And I thought my students were strange.

Oh my god!! I swear, sometimes I don't know how people make it in this world! How utterly ridiculously stupid of him to think that he could con a free meal out of you!

Un.Be.Lievable! Poor you :(

Simply put, that guy is an ass. People that expect something for nothing.. ehhh that's just irritating.

I cannot beleive how many morons there are in the world like that, lucky it wasnt me or I would not have managed to be so polite, I cannot hold my tongue in situations like that!

Ridiculous. Common sense just isn't so common anymore...

Do you watch the Sopranos? Sounds like Uncle Junior.

The latest google ad on your site is for Gas, Bloating, and Flatulance....hmmm. LOL

People's crazy...
I am speechless

Well done for being so polite. I don't know how you do it day after day sometimes.

The part that is frightening is that he actually believed the logic that allowed him to make that request.

You can just tell when a guest like this guy gets to the front desk that you are never going to make him happy. You want to tell him to find another restaurant, but as professionals, we are forced to invite them into our house and suffer the consequences. Good for you on sticking to your guns. I would have been inclined to charge him a "supplemental culinary education fee". First time visitor to the site, and the first story I read, yet it is one that I can relate to instantly. Cheers.

Reminds me of when I worked at a retail store in college. One day this guy comes up to me holding two of our most expensive pairs of pants and says "Ill give you $20 for each of these." He was shocked when I said no! I explained to him that he wasnt at a garage sale.

The customer is never right ;)

How this kind of conversation is supposed to go:

Guest: I'm sorry, I'm afraid I just don't care for the oysters. Could I see the menu to order something else, please?

Restaurant Staff: I'm sorry, was there something wrong with them?

Guest: No, they're just not right for me.

Staff: Oh, that's too bad. Please let me take them off your bill.

Guest: You don't have to do that, but thank you...

Guest is happy, leaves nice tip, comes back often, tells friends. (And doesn't order oysters.) Restaurant is happy, having gained a regular customer for the cost of one order of oysters.

Why do people have to make things so difficult?

Am I correct in assuming he was dining alone? hmmm, gee, I wonder why that is?

ps, we have been talking about coming out to visit my aunt, and if we do we would like to stop by, and I promise my husband will order the oysters and will eat every one!!

Hummm....remind me to pull that trick next time I eat out. LOL!

I am surprised and amazed that you held your composure through all of that. It would take your entire staff to hold me back from slamming a cast iron saute pan...into his cranium. (Actually, if you did that - you could then serve him his own brain, a'la Hanible Lector...not a bad money saving tip!)

Scam, scam, scam, scam. I bet he does this routinely. I just found out that my son's sister in law does this whenever she eats out. I told my son to make sure he doesn't have both of us out at once, As I will not allow her to do this in front of me.

We have had several customers try this in the yarn shop:knit a sweater and then decide they don't like the way it looks and want us to take it back AND compensate them for the time it took to knit it. Unless we forced the yarn and pattern on them, it's a non-starter, but they keep trying...

Yogi

Hmm....except you did give him the oysters for free. To feed to his cats. If you are going to lose him anyway, why also give him free food?

I used to be a travel agent - people also get very irrational and emotional about their travel. What worked for me was always to listen, then turn the tables - ask what business they are in, and think of a comparable situation. When the shoe is on the other foot, reason reigns. Sometimes.

The really irritating thing is that if we were still living in a "real grassroots world" you just know this guy would have been kicked out of the clan and starved to death before puberty.

These people do not deserve to procreate... Urgh.

I have often wondered two things:
1. Who the hell are these people??
2. Who let them out of their houses, much less into an actual public restaurant???

As my darling dear Bob often says: YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS SHIT UP.

(There, I hope that stands out among your comments.)

Ciao, bella.

utterly unreal. gee...

And I bet this guy votes, too.

BRAVO on your part
I applaud your composure
Definitely something I will remember.

Hip-Hip-Hoooooooooooooray! You GO girl!
Did this guy really think he could get away with this ridiculous stunt? Good job sticking it back to him. You don't need this lowlife worm lurking around your premises. Leave your great food for those of us deserving the pleasure.
You rock. Your posts are hilarious and soooooooo "Real World".
I enjoy coming by...you make it worthwhile.

Tootles,
Anni

Once while waiting tables, I had a customer (a 15-year old girl) ask for, and then apply, KETCHUP to a salmon/cream sauce dish. She was, not surprisingly, disappointed with the results, and asked for a replacement entree. Her parents asked that the entire meal be comped. There were 12 people in the party. We declined to comp anything, including the salmon, and it was so incredibly gratifying.

Morons, I tell you. Morons.

Reading this entry was like watching an episode of my own life. I deal with people like this man every day. At the end of every day I am just as baffled as the day before.

You were probably too nice to NOysterMan. You should have called the police and had him arrested for theft or extortion. What a dumb f...k that guy is.

I enjoy your blog.

Dont worry about Google Gas.

best,

barknot

I have to laugh - I thought of this last night.

Guy orders grilled tuna. Wants it well done. Doesn't like the sauce we use, so no sauce.

"We can do it like that, Sir, but it will be dry."

"That's fine - just no pink on the inside"

Tuna is cooked as dictated and sent out. You know what's coming right?

Yep. He sends it back. Because it's dry.

Grrrrr.

Why would you even comp him the oysters? You just encourage him to do it again to the next place.

There's no way this guy could believe he deserved a free meal - what a con artist! You should start a public warning database with pictures of these guys, we'd gladly pelt them with eggs each time we see them on the street :)

Sometimes I can't believe the things people do. Tell him to go on a cruise if he wants to try things he might like. Its the only place I know of where yo don't pay for what you eat.

I must confess, there have been a couple of occasions where I ordered something, and simply didn't like it. But I have never wxpected a restaurant to serve me two free meals.

You know I think I work with that moron...for reals!!!

I am constantly surprised that you haven't left a cleaver stuck in the middle of a cretin's head!