Driven off our Oktoberfest table by the waitress

This occurred in the Lowenbrau tent on Saturday around 1PM: we had gotten to the tent before 9 to secure a table in the free area, and we were having as good a time as one can if you start partying at around breakfast time. Suddenly around 1PM our friends (all not from Germany) got up and when I asked why, they said "The waitress said we had to leave the table is reserved." Suddenly the table was filled with a new bunch of German-speaking people who if I understood correctly bribed (geschmiert) someone to get them a table. I pointed to the siign on our (former) table and explained in German that this area is never reserved. I asked the waitress who said "Uhrzeit" I asked her exactly what she meant and she refused to answer. Then the security told us to move on so I asked them what was meant by Uhrzeit, that is how much time is allowed at a non-reserved table and they also refused even a polite explanation. Eventually the waitress herded us into another table filled with people who had also risen early to get to a table and were totally pissed for a while that we were foisted on them. Mean while my cousin and I, former New Yorkers, agreed that if it were up to us we would have stood our ground and not left.

Sometime latter on I complained to a Bavarian friend of mine who says this is a typical occurrence in the Lowenbrau tent; she had been there the night before sharing a mass with a friend and had been forced away by the waitress and swiftly replaced with a few Italians.

She says this sort of thing never happens at the Braurosl. Well..

Has this happened to anyone else? Have you ever just stayed knowing you were within your rights in a non-reservation zone?

I had a good time, but this i is totally bogus.

Did you consider going to the office (Büro) right there in the tent and asking politely for an explanation (giving the waitress' number at the same time)? Don't argue with the waitress or security, go straight to the top.

Then they would have just thrown you out.

I saw it happen to some Italians last year, they got a table early on. Then the waitress slapped a reserved sticker on it for some people she knew, the Italians did try to stand their ground, but once a few security guards showed up they realised they werent going to win the argument. I think at one point they asked to see the person in charge to which the waitress replied something to the effect of, "Where this table is concerned, I am the boss!".

You should have gone to see who had taken your table and then poured their beer over their heads.

Just one option.

You could still write a letter of complaint. They probably won't give much of a shit, but it might help achieve closure.

Not a tent I have ever been to, nor likely to ever visit after hearing this story. Vote with your feet!

and the bier is revolting too . .. Lowenbräu, no wonder that lion sounds like it's heaving!

My brother in-law went to a tent with a group of people from an office in Munich. They told him you did not need a reservation for a table. The group numbered around 30 people, the leader of the group hailed a waitress over, told her they all wanted to eat and to drink and wanted to stay until closing time. They gave her 50euros and she disappeared with security, found a table from which security removed the occupants and stuck a reserved sticker on it. She waved the other group over and they duly sat down at the now cleared table and stayed there until closing.

My brother in-law said to the leader of the group that he was suprised it was so easy. He replied that they do it every year. If the group is large enough, give the waitress 50euros to start with and you will get a table!

Does not seem very fair though it is profitable if you are a waitress.

Was that the Lowenbrau tent?

How many teeth are you missing?

Not sure I will ask him tomorrow.

Thix.

..maybe he was exagerating... never knew you could seat 30 people at on of those tables...

The bribing issue was in the local papers this week and is an issue beig taken up by the group that campaigns against dodgy beer measures.
The spokesperson of the ies#n Wirte, Toni Roiderer said shocked, that is a grounds for dismissal of staff but seemed to be removed from reality.

I dunno if I was just niave before but I've heard a lot more about bribing incidents recently from a few people, it doesn't even seem to involve huge amounts of cash, sometimes just 20euros which kinda leads me to believe it's pretty widespread, otherwise why would they risk their lucrative jobs for such a small amount?

Because the risk of getting caught taking bribes is so small and it is not just the bribe itself as the story above indicates but a heavy turnover to follow.

Maybe the security guards get slipped some money by the waitress too, so they will back her up?... Are women more likely to do this than men?

There are bibes to the security guards as well and they are mostly men.

Same tent, different day. I was at the Lowenbrau tent ont he first day of the fest. We got there super early and secured 3 tables, one of which was reserved at 5pm. In the end we had to table for the whole day or so we thought. We left peacefully from the reserved table knowing full well that we were supposed to but then about 15-30minutes later in 'beer time' (so can't exactly remember) security comes over and wants to boot the folk off of one of the free two tables we had for the same reason.

The waitress did not appear to be in on it as she was not around when security came and even had a chat with them that its a free table. My thought is that some folks wanted a table and security realized that we were there all day and assume we were stupid enough to move. We (well one spokesperson) held our ground and the security guards even threatened to kick out said spokespoerson but in the end security left and we went on to enjoy the rest of the evening.

It did seem to get really heated at one point since security was looking to throw people out, but they knew they were in the wrong and probably did not want to make a big deal about it at that time. They probably went off and kicked some other sorry folks off a table for a bribe.

Talking to a friend today (non-German) he said they (3 males) were at the fest on Friday evening. He just went to the Q at the closed door and held €50 in the air, no talking, nothing, security took him in and got him a table for the night (and relieved him of his €'s). He says he does this every year and it has never failed to work. Don't know which tent...

I didn't know that there is an office in the beer tent, sarabyrd, and that is an excellent idea, in case it happens again. These practices thrive on other's passivity, and I don't think I have to pour beer on any heads (ah--but I admit I would've liked to!) in order to stand up for our rights. I realized discussing it with my husband this morning that as much as we concentrated on the joyous or weird stuff at OkFest, this incident did leave a bit of a shadow on the experience.

And Monkstown, do you remember which paper and day the article on bribery came out? I will try to read it online.

Yet, another reason to avoid the Fest, and get the same beer cheaper from a local pub/beergarden

Thrown out of Bräurosl for not drinking enough beer (from www.merkur-online.de in German).


Very loosely translated ...

Around 18:30 15 security monkeys surrounded the neigbouring table. They told the occupants in no uncertain terms to leave the tent. The apes then proceeded to fill the table with new drinkers, and the waitresses immediately brought over some masses. Soon after, the exact same happened at the next table in the row. A short time later, the same happened to the reader and her companions.
"The gorillas threw our jackets in the walkway. Then they grabbed us by the shoulders and threw us out." First the beefheads said nothing, but after continued remonstration they mumbled: "no reason, just following orders. Just look at yourself - you're not really drunk, only half-drunk". Security would not let the punters back in the tent to complain.

yeah, similar story with a work group last year in löwenbraü. we were about 15 people, but after 5-6 hours already at the fest (in another tent) we sat down and only ordered 4 mass for the group. the waitress immediately said it wasn't enough, told us we had to leave, and walked away.
half a minute later, security came 'round and i--full of beer-inflated bravado and sitting on the end of the bench--got into a scuffle with the guys-in-black. i think a couple of us were forcibly thrown out. meanwhile, the locals of the group (we had some real bavarians with us) went upstairs and complained. the management apologized, said the waitress was out-of-bounds, and gave us another table. after dusting myself off outside, i re-joined the group.
moral of the story: löwenbräu waitresses seem to be on a power-trip, with or without bribes, but you can complain to the management.

Throwing people off a table because of bribery is a disgrace, but if 15 people order four drinks between them then I think that they have every right to chuck you out. You wouldn't be able to do that in a pub either. They also serve non-alcoholic drinks if you don't want beer.

Yep...or even better, buy your beer at Plus and sit at home in the dark (to save on electricity) and drink there. That's the cheapest way...

Wouldn't it be even cheaper to drink tap water and pretend it's beer?

Avoid getting ripped off having to purchase expensive leather shorts to look the part. Simply collect multiple road kills during the year and sew the parts together around mid-september. Voila - your own genuine bavarian lederhosen.

Well for those that don't know,the waiters are working on commission...If they don't sell then they don't earn money...They are told to put out reserve signs when ever they like.Going to the top boss is not going to help,unless you are some superstar! Someone who has been there since 9 and is still there at 1 is not drinking much,so get rid of them by putting a reserve sign on the table...That way the table is available for new thirsty customers! The top boss is happy and so is the waitress...Sorry to say but this is a fact...Make a problem and security kicks you out,there is loads of people to take your place.

I thought yours looked funny!

And all the bits you don't use, like the heads and horns and stuff, you can randomly stick together and make Wolperdinge out of

Darkknight said "Yet, another reason to avoid the Fest, and get the same beer cheaper from a local pub/beergarden"

He knows the score.

Each to their own and all that, but I'm gobsmacked that people pay so much to be packed in and treated like shit - and then complain about it! It's beer for fcuk's sake (plus a few chickens and the same old same old bayerisches meat and no veg), and it's available everywhere 24/7/365 at a third of the price.

When a pleasure becomes a habit, it ceases to be a pleasure.

@ Kathleen, I saw the story in the Münchner Abendzeitung online.

From listening around to stories this seems to be a commoner and commoner trend, they really want the tents working on shifts.
And if your spending drops off or if you don't come in intending to spend then they don't want to know.

The waitresses make their money between the price you pay plus any tips and the price they pay at the servery.
4 mass for 15 people? Their pay rate just dropped by nearly 75%, course they are pissed off.

I haven't got time to post it now but will try to next week.
The "campaign against fraudulent beer measures" have said they are going to leaflet every Munich household after the Wies'n to try and get enough signatures for a city referendum to tighten things up for the benefit of consumers. If you are an EU citizen, you might well consider signing and sending the form back to the KVR and then voting for the proposition.

No it's not. It's Märzen for christ's sake. Nothing worse than an uneducated beer drinker.

Just read an article in the TZ about a group of people who had been at the fest for about 5 hours, the women had had 2 beers, the guys 3, plus food and the waitress decided they weren't drinking enough so she got security to throw them off. The next day one of them wrote an e-mail complaining about their treatment to the tent wirt and the TZ and the waitress has now been fired!

Nope, it was around 30, as I said, and they do it every year. I am sure they are not the only ones that indulge in this practice. He tells me it was at the Lowenbrau tent but he could be lying.

Said article

Do you think this has anything to do with the increased demand from the Farmer´s event? More people at the Wiesn or are the farmers not drinking enough beer?

Isn't that called Budweiser or Miller?

The irony is that most ex-pats I know have no fear of this ever happening to them!

Apparently there were consequences, the waitress has been sacked.

Waitress sacked for throwing out drinkers who didn't drink enough

Edit: Whoops, missed Allershausen's post above.

No mention of the unscrupulous security peeps.

Call me cynical, but that swindling waitress would still be there if it wasn't for that pesky student kicking up a fuss.

You mean she would have got away with it if it wasn't for those meddling kids?

Tip no. 10 from my official "10 Things to Observe at the Oktoberfest":


*note to self: Next year, add "waiter/waitress" in the last sentence*
Always, always get the waitress' number and/or name (should be on their bodice) and contact the office asap. Don't let the bastards get away with rude and unacceptable behavior.

I've been wondering whether to post this here, for fear of misuse, but you'd be amazed how quickly a waiter or waitress's bad attitude can be improved by taking down his/her name and number. I suspect that the waiting-list for employment in the tents is at least as long as the lines outside the doors...

Not sure this would work in the Löwenbräu, though - it sounds like they condone this sort of behaviour there. Just one more reason to avoid that tent.

There seems to be a lot of whingers on this thread, more than usual in fact. Those who are 'surprised' that the Oktoberfest is expensive and popular!!! LoL

And those who are also surprised that you are expected to drink beer. I overheard some American girl complaining to the waitress that they did not serve Vodka and Coke!!!

We all know it's expensive beer and the rides are pricey, but we all still go. Only some of you chose to whinge afterwards......

This was my first Wiesn and I knew beforehand that to have a good time you should tip the waitress well and drink large amounts of beer (It is a beer festival after all and not a Sunday morning worship) and you will be able to stay until the end of the day.

Other than that stop your whingeing!!!

I have had a few very good all day sessions there....brilliant.

Germany...Love it or leave it!!!

good to know - this year in addition to wearing a dirndl and my hair in pigtails, ill offer a 20 to a security guard! should help a lot this friday!

thanks for the advice! lol

20€?? Paulaner security wanted 100€ to let 2 friends in the tent we were already in.

100! yikes - note to self: do not go to paulaner; also, bring lots of money.

the amount of beer one drinks should not define your "oktoberfest worthiness".
all these developments only will increase the number of reservations and the oktoberfest will lose its local feel.

Eh, I think that may have already happened a few years ago. It's a long time since the Wiesn had any sort of local feel at all.