Anytime there's a contest at a minimum wage job, it seems like whatever corporate baboon who thought of the idea has never actually stepped foot into the establishment they're attempting to manipulate. As out of touch as corporate contests are and no matter how pathetic the 'prize' is, there are still desperate employees who take part in the event. But the real winners, at the end of the day, are always the C-level suit monkeys counting their bonus checks and buying yachts.

Working in customer service is both a blessing and a curse. While it is true that you interact with a variety of individuals throughout the day, you also sort of roll the dice and hope that the people you meet will greet you with a smile and a friendly attitude. Well, the story below is of a girl who hosted/managed the restaurant she has been working at for the last five years. On that particular night, though, in contrast to other nights, OP encountered one of the worst couples she had ever me…

Some people want to be food critics with their reviews, but this person took it further by writing a very long message directly to a restaurant. When I worked retail, I always found it so delightful when customers would vow to never return to our restaurant. It was often that they'd come in during a rush, and then were shocked, stunned, and horrified, that they'd have to wait a whole 15 minutes for their meal. Bigger problems are going on in the world. But not to these people. Sometimes they'd…

It's not every day you get a chance to get even with a regular customer who each time they come to eat at your restaurant, is determined to complain until they get their meal comped… Back when I was a waitress, I certainly didn't bump into customers too much outside of work (thankfully). This regular customer in question came to the corporate-style cookie-cutter restaurant that the OP was working at. She would arrive with a frown, eat lunch, and never tip. It was the same thing, every single ti…

Is that you, Karen?

You always have to know what you're buying! After all, it's only fair, and sometimes (most of the time), what is advertised is not what you're actually purchasing. These former employees of various industries shared their secrets based on their experiences, which they offered to the wild world of the Internet via this r/AskReddit thread. Some of the fields represented include the food, restaurant, tech, insurance, and music industries.

Working in the service industry is one of the toughest to endure, as customers, management, and coworkers can really get under your skin. You need the patience of a sloth, the memory of an elephant, and the speed of a cheetah. Picture this: a family of eight, children sobbing whilst simultaneously drooling, parents at their wit's end just rattling off their order to you while corralling their children. Having a long list of dietary restrictions and substitutions to their order after demanding y…

With great power, comes great responsibility, or so they say… well, obviously that quote is lost upon 99 percent of people who actually hold any real power, because oftentimes, with power comes greed. And greed can make you blind to your responsibilities. In this case, OP was an IT business owner, who was renting an office in a fairly nice building, and even though there were a few minor issues here and there, they were fixed, albeit a bit slowly. Then the AC unit that happened to sit above OP'…

Everyone's been to a restaurant before where they had a terrible server. You saw them flirting with the hostess, loitering around the bar, and rolling their eyes when you asked them to split the bill. Not to mention, they've neglected your table for 20 minutes, while you were starving and ready to order. Restaurant goers are faced with a tough decision– to tip or not to tip?

The customer service industry is unpredictable; customers range from super kind, to average, to complete wacko human beings. Servers often encounter a variety of strange, weird, odd, and unexpected situations, some of them being the tip that people leave when they are done with their meal. Apparently, not everyone leaves 15%, or any money at all… some customers prefer to leave some pretty strange, unconventional things instead. As we have worked in the service industry, we can vouch for the fac…

Managers who don't know how to maneuver workplace issues that pop up can often be as daunting as they are annoying, making employees wish they never would have joined the establishment in the first place. Sometimes this leads to a last straw or two, causing the employees to say 'adios'. In this case, OP took to r/Serverslife to complain about how the management at the restaurant he was working at was dragging their feet to fix literally anything. Among things that weren't working, there were 2…

But what if the customer is wrong? So epically wrong that their servers are scarred for life contemplating their tasteless choices and downright wacky desires. For the woman who wanted creamer with her red wine, please leave this establishment and never return. Your tastebuds are not welcome here.

Traveling to customer sites to analyze defective products means traversing under a corporate travel policy. In this case, OP was given a certain allowance according to his company's corporate travel policy, which he followed vigorously. OP actually skimped out on expenses as much as possible to make sure he wasn't costing the company too much money, so he didn't even max out his allowance. That is until his boss called him into his office for a proper scolding after he had allegedly ‘overtipped…

There are many different kinds of nightmares that can happen while working in the service industry. One that is a guarantee you will encounter while working in a restaurant is a family who allows their kids to run wild while they dine. This is a nightmare on so many different levels. For one, if you work in the the restaurant, an unchaperoned child running around like they own the place can be very dangerous. There are servers, busers, and all kinds of employees running around a restaurant and…

This restaurant owner broke a cardinal rule of waiting tables, and it's wild that so many of his employees actually went along with his plan. It's a hallmark of American life that waiters and waitresses work mainly for tips. Over the years, tip prices keep rising higher as minimum wages have stagnated, and that has started frequent debates over tipping culture. In a story shared to r/AmItheA**hole, this desperate restaurant owner found a way to put some more cash in his own pocket. He shared th…

You'd probably be horrified at how common these types of requirements are within certain industries. The industries where manipulative employers tell you with a smile that you're a "family"… while simultaneously plotting how they can squeeze as much unpaid labor out of you as possible. Working in the service and retail industries is no walk in the park—that should not come as a great surprise to anybody. The frantic and inconsistent demands of these businesses place considerable strain on staff…