A brigade of bartenders took to TikTok to reveal what really makes them angry when it comes to customers and their behavior.
Many of the mixologists say their biggest complaint is being asked what their ‘real jobs’ are, even though they pull in six-figure sums, while other annoyances include being waved at credit cards, being asked for larger measurements strong, and being asked to ‘surprise’ customers with mystery drinks.
Watch below as FEMAIL rounds up some of the biggest missteps made by bar goers.
1. Ordering ‘strong’ drinks but not wanting to pay double
Bartender and TikToker @NickAtNite says he doesn’t like it when people ask for strong drinks or complicated recipes.
Many bartenders report that customers ask them to make their ‘strong’ drink while they make it, but are unwilling to pay twice as much.
Florida-based bartender and TikToker @NickAtNite tells customers, ‘Don’t ask me to make your drink strong.’ Chances are I would have served your free drink earlier, but since you asked me to make it strong and you didn’t want a double, I’m bringing out the jigger (measure)’.
2. Complicated drink orders
Mixologist @NickAtNite says that while he can make drinks, he’s not a fan of complicated drinks with fancy names ‘like Cape Cod or Gay Pirate.’
He explains: ‘It’s one and one tell me – vodka [and] Cranberry, Captain Morgan Rum [and] diet.
Someone once wasted my time googling a skinny bitch… it’s a vodka soda.
The bartender also warns against customers trying to order drinks from other bars or restaurants.
He concludes: ‘I don’t work there, I don’t know how to do it. You probably should have gone there.’
3. Rest your arms on the bar
Clancey Brooker, who works as a bartender in Australia and uses the TikTok handle @clankybabes.
She says that one of his biggest annoyances is when people rest their arms on the bar.
She says: ‘[It] It bothers me a lot when people come up to the bar and put their arms on the bar.
‘Where am I supposed to make your drinks now, sir? I literally have to get them out… Then they’ll complain.
‘They’ll say “ewww it’s wet” and I’ll say “it’s the bar, like what!”
4. Waving credit cards
TikToker @clankybabes says that another thing that drives her crazy when working behind the bar is when people place their credit cards on the bar before she’s ready to pay.
Recreating the scenario in a TikTok video, he says, ‘I’m going to grab my pay machine and I’m putting [the payment] and they have their card kind of dangling on the bar.
I say, ‘Sir, I’ll get there like I’m taking the machine to you, but I don’t like waving your credit card around.’
5. Being asked ‘what is your current job?’
Several bartenders report that they are often asked what their ‘real’ or ‘royal’ jobs are.
Hayley Kendall from Georgia, who bears @hayken412 on TikTok he says he really hates this question and finds it offensive.
She tells viewers, ‘I guarantee I make as much money as you, if not more, than you make at your real job and I also have a college degree, but I still choose to be a bartender because it’s more money.’
6. Not reading beer taps
American waitress Rachael, using the handle TikTok @literalmentesoirrelevant says that often people walk into her bar asking what beers are available when they’re literally sitting in front of the row of taps with all the offerings visible.
She informs viewers, ‘If you’re sitting at the bar in front of the beer taps and you ask me what we have on tap, I’m going to punch you in the face.’
She adds that the same goes for anyone who has the beer list ‘in front of their face’ and refuses to read it. She exclaims, ‘You stink!’
7. Don’t say ‘surprise me’
American waitress Rachael, who uses the TikTok handle @literallysoirrelevant, says she doesn’t like it when people order ‘surprise’ concoctions.
‘Another thing that annoys a lot of bartenders is when someone orders a drink and asks for it to be a ‘surprise’, she says.
‘I don’t know what you like and I’m not going to risk making you a drink that you absolutely hate when you can just tell me what you want or give me a general idea… If someone says, ‘I like tequila , can you surprise me with a drink?” Sure, but if you say, ‘I don’t know, can you just surprise me?’ No, I can’t.
8. Ask for water but never drink it
TikToker and bartender @ewholliday made a series of videos outlining her biggest dislikes when it comes to customer interactions.
She says that something that really annoys her is when people come into the bar and ask for water, but then they never drink it and she has to throw away a full glass.
She explains that often people walk in and ask for water just to ‘feel better sitting at a bar for 8 hours straight.’
9. Premium liquor in multi-layered cocktails
Another @ewholliday’s favorite hates is when customers order premium spirits in multi-layered cocktails.
She says she’s had people come in and order premium spirits at her Long Island Iced Tea.
Detailing why this is so ridiculous, she says: ‘A Long Island Iced Tea [has] I’m like 15 [to] 11 spirits in it…can’t tell the difference between [Crystal] Head and Absolut when mixed with tequila, gin whiskey, bittersweet, coke, rum…’
Offering advice to future patrons of her bar, she says, ‘If you want to set the money on fire, you can tip me.’
10. When the card rejects
Jamie Steck, a Los Angeles resident who works as a waitress part-time to finance her singing career, says one of the most awkward parts of her job is when a customer’s card is declined.
In a TikTok video posted to her account, @jaimiesteck – she goes on to explain that it’s always an ‘awkward’ scenario and that the responses she gets are ‘always the same’.
She says most people exclaim ‘that’s not possible’, or some start going through their bank accounts and show her how much money they have in there.
Others tell her to ‘run the card again’.
She adds: ‘I always try to be nice, I always try to say it discreetly… [But] so they always open their bank statement and say “well it says they charged me $30 here” and I say that’s [a] transaction pending, not processed and not approved.’
