Faster, better…

What can a restaurant do to compensate for poor service? What should the restaurant do for an unhappy customer?

Keep in mind I am writing this from the point of view of a customer, but a customer that has been in various service related businesses my entire career. The suggestions and impressions regarding service I have are ones that most restaurants could consider.

A manager (with a manager’s name tag) should immediately be made aware of a service related complaint and respond personally UNLESS wait staff have been trained to respond immediately and effectively. When the wait staff does satisfy a complaint the manager should be made aware of the complaint and the steps taken to satisfy the customer. The Manager should follow up in person with the customer at the end of the meal. When managers are managers it makes me feel like someone is in charge and the restaurant truly cares whether or not I have a pleasant meal.

There are reasonable and unreasonable customers. The customer is not always right. A belligerent customer, in my view, cannot be helped, does not want to be satisfied, but is so narcissistic and so impressed with himself and his performance that whatever the restaurant does it will never serve to resolve the complaint. Customers should always pursue reasonableness to allow a manager to deal effectively and to the customer’s satisfaction. The level of misbehavior by an unhappy customer should trigger an appropriate response from a pleasant respectful assurance to a call to 911. Businesses do not want jerks as customers nor do customers want to patronize jerks.

There are professional unhappy customers out to scam service related business every day. It is up to the customer to be truthful and sincere so that the wait staff or manager will take them at their word. I believe most good business people can tell a scam from the real thing. Managers of any business have a right to argue with and not respond to unreasonable requests when explanations have been offered in good faith.

What a restaurant can do to resolve a poor service complaint is entirely up to the owner and should be based on the severity of the perceived slight. The owner should sit down with managers and plan for such situations. That planning process does not imply you will receive lots of complaints, no on the other hand that planning keeps quality service in the minds of every employee and fewer complaints result. When the manager affirms there was a level of service not meeting management’s expectations or restaurant standards the manager should be pleasant, sincere, and truthful in his response.

The restaurant is NOT required to give away the store.

I can tell you the best places empower wait staff to resolve issues instantly by re-cooking, warming, or replacing food or table items, moving a customer to a different table. A good customer recognizes the staff that wait on him are the ones that resolve the little annoyances that to others might not even be a complaint. The best waiter or waitress is one that is an exceedingly good diplomat for the restaurant.

When a customer feels like he has to speak with a manager the customer should do so politely. The customer should give the manager time to investigate the complaint and speak to the wait staff. We are talking minutes here.

Restaurants can offer a credit toward the meal, a second drink, a replacement meal, a better table. In some cases customers simply want the manager to watch their table the rest of the night to make sure the rest of evening goes as planned and mistakes do not happen again. Reasonable customers understand that new wait staff have to be trained.

Many years ago Eileen and I went to a well known national steak place. It was just the two of us. We did not have reservations as this restaurant did not take reservations. We were issued a flashing pager commonly used by popular dinner spots. We went inside to have a good time and a pleasant meal. We waited almost an hour to be seated. During that wait we watched group after group go in ahead of us. It was obvious that the restaurant was seating groups of four or more first. Those groups didn’t have reservations either. By the time we were seated some of those groups were already well into their meal. I didn’t say anything. I didn’t say anything because I did not want to spoil a night out with a complaint. Restaurant managers need to know that many good customers actually over look some things just to manage the quality of their own evening regardless of the service.

I ordered steak and as I recall Eileen ordered seafood. We ordered an appetizer and before dinner drinks as well. Eileen had coffee and I had wine. Again we waited and waited. The folks in larger groups got great attention but there we sat. Some time later the drinks and appetizers arrived. No apology. We still didn’t say anything about the wait. Our meal order was taken.

The meal came at about the right moment I could not wait to get my medium-cooked steak. Huh? This is cooked rare! I thought, “Excuse me. I’m paying a PREMIUM at a famous steak restaurant, I have endured long waits for this meal and I want it to be right.” By this time even my patient partner was also a little annoyed. This is where I asked the waitress for help.

I had the immediate feeling she was either not fully empowered or improperly trained to resolve a simple problem but she gave it a shot. The steak was sent back for cooking. My spouse all but finished her meal and I was still waiting on my steak some fifteen to twenty minutes later. When the steak finally came it was cooked to specification. I did comment I thought the wait was improper and that a steak restaurant should cook everything right the first time. As I recall the waitress muttered an acknowledgment and walked off. Right about this point is where I kind of expected a manager to visit the table. (Imagine the quiet sound of crickets in the field at this point.) I’m still feeling reasonable so I say nothing more and finish my meal. We waited again for the check.

Our experience at this famous steak place was less than satisfactory as well as way too expensive. On the way out I saw a person with a manger tag and quietly asked to speak with him. I have never seen eyes glaze over so fast. I politely explained the level of service and quality of food we received. What I got was, “I’m sorry you had that experience. We will do better next time.” The end. That was it. He had to seat another large group. We politely left the restaurant. This happened in California way back in 1996 I think. We have never been back to a restaurant in that chain. Service like this is systemic. It is based on restaurant policy. Unless I was taken as a guest I was never going back no matter how cute the commercials were. My perception was that this chains policies probably caused the behaviors we experienced so they didn’t deserve my business.

What should have happened? The manager should have been all over my my issues with thoughtful sincerity. He should have asked for an opportunity to speak with the wait staff. When he found substabnce to my complaint he should have offered us a coupon to use during a return visit. He could have also shaved some of the cost from the night’s tab. In my case I would have been happy that he simply acknowledged the poor service without glazing over.

Customers shouldn’t make a scene in a restaurant and restaurant manager should do everything within their power to make corrections, empower employees, and assuage bad feelings that might affect return business. All too often the bigger chains just write off the customers because after all there are more of those out there. Truth be told however, I have had plenty of times since 1996 to tell my restaurant story. There are plenty of better stake places.

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