creepy customer

System

We have a "creepy customer" at one of our locations who is making our female servers very uncomfortable (invading their personal space, etc.)We have an obligation to provide a safe and comfortable enviroment to our staff. Apparently this guy has been kicked out of other restaurants for the same harassing behavior. We have the right to refuse service, and have had more than 4 servers complain to management. We need to take action. Any suggestions on how to kindly kick him out?

Gillian3

Maybe deal with it like you would an employee who is being asked to leave. Take him to the managers office and ask him not to come back because his behaviors are not appropriate. This happened recently to my daughter who works in a bookstore. She complained to her boss, who called the guy into the office and told him to leave and not come back.

Crout

The key is to not embarrass him publicly, so I would try to find a private area to give him the news. You might consider having a witness with you as well.

szemcumo

Having witness seems like a must but I also wonder if having a police officer present would even be an option, meaning would you want to do that and also would the police do that if he wasn't doing anything criminal at the time. Just a thought.

Don D

What if you find out he's a millionaire with 20-400 vision and can't help it? Why not talk with him discreetly and tell him his behavior is bothering your staff. Allow him to reply. Then decide. If his reply is unsatisfactory, tell him to get the hell out and not come back.

On the other hand, if my suggestion is ridiculous, why would you not treat him as you would someone who showed up with no shirt or shoes?

System

I was just waiting for you to chime in Don. I just got off the phone with the manager a few minutes ago and basically chose your route. We are going to politely and privately address the issue with the customer, give him a chance to change his behavior, and as we say in the restaurant industry, "86" him if he doesn't comply.

TN HR

This decision seems reasonable enough. In the middle of all the tree-hugging and kumbaya singing with the customer don't forget to address your employees and explain to them your course of action. They, of course, should be your priority and they deserve to be kept abreast of how the company plans to address their concerns.


Gene