Bad managers have a way of making already awkward situations even worse.

In today’s story, we’ll meet a server who was working an unusually slow night and finally got her only big table of the evening when a group of six came into the restaurant. Everything started off fine until one customer became upset after receiving a tiny, half-filled glass of champagne that somehow still cost $10.

The server immediately tried fixing the problem and even pushed management to comp part of the table’s meal because she agreed the situation looked ridiculous.

However, rather than back her up, the manager decided to throw her under the bus in front of the customers. Lucky for the server, the women at the table saw right through it.

Read on to see exactly what happened.

Manager threw me under the bus

This happened tonight, I work at a “the customer is always right” chain restaurant.

It was a REALLY slow day, with most servers ending with 4-5 tables for the whole night.

I was excited to have a 6-top come in, my only table, and I gave them my full attention.

The restaurant was really stingy with champagne.

One woman got wine, and one got champagne, so I went to the bar to get both.

When I came back to the table with them, the woman with champagne was very unhappy with what she received. To be fair, this was a $10 beverage, was a very small glass, and STILL only around half full.

I went back to the bartender to make sure this was the appropriate fill level, and she confirmed. So, I went back to the guest. She was very unhappy with the amount she received for her money.

After speaking with the ladies, she went to her manager.

I offered to replace the champagne with a drink that she would rather have and take it off her ticket. She was grateful, but said it was the principle of it that bugged her, and that they wouldn’t be spending any more money here.

With this, I went to my manager and tried to get him to comp as much of their ticket as possible, because honestly, what they got for the price they would be paying was messed up.

Now, I really like all of the managers, except the one working tonight. He’s very new and has made offensive remarks to multiple people, including women wearing “too much make up,” etc.

The manager went to their table to talk to them.

So he went to talk to the table, and was stuck there for around 5-10 mins with both women laying into him.

Eventually he came back to the computer and comped all of their food, so I took the women their revised tickets.

When I arrived at the table, they reassured me that they knew it wasn’t my fault, I was simply the messenger. But that my manager had said that it was most likely my fault and I had described the drink incorrectly to her, placing the blame on me.

She felt bad for the ladies, but they knew it wasn’t her fault.

Gladly, the women had stood up for me and told him it absolutely wasn’t my fault but rather whoever thought it was acceptable to charge $10 for half a glass.

Honestly at this point, I felt so bad about their experience, and it made me feel so much better that they understood that I had no power in the situation.

In the end, they left on a good note with me. Not so much with the restaurant, but at least they left a VERY reasonable tip. Thank you so much ladies.

Eek! That’s never a good look for a manager.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a cashier who gave her phone number to be friendly to a guest, but immediately wished she could take it back.

Let’s see what the readers over at Reddit think about managers who do this.

Here’s a manager who would’ve taken the blame.

According to this comment, he did not do his job the right way.

It does seem like he was reaching.

This reader explains pouring techniques.

Nothing destroys respect for a manager faster than what he just did.

The server handled the situation exactly how most people would want their server to handle it. She listened, tried to find a good solution, and treated the customers with respect the entire time.

Meanwhile, the manager decided to shift blame when he was confronted, rather than just take the heat.

And the fact that the customers immediately defended the server says a lot about who actually handled the situation professionally.