Montreal

Montreal comic strip satirizing bad customers finds a following

Service industry veterans have teamed up with an illustrator to spotlight bad customers’ behaviour. Le Client est Roi aims to make people think twice about how they treat their waitress.

Le Client est Roi takes aim at entitled restaurant behaviour

The trio dream of turning their satirical comic strip into a book. (Le Client est Roi/Facebook)

About 100 years ago Marshall Field's department store in the U.S. started using the novel slogan "the customer is always right" to differentiate itself from the competition – and workers in the service industry have suffered ever since.

Now some service industry veterans have teamed up with an illustrator to shine the spotlight on bad customer behaviour.

Emilie Papineau, who worked as a waitress for 10 years, came up with the idea for the French-language comic strip Le Client est Roi, or The Client is King, with a friend who still works as a waitress — and would rather remain anonymous for that reason.

Co-creator Emilie Papineau has worked in Paris and Montreal and says neither place can boast having the more difficult clientele. (Le Client est Roi/Facebook)

"A 'king customer' is the customer who thinks that everything is due to him and he's always right because he pays and he can treat you the way he wants," Papineau explained on CBC Montreal's Daybreak.

She said while some customers are arrogant, others are just plain picky.

"One wanted 'just a latte' — with three shots of espresso, one decaf, and vanilla syrup, but just half the dose and no foam," Papineau said. "They want everything to be very, very special just for them.

Her experiences are being dished out online through Facebook and a Tumblr blog.

Her illustrator, Sarah Chamaillard, has never worked as a waitress but can relate to the experiences in the comic strip.

"We've all been face-to-face with someone who doesn't appreciate you and feels entitled,"  Chamaillard said.

She said being exposed to these stories made her sympathise with waitresses more.

One of the three Le Client est Roi creators prefers to remain anonymous since she's working as a waitress. (Daybreak/CBC)

The trio dream of one day turning their comics into a book. So far, they are getting a healthy following with more than 2,000 likes on Facebook.

with files from CBC Montreal's Daybreak