Restaurant hijinks / weirdo customers!

[brendala]

I filled in for a co-worker at the restaurant today (YAY! EXTRA HOURS!). One of the customers came up to the register to pay and presented me with a Spanish coupon. I asked my manager to translate it for me to make sure I gave the correct discount (my manager is Mexican and speaks fluent Spanish). And when I told the lady how much the discount was, she starting ranting about how it's discrimination that the Spanish coupons give a higher discount (buy one entree, get one free) than the ones currently out in English (buy one entree, get one 50% off). She said that, if more white people knew about this, it could lead to a discrimination lawsuit**.

....yeah, at that point I was kinda dumfounded. I just meekly responded, "uhh, I don't think anyone would sue over a coupon."

After the lady finally walked out, we just looked at each other and laughed! We couldn't believe she had gotten so worked up over it! And to rant about how white people are "discriminated against" in favor of Mexicans just because the Spanish coupons (that white people are free to use, BTW) offer a slightly bigger discount is just silly. And to make a scene of it is just assinine!
Don't get me wrong, it bugs me that I have to deal with coupons that I can't read. But, from a business standpoint, I understand why the restaurant owner puts them out. The restaurant is hurting for business and it doesn't cost much to advertise in local Latino magazines and newspapers.



**In case you're wondering how the oppressed white lady got a Spanish coupon. She said she got it from a neighbor who subscribes to some local Latino magazine.

Comments

[lunaoh.livejournal.com]

Imagine if someone would actually sue for something idotic like that! XD (Of course, around here suing anyone for anything is a lot rarer than there, so there might be some cultural differences too). That must have been irritating. Poor you.

[brendala.livejournal.com]

My restaurant isn't expensive (90% of the items on the menu are less than $10). So the difference in discount between the two coupons wouldn't be more than $5. That's certainly not worth getting worked up over.

And, even if someone did sue, it's only "discrimination" if non-Mexicans aren't allowed to use the coupons (which isn't the case). I'd like to think a sane court would throw a case like that out. But stranger cases have been won. :P


Maybe it is a cultural thing. Every country has its share of idiots, of course. But maybe its harder to get a case like that to court in Finland (I have no idea how the Finnish legal system works, so forgive me if I'm wrong about that).

[ichiban-victory.livejournal.com]

Back when I worked at Joann ETC I had a woman complain at me about the online coupons the store offers. There is always one coupon for store use and another right next to it for online use, but the woman complained that was unfair to her since she didn't shop online. What gets me is that it's so easy to find a lot of duplicates of the same coupon for store use (we have fliers with them right at the main entrance!) so it's not like she's restricted in that sense...

I think some people just like to complain.

[brendala.livejournal.com]

You're talking about the Joann fabric store, right?
Yeah, the one near my house has coupons in all the local papers and at the entrance, too. Heck, they pass those coupon papers out like Halloween candy! Its unbelievable that she missed them! XD

I suppose some people really do just love to complain about every little thing. And I bet most of those people never worked in customer service before. :P

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Suing - a national sport.

[ichiban-victory.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Joann ETC is just a really large Joann Fabrics with more departments. But exactly, the coupons are really easy to get!

I think it's a safe bet that those who do complain never have worked in customer service. I've been at it so long that when issues come up when I'm the customer, I'm practically the anti-complainer in that I let the poor customer service person know that I'm not getting upset. Life's just too short to take out petty frustrations on people who usually have nothing to do with the complaint anyway.