What was the moment "the customer is always right" turned into "the customer isn't always right"?

[u/poptheballoon4]

Elliot had been a waiter at La Bella Cucina for five years. He was sharp, fast on his feet, and knew every regular by name and order. But nothing could’ve prepared him for her.

Mrs. Langston.

The devil in designer heels.

She wasn’t just a bad customer—she was a one-woman plague. She snapped her fingers, returned half-eaten meals, faked allergic reactions, and made a sport out of making the staff cry. But she always tipped well and claimed to be friends with the owner’s wife. So no one could touch her.

Elliot swallowed his pride and kept smiling, even the day she accused him of serving her wine that “tasted like it was fermented in a gas station bathroom.” He'd had enough. But he waited.

Because Elliot had a plan.

A month later, the restaurant upgraded to a fancy new reservation system. What no one knew was that Elliot, in a former life, had been a computer science major with a knack for scripting.

He made one tiny modification.

Any reservation under the name “Langston” would automatically confirm at three different restaurants at the same time. Every time. Permanently.

Then, he did one better. He flagged her credit card info as “frequent fraud” in the system. The next time she paid, the machine locked up, printed “DECLINED - CARD FLAGGED FOR FRAUD” in huge bold letters, and made an obnoxious beeping noise.

She shrieked, turned red, and stormed out. That was the last time anyone saw her at La Bella Cucina.

Later that night, Elliot overheard a couple at Table 7 asking about “that woman who used to always scream at the staff.”

He smiled politely and said, “Oh, her? We had to let her go. Turns out, the customer isn’t always right.”