These 8 Types Of Nightmare Customers Shouldn't Be Allowed In Another Restaurant Ever Again

After working nearly a decade in the restaurant industry in both front- and back-of-house positions, I'm fairly confident in saying I've seen it all: the good, the bad, the ugly, and the slightly traumatizing. But hey, when you're in your 20s and trying to get through college I guess it builds character.

For anyone who has worked in food service, we can probably agree that most restaurants do not support the common saying: "The customer is always right." For most us, experiences with nightmare customers still haunt us to this day. Every now and then I think about my very first job and Ralph, a gray-haired regular who pushed the boundaries of how long you can sit at at a café by day and camped nearby at night. He spent all his time writing explicit adult fiction and somehow always managed to leave me with a bathroom disaster to clean every night before closing. Thanks, Ralph.

If I'd had a magic wand, I would've banned Ralph from every restaurant in existence along with the other more common nightmare customers who made this list. If you've also worked in restaurants, you may have dealt with some of the same people yourself. At the very least, you can take this as a reminder of exactly what not to do as a customer. While there's no universal law that can prohibit someone from all restaurants, businesses absolutely reserve the right to refuse service to customers like these, and in some cases they should do so.

One of the best parts about enjoying a birthday dinner out is that the restaurant typically comps a dessert or drink, and there's even some chain restaurants that give free birthday meals. This is a hospitality gesture meant to create goodwill and add to the customer's special day. That being said, the customers who celebrate their so-called birthday every three months are taking advantage of the system and could potentially be taking away from someone who really is celebrating their birthday since some restaurants only account for so many comped items in their budget.

Tipping is kind of a pain in the you-know-what, but tipped employees like servers and bartenders depend on tips for the majority of their wage. I'll never forget when I was a server at a steakhouse and one night I desperately needed to make enough tips to cover my ride home. Thankfully, my whole section was combined for a party of 13 and I suspected a decent tip considering their check was over $600. They were all such a nice bunch too, constantly complimenting my efforts. Turns out you can't always trust the overly nice ones — the tip for the night was the compliments. 

Gordon Ramsay wants more people to complain at restaurants as it gives staff the chance to make it right. When issues arise, restaurants will often comp either the dish or the entire meal. However, there's a fine line between customers speaking up when something is genuinely wrong and scammers intentionally looking for or creating problems just to score a free meal. Not only does this throw a wrench into the entire restaurant's service flow, but an unnecessary comped meal means both the restaurant and server lose money.

Sometimes I wonder if the kids misbehaving in restaurants grow up to become part of the nightmare customer club, but it all starts with the parents. Children aren't expected to behave perfectly at all times, of course, and it's understandable if they become restless sitting in a restaurant. Still, the parents who don't remedy that restlessness and instead allow their children to literally run around the restaurant aren't being considerate of the other guests sharing the space. More importantly, this is a huge safety hazard for the children, the staff, and the other restaurant guests.

Big sigh for this one. It's a hard thing to watch fantastic servers get fired and small mom-and-pop restaurants struggle to stay afloat because an underage customer thought it was "cool" to get away with ordering alcohol in a restaurant. Restaurants can face massive fines, suspended liquor licenses, and owners can go to jail if law enforcement gets involved, and typically law enforcement ends up getting involved. This commonly happens with fake IDs, many of which look incredibly realistic and are difficult to spot during a busy rush, or through older friends and parents ordering drinks for someone underage to consume. The legal drinking age in the United States is 21 for a reason.

In my experience, customers who become belligerent when drunk are usually already aware they can't hold their liquor. Why come to a restaurant and be a bother to others trying to enjoy a nice meal? Sure, they can eventually get cut off, but once the alcohol is in them the damage is often done. At that point, staff are stuck de-escalating arguments, apologizing to nearby tables, and sometimes even calling the police on these guests when they refuse to leave. Some restaurants do their best to handle situations like this, but customers often leave with a bad impression — and sometimes a bad review.

I previously mentioned Ralph the café camper who, to his credit, wasn't nearly as bad as a table camper in an actual restaurant. They're a nightmare for three reasons: Servers lose potential tips from tables that can't be reseated, restaurants lose sales, and wait times increase for guests.

It's one thing if you're part of a large group since those meals naturally take longer and often generate larger tips. It's another thing when a party of four or fewer people lingers on a busy Friday night after the meal is over and the check is paid. Yes, we know you're allowed to stay — it's just not very considerate.

There's nothing more annoying as a server (other than restaurant seating mistakes) than when someone acts entitled and they're not. No, you will not be seated before the 23 other parties because you're one of the manager's distant cousins whom the manager doesn't seem to recognize. These are often also the customers who pull the "Do you know how much money I spend here?" card, expecting this to grant them royal treatment. Just because you're wearing an expensive suit and work in investment banking doesn't give you the right to snap your fingers at servers (or anyone else for that matter) to get their attention.