I'm not a chef; I'm a (new) waitress and a few days ago a customer ordered her eggs over medium, but she didn't want the yolks runny. She was very insistent on this, and said she would send them back if they were runny so I put the order in as over hard eggs because I thought the very definition of over medium is that the yolks are just a bit runny.
She was pissed and sent the over hard eggs back and told me that she didn't want over hard. So next I tried putting them in as over medium but well done and put a note "yolks not runny". She sent these back too and was absolutely livid, and complained about my terrible service to the manager.
How should I have translated her request to the kitchen?
Best Answer
Not to be dismissive, but this just sounds like a difficult guest to me. I think you'll find that this happens from time to time and it can be tough to know exactly what they're asking for.
There are two major possibilities here:
From a server's perspective, it sounds like you tried a couple ways to deliver what she asked for. Her not being satisfied with that could be the result of the kitchen not quite meeting your request, her not really knowing what she's asking for, or other factors entirely. Perhaps you addressed her in a way she found disrespectful or annoying, and used her eggs as a proxy to complain.
(A side note from my experience: somebody insistently telling you up-front that they'll send back their food is a huge red flag. It almost always means they're looking for an excuse to cause a fuss.)
Frankly, it's not unusual for someone having a bad day to take it out on service staff over something minor. It's an occupational hazard. When this happens, be polite and clear with your manager about what happened and explain the situation as best you can.