” she wrote. “And to be fair, it doesn’t always cause an issue. In the case where it may cause a delay for disruption for them, I try to avoid making them feel like they’ve done something wrong, but instead apologize for whatever we run into, but that’s what service and hospitality is all about.”

She also noted some other behaviors that can cause problems.

“Customers sometimes treat the menu like a build your own list rather than just ordering off of it,” she explained. “Adding a ton of special modifications for building your own dish out of ingredients you see on the menu not only slows your server and the kitchen down, but more often than not you aren’t going to be happy with what you get.”

“I’m always happy to take care of someone’s allergy or handle a preference, but at a certain point people can ruin it for themselves,” she continued.

She closed by stating that one key to getting positive service is being a positive customer.

“All I would add is that as a server, we are trained to read the energy of our tables and give them what we believe they want,” she shared. “If you want good energy from your server, you have to be willing to give it to them too.”

Commenters Chime In

Under Pierce’s video, users shared their own restaurant gripes.

“The stakes are so low at a restaurant, I don’t know WHY it makes people complain so much lmao,” wrote a user.

“I honestly don’t think I’ve ever cared where I’ve been seated,” added a second. “I’m trying to wrap my head around it. Is it a noise thing? Is this something people have firm opinions on?”

“People need to work in full service, fast food and retail at least once in their life,” declared a further TikToker.