If you need urgent support, call 999 or go to your nearest A&E. To contact our Crisis Messenger (open 24/7) text THEMIX to 85258.
Read the community guidelines before posting ✨
Options
Bartending Woes
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
in General Chat
Hi all,
I have been bartending full-time in the busiest pub/resturant in my city for one month now. This is until I have my interview for a Navy Career and Police which is still months away, but there are still some nuances and little things I can't get my head around.
1- Do I need to learn telepathy? What is with the people who say "x pint(s) of lager and x ales please" Mystery shopper, what fucking lager mate, we have about 20 on tap? I've been asking what exactly they want but it seems to confuse them; do they just want me to choose for them?
2- "And your own", I've been taking 20p as a generic "tip". Apparently it means "take the price of your favorite drink" what do people mean by that because if that's the case I should be taking £3.10?
3- "Who's next please?" - "Yeah" "Me" "No me"... Then the look of disgust from the other two who expect me to constantantly take orders, serve, take the money and clarify food orders whilst keeping track of who arrived first. This isn't so much a problem when there are 3-5 people at the bar in the morning. But when theres 20+ tickets, how can they expect me to know, I expect them to sort it out themselves.
Any experienced bar tenders out there? Any tips
?
Cheers
I have been bartending full-time in the busiest pub/resturant in my city for one month now. This is until I have my interview for a Navy Career and Police which is still months away, but there are still some nuances and little things I can't get my head around.
1- Do I need to learn telepathy? What is with the people who say "x pint(s) of lager and x ales please" Mystery shopper, what fucking lager mate, we have about 20 on tap? I've been asking what exactly they want but it seems to confuse them; do they just want me to choose for them?
2- "And your own", I've been taking 20p as a generic "tip". Apparently it means "take the price of your favorite drink" what do people mean by that because if that's the case I should be taking £3.10?
3- "Who's next please?" - "Yeah" "Me" "No me"... Then the look of disgust from the other two who expect me to constantantly take orders, serve, take the money and clarify food orders whilst keeping track of who arrived first. This isn't so much a problem when there are 3-5 people at the bar in the morning. But when theres 20+ tickets, how can they expect me to know, I expect them to sort it out themselves.
Any experienced bar tenders out there? Any tips
?Cheers
0
Comments
People always used to say take something for yourself, so id usually take a generic couple of quid.
If you expect people to sort it out between themselves, you are asking them to do your job for you, which will only end in tears.
Best thing to do is go with the flow and see who you think is next, if someone points to someone else, then go with that suggestion, then go to the person who pointed next.
Otherwise the job is your own, just go with it.
I wish you understood just how hard that is, we have about 4 bar staff on each shift (+2 primary floor staff / aux bar staff and 2 managers who work floor arbitrarily). There is no way I can track who arrived first when I work in a huge pub with over 120 tables that grosses £50k a day average in the heart of a major city and tourist city. Some tables have 12 people on, that could be 12 different units of food (many which need "pea's or salad" then "Jacket potato or chips", and 12 different drinks. Impossible.
I once had an order for 31 drinks at once (£74.50), how on earth can I serve that, then monitor who is bloody next.
Better tips and better manners get you better stronger drinks, and some freebies too :thumb:
Never worked in a bar or as a waiter or anything but I have had shitty jobs and I'm sure there are many times with many people that they think about going postal, as I do with my job quite often so why be a dick, we all suffer!
I'm not being a dick, I'm obscenely polite to every customer I just needed to know on those issues - I wasn't even complaining.
Not you, I ment dickish customers. There is never a need to be rude to your server... well sometimes if they are overly rude to you maybe, but very rarely.
Fair enough - I don't understand some customers, they seem to think I am super human. Armed with telepathy, ten brains, 20 mouths and 80 extendable arms I would be sorted - but no - I can only do my best to serve as effectively and efficently as possible.
I used to manage a nightclub, I know what Im talking about. I understand and know its hard, you just have to get on with it and stop panicking about pissing people off. Im not saying be a dick, but just kinda do your job the way you want to, not the way others want you to.
You can't really.
Just say 'next please' and look at the people in front of you, go with the first person that catches your eye. If you saw someone else, remember their face and go with them next. And so on.
Yes you're going to piss people off sometimes and forget about them for a while, it goes with the job. They have to deal with it, if they complain, apologise and serve them next, then move on. Don't dwell on grumpy customers, you can't please everyone. You can try your best but you're not a machine and they have to like it or lump it.
That's the approach I take anyway.
It ended with an appology and a round of drinks for me and my mates on the house!
I wouldn't of been annoyed either way, i know they wouldnt have ignored me deliberately. I guess a lot of people arent as understanding though.
I just ask because anyone who has worked in a shop can tell you customers are the biggest bunch of shit for brains, rude, twatheaded, moronic bunch of people in the world.
When i worked as a waiter you would get maybe 60% of people were really cool and lovely people, 20% grunters, 10% looking for stuff to complain about and 10% nutcases.
You get people who are impatient and rude dickheads all the time - ones who expect a drink as fast as you can pour it.
Some who take delight in telling you how crap you are at your job, these are usually the people who dont eat out often and find it a novelty to have someone to demean while they eat/drink.
Some people who specificly look for things to complain about and be indignant about, these are usually minor and mundane details like a head on a pint of cider/cider too fizzy/flat or warm/cold or strongbow in a magners glass and are just basicly there to make life a little more annoying - NEVER SHORT CHANGE THESE PEOPLE!!
The best thing to do as a barman is: Otherwise the job is your own, "just go with it." as G said!
Firstly look like you know what you are doing even if you dont have a bleedin clue
Its a warzone! Just get a thick skin and ignore the knobheads and have a laugh with the nice ones
I had a guy complain at me because I was gone for less than a minute to take food to some people who had been waiting for it for at least 5 minutes, and I even said to him "I'll be back in just a minute, I need to take some food out". When I got back he was screaming about how shit I was. Another woman complained because her donut was "not like the ones they sell in America".
Some people will complain for the sake of complaining. You just learn to let it breeze over you and deal with the next customer in line, thanking the lord for the lovely regulars who come in, know you by name, and ask how your day is going.
ah i do love that. people usually refuse to form a queue at the bar and generally just stand around so if you've turned away to pour a drink when you turn back again you have no idea who is next. and then you ask who was next and five people say 'me'. try to keep an eye on who is at the bar as far as you can so you can at least know that the guy in the red top has been waiting a while. because half the time people have been waiting 2 minutes and go 'i've been here half an hour' and expect you to jump to attention. and then stand there slagging off the service to everyone around them as if you can't hear them. and then you serve them and they don't know what they want.
people moaning about the prices pisses me off no end. i don't set the prices, i have no control over the matter and if you don't want to pay more, don't ask for a premium lager / double / large wine. duh. these are usually the people who pay with a twenty or use a company card.
people who don't want ice but don't say that they don't are really annoying. because you either have to get the ice back out again which is an absolute pain or you have to pour them another and then the stock levels are wrong. i usually say 'ice and a slice?' to people to avoid this but doing it infront of managers makes them stroppy.
if people say 'and one for yourself' which they rarely ever do we are not allowed to take the offer or the money anyway. if i could i would just take a pound.
people who call me 'darling', 'honey' or 'sweetheart' just because i'm the alcohol wench are hideous and should be shot.
people who want a coffee at ten o'clock at night are a nusiance and should fuck back off to costa, where the drink will be far superior anyway.
if people don't specify a lager, give them the most expensive one to get your average order up. if they moan that it's too expensive, tell them it's the cheapest. i usually say 'any preference?' and they can see what there is. but normally if they don't specify they don't mind.
people can be unforgivably rude when beer is in sight. don't take it personally, if they are moaning that you haven't served them in turn or whatever else they want to pick fault with, just smile and say 'sorry about that' and leave them, they will get over it. you can't please them all.
ah i'm so good at my job
Is 'Love' ok? I always call the bar wenches that ^^
The thing to remember with all big chains is they have the mantra of 'respect the customer' and thats all well and good - but nobody said you had to like the bastards.
its funny that when you have a scrum of 40-50 people barging down the bar that you will NEVER get to the end of it until people go home - because when people see a queue and then that queue dissapears they think "holy shit get to the bar/counter/whatever" and make a new one.
I guess its a funny thing that just about every person who has ever worked in retail hates the customers
I stuck at it for a year but everything was a pain in the arse. The customers were obnoxious, the boss was a twat and I'd go home stinking of fags every night.
Yes, this is somthing I'm thankful for, as I'm a bartender - not a coal miner or asbestos removal man.
Just ask them to repeat themselves. If you don't hear them, or think you heard them, they'll be more pissed off if you mess up their order and spend double the time correcting it and recording the wastage. Just ask. People won't mind.
Just don't ask them to anunciate their consonants better. They won't like that.
Yeah, tricky one. What we used to do was put everything into a pot for the whole staff as generally it's just luck if you get the punter who's feeling generous rather than anything you've said or done. If it's a massive order, really massive, we used to add a drink for the staff each on the order which naturally went totally unnoticed.
You can't be in all places at all times and know exactly who got there first. Chances are, if they get lairy for not being served, it'll be the fault of someone who has pushed in ahead of them rather than you.
It can be really, really shitty working behind a bar. I've done it and, since I know how crap it can be, I always treat people behind a bar (and stacking supermarket shelves having done that too) with the utmost respect as I know what it's like. But by that same token, remember that the power (and incidentally, the law) is on your side:
i) You are doing them a favour, not the other way round
ii) If you're polite and try to serve them in order, then they have nowt to moan about
iii) As a barman, you can legitimately refuse service to anyone you choose. Now whilst this is a seldom-exercised power, if someone is rude, abusive or just a downright pain in the arse, they have no right to be served.
iv) If anyone does get stroppy, I imagine you've got a team of very large men just outside the door you can call upon.
Way back when I was 18, this bulbous barrel of lard used to come in, order his pint without so much as a please or thank you and, having finished, would bang his pint glass on the bar to indicate that he wanted another. Our response? We ignored him. He continued to bang his glass rather than ask for another. We continued to ignore him. Eventually he was barred. For what? Being a total cock. Our view was that if he can't act in a sufficiently civilised manner to ask nicely, why the fuck should we serve him?
I know it's crappy, but remember it's not for ever. Some of those people will do it full-time until the day they die. At least you're getting out. Just get your head down and remind yourself that this is the alternative! Chances are you'll come out with nothing if not some good stories.
Chin up boyo.
My favourite customers are the ones who think they're experts though. They get really fussy about having the right brand of gin or vodka. Of course the right brand of gin for their discerning palate just happens to be the one that's advertised on the TV, but for all intents and purposes is no different from the cheap shit. Never one of the many other far better options of the back bar that they've obviously never heard of. Another good one is the person who's ordering a cocktail they had on holiday, and so naturally knows how to make it better than you do. Often, of course, it's just an excuse to bang on about the time they went backpacking across some shit-tip where your Long Island Iced Tea was practically all alcohol for less than a pound. I wonder if these people go into Indian restaurants and bang on to the waiters about some meal they had in Mumbai while they were volunteering at an orphanage? But of course the most irritating person is the one who wants a shot of something, but they want it in a particular way, and naturally they can't remember how they want it, and expect you to know how they serve it in some obscure Eastern European nightclub they went to on their 18-30 vomit-fest.
My tip? Don't take the job too seriously, and always serve Guinness first. If anyone asks for Guinness at the end, you have the legal right to smash the glass over their head.
POTW! This is all so, so true and hillarious.
Yep that sounds about right. Add to that I used to get payed half of what my co-workers earned just because of my age...never mind I was doing the exact same job.
I eventually left after 7 months.
Surely thats the fault of the government and minimum wage
nudge nudge
http://vbulletin.thesite.org/showthread.php?t=139822
Why exactly?
but best tip, try and remember if you can who came to the bar in what order, otherwise just serve the ones who are waiting patiently first