#1
#2
Edit: I’d like to point out that I was too shocked to really retaliate to what he did at that moment. I don’t like confrontation so I walked away to the bathroom and cleaned my hands for what felt like hours. My co-worker saw what happened and told my boss who kicked him out and he was no loner allowed back.
#3
Once it was a family of 4 who left the restaurant during a busy evening and we realized that the bill wasn't paid after some 10 minutes had passed. I checked the cameras and saw the father taking the bill, putting the money in, sitting there for just 3-4 minutes, looking around and taking the money back and leaving with the whole family! Lucky our owner was a great guy and told me to simply ban him and his family. And to my surprise, he came back with friends on a busy evening in a couple of months! I was very excited watching his face being embarrassed in front of his friends and customers sitting outside when I told him that he is banned and when his wife started to get upset I told them I remembered them and told them the whole story with me checking the cameras and seeing him taking the money back and all!
This sort of behavior is what customer entitlement looks like — people expecting the impossible, getting annoyed over tiny hiccups, or thinking it’s okay to yell at or harass the staff.
But where does this come from?
Bored Panda spoke to some experts to answer that question.
"The most common mistake customers make is to think that money talks or to think that they are somehow in control of the pub because they are paying for the service," says Liam Tobin, co-owner of Sally O’Brien’s Irish Pub in Prague.
He says they have "zero tolerance" for people being rude or acting like they are worth more than anyone else. "We always explain to someone who is acting entitled or rude that it doesn't matter how much money you spend here, you will have to leave unless you are polite to the staff and other guests."
#4
#5
A drunk man tried to impress his friends by chugging from a bottle of amaro from the early 60s.
He had to pay for the whole thing since his lips touched it and it was useless. Cost him around $800.
#6
I've never had a customer fire themselves like that before, it was great.
A lot of this entitled behavior comes from the feeling that if you can afford it, you can do whatever you want.
Some cultures also put the individual first, where people get used to hearing that they deserve the best and that their needs come first — especially if they’ve got the money.
That’s why when a meal takes a little longer than expected, or a menu item isn’t exactly what they wanted, some diners act out like it’s the end of the world.
“Over the past few years, we undeniably have seen a general shift in normalised public behaviour, with social life becoming pervaded by a kind of Main Character Energy — which is where we're increasingly incentivised to think about what's best for us as individuals rather than about what's good for us as a community,” Kirsty Sedgman, an award-winning cultural studies scholar and professor at University of Bristol, says.
#7
#8
He came in the next day sober and apologized.
#9
Restaurants sometimes try to please tantrum-throwing customers with freebies, upgrades, or extra attention — but that can backfire.
Over time, some customers learn that throwing a fit or asking for special treatment gets results.
Even in the middle of a hectic lunch rush, inside a sweltering kitchen and 20 orders piling up, the customer still gets what they want.
For employees, it’s a constant balancing act: trying to keep the customer happy while managing chaos behind the scenes and maintaining their own sanity.
#10
Edit: I am not a server . I am a cook who happens to take orders, pour beer, run food, clear tables, and do dishes. But primarily I cook.
#11
Holding the tip over my head doesn't get you better service, you get the same everyone else does. They were always pretentious and rude and never tipped well.
#12
There was one who would order the most popular thing on the menu but with a list of modifications a mile long, right down to what fruit to include with the side of fruit and how many inches tall to pile the turkey on the sandwich. She would always get it to go and then would about 50% of the time, call the restaurant from home saying that the order wasn't correct and that she wanted a refund.
However my least favorite was this woman who would come in about an hour before closing and then stay until past closing - bugging you for little things piecemeal all the while. I get that at sit down restaurants, customers can generally come in whenever they want as long as the doors aren't locked yet, and then stay as long as they want. However, we were a small cafe, and I would kick everyone out when I locked the doors. She just wouldn't leave. Once she was on the phone when it was time for her to leave lol. I ended up just shouting at her, loud enough for whoever was on the other line to hear, "IT IS TIME TO LEAVE THE CAFE NOW."
People not wanting to leave was relatively common (although most people would leave right away when you asked). Once a woman just wanted to "finish up one more thing" on her computer. One more thing turned into one more thing, which turned into one more thing. She was sitting by the open window, and there was no air conditioning in the cafe. So, finally I just went and closed the window. She gave me the dirtiest look, but she got out lol.
The first customer I described was my coworker's worst nightmare and he always made me deal with her since, while she was super annoying, I didn't mind as much. The people who wouldn't leave at the end of the day pissed me off so badly though.
A 2024 survey in the UK found that 76% of hospitality workers reported experiencing mental health challenges at some point in their careers — up from 56% in 2018.
Several studies show that roles like serving, cooking, bartending or front desk are linked with high levels of stress, anxiety, depression, and burnout.
The reasons vary from customer demands, long hours, and emotional labor — basically the effort of maintaining positive service in stressful situations.
#13
#14
#15
So this Mother’s Day is going particularly well, and then towards the end of the brunch rush I get sat with a party of 8. Everyone’s in a good mood. Mom (it’s her day!!!!) orders our breakfast tacos with no onions- she says no onions like three times. Right, no onions.
Drinks are going fine, everyone is doing well. Food comes out, I ask how everything looks. Mom pushes her plate away and loudly and aggressively says “I said NO ONIONS”. I look down at the tacos to see that there are in fact, no onions.
Me: “Ma’am I put your order in with no onions. There are no onions.”
She gets a and goes “Oh YEAH? Well what are these!!?” and points to the green bell peppers on the tacos.
Me: “umm...those are green bell peppers”
She rolls her eyes and goes “SAME THING!” The table is now silent as no one in her party knows what to do, clearly blinded by her stupidity.
My brain short circuits. I think to myself “No, they AREN’T the same thing, they’re not even the same color, you can read, you’re an adult, just say how you want something and stop making a scene.”
Instead I just put on my best customer service smile and said, “right, sorry about that, we’ll get that fixed.” Took it back to the kitchen and told my chef and he just started laughing about it.
$0 tip. Happy Mother’s Day!
“For decades, a customer could be uncivil, angry, yelling or just plain wrong, and employees were expected to deal with it because it was just part of the business,” says Melissa Baker, associate professor and chair of the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management.
But things are getting slightly better now, she notes.
Some companies are changing how things work, making it okay to talk about mental health, and really supporting their staff.
“We want to take care of the customer — that’s super important, but if a customer is being uncivil, rude and aggressive, you also really need to make sure that you have the employee’s back,” Baker adds.
#16
Well one night we get absolutely slammed with to go orders at close. I’m the only person out at the front and there were two cooks behind me working on the food. A man ordered two burgers. Cool! Well, we’re so busy I’m obviously not aware of what number goes with what customer off the top of my head, and I call out a number. A customer takes it and heads out.
Turns out the wrong customer grabbed that man’s order. He proceeded to YELL profanities at me, calling me an idiot, demanding his food be free AND that he gets free fries. All in front of other customers. I started crying. It held up everyone else’s food in the process. The manager has to tell him to get lost and remakes his food.
We asked Liam from Sally O’Brien’s Irish Pub how they handle rude customers, and he had a very interesting anecdote to share with us.
"One of our waitresses was serving a table with one very rude guy who asked her for a mocktail," he recounts. "She asked him if he had any preference on the flavor and he said: 'God I don't know, you are the waitress, surely you can figure that much out.' When she took the drink back he asked her what was in it? She replied: 'God surely you can figure that much out'."
Liam says the customer was very polite for the rest of his stay at the pub and didn't bother them further after the staff's direct but firm response.
#17
#18
That same guy a few weeks later also tried to get my dad fired, so he could get my dad's position as head of IT. My dad confessed to me that he was thinking of leaving that company anyway, but that guy made him GTFO. Thankfully he's well known in his industry, he's the type of guy that could resign a job on Friday afternoon, and start a new one on Monday morning so to speak. So my dad submitted his resignation and immediately got a job elsewhere.
Unfortunately the guy did get my dad's job, but lots of people in the IT department jumped ship to the company my dad was working at. As a result, the jerk who had taken my dad's job ironically got fired a year later because nobody wanted to work for him.
EDIT: OK I'm getting a lot of responses about tipping in Australia. My dad was not aware you guys don't tip. He always tips everywhere he goes. Hope that clears it up!
“Entitled behavior often shows up as a disregard for others’ time, space, or feelings,” says Tracy Malone, a relationship coach dealing with entitlement. “Like cutting in line, demanding special treatment, or reacting aggressively to boundaries. It’s marked by an inflated sense of importance and a lack of empathy.”
When restaurants set clear rules and actually back up their staff, it makes a huge difference in helping those who struggle with stress or mental health problems.
Experts say if a customer starts being rude or asking for too much, it’s okay to set boundaries — just explain politely what you can and can’t do.
“Stay calm and don’t engage emotionally. Set clear boundaries or disengage entirely if it feels unsafe. Entitled people often seek a reaction, your power lies in not giving it to them,” says Malone.
Restaurant staff and owners can also keep a detailed record of the rude interactions — such as video recordings from the CCTV cameras — to see which customers cause the most issues and use that information to improve training and rules.
#19
Fast forward less than month later, he called the store to apologize and the manager made sure that my coworker never dealt with him again but he could come in as long as he didnt make a scene. He told the manager that his therapist told him he should apologize. He spent a combined total of 3 hours on the phone with the manager, where he apologized and also blamed us for making him late to his appointment that day. And at the end of the phone call, he asked if we were hiring.
#20
EDIT: I was not angry that the customer ordered no cilantro. I was upset at the fact that they asked not to pay for their food when they clearly ate everything. Also, it’s been a few years haha.