Anyone who’s waited tables for even a single shift knows that there are some people who simply cannot be pleased. A server recently shared the hellish experience she endured at the hands of a brunch table of nine women.
Teagan Stewart (@teaganstewartmusic) is a country music singer/songwriter in Nashville, Tennessee. Stewart also waits tables at a hotel.
On May 25, Stewart posted a TikTok explaining what went down. Her experience resonated. Thousands commented on the post, which has 4.7 million views as of this writing.
Nearly everyone seems to be taking Stewart’s side. People suggested normalizing reviewing customers, described her tale as “my own personal hell” and the women as “diabolical.”
After her post went viral, a person who says they are one of the women popped up in the comments. It did not go well for her.
Stewart didn’t respond to a direct message sent via TikTok Wednesday afternoon.
Server nightmare party of nine
At the beginning of her post, Stewart claims the women plan to file a complaint.
“I heard you’re making a fun little complaint to the front desk and the manager,” she says.
She knew going in that the women were likely to be a problem, Stewart continues.
“I wanna preface this by saying everyone in the hotel knows you’re a [expletive] nightmare. Everybody knows. Because you’ve been awful to every single piece of the hotel,” she says.
“Everybody knows about you. We were warned.”
She says that three of the nine arrived first.
According to Stewart, they ordered French toast to share as the rest of the party trickled in. Meanwhile, she was waiting on seven other tables.
“I don’t know if you can count that high,” she says, addressing the women.
Stewart notes that there was only one server assistant for the entire restaurant that day.
“I’m not really getting any assistance,” she says.
Nevertheless, their service proceeded without any issues.
“At no time in this service did I make a single [expletive] mistake, so let’s think about that,” she alleges.
Then the women let her know they were ready to order. She finished a few tasks and took their order as soon as possible. Within five minutes, Stewart says she put it in.
“I do not cook the food,” she says. “…I know you don’t know how restaurants work—but servers do not cook the food.”
She estimates the food took 20-25 minutes, but it may have taken longer. If there was a delay, she points out that it’s the manager’s job to check on tables.
When it was ready, Stewart says she took the food to the table and delivered all nine orders without a single mistake.
“Everything was perfect,” she says. “Which is an Olympic athlete of a server if I do say so myself.”
All fun and games until it’s time to pay
Things took a hard right turn for the worse when it came time to pay the bill.
The server knew that this was likely to be an issue.
After they essentially demanded their checks at that exact instant, she asked a manager what she should do about the women’s likely demand for nine separate checks, which is against restaurant policy. She did so because “again, you’re famous at the hotel for being [expletive] bags.”
The manager told her to split the check three ways. This was unacceptable to the women.
Then they started complaining. The food was cold. The room was cold too. Stewart says she got the food to them “within seconds” so it couldn’t have been cold. As to the room temperature, she sarcastically says, “Sorry I can’t make the room a different [expletive] temperature than the building.”
The manager caved and told her to split the check nine ways. Due to the age of their system, this takes several minutes.
She complied, including splitting the French toast appetizer nine different ways.
Apparently, she wasn’t moving at the speed the women expected, because they started whining about how long it was taking. They claimed to be in a hurry, which she says isn’t true because they lingered in the lobby for an hour after the meal.
They also wanted her to bring a card reader to the table, which Stewart says isn’t possible because it’s attached to the computer.
Some of the women scrawled illegible room numbers on the bill. Three of them didn’t pay, according to Stewart, “because they knew they were going to get [expletive] for free.”
They were right. The manager comped the entire $300 bill. The server says they also threw in some free pastries.
“What’s ridiculous is you’re forty-[expletive]-five and you don’t know how a restaurant works,” she says at the end of the TikTok. “You’re a nightmare to everyone you’ve ever met. Everybody hates you and karma’s gonna be a [expletive] and I am too. Bye.”
She captioned the post, “Oh also you tipped my coworker 20 CENTS the day before and that is truly evil, pls seek help .”
Waiting tables PTSD
People with restaurant experience and other servers rushed to commiserate and sympathize.
“Triggered af bc I worked in restaurants for years,” country music artist Brittney Spencer commented. “This whole thing is infuriating, but I’m mostly upset at management for undermining you and failing you at point.”
“Servers need body cams. You got a complaint? Let’s roll the tape,” another person suggested.
Many wished the women would see Stewart’s post.
Eventually, someone identifying themselves as “Jill” from the nine-top appeared. In a since-deleted comment, Jill wrote, “All I’m hearing in this video is a lot of excuses for why we didn’t receive the exceptional service we deserve.”
Stewart wasted no time replying.
“Hey guys we got one. Yeah. I didn’t have to do a damn thing,” she says in a response video. “…Jill wants to stand 10 toes down on her behavior.”
The post inspired an onslaught of comments trashing Jill and her friends.
“The fact she typed all that, thought, yes everyone will agree with that, and then hit send,” joked one.
If she was in fact Stewart’s customer, Jill may have found that she did not in fact want to “stand 10 toes down” on her behavior. The comment has been deleted.
“Aw Jill deleted her comment. I wanted to say hi,” one person wrote.
@teaganstewartmusic Oh also you tipped my coworker 20 CENTS the day before and that is truly evil, pls seek help ?? #servertok #hospitality #serverlife #servertiktok #nashville #nashvillebrunchwomen ♬ original sound – Teagan Stewart
Her profile is currently private. It’s not clear if the settings were recently changed.
People largely believe there was no pleasing the nine-top Stewart served that day.
“Jill could’ve had 9 different servers, one for each woman at the table, waiting on them hand and foot, and they still would complained,” opined one.
“When the hotel has to put out a bulletin to all employees to beware of your group, that’s pretty sad. Stop treating your servers like they are less than you.”
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