Apologize, even if it wasn’t your fault. “I really apologize that that happened. Let me see what I can do to help.” “I’m so sorry about that. I’ll check in with our manager and get that fixed right away.” Show empathy. “I understand, sir. You wanted to be seated sooner and want to know what we can do about it.” “The service wasn’t up to our standards and I apologize for that, ma’am. I understand why you’re upset.” Tell them what you’re doing to help. “I’ll speak to my manager as soon as I can to let them know what’s going on.” “I’m going to clear this up as soon as I can and I’ll follow up with you in just a moment.” Fix the issue as best you can. “I was able to have our staff push a few tables for you, sir. It’ll be a bit cramped, but if you follow me I can get you seated right now.” “We’re completely full at the moment, ma’am. Our staff is clearing tables right now so we can get you seated as quickly as possible.” Practice responding to common requests. I need to speak to your manager. “Of course. I’ll bring her over now.” Can you reseat us? “This is the only table open right now. If you’d like, I can let you know when another opens up and see if that works better for you.” It’s been 15 minutes already and the waiter hasn’t been by. What’s going on? “I’m sorry, ma’am. I’ll go get him right now.”