5 Reasons Why Customer Service in Miami is So Bad

At first I read your Bad Service column thinking you have a bad attitude. Now, after rereading it, I feel sorry for you, having to write about a place I mostly avoid. And am very happy I live in Broward.

Here’s one for you: why are Miami drivers so bad? Because so many of them learned to drive at 65, after retiring and moving here from NYC.

Posted on 12/07/2010 at 12:58 AM

I mostly get excellent service in Miami.  On most occasions I make an effort to to create a relationship of some kind with my server and let them know I appreciate them as a person.
I try not to come off as “arrogant”.  This formula can be difficult for some people who tend to be self centered and grandiose in nature.

Posted on 12/07/2010 at 6:45 AM

People can poke fun at Meltzer, and blame him for receiving bad customer service, but I am a Miami local also, and one is very polite. I get bad service ALL THE TIME, so am happy he wrote this, as it really is a true reflection of how bad things are here. I can think of only 5 places on the beach with great service. Places with the worst service? Nexxt Cafe is one, News Cafe depending on time a day is another. They don’t need to be polite, the tourists will go there anyway.

Posted on 12/07/2010 at 10:11 AM

I am on both sides of the fence here and I have to disagree with you. You should treat your server (or anyone) the same way You want to be treated. I am not sure why you always have bad experiences in Miami. Did you ever ask yourself if the problem was your attitude? Happy Tuesday! and call MiamiBeach411.com where You’ll receive excellent customer service everyday even if you are a pain.

Posted on 12/07/2010 at 11:22 AM

I agree with Mirna.

UK Jess, your problem is your bad attitude.

Posted on 12/07/2010 at 11:44 AM

Haha ok Nexxt server, however the Nexxt visit I had was awful. I was there with Gus and Michelle, and everyone knows they are the politest people in Miami
I am always polite to servers. All my friends here are servers.

Posted on 12/07/2010 at 12:00 PM

Matt, I usually agree with you but everytime I visit I get really good service.  Maybe I’m lucky however I tend to avoid the clubs.

Posted on 12/07/2010 at 12:36 PM

Superb, well put, funny, witty and oh so true, this article is a masterpiece (seriously). If you live in Miami for more than a year this will make so much sense to you. I moved from San Francisco after being there for more than a decade and landed in Miami in 2002 and oh boy, what a difference when it comes to dining out. I wrote this morning in my blog “Let me say that again, it is hard to find a place with reasonable prices in this city, I mean, how much can you charge for a mediocre glass of wine (well, yes, this comes from frustration because it seems that you cannot sit anywhere in Miami without having to pay $15 a glass plus they slap you with the tip included which by the way, the waiter did not even smile, thank you).”
I hear you Matt…
Cheers,
Grace

Posted on 12/07/2010 at 3:30 PM

Thanks, Grace.

Jess is right. Nexxxt is actually the poster child for restaurants where you’re lucky if you see your waiter within 10 minutes of sitting down. Seriously, that is wholly inexcusable. And that has nothing to do with MY attitude, since I haven’t said a word to the server yet.

But when a server takes his sweet as time getting to me, I’m going to be pissed when he shows up. And it probably snowballs from there. I shouldn’t have to rush to order the first time I see the waiter, because iKnow it’s gonna be another 15 minutes before he comes back. But at Nexxt, and a TON of other places, that’s how it is. Put more people on the floor? Would that kill managers? The problem here seems to come down to understaffing, really. And I bet most places lose more money in revenue from people who walk out from not being served than it would cost them to put on tow more people at minimum wage.

Posted on 12/08/2010 at 12:33 AM

I was out for lunch one time with a Cuban guy and a black guy. The black guy and I got noticeably bad service, while the Latin server (probably Cuban, I dunno) seemingly went out of his way to take care of the Cuban guy. It was so bad that the black guy told me, “Now you know how it feels.”

Shite service is right there in the top Reasons to Dislike Miami

Posted on 12/08/2010 at 7:58 PM

We tend to associate bad customer service soley the front line personel, but what the hell are the proprietorships thinking about ? You’d figure they’d be on top of all commings and goings of their livelihood.

Posted on 12/08/2010 at 9:32 PM

Let’s not forget #6!

6.  IT’S MIAMI…BITCH—There’s that attitude that people who live and/or work on the billion dollar sandbar are really cool in a tragically hip kind of way, much cooler than anyone from anywhere else.

Posted on 12/09/2010 at 1:13 AM

UTS is on to the crux of the problem, I believe. The staff are only doing what management lets them get away with. The owners and managers are by and large very unprofessional and seem to pay no attention to how customers are treated. In this respect Miami is light years behind places like Vegas and Orlando, both of which have far, far more tourists, and much, much better service, so reason #1 is clearly invalid.

Posted on 12/09/2010 at 1:21 AM

I find it interesting that there are no “owners” comments here.  Perhaps they continue to deny
that it’s happening in “their” posh surroundings.  Sort of the “pink elephant” syndrome.

Posted on 12/09/2010 at 6:41 AM

I am on the fence on this one. I’m not going to say I NEVER get bad service, but on the whole I get good service. Also, it depends on where you go.  Upscale places kiss your ass before you even walk into the door. 

Or maybe not so upscale places but places with a national reputation. I just had dinner at Seasons 52 in Coral Gables. Excellent service.  But the wait staff here is real staff—they have insurance benefits, etc;  Or I can go to my favorite honky tonk bar in Cutler Bay and get great service there too or some sandwich shack in Allapatah.  I’m just saying I think this is mostly representative of Miami Beach.

I think this may be more of a problem on Miami Beach, where the 18% tip is included and the staff is probably European or Latin American where people are used to eating at a slower pace anyway. And the staff is being paid under the table with no benefits.

Being understaffed is inexcusable though.  Nexxt is very crowded all the time—you’d think they could put two and two together.

Grace—not everywhere in Miami is like that! Let’s have a glass of wine in my ‘hood one of these days!

Posted on 12/09/2010 at 10:17 AM

I’ve had abysmal service in South Miami.

Eric, you make a GREAT point, and Black people can take solace in the fact that White folks in Miami get treated like that pretty much everywhere. Job interviews. Bars. Social outings. Why I said being a White person here give you empathy for what minorities deal with i nthe rest of the country. Save for maybe Honolulu.

Posted on 12/09/2010 at 9:58 PM

I have seen this before in Hawaii, Cancun and Puerto Vallarta, except in those places it wasn’t restricted to just restaurants, every thing from taxis to street vendors.  In each of those cases the government initiated, be nice to the tourist campaigns and things got better.

Posted on 12/11/2010 at 2:33 AM

We really oughta try that here. Except I don’t think it would make sense to anybody.

Posted on 12/12/2010 at 1:59 PM

I live in fort Lauderdale, and I frequent south beach frequently because I have a few friends who are business operators there. I personally would not live in Miami-Dade county for free.But, while Miami Beach is primarily owned by Yiddish Americans and then Anglo Americans.There are quite a few Cuban mestizo’s who work there primarily as waiters, waitress’s, bellhops and valet, while there are some also in the front desk of of hotels etc.There is also a growing European community in Miami beach which is helping to improve its appearance and also customer service experience.One of the reasons why Non-White’s experience an even more horrible customer service experience than White’s per-say, is because the Cuban mestizo population have serious racial/ethnic self esteem issue’s. You have to realize Cuban Mestizos have two huge self esteem issues. Firstly you have to take in consideration their history, for one they almost all came here on dilapidated boats and rafts with absolutely nothing, except their hands out and mouths open. Which the Mariel Boat lift being the most famous where Fidel Castro basically opened the door of all their prisons and rounded up all the gays and put them on the Mariel Boat to Miami.Then you have to realize that if you check Miami-Dade’s Population census, Cuban Mestizos make up about 1/3rd of Miami-Dade’s Population, yet the census says Miami-Dades population is over 75% white american.The problem is literally all of Miami-Dade’s county Cuban population is of Mestizos. Cuban Mestizos are embarrassed by their Native Indian slave blood running threw their veins.Literally all Cuban Americans are mestizo’s , yet they want to be classified as white, though their appearance in general is far from European in appearance. Now because of these two critical psychological flaws possessed in general by Cuban immigrants. Tourists and American citizens in particular African American and other ethnic minorities experience terrible and borderline if not blatant prejudice in Miami Beach establishments by waiters, waitress’s etc.But this usually is the response done by a large group of people being infected with this kind of Delusional Disorder Psychosis as a unit with serious low racial/ethnic cultural self-esteem issues. Is by trying to create within their mind and immediate environment an artificial reality of utilizing whatever means they have at their disposal, to make another feel inadequate or out of place.

Posted on 12/12/2010 at 1:59 PM

Yiddish Americans? Anglo Americans? Cuban mestizo’s? Self-important pop psychologist Marius Ivaskevicius (obvious phony name) is both bigoted (in his assumptions and terminology) and ignorant (especially re history and his frequent incorrect apostrophes). BTW, Miami Beach was WASP (no Jews or Negroes allowed) for many decades before Jews started vacationing there.

To Matt and Robin: “Be nice to the tourist campaigns” been tried here, many times. Remember MIAMI NICE (1980s?) and BE A FRIENDLY FLORIDIAN (1970s?). There have been others that I don’t recall, I’m sure.

Posted on 12/12/2010 at 2:14 PM

And the Rambling Incoherent Rant of the Week Award goes to….......

I actually agree with you but say it in a lot less words. Hispanics, insofar as the US is concerned, aren’t White.

http://www.miamibeach411.com/news/index.php?/news/comments/all-the-same-to-me/

Posted on 12/12/2010 at 2:33 PM

I grew up in LA and spent a lot of my adult life there and until I was over 60 and heard a Hispanic friend of mine refer to us white guys never thought of them as any thing any different than me.

Did the “be nice” campaigns work?  If not then the 18% rule might need to be revisited.

What seems strange to me during this economic down turn versus others is that in the past, service always improved when times were hard and jobs were tight, but this has not happened, at least that I have seen.

Posted on 12/13/2010 at 12:55 AM

why are drivers in miami so bad?
because you used to be able to BUY your drivers licence here, a certain driving school on the beach, offered anyone for the sum of $60,- all the answers of the written test , which you studied in one hour and passed the test
same for the driven test, another $60,- and he tought you where the police was going to direct you to drive for your exam, and what to watch out for.
I got my drivers licence, but could not drive!
(24 at the time, not 65) am I a good driver?not according to my husband and friends that had the pleasure to be my passenger…I have adapted to the miami style after many years and know that horn need to be USED or it will break.weaving is smart, it saves you time,
illegal u turns are merely suggestions as long as no one is there etc etc

Posted on 12/13/2010 at 1:11 AM

Cuban mestizos??? LMAO!!! Never mind that all the Indians were killed off early in colonization. But I won’t argue with a fool lest I should appear like one myself.

Posted on 12/13/2010 at 11:09 AM

This is exactly what I am talking about with Cuban mestizos and alot of mestizos in general.They look in the mirror, and try to be what they are not lol. Self hate on steroids buddy.I mean firstly, I LIVE NEXT DOOR TO CUBA(MIAMI) lol I see them everyday. I know what Caucasians look like, I am latvian for crying out loud, I am Caucasian myself.I have been to Andalucia in Spain, I have been to Madrid. Cuban mestizos do not racially look like, nor speak like, nor act like Castillians Spaniards.Off topic, that crazy native american/yoruba/catholic dead saint worshipping animal sacrifice religion of Santeria that they practice by Cuban Mestizos, did not come from Spain. Nor would Castillians partake in such savagery true Hispanics from Spain have no idea what that savage crap is, nor would they delve into it. Cubans developed that crazy religion by having children with native american slave women and yoruba slaves and combining it with dead saint worship of catholicism.The self hate of your indian women slave blood baffles me. Well here is a mitochondrial DNA link proving, genetically, what cubans are .....MESTIZOS! I personally do not need THIS dna PROOF of what Cuban Mestizos are because i can see the indian women slave blood that gives them those mestizo features in them .http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/8/213 Also on a last note——>According to Levi Marrero (Cuba, Isla Abierta, 1994, pg 9),  Marrero points out that Christopher Columbus found the native women “tan fermosas que es maravilla” (“so beautiful that it’s a marvel”) and that the offspring of an amerind and a spaniard were legally considered white, so such a marriage would not have been recorded otherwise. So when they did wipe out the Indians, Mestizos were considered “white”, and were not mass murdered—->That is why the descendants of the modern day Cuban Mestizo thinks they are “white”.Like I said before Cuban mestizos in general suffer from mass Delusional Disorder Psychosis.

Posted on 12/15/2010 at 12:21 PM

Marius, there were not enough Taino Indians nor was there enough interbreeding in Cuba to affect the gene pool.  In fact, so many whites interbred with African slaves that the ONLY “Indian” people we have left is a roughly that group in Belize, which are mainly black. When speaking of Cuba, you need to refer to mulattoes, not mestizos ... you’ll find more of that in Central and South America.

Not only do I think your theory is bogus, you are sorely mistaken if you think people of “color” have low self-esteem. I know plenty of black Cubans who work hard and do well in this city. By the way, I am Cuban American and am completely 100% white. You cannot define a Cuban by color. Actually, you can’t define ANY Hispanic by color and that’s even true of Spain.  We come in all shapes, colors and from all classes and level of education.

By the way, I have read the documents of the original colonizers. Just because Columbus said the women were beautiful, doesn’t mean those violent Spanish bastards colonized a whole island with mixed-race babies. The Indians died off and did not leave a significant genetic legacy ANYWHERE in the Caribbean or Florida. Like I said, it was the influx of additional Spanish colonizers and black slaves that gave Cuba its current genetic makeup.

Posted on 12/15/2010 at 1:25 PM

This is exactly the psychological madness I am talking about, now this mestizo is disclaiming her Indian slave blood, though DNA tells them what we see in their physical features. That Cubans minus the black ones are mestizos.You cannot dispute DNA my freind, and no matter what you think you see in the mirror, everyone see’s a mestizo.I am a Caucasian European, I know what europeans look like. This is ignorance and denial par none.I give you scientific facts cubans are mestizo, and all you can do is babble madness.Puerto Rico is not only genetically mestizo, but even more so than Cuban mestizos are more indian in appearance than your people, some of them look straight indian.

Posted on 12/15/2010 at 5:36 PM

Marius says “I know what europeans look like.” Europeans from Spain and Turkey look different from those who come from the Ukraine, Sweden, or England. You are obsessed with race, Marius. You are a racist, much more so than the people whom the ignorant left likes to call racist. Maybe you could get a job as Race Czar in the Obama administration. Democrats started the KKK and you would fit in very well with their current crop of racists. Maybe you fit in with some folks in Pea-Pickin County in lower Appalachia or in Hitler’s Bavaria, but not here. OTOH, you may just be a troll who needs to get a life.

Posted on 12/15/2010 at 5:45 PM

My freind I have been to Spain, they are just as white as my people from latvia. So yes we can define Spaniards by racial appearance, they are white caucasian europeans just like me, and your forefathers from Spain. Who raped indian women , or married indian slave women to make you the present day Mestizo Cuban .Being Spaniard is not just a nationality, it is a part of a race,culture and ethnicity.So what you are saying does not make any sense. It is like saying, you cannot define Irish people by color and race?Why because the irish made alot of mulattoes in the american south during slavery? So now because of all these mulattoes produced by irish overseers and slave masters, Somehow that destroys the racial identity of the Irish people in the indepedent state of Ireland or Irish in the diaspora?My friend there is only two countries south of America that is inhabited by real Spaniard Europeans in large numbers, and that is Argentina and Uruguay.All the other countries are populated by mestizos.And you can even see by not only racial appearance but by the way Argentinians and Uruguayans have built their cities and how they live, how they are different from these Cuban Mestizos and other mestizos general. Montevideo and Buenos Aires look and feel like European cities in culture and lifestyle.Miami is a big nasty ghetto, with constant business running away. Little Havana might have more chickens and goats running around than the Cuban mestizos living there. Most of little havana looks like an extension of the underclass of Habana Cuba and a traditional indian village made of concrete.Listen to the way Mestizo Cubans speak, that is exactly the way central american indians speak, loud and choppy.Argentinians uruguayians and Spaniards do not speak like that, you are exhibiting the Indian in you.

Posted on 12/15/2010 at 6:06 PM

Actually “Conservatives” who were at once democracts started the KKK. They were the slave owners and those who benefitted economically from slavery, and having non-whites forced into working the “mexican type jobs of today”. When the northern democracts under Kennedy and Johnson de-segregated the armed forces, and then presented to congress and passed civil rights.The Conservatives Filibustered civil rights by the way, but eventually it passed. And when it did,  all the conservatives lead by Senator Strom Thurmond and Governor George Wallace defected to the Republican Party. And when that happened, all of the “sane ” republicans left the republican party and joined the democrat party.So basically you had a switch of major proportions based on membership and the philosophy that followed it. Matter of fact this is exactly what Johnson did to get civil rights passed——————>He called the congressional leaders to the White House in late October, 1963 to line up the necessary votes in the House for passage.[43] However, after Kennedy’s death, it was Johnson who broke a filibuster by Southern Democrats and pushed the bill through the Senate. Johnson signed the revised and stronger bill into law on July 2, 1964. Legend has it that, as he put down his pen, Johnson told an aide, “We have lost the South for a generation”, anticipating a coming backlash from Southern whites against Johnson’s Democratic Party.[44]
And he was right, because those former southern democrats states vote republican, to the party they defected to, up until now, except for a couple of voted for Obama recently.Why all based on rascism and anger at civil rights. Matter of fact Mestizo cubans would not even have been allowed here on the rafts they came on, if conservatives got there way with filibustering civil rights.

Posted on 12/15/2010 at 6:30 PM

“they are just as white as my people from latvia” LOL! Mario, you don’t know about the Moors, who did to Spain centuries ago what they are doing to all of Europe now. (That’s what the term moros for white rice & black beans came from: Moros y Christianos, Moors & Christians.) A huge posting doesn’t prove that you are intelligent. In your case it proves the opposite. Don’t the neo-NAZIs in Latvia want you back?

Posted on 12/15/2010 at 6:32 PM

You are a laugh a minute with your misinformation. KKK was started by Democrats to harass and kill Republicans & Negroes. George Wallace was never a Republican. I believe more Democrats opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Republicans, the party of Lincoln, mostly supported it. Al Gore Senior was among the great Democrats <g> who opposed it. And don’t forget Senator Byrd, never repudiated by Democrats for his KKK membership.

Posted on 12/15/2010 at 6:37 PM

I avoid Miami at all costs and the service is one reason I do, BAD.

Posted on 12/23/2010 at 3:30 AM

I think it’s funny that “LOL” is being the “educated PC-person” and is calling Marius name phony… NOT knowing that these names are common in Lithuania.
Like our own Miami Heat’s ŽydrÅ«nas Ilgauskas.

Not saying that Marius is right, just that it’s funny when “educated” people turn out to be un-educated.

FAIL…

Posted on 08/21/2011 at 5:15 PM

The bad drivers here aren’t over 65 .That is an old stereo-type .
Reckless , dangerous , texting, etc drivers here are any age but 65 and over.

Many over 65 do not use turn signals but neither do the majority of under 65. I have only seen 20’s to 50’s weave in and out of traffic like savages , go through red lights and for the most part wipe their butts with traffic laws .

A police dept which refuses to enforce traffic laws to the point that they even ignore vehicles with tinted covered up license plates is the real problem.

You take the same dangerous driver in Miami-dade and put them in Key west,etc and they do not drive like they drive here because Key west has a real police dept with real standards..

Posted on 02/15/2012 at 1:07 PM

If you think service at a south beach restaurant is bad… try to book a flight to Cuba with one of the “travel agencies” in town, especially if you are NOT in town. Unprofessionalism just hit a completely new level.

Posted on 06/08/2012 at 12:10 PM

anyone who thinks service in Miami is good, has either just come in from some South American country….. or never lived anywhere else.

Posted on 09/02/2012 at 1:47 PM

Hispanics are only considered “white” when they work for a community watch, and shoot a black person.  Then you can call them “white-hispanic”, the rest of the time they are just “hispanic”

Posted on 09/02/2012 at 1:50 PM

If you speak spanish or with a new yawk accent you will get somewhat better treatment, but don’t expect good service and you won’t be disappointed. That is just how Miami is.

Posted on 11/29/2012 at 4:15 PM

I’ve been to South Beach many times and service has been mediocre at best. Most of the times I just let it slide because well…I’m on vacation and don’t want to let any bad experience or rude person ruin my mood. But this last trip we received the worst service I think I have ever had anywhere we traveled. It was downright pathetic. I agree 100% with this article. The only time anyone was nice was when they would try to lure us into their restaurant or sell us something etc etc. Other than that, from the hotel we stayed at to the several high end restaurants we dined at to the hole in the wall places….one thing was consistent…lackluster and/or incredibly rude service. I could literally go on and on about the unbelievable rude experiences we had but I’d be here all day. Out of every place we visited, the first place medal for incredibly rude service was La Sandwicherie. I actually had the manager there literally yelling at me in front of everyone that he would lose money if he were to remake my sandwich the correct way!!! Ridiculous!

Posted on 02/28/2015 at 2:26 AM

Hi,,, I been coming to Miami since the early 2000’s, and I have to say after traveling a good portion of the world,,, I have to say “MIAMI” has the worse of super worse restutant customer service..

Posted on 03/25/2015 at 9:35 AM

I’ve been all over this country and the Service in Miami is Very very bad!! Omg! Rude as fuk! The more I’ve travel the more I see how bad the service in Miami is. It’s not just in the restaurants but pretty much anywhere. Miami beach is ok when it comes to customer service because they are trained better, and most that work there came from somewhere else and mostly from some other state or city with a better understanding on how to treat people. Most of these Latin Americans from Miami are just very rude and unfortunately most of them are Cubans. Me being Cuban American from Cuban decent I find it embarrassing that my own people are the way they are. My wife who is from Romania is a great person and I’m embarrassed that my own Cuban people show this kind of behavior towards her. The lack of service and mannerisms is embarrassing to me and shows lack of education. When they don’t understand a question they tend to say…. Eeehhhhh???? With a ugly face expression!! I hate that shyt. By the way those making racial comments on what Cubans look like or where they come from???! No… Cubans are not Indians in fact most are white from Spanish European decent and some actually are from Lebanese decent. Don’t make ignorant comments. If you really don’t know don’t say anything!

Posted on 08/17/2016 at 10:03 AM