Yesterday, at around 9.30-10 pm - peak waiting time, one of the waiters came up to me. He told me that the customer on table # 5 had ordered a hot fudge sundae, but when it arrived he claimed that he'd ordered a brownie with ice-cream sundae instead. I asked the server if this was his own mistake and if not then he should ask the customer to try a new sundae this time. He came back and told me that the customer doesn't want it, wants it cancelled and replaced with a brownie with ice-cream sundae.
I told the server to tell table # 5 that we'll cancel it this once but that he should be more careful while ordering the next time around.
A few minutes later this man in his mid-fifties walked up to me and said, "That was a very audacious message you sent."
"What message?"
"You asked my waiter to tell me that I should order more carefully the next time. How dare you?" he growled, "Are you a school principal to tell me how to behave, you idiot, how do you even know I'll ever come back here again."
"Please mind your language." I replied, trying to stay calm at his provocation, "You made a mistake while ordering but we still cancelled it. We merely asked you to be more careful while ordering the next time."
To which he replied, "I'd read in the papers how a customer at a famous South Delhi restaurant was asked to leave his credit card behind when he'd wanted to go out and smoke. The journalist who'd reported this had asked people to never go there again." and then he added, "It is because of stupid idiots like you that this kind of a thing happens."
I sternly asked him to mind his language and that if he had any complaints, he should leave them in writing.
To this he boasted that he was one of the leading business consultants of India and that he'll get this incident published in a newspaper.
I retorted that that was his choice.
"Of course, I don't need your permission for that," and added while going back to his table, "You can't stop me. I'll see you for this."
