TGI FRIDAYS & JENN MOBLEY NASTY ..AFRICAN AMERICANS NOT WELCOME

Now, after seven years of putting up with being called every name in the book, from C U Next Tuesday to F%@$'n B@!$& to you name it, along with the butt grabbing and chest staring, patience becomes a virtue. Back to the "accuser." Was she cheap? I would say so. And as a side note, I did compensate the server out of my pocket, as it was apparrantly my fault she didn't get a tip. The real cheap one though, was the boyfriend. He had nothing to say during her griping, but made it clear they decided not to tip because of my actions. They also didn't want to pay their tab. They thought they should be compensated for having to move. What? Are you kidding? Can you go out into the regular seats in the stadium and demand free beer because you don't have a ticket to the game. I think not. The irony to this is that this poor girl kept pointing out how she was in law school. I feel bad for anyone she defends, because I think they stand no chance, but if she prosecutes, yeah for the defense! To close, I hope you all see the other side of the story. The customer is not always right, but they are always the customer. Thank you.

I suppose I will finally take the time to respond to this pathetic accusation. Let me start by saying that I began working for Friday's Front Row in December of 1997 and finally threw in the towel becase of people such as this unfortunate girl at the end of the season in 2004. As my former employee Ashlee already pointed out, Front Row has several ticketed seats, that yes my friends, require a ticket to sit at. These seats must be vacated 30 minutes prior to the game. During this particular incident, the "accuser" and her white boyfriend decided to stay longer than the alotted time. They were asked by a male manager to move and she wanted to finish her beer first. He said okay. Now, my bar frequenting readers, does it really take three full innings to finish one Corona. I think not. Even my 100 lb., 59 year old Catholic mother can put one downfaaster than that. I went to the table to ask them to move and she said the male manager told her she could finish her beer. I said sorry, she was taking too long, and could finish it at a non ticketed table. She said the male manager already told her and she was listening to him. I pointed out that I held the rank in the situation and she would now be listening to me. If I owned the bar, I would have told her to F-off and had her tossed. But, as you avid ripoffreport readers know, the corporate structure of all your basic family style restaurants wants nobody getting upset, that is of course, except for the ones who work 70 hours a week for them. That being said, the unfortunately insecure, such as this poor girl, take advantage of that corporate situation and love to live by the bullsh$% addage that the customer is always right. HAHAHAHAHA.

In the Denny's thread, I responded to this so I'm not going to just copy that response but...

Having served for around 11 years and lived on that money, I can tell you this. I also got paid $2.13 per hour + tips. I tipped out 5% of my sales (Example, your bill is $100, I paid everyone $5, so if you tipped me only $8, I would get $3 out of the deal).

The government would take my $2.13 as I didn't receive a paycheck at all most of the time. So if you tipped me poorly, I wouldn't make anything.

Now, as you get out the hankies and violins for me, let me tell you this.

I was a d**n good server. I gave 100% everyday, good day or bad day. My guests always came first, and I got into some trouble as often the manager would want me to run somebody else's food but I'd say no, I had to wait for my food that was late.

I didn't hang out in the back smoking cigarettes, I didn't flirt with anyone while my guests were waiting for the their check, food or whatever.

Still, many people didn't tip properly. I actually retired for life from serving after my last job. I would walk out of their with maybe 10% after tipping out. My skill level was too high to only finish the night with 15% before the tip out.

As for who tips and doesn't tip, I mentioned this in the other thread.

You are not racist for stating PROVEN facts. You are racist making assumptions and stereotyping. When you have waited tables for 11 years, you can judge who does and doesn't tip without the dreaded "R" word hanging over your head.

People in the military don't tip.
African Americans often tip poorly.
High school kids (either color) usually don't tip well unless they are in the food business.
Orientals tip well.

Again, for more on this, check out the Denny's thread where I get more specific.

I will not be called a racist for stating a fact. Now there are many reasons why this could be happening, but I can promise you it's not because of lousy service.

Meanwhile, about 10 years ago when I was a manager, I was discriminated against. Yep, as a caucasion male, I was the victim of discrimination.

I'm at the register ringing a family of four African Americans up, when the older son (around 15 or 16) says, "Hey Wally, where's the Beav?" I'm assuming he was implying I looked like Wally Cleaver. I guess because we are both white and tall, we must look alike.

Now that is discrimination. If I had responded, "Hey JJ, where's Momma," the restaurant would have been sued and I would have been fired.

Anyway, as for this situation, I don't see a manager acosting someone for leaving a bad or no tip. The managers know who tips and doesn't tip (ethnics, etc), although they'll never admit it for fear of being sued.

I also had a situation where it was 2 in the morning, the restaurant was packed, and I only had one cook and he wasn't very good. My white server was having a problem with a party of five or so middle aged African Americans. I cut in as that was my job.

To preface this, every table in the restaurant was waiting 20+ minutes for their food. She said something like this to me because their food hadn't arrived in 20 minutes:

"Our food is taking a long time. I don't want to say anything but Denny's has a reputation."

I asked her if her waiter (white) was a problem, she said no. I was the only other white employee. So either he or I was discriminating against her.

I used to work at Fridays Front Row and Jenn was my manager. Not only was she the easiest manager to get along with at Friday's, but she was also the easiest manager for patrons to get along with at Friday's.
This person who claims she is racist is absolutly crazy. She does nothing based on the color of skin, but by the way that she is treated. The way that this Fridays works is during baseball games people purchase those reserved tables to sit at during games, just like a seat in the ball park. Even if those tables don't sell for the game, you can't sit there during the game. Just like you can't sit at a seat in the ballpark without paying for it. So, I have come to the conclusion about this person, who thinks that because they were forced to follow the rules they were a victim of racial discrimination, that they are the type of people who use the color of their skin to get what they want. Guess what, that restaurantdoesn't work that way. We are in no way racist, we just follow the rules.
Also, as far as tipping goes. You didn't leave a tip for the server-who gave you service-because you didn't like the way another person treated you. That's real screwed up. I can't stand it when the server does everything they can for people who come in and then blame anything that goes wrong with their experience on the server. FYI-its the servers job to fill your cokes, bring you condiments, make sure you are happy. Not to cook your food the way you ordered it, but to fix it if it came out wrong as fast as they can. Not to make sure that everyone else is treating you the way you want to be treated, because guess what, they can't control that. So the next time you don't tip a server because somebody else made you unhappy keep in mind that servers do have to tip out based on their sales so you actually had your server pay to serve you and trust me if you are the type of person who chooses not to leave a tip-you are definetly not the type of person that I want to pay to serve. I also am not the type of server that expects to get a tip when I know my service was bad, but I mean bad, not just slow, bad. Servers have no control over how long the food takes to cook, they are servers, not cooks. Also, if you aren't the type of person who likes to tip, remember that most servers, especially in Arizona make $2.13 an hour and tipping is part of the package deal, its not a gift to them its paying them for service, for not having to get up and refill your own drinks, for not having to clean up your dishes, for not having to carry your food to your table, for not having to do anything but order, so when a server does their part, tip them for that.

I used to work at Fridays Front Row and Jenn was my manager. Not only was she the easiest manager to get along with at Friday's, but she was also the easiest manager for patrons to get along with at Friday's.
This person who claims she is racist is absolutly crazy. She does nothing based on the color of skin, but by the way that she is treated. The way that this Fridays works is during baseball games people purchase those reserved tables to sit at during games, just like a seat in the ball park. Even if those tables don't sell for the game, you can't sit there during the game. Just like you can't sit at a seat in the ballpark without paying for it. So, I have come to the conclusion about this person, who thinks that because they were forced to follow the rules they were a victim of racial discrimination, that they are the type of people who use the color of their skin to get what they want. Guess what, that restaurantdoesn't work that way. We are in no way racist, we just follow the rules.
Also, as far as tipping goes. You didn't leave a tip for the server-who gave you service-because you didn't like the way another person treated you. That's real screwed up. I can't stand it when the server does everything they can for people who come in and then blame anything that goes wrong with their experience on the server. FYI-its the servers job to fill your cokes, bring you condiments, make sure you are happy. Not to cook your food the way you ordered it, but to fix it if it came out wrong as fast as they can. Not to make sure that everyone else is treating you the way you want to be treated, because guess what, they can't control that. So the next time you don't tip a server because somebody else made you unhappy keep in mind that servers do have to tip out based on their sales so you actually had your server pay to serve you and trust me if you are the type of person who chooses not to leave a tip-you are definetly not the type of person that I want to pay to serve. I also am not the type of server that expects to get a tip when I know my service was bad, but I mean bad, not just slow, bad. Servers have no control over how long the food takes to cook, they are servers, not cooks. Also, if you aren't the type of person who likes to tip, remember that most servers, especially in Arizona make $2.13 an hour and tipping is part of the package deal, its not a gift to them its paying them for service, for not having to get up and refill your own drinks, for not having to clean up your dishes, for not having to carry your food to your table, for not having to do anything but order, so when a server does their part, tip them for that.

I used to work at Fridays Front Row and Jenn was my manager. Not only was she the easiest manager to get along with at Friday's, but she was also the easiest manager for patrons to get along with at Friday's.
This person who claims she is racist is absolutly crazy. She does nothing based on the color of skin, but by the way that she is treated. The way that this Fridays works is during baseball games people purchase those reserved tables to sit at during games, just like a seat in the ball park. Even if those tables don't sell for the game, you can't sit there during the game. Just like you can't sit at a seat in the ballpark without paying for it. So, I have come to the conclusion about this person, who thinks that because they were forced to follow the rules they were a victim of racial discrimination, that they are the type of people who use the color of their skin to get what they want. Guess what, that restaurantdoesn't work that way. We are in no way racist, we just follow the rules.
Also, as far as tipping goes. You didn't leave a tip for the server-who gave you service-because you didn't like the way another person treated you. That's real screwed up. I can't stand it when the server does everything they can for people who come in and then blame anything that goes wrong with their experience on the server. FYI-its the servers job to fill your cokes, bring you condiments, make sure you are happy. Not to cook your food the way you ordered it, but to fix it if it came out wrong as fast as they can. Not to make sure that everyone else is treating you the way you want to be treated, because guess what, they can't control that. So the next time you don't tip a server because somebody else made you unhappy keep in mind that servers do have to tip out based on their sales so you actually had your server pay to serve you and trust me if you are the type of person who chooses not to leave a tip-you are definetly not the type of person that I want to pay to serve. I also am not the type of server that expects to get a tip when I know my service was bad, but I mean bad, not just slow, bad. Servers have no control over how long the food takes to cook, they are servers, not cooks. Also, if you aren't the type of person who likes to tip, remember that most servers, especially in Arizona make $2.13 an hour and tipping is part of the package deal, its not a gift to them its paying them for service, for not having to get up and refill your own drinks, for not having to clean up your dishes, for not having to carry your food to your table, for not having to do anything but order, so when a server does their part, tip them for that.

But we still have commercials for them on TV. I wonder why? The cloest one to the Baton Rouge area (after they closed the one in Baton Rouge) was in Covington, LA. We drove the 40 miles a few times just to eat there and also ate there a few times on our way through Covington to somewhere else. Except for one time, the service was very slow. The last time we ate there, I ordered the Jack Daniel's salmon and half of it dropped through the grill so I only got half of it served to me. They did give me my meal for free but I also didn't get a full meal. I would have preferred a full serving of the fish! I did like the food but I almost never liked the slow service. There always appeared to be plenty of available wait-staff so I never understood the problem. By the way, I'm 50 and white. I don't understand how race suddenly became an issue with the original poster after being "impressed with the service" all three times. Maybe I can decide the real discrimination problem is with middle aged white women who expect to get their order the way they ordered it in a timely manner. I was never treated in what I could call a rude manner, but I can say I was treated in a nonchalant, disinterested, and ignored manner. The server wouldn't have noticed how I felt until he noticed I did not leave my usual 15%-20% tip. In fact, depending on the degree of unattentiveness or whatever the reason I feel I wasn't given the proper level of service, I leave 10% or less.

I took my family to the Fridays here awhile back. I guess the over 40 crowd isn't cool enough to be served, because after waiting at the table for 20 minutes, we got up and left. No big scene, we just got up and left. I told the "hostess" why and she didn't care. Good job sweetie. We went to their closest competitor, Chili's, and had a very nice meal. First time in about 20 years, and last at TGIF.

This report is so old people probably won't even see this...but I can't help it. I have to comment. I believe it was Timothy who said:

"First of all, servers generally earn a little over 50% of minimum wage. Why is that? It's because every person with an ounce fo class recognizes that servers work PRIMARILY for tips. Tips are not an extra little "gift," they are the server's income."

Well, don't blame the consumer for that decision. It isn't the consumer's fault that the person serving them works for under minimum wage plus tips. Don't take the job if you don't like the arrangement. And if you are a server, don't expect a tip for s**+**y service.

One of my dearest friends has been a server. She and I have very different viewpoints on the subject. There was an occasion where I felt the service was terrible and I didn't leave a tip. We got into a fight about it in her car afterwards. She said I was basically stealing. I asked if it was wrong to expect quality service, if someone who slacks off or ignores you should get the same money as a person who is attentive and friendly. She pulled the old "maybe she's having a bad day" card. I pulled the "well, thanks to her, now I'm having a bad day" card.

Long story short, I have to work for a living. I sometimes choose to spend a little of that hard earned money to have someone else cook for me and serve to me. And when I do, I do not expect to be ignored or insulted or have my food cooked wrong because the waiter thought they were too cool to write it down (every time a waiter has done that, my meal has been wrong...). I do not expect to wait unduly for my tab when I am finished, yet I've found myself stranded many a time for 20 minutes or more while waitstaff kicks back in the back area, joking w/ other waitstaff.

So, for those of you who are servers or sympathetic to them, take note: If things went down the way the initial complaintant described (I find that hard to believe simply because if it DID happen that way...GOD. How appalling!) then that person deserves free meals (and all tips waived) for the rest of their life!

If you don't feel well, stay home. Don't come in w/ zero energy and spend MY time ignoring me and then wonder why you got 10% or even no tip at all.

If something is wrong in your personal life, check it at the door. See above.

And before any of you think I am cruel, know this: I work 8 hours a day on the phone and I get some incredibly s**+**y treatment from some incredibly ignorant people. But I'm a professional and it pays good money, so each day I put a smile in my voice and I aim to treat each person w/ respect...and not just respect but alert, fully-present respect. That means I don't get to focus on my car trouble or the jerks on the road on my way to work. So, why should a server be entitled to goof off or display downright animosity and still put a hand out, expecting a tip?

And for those of you who pulled the race card, claiming that minorities don't tip or the elderly don't tip, shut your traps. That's racism. You just think that this race or that age don't tip well because that's what you focus on...nevermind the dozens of "your own" that "let you down". Those you forget because you choose to instead focus on one group.

Now, I wonder...who amongst you think I am white when you read this? How about black? Hispanic? Old? Young? Fat? Thin? Ugly? Attractive? And what are you thinking about what kind of tipper I am?

Don't assume. You know what they say. It makes an A$$ out of U and Me.

While I was attending college seeking my second degree I waited tables at a place in the West End in Dallas - I made less than $3.00 an hour an relied on tips to pay my rent and bills - I busted my a*s and made enough to pay my way - If anyone thinks that waitstaff makes more than minimum you are living in OZ!
It is hard work and by the way - I had to tip the busboy and the bartender who made more than I did

"A gratuity is a gift from the customer. If servers work for example $5.75 an hour that's what they earn, anything else is a gift and they should be grateful for what they are 'given'"

Wrong.

First of all, servers generally earn a little over 50% of minimum wage. Why is that? It's because every person with an ounce fo class recognizes that servers work PRIMARILY for tips. Tips are not an extra little "gift," they are the server's income.

Secondly, propietors of restaurants save a great deal of money by not having to pay servers minimum wage. This is reflected in lower food prices.

In other words, your bill is smaller BECAUSE of the fact that the servers aren't paid minimum wage. Lood at menu costs in states like Oregon, where servers are allowed minimum wage, compared to everywhere else, where servers only get 50% of minimum wage.

It may not be a formal requirement, but it is generally accepted that a certain part of the cost of dining out is the gratuity. If you think a gratuity is nothing more than a gift to leave at your leisure, then you should be eating at McDonald's, not Red Lobster.

Of course, that's not to say that a bad server should get a good tip, or any tip at all for that matter. Just don't feel like you're doing a big favor for a good waiter by leaving him a 15% tip.

"A gratuity is a gift from the customer. If servers work for example $5.75 an hour that's what they earn, anything else is a gift and they should be grateful for what they are 'given'"

Wrong.

First of all, servers generally earn a little over 50% of minimum wage. Why is that? It's because every person with an ounce fo class recognizes that servers work PRIMARILY for tips. Tips are not an extra little "gift," they are the server's income.

Secondly, propietors of restaurants save a great deal of money by not having to pay servers minimum wage. This is reflected in lower food prices.

In other words, your bill is smaller BECAUSE of the fact that the servers aren't paid minimum wage. Lood at menu costs in states like Oregon, where servers are allowed minimum wage, compared to everywhere else, where servers only get 50% of minimum wage.

It may not be a formal requirement, but it is generally accepted that a certain part of the cost of dining out is the gratuity. If you think a gratuity is nothing more than a gift to leave at your leisure, then you should be eating at McDonald's, not Red Lobster.

Of course, that's not to say that a bad server should get a good tip, or any tip at all for that matter. Just don't feel like you're doing a big favor for a good waiter by leaving him a 15% tip.

"A gratuity is a gift from the customer. If servers work for example $5.75 an hour that's what they earn, anything else is a gift and they should be grateful for what they are 'given'"

Wrong.

First of all, servers generally earn a little over 50% of minimum wage. Why is that? It's because every person with an ounce fo class recognizes that servers work PRIMARILY for tips. Tips are not an extra little "gift," they are the server's income.

Secondly, propietors of restaurants save a great deal of money by not having to pay servers minimum wage. This is reflected in lower food prices.

In other words, your bill is smaller BECAUSE of the fact that the servers aren't paid minimum wage. Lood at menu costs in states like Oregon, where servers are allowed minimum wage, compared to everywhere else, where servers only get 50% of minimum wage.

It may not be a formal requirement, but it is generally accepted that a certain part of the cost of dining out is the gratuity. If you think a gratuity is nothing more than a gift to leave at your leisure, then you should be eating at McDonald's, not Red Lobster.

Of course, that's not to say that a bad server should get a good tip, or any tip at all for that matter. Just don't feel like you're doing a big favor for a good waiter by leaving him a 15% tip.

"A gratuity is a gift from the customer. If servers work for example $5.75 an hour that's what they earn, anything else is a gift and they should be grateful for what they are 'given'"

Wrong.

First of all, servers generally earn a little over 50% of minimum wage. Why is that? It's because every person with an ounce fo class recognizes that servers work PRIMARILY for tips. Tips are not an extra little "gift," they are the server's income.

Secondly, propietors of restaurants save a great deal of money by not having to pay servers minimum wage. This is reflected in lower food prices.

In other words, your bill is smaller BECAUSE of the fact that the servers aren't paid minimum wage. Lood at menu costs in states like Oregon, where servers are allowed minimum wage, compared to everywhere else, where servers only get 50% of minimum wage.

It may not be a formal requirement, but it is generally accepted that a certain part of the cost of dining out is the gratuity. If you think a gratuity is nothing more than a gift to leave at your leisure, then you should be eating at McDonald's, not Red Lobster.

Of course, that's not to say that a bad server should get a good tip, or any tip at all for that matter. Just don't feel like you're doing a big favor for a good waiter by leaving him a 15% tip.

...Big Boys and others that have been successfully Sued for racial profiling and refusing to serve paying patrons... It's equal service and equal treatment under the current laws...If the offended party percieves racism, that's what it is and let the courts decide and not guess the reason for rude and otherwise ugly treatment. If the seats were reserved, that fact should have been clearly indicated for reserved seating. Often times the signs are removed and other patrons can be seated there.

To call a person "nasty" that they know nothing of is slander.I wouldn't tip them either for shabby treatment and poor service. Its the working class that do tip.

You may want to also contact the Diamonbacks and let them know how you were treated there, since the team is also of mixed ethnicity. Let them know that you are one of their supporters. Maybe they will cancel their reservations at TGI Friday's.

To Ungrateful Servers and Managers

A gratuity is a gift from the customer. If servers work for example $5.75 an hour that's what they earn, anything else is a gift and they should be grateful for what they are "given" and leave their racism at home along with their bad attitudes towards people of different ethnicities.

I have been to the particular TGI Friday's in question. I, too, was asked to move from the ticketholder section. Again, there were numerous other open tables in this section. I moved, but I wasn't pleased. I found it to be bar devoid of personality, even without being asked to move.

In this restaurants defense, the TGI in question is situated INSIDE BOB. This does make a difference in the seating.

Even though I understand, somewhat, the restaurant's stance, I do not understand the managers on duty. Their tactics were rude and unprofessional, to say the least. There are many other ways to entice a customer to relocate.
I know, because I have used most of them in the many service industry jobs I've had.

I worked for the Friday's chain many years ago,and I assure you that corporate headquarters would not be happy to hear about this situation.

The original poster states that he'd been to this place three times before and was impressed with the service.

So what happened the fourth time?

He wants us to believe that he was treated poorly because he's black. I don't buy that. He'd been treated with respect the other 3 times, yet suddenly the place turns racist and wants him out? That doesn't make sense.

There's nothing to indicate that a "racial thing" occured. I don't think we're being told the whole story.

You were asked to close out your tab after you sat at the table for an hour. AN HOUR? Food service establishments operate on reservations. They don't count on the parties occupying the tables for more than one hour.

You proceeded to stay put and "milk" your drinks, even after you'd been informed that the table was reserved for another party.

Had you been that "other party", you'd be screaming racism for not being seated right away.

After leaving the table, you headed straight to the bar for more drinks, but you were refused service.

How many drinks had you had during that first hour? I suspect it was too many, and your tab was closed out.

You're race had nothing to do with this problem. You created it yourself.

The fact that You are black may or may not play a role in why you were treated bad. The fact of the matter is that The guest is NOT always right, but should always win. Being rude to ANYONE is unacceptable in the hospitality industry under ANY circumstances. Some people tip based on service, some people tip based on their own personal reasons, thae fact is, we will will never really know why people tip the way they do unless they volunteer that information to us. I do know as a manager of a Friday's that some servers are racist and DO judge people by the color of their skin at times because of their past experience with people of that race.

I believe John's response to this situation was wrong! It sounds to me as if this guest was treated badly by the manager who was not running the restaurant properly on a busy night.

I found nothing specific to make me think it would be racially motivated, but you never now how individuals think about things. Many servers believe the same as John, but there are many guests out there who tip based on service not on the amount of the bill.

Therefore, if you give them bad service because you think you are going to get a bad tip and then get a bad tip, what do you think caused it: the bad service or the color of there skin.

Now I do believe there are some guests who refuse to tip someone because of the color of their skin. I had a server who was told by a black family they don't tip white people because they were all slave owners.

This particular server explained he was actually peruvian and his ancestors had been murdered by the same people who had held slaves. This guest still left a zero tip. Some minorities are just as racist and the majority can be! If no one actually looked at the color of our skin we'd all be better off!

I have seen many many situations with guests and managers. I can tell you first of all that the primary job of a manager is to kiss your hide. At Fridays the managers do less work then they do less work then at applebees or chilis or anyother restuarant that I have worked at so that they can concentrate on the guests being happy. I can only assume that you maby had a smart comment to make to the manager at some point, but I'll admit maby you didnt.

On the other hand I'll be totaly honest with you and the public. I dont want to sound rude or prejeduce but I will tell the facts. Minoritys are the most notorious tippers on the planet. So I can see how a bartender wouldnt want to pour a beer for you when he can schmooze somebody that would leave him a tip, thats why we work! Makes right ? Besides the fact the one thing people dont seem to understand is that we pay the bussers and hosts/hosteses. As a waitor or waitress we tip-out four percent of our sales. That makes your ohhhh so generous ten percent tip realy a six percent profit for the waitres.