Any waiters/resses out there? (with apologies to Sambucus Nigra)

chrissie57

Thanks for the replies:) seems it's not just me then

Agree about America, they have a much better system.

claire16c

I find this really annoying too.

the other day I was in a restaurant with 2 children I look after and we had a very late lunch so I would have thought that as we ended up being the only people in there before they cleaned up for dinner service they would have been desperate to get us out. But after ages of us sitting there and not being able to catch or see anyone we got up, put our coats on, and then just paid by the till on the way out.

I also went there about a month ago, and we were waiting so long that we were worried our car park ticket would run out, so luckily i had another adult with me, so they stayed to pay the bill whilst I went with the kids back to the car.

I love it in the US when they bring the bill over asap, then you dont have to wait around unless YOU want to.

BitterAndTwisted

Bringing the bill during service or very close to it in the US is usually a simple matter: the vast majority of restaurants are pretty affordable so there's little prospect of their customers doing the usual Brit thing and asking for separate bills. Or, of course, sitting in front of the whole place with a calculator out. I've travelled a fair bit in my time and never noticed foreigners doing either.

birduk

willeynotwiley wrote: »

I wonder if, given the limited training waiter/ess receive, they are struggling with the balance between given customers space to enjoy their meals and not wanting to make customers feel unwanted once their meal is finished?

This!

You can never tell whether a customer wants to linger for a while after dinner, chat enjoy the last of their drinks or they want to run away ASAP. So generally I waited until the customer asked for the bill (which I have had secreted away on a plate with some mints for a while anyway). I think the difficulty here is catching a waiters/waitresses eye to ask for the bill. They don't really linger around for ages waiting for you to ask- when there are a million other things that they need to be doing.

As someone on both sides, I still think it is really rude to hand over the bill without someone asking for it.

onlyroz

birduk wrote: »

As someone on both sides, I still think it is really rude to hand over the bill without someone asking for it.

What about the shy people. There are plenty of people (myself included) who HATE being the one with the job to catch the waiter's eye and wave their wallet/purse. Why can't they just come over once they've cleared the plates away and ask if anybody wants something else? If a "no" is given they then just bring the bill. Simples...

birduk

onlyroz wrote: »

What about the shy people. There are plenty of people (myself included) who HATE being the one with the job to catch the waiter's eye and wave their wallet/purse. Why can't they just come over once they've cleared the plates away and ask if anybody wants something else? If a "no" is given they then just bring the bill. Simples...

Because as a customer I would think that was rude. I would think that was them trying to get rid of me. You can't please all of the people all of the time....

You could say "Would you like the bill?" before bringing it. But again, some other people find that rude. Hey, I didn't say I had all the answers, just offering an explanation!