How do you deal with bad customer service?

This morning, East Coast Breakfast were talking about a customer service incident that got way out of control. 

It reminded me of a recent incident in Johannesburg. 

I was with Bevan at a restaurant and the table behind us was having some trouble. 

From the stompies we could pick up, it seemed like their food order took a while to arrive and the father took it upon himself to make sure that the whole restaurant knew that the waitress was "a useless excuse for a human being.” I kid you not, this is what he actually said. 

Just as I was about to get up and tell him that that's not how you speak to people, another gentleman got up and put him in his place.

I am not a fan of bad customer service but I do believe that if you have an issue with someone and the service they are giving you, you need to address them politely and with respect. 

I have lots of friends who don't speak up when they get poor customer service. As far as I am concerned if you're paying you should speak up if you're not happy.

So where on the spectrum do you fit? Do you speak up about bad service? Are you polite when you do so?

(File photo: Gallo Images)