Bar-staff / club-staff..... Do they hate us all?

U_Fig · 04-05-2012 06:00PM

the best line is "do you know who i am?" usually in a real smug voice. This somewhat famous opera singer did this when I refused to serve him after we'd closed the residence bar one night

To which I stopped; there was only a handful of people in the place maybe 2 tables.. I got all their attention and announced "Does anyone know who this man is he seems to have forgotten" everyone pissed themselves laughing and the man was mortified didn't know what to say. He walked out disgusted and reported me to the duty manager the next morning. The duty manager just said fair play and gave me a high 5.

billox · 05-05-2012 02:10PM

think the worst line for someone to say is 'I pay your wages' think people only say that to barstaff

ShooterSF · 05-05-2012 03:30PM

"How much? You robbing bast..."

Yeah fair play for seeing through my disguise as an ordinary employee working his shift, I'm actually the owner of the place and just do this for ****s and giggles... :rolleyes:

I do love the job (for the most part, toilet cleaning aside)but only because I now work in a local pub where I'm afforded the authority to deal with customers more as I see fit than back in the hotel bar days (Yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir).

mikemac1 · 05-05-2012 03:34PM

You drop a glass

Waaaaaaaaaahehhh
Clap clap clap
"Do ya want a hammer?" shouts the smartass
"Oh we're having a smashing time" shouts his buddy

Do you think you are original and we haven't heard this before?

"Pint of bud bud" is not witty either

05-05-2012 03:38PM

ShooterSF wrote: »

"How much? You robbing bast..."

Yeah fair play for seeing through my disguise as an ordinary employee working his shift, I'm actually the owner of the place and just do this for ****s and giggles... :rolleyes:.

i think this is the biggest issue with all retail i can never understand the logic behind it

ya your right im a bottom rung employee in a large multinational corporation i do apologise for the prices what was i thinking let me get my buddy bill gates on the phone and il have a chat to him about our pricing

Shryke · 05-05-2012 03:59PM

Wynter Fit Thriller wrote: »

i think this is the biggest issue with all retail i can never understand the logic behind it

ya your right im a bottom rung employee in a large multinational corporation i do apologise for the prices what was i thinking let me get my buddy bill gates on the phone and il have a chat to him about our pricing

It's just a really obtuse way that some Irish try to haggle in my experience. 5 years in retail. Any young people saying the like tend to just be pricks that picked the attitude up wrong off their elders, elders who would have dealt with small shops who generally set there own prices.

token101 · 05-05-2012 04:44PM

'Well my neighbour said......'

'Well f*** your neighbour he doesn't work here and is clearly a f***ing lying wanker. Now move house and stop f***ing annoying me'

Junco Partner · 05-05-2012 05:28PM

working in fast food is the same we hate you all come two am when the disco crowd arrives.

"How much?, thats ****ing robbery." yes sir scream at me, it is I the lowly staff member who sets the prices

"I'll have a salad burger with no salad hyuck hyuck" oh sir/madam you are sooooo funny i have never heard that one before. You should do comedy, you know that?

"And a cheeseburger no cheese" it's just non stop hilarity with you isn't it?

hey!? oii!! hey serve me! serve me ya ****!" one you are shouting abuse it aint gonna make me serve you faster in fact everytime you serve i move you further down my to-serve list , respect didn't your mom teach that to you when she wasn't sucking cawk?. two you are standing two tills down, do you want me to just forget about the twenty people standing in front of my till? wait yes thats exactly what you want cause you're a ****

"This is ridiculous I've been standing here for twenty minutes" You've arrived at the counter twenty seconds ago you fool, the drink must have addled your inner clock. and anyway i've been standing here for the last nine hours and will be for 3 more so don't think i have a drop of sympathy

"Hey man can i just have like a small cup of tapwater, don't want a full drink or anything just my throats a little dry" seriously man I can see the pill in your hand go do your drugs somewhere else

just some of the many reasons why, yes we do hate drunk customers

token101 · 05-05-2012 05:35PM

billox wrote: »

think the worst line for someone to say is 'I pay your wages' think people only say that to barstaff

No they say it to everyone. I used to work in customer service in college in different companies and it's always the same old wanker talk.

'You wouldn't have a job without people like me'
'I would. I'd have a better job, not listening to self important f***wits like you all day.'

'My kids ate cold beans on crackers last night because your charges are so high'
'No, they didn't. They ate cold beans on crackers because you haven't paid a bill in nearly a year.'

voz es · 05-05-2012 05:47PM

Behind the bar many of the worst customers were actually ex bar staff themselves.

H2UMrsRobinson · 05-05-2012 05:57PM

As a rule alcohol turns most people into r-soles, ergo you work in a bar you're going to be serving r-soles most of the time. You kinda know this going into bar-work, if you don't you're an r-sole yourself.

I've worked a couple of bar jobs in the past, and I'd much rather a busy pub full of pricks than a dead pub serving only 5 customers every hour. It makes the shift go quicker the busier you are.

As a customer i gotta ask, why when I wait patiently at the bar do I get ignored whilst those who shout and gesticulate get served before me - if bar-staff don't appreciate this kind of behaviour why am I not rewarded for my quiet patience. I've also noticed that not many people buy the bar-staff a drink these days. Is it an Irish thing or just an Age thing. On the odd occasion I've done it the bar-person has looked genuinely surprised.

P.S - I genuinely love Margarita's, the whole lemon, salty combo just sets my taste buds alight. If it's on the menu I'll order it so my apologies in advance - most bar-staff I've come across seem happy enough preparing cocktails, i guess if it's busy though it can be a pain - but if you have a cocktail menu, then people will order them I'm afraid. They have a feel-good-factor about them that make people order them. People ordering cocktails are generally in a good mood. I never heard of anyone drowning their sorrows in Woo-Woos !

congo_90 · 05-05-2012 06:18PM

ash23 wrote: »

Depends on where you work, experience, hours etc etc.
For the sake of pocketing a few euro from a drunk customer even a minimum wage is worth more than that.
You're no more likely to be ripped off in a bar than in a supermarket. People just don't like to admit who much they've actually spent on drink in my experience. They forget about that round they bought and think they should have more money and they blame the bartender.

crooked barstaff are more likely to dip the till. There are ways of doing it. Its easier than doing the customer outta their change. I myself am a barmaan ive never delibrately gave the wrong change. A customer in my experience is more likely to try do you outta change. Theres ways of tolerating most drunks. Most are ok. When its good its good. Ill serve what the customer wants as best i can but please treat me the way you want to be treated! Apologies for poor grammsr etc im on a phone!

Melted · 05-05-2012 07:28PM

I hated being a barman im afraid i dont have the patience to deal with drunk people, knowing this i always try to be civil when queing at the bar, i was surprised when i was in in a particular nite club however i ordered the drink, the last drink of the night but unknown to me the prices went up at a certain time bar woman made the drink ploped it infront of me and asked for 12 euro!! :eek:

I explained i dident have the cash and wouldent be able to take it she got all bitchy with me saying i was all drunk and called over the door staff to kick me out.

Geansai Rua · 06-05-2012 05:05AM

It's now 5am, I'm finishing work!

Yes we do just hate the human race in general...

There's an awful amount of arseholes out there

Galwayguy35 · 06-05-2012 05:32AM

The pub trade is dying a slow death outside of the cities. People are changing their drinking habits and will continue to do so as the recession grinds on over the next few years.
I much prefer to buy booze at the off license and enjoy a few drinks at my friends houses and lots of people are now doing the same.
So bar staff won't have to hate us for much longer.

Paudee · 06-05-2012 05:41AM

mikemac1 wrote: »

No, I did not water down your pint

Why do people say this?
How would I do it anyway? Inject water under pressure somehow into the pipes?
Sounds awful complicated

So stop telling me I watered down your pint
It's a myth, it doesn't happen

Probably because you're drinking Bud

I've done it a few times. Worked in a busy city bar with little/no security, ocassionally i'd refuse to serve somebody only to have them get ratty.

Little bit of Guinness into the bottom of a pint glass, fill with water there's your Heineken you drunk prick.

OneArt · 06-05-2012 08:11AM

I worked in an Irish pub (expat central in most countries that are not Ireland) and the worst was when Americans came in on quiet shifts and wanted to know your whole life's story. Any other nationality would just sit there happily (or miserably) and drink away.

I don't think I'd have the patience to work serving customers anymore. A friend of mine who manages a pub asked if I'd like a part time job there and I told him I'd probably end up throwing a wine bottle at someone.

ash23 · 06-05-2012 11:52AM

I still work in customer service in a different sector but it's all over the phone so at least I can roll my eyes and make rude gestures to the phone while listening to the drivel.

IrishAm · 06-05-2012 12:03PM

OneArt wrote: »

I worked in an Irish pub (expat central in most countries that are not Ireland) and the worst was when Americans came in on quiet shifts and wanted to know your whole life's story. Any other nationality would just sit there happily (or miserably) and drink away.

Worked in one for 18 months myself. It was a novelty for a week, but it got old very fast.

The problem wasn't those who wanted to talk to you during the quiet shifts, that helped pass time. The problem is when the bar is three deep and people wanna talk nonsense about Ireland to the Irish barman. That's when it becomes irritable.

American customers in general, tend to be annoying;

-Everyone at the bar eating at lunchtime, walk in and ask if you serve food.

-Offer them a menu, they ask what food you serve whilst you're handing it to them.

-Ask them would they like a drink, they ask you what you have.

-Verbalise all draft beers(all 30 of them) and drink specials, they order a Bud Lite.

Moneys good and you meet some cool people, but

mikemac1 · 06-05-2012 12:16PM

Time of the smoking ban we got benches for outside
We got these external gas heaters which were brilliant, gave off great heat.
We got umbrellas from the Heineken Ireland rep and some flower displays and bits and pieces
One of the best beer gardens in town

And people would come in to me and complain about smokers in the beer garden

And then get angry with me when I didn't do anything about it.

What do you want me to do??

Smoking ban put people outside and now you want them banned from the beer garden?
I don't smoke myself but that's just a silly complaint

ash23 · 06-05-2012 01:37PM

I was working New Years 2002 when the euro changeover came into being. Oh what fun that was!!
We had a fairly good set up we thought.
The bars were only taking euro and everything was priced in euro and punts.
We have two tills set up beside the door where we were exchanging punts for euro. There were signs everywhere saying the bar were only taking euro, please exchange your punts by the door etc. I mean, the signs were EVERYWHERE.
But noooooo, you still got people asking how much in pounds, trying to pay in pounds, giving out about having to exchange their money, complaining that the prices were crazy high despite us pointing out that we were talking euro.

Ah that was one hell of a weekend I must say. I don't think I've ever worked a more stressful weekend. I'm so glad I was out of bars by the time of the smoking ban!!!

Bar-staff / club-staff..... Do they hate us all?

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