Coupons

Ok, so here it is-my first real post; I work at a "fine dining" establishment in the crippling restaurant metropolis known as Albany NY. After working in the industry for a over 3 years I can think it's safe to say I have officially dealt with some "gems." Now I'm not saying that everyone who walks in the door of my employers is a complete douche bag but now and again they do trickle in, and one main cause of this are these:

you see these? yeah well if you are on the other side of the check book and have to process these you can almost guarantee less than a 15% gratuity added to the bill.

Although it can be said that I along with everyone else I work with do appreciate the business of anyone who walks through the door-especially in this economy, when a person decides to as they are taking off their coat lay one of these bad boys already on the table as if it's a the golden ticket from Wonka's Chocolate Factory it's more than a red flag to me that this table will pretty much most likely without a doubt leave a shitty tip...and ask for more bread, order no appetizer, no desert and probably drink water all night. Some of you might be saying "hey that sounds like a good idea"-wrong. The problem with these coupons is you only get a certain percentage off ONE meal per table which ultimately means you are only saving any where from 5 to 9 bucks off a given meal. Now I know it's my job to understand and accept the fact that "the customer is always right," but it is also my job to "sell." When I see one of these coupons I know pretty much for a fact that they aren't interested in hearing the nightly specials, or interested in which wine I know would go great with which ever entree they chose, or even what specialty cocktails our bar has to choose from that night. It sucks. Chances are they will order some pastas and walk out the door and never come back, unless or until another session of coupons hits their mailbox.

I like my job. I like meeting new people and doing the best "customer service" and "sales representative" job I can to make sure that whoever just ate at my place of employment can't wait to come back and enjoy it again. I know it's true that everyone who uses coupons is not cheap, but if you are going to use them-understand that WE are allowing you those extra bucks off your bill and when you tip valued "post" coupon the bear minimum you are only making yourself look bad.

In conclusion,

cheers