Waiter's Revenge: 7 Ways Waiters Get Back at Nasty Customers

April 26, 2012 — -- intro: If you've ever worked for gratuities, you have more than likely felt the compulsion to seek revenge against nasty customers and bad tippers. Sometimes, waiters cross the line and can turn into the "waiter from hell" in order to stay sane, as wait staff veterans -- including Steve Dublanica, author of "Waiter Rant" -- revealed to "20/20."

Watch the full story on the full episode of "20/20: True Confessions"

So be wary when you next go out for a meal, and be nice to your waiter, or you could end up with a whole lot more than a plate of burger and fries, as the following examples show.

quicklist: 1title: Tampering With Foodtext: Purposely giving food unsanitary treatment before the customer eats it is the No. 1 so-called urban myth that really does happen in restaurants, according to Jessica Booth of Gurl.com, who wrote an article for the site called, "Confession: I Am a Waitress and I Eat Your Food."

Among the worst offenses revealed by various sources: playing ice hockey using the beef burger as a puck and a kitchen broom as the stick, spitting in the food and even sticking cheese up one's nose then placing it back on the plate.

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quicklist: 2title: Getting the Cheap Seatstext: Has a customer driven you crazy before he or she has even sat down? Try seating him or her at the worst possible table -- next to the bathroom -- as some waiters have been known to do, Dublanica said.

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quicklist: 3title: Rejecting Credit Cardstext: "I'm sorry, sir, but your credit card does not seem to work."

When the credit card is valid but the customer's attitude is villainous, a vengeful waiter might lie and tell the customer that his or her card is, in fact, not working, Dublanica said. Goodbye plastic, hello embarrassment.

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quicklist: 4 title: Passive Aggressive Tactic: Passing Gastext: Some waiters even stoop as low as to fart past customers while serving others, Dublanica said. The beauty of this below-the-belt technique is that no one will know for sure who actually let it rip.

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quicklist: 5title: Perfecting the Art of Hitting Customers on the Head With a Tray text: One waiter has it down to a fine art: Every time he passes a rude customer, he will clip him on the head with the edge of his tray. And then, of course, he'll smile sweetly with an "oops" and an over-the-top apology. This has to happen several times to get the optimum affect.

quicklist: 6.title: Delaying the Ordertext: A common tactic to ruin your dining experience is to make you wait and sweat it out, Dublanica said. After a waiter has done that, for the ultimate revenge you'll get the wrong order.

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quicklist: 7. title: Revenge on the Internettext: You had better pay a decent tip or you could get caught out on the Internet by a revenge-seeking waitress.

Waitresses have been known to out bad tippers on the Internet. One waitress was insulted by a customer after the patron who wrote "0" on the tip line of his bill and added, "P.S. You could stand to lose a few pounds."

The outraged waitress uploaded a photo of the bill to her Facebook page and identified the customer online. Internet revenge ensued, with strangers, friends and bloggers calling out the customer. The best revenge might just be a viral one.

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