Last night my hubby, girls and I went to a Golden Corral we frequent. We're not regulars, we go about once every month or so if we can. Last night we got there at 8:30, they close at 10. It was kind of busy but dwindling down. We sat ourselves in a fairly empty section. The waitress was in the back of the section filling ketchup bottles. We got our food, she removed the tray pretty quickly and we started eating.
The food was fine but I've never had a more inattentive waitress. With the exception of one time, each time we needed her we had to call her over. She filled hubby's glass and left mine empty. We had to call for extra plates, we had to call for my drink refills and his after the first one. We had to call for straws for the girls closed kid's cups.
We were there till almost ten. The girls eat slow since they're both under 6. She never left the back of the section. She spent the whole time refilling bottles or wiping empty tables. She didn't get near us unless specifically called for. When we were almost ready to leave I went up to the pay station myself to get a drink refill after waiting 125 minutes for her to come refil our drinks.
Normally hubby and I are very good tippers. We'd neve gone that late before and certainly won't again. I got alittle evil pleasure from the party of 12 people who showed up at 9:40 and sat themselves in her section. (although I'd never go to a restaurant with a huge party right before close. That does suck) We don't leave big messes. My mom was a waitress for 15 years. I make sure not to let the kids destroy while eating. We weren't loud, obnoxious or overly demanding. There was just no reason at al to ignore us the way she did.
I left a note instead of a tip stating that even though it was late, it was not okay to completely ignore us.