Server calls out table of 16 who turned up 45 minutes before closing

Customer service can be an absolute nightmare, all thanks to the ‘customer’ element. For every 20 pleasant customers, it’s that one needlessly rude waster that you’ll be stewing over when the shift ends.

Pettiness, spitefulness, entitlement, and impatience are all potentially on the menu when a customer walks in, and for one unlucky server they got a healthy dose of those from 16 people at once.

A party of 16 will challenge even the most well-prepared restaurants (Ryan McVay/Getty Images)

Some of the worst customers time their visits at the end of the day, compounding the frustration at dealing with them. Can’t you see we’re closing up?

At a restaurant, it’s even more problematic when people arrive near closing time. By then the kitchen is likely winding down or even shut for the night, but some people just won’t take no for an answer.

And so it proved for Ozryn Nino, the aforementioned TikToker, who was treated to 16 such guests with 45 minutes left on the clock.

Nino shared their experience in 2022, saying in the video: “This is why I'm quitting because you motherf***ers make my job insufferable.”

(Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images)

Frustrated as Nino was, he didn’t get as much sympathy as you might expect.

"Businesses should have a closing menu - only offer simple or to-go foods the last half hour to allow FOH & BOH to close on time," said one commenter.

Nino took to the comments to explain that the restaurant was short-staffed, too.

"Not only do I serve but I wash dishes so when I'm trying to do that and people wanna be rude ima be a b**ch [about] it," they said.

Nino added that 'the money is not worth it at this point'.

It’s sometimes easy to take customer behaviour personally, and it doesn’t sound like these guests were particularly rude in and of themselves, but if you’re a party of 16 you really ought to be calling ahead.

If you're heading into a restaurant shortly before closing, spare a thought for the staff (Kinga Krzeminska/Getty Images)

Arriving with just 45 minutes to spare, with 16 mouths to feed, is pretty unconscientious.

That said, as the commenter suggested, restaurants can enact policies to protect themselves against this kind of late-coming business. Not that Nino, a server, likely had much say in such things.

What’s your take?

Topics: Restaurants and bars, TikTok