A diner from Kenner, LA
Sep 24, 2007
On Sept 24 of 2007 I was quietly dining at the Piccadilly on Veterans Blvd near Kenner. The food was decent to good and the wait staff was fine.
The time was around 6:30PM when I heard a dispute begin at the register and observed the cashier arguing with a man with a cane, probably in his 80's, with his wife in a walker. The man claimed he did not receive the items he was charged for. I believe the difference was less than $4. After some argument the cashier threatened to call the police on him if he did not pay. He accepted her threat and immediately informed her to go ahead and call the police. By this time his wife had parked her walker and taken a seat outside while the man leaned on his cane.
He asked for the manager who never showed up. While waiting he was again threatened with the police if he did not pay the $3 something. After a few more minutes and by some remote process, someone instructed the cashier to waive the $4 difference. Upon adjusting the bill the cashier continued to argue with the man insisting she was right and that he was dead wrong. She even admitted that she could not remember what he had but was sure he ordered more than he claimed. Bravo! She put the old man in his place even after being instructed to adjust the bill. The elderly man left and was last seen trying to get his wife in the car.
It is this type of insensitivity that drives decent people away from a business and it certainly drove me away. To his credit, the elderly man stood firm and was never harsh or belittling with the employee, not even when she threatened to call the cops if he did not pay the $4. He showed her much more civility than she gave him. However, her mission was to clearly put him in his place and prove she was right regardless of management's decision. I will never darken their door again and will use this negative experience in my customer service classes as an example of how a customer should never be treated. She obviously never considered the message this sent to the customers in line.
Be warned - if you are elderly or physically impaired do not expect to be treated with any level of respect or decency. Instead, prepare to be humiliated and threatened with jail time over $4 for something the cashier admitted several times she could not remember.
I have never seen a customer treated so rudely in my life.
The time was around 6:30PM when I heard a dispute begin at the register and observed the cashier arguing with a man with a cane, probably in his 80's, with his wife in a walker. The man claimed he did not receive the items he was charged for. I believe the difference was less than $4. After some argument the cashier threatened to call the police on him if he did not pay. He accepted her threat and immediately informed her to go ahead and call the police. By this time his wife had parked her walker and taken a seat outside while the man leaned on his cane.
He asked for the manager who never showed up. While waiting he was again threatened with the police if he did not pay the $3 something. After a few more minutes and by some remote process, someone instructed the cashier to waive the $4 difference. Upon adjusting the bill the cashier continued to argue with the man insisting she was right and that he was dead wrong. She even admitted that she could not remember what he had but was sure he ordered more than he claimed. Bravo! She put the old man in his place even after being instructed to adjust the bill. The elderly man left and was last seen trying to get his wife in the car.
It is this type of insensitivity that drives decent people away from a business and it certainly drove me away. To his credit, the elderly man stood firm and was never harsh or belittling with the employee, not even when she threatened to call the cops if he did not pay the $4. He showed her much more civility than she gave him. However, her mission was to clearly put him in his place and prove she was right regardless of management's decision. I will never darken their door again and will use this negative experience in my customer service classes as an example of how a customer should never be treated. She obviously never considered the message this sent to the customers in line.
Be warned - if you are elderly or physically impaired do not expect to be treated with any level of respect or decency. Instead, prepare to be humiliated and threatened with jail time over $4 for something the cashier admitted several times she could not remember.
I have never seen a customer treated so rudely in my life.
