customer service

god I hate 'em sometimes. Customers that is. Well only one or 2, and fortunately the remaining 99.99999% are sweet enough to take away the bitter taste left by the nasty ones. Yesterday lunch we had a coach party of 55 people in at lunchtime. We are only a small restuarant and they were having a full on top notch 7 course slap up lunch banquet. Being French they arrived bang on midday and settled in for the afternoon. We were rushed off our tootsie pegs, and closed to other customers - at least for the duration of lunch. Turned away a number of French customers - who upon hearing the word banquet and full, gave us understanding and sympathetic smiles and wandered away to look at the flowers. And then, just as lunch kicked off, along came a Brit couple who managed to annoy the pants off me and only very slightly escaped without being decked with a left jab. They sat at a table on the terrace and started to drum their fingers on the table and tap their feet impatiently. Leaving the lovely and fortunately very capable Savina to carry on serving 55 (hot) starters I zipped outside to offer my standard "terribly sorry, full this lunchtime, there's sausages and chips down by the lake if you're hungry - gotta dash" spiel. But no. They weren't having any of it. The guy looked pissed off and grumbled loudly that we were too bloody lazy to serve them and obviously didn't want to do any work, despite the fact there was a recession. Now, given that Gregoire and I had been up since the crack of dawn and I knew full well that we were likely to be working until the fall of night, and that the recession is being very much felt in France too, this rubbed me up the wrong way. Ever so slightly. He then swore at me and about me. And I lost it. I got really cross in fact. Decided it wasn't even worth justifying myself. I asked him and his good lady friend to please vacate my terrace and not come back. Now I know for sure that I have lost this customer and his family and circle of friends for good. But frankly, his sort of trade we can do without. We love most of our customers and we love what we do and wouldn't change it for the world, but why is it that every now and then someone comes along who makes you completely question your lifestyle choice? So come back nice lovely friendly customers - we love you and need you...just don't send in the nasties too often, cos after the couple had stomped away complaining bitterly, loudly and angrily and I had been shaken to almost tears, I then had to return inside to my 55 happy lunchers and look the perfect smiling hostess once more.