Eat out in enough restaurants and however careful your selections, you’re bound to have the odd bad experience. Even in the finest places chefs and waiters can have a bad day while a bad cut of meat or fish can land on your plate despite the price you’ve paid for the privilege. But for most of us, if we think about our best and worst restaurant experiences, what sticks in the memory is usually not so much the occasions where we’ve had a reason to complain but rather how the staff dealt with our issue.
No fuss
I’m reminded of this by three contrasting experiences we’ve had in local restaurants in recent years. At the first (The Bull in Wheathampstead) I ordered a burger and it arrived full of gristle. Each mouthful had me picking out solid bits from my mouth. I told the waitress and it was sent back and replaced without a fuss. When the second came I took a few more bites and had exactly the same problem. The waitress apologised and the item was removed from our bill with an offer of another main course if I wanted one. Previous burgers here had always been excellent so I knew this wasn’t the norm, but by now I was no longer hungry and my wife had finished her meal. We left happy that they had taken good care of us and we have returned many times since during which time I’ve enjoyed several delicious burgers.
Where’s the meat?
At the second restaurant in St Albans I ordered a Philly cheese steak. Now those who have enjoyed this unhealthy but tasty American dish in its native land will know that a good Philly cheese steak will have a generous helping of meat inside. This was sadly not the case in this restaurant. In fact I doubt I even had an ounce of meat. The wonderful irony of this sorry tale? The restaurant’s name was Meatpackers (now defunct). When the manageress asked whether everything was fine and I pointed out how little meat was in the cheese steak, she shrugged her shoulders and suggested I order the ribs next time. Needless to say there was no next time.
Another Gristly Tale
I was reminded of these moments again this weekend when we sampled the new Jamie’s Italian in St Albans. My wife ordered a steak and had to put at least a dozen mouthfuls of meat back on her plate, such was the gristle in the steak. Now the staff here were quick to swing into action and the manager soon offered us both a free dessert ‘to make sure we had a great experience’. Fair enough I thought, a reasonable gesture. Where she failed was in insisting on explaining to us that the steak was as it was because of the way they hang their meat and prepare it specially so that the fat is just right. She was effectively telling us that the steak was in fact excellent and it was us who were incapable of recognising this as a top quality piece of meat. Her actions may have been appropriate but her words, rather like the steak, left a bad taste in the mouth.
Three simple steps
I may be naive here, but surely managing a customer’s experience in this case is not rocket science. It appears that if three simple steps are followed the majority of problems can be successfully resolved:
1. Acknowledge that the customer is unhappy with their dish and the reason for their problem. Don’t try to make excuses or worse still, blame the customer.
2. Offer the customer a satisfactory solution and check they are happy with your suggestion.
3. Ensure your remedy is actioned and offer them an extra something to show that you genuinely value your customers’ satisfaction.
What have I missed? I suspect that it’s not so simple as this. For a start every diner will have different demands and while some are very reluctant to raise any issues (myself included; I’ve listed three problems from hundreds of good meals) others will complain at the first opportunity and expect a lot more payback from the restaurant. But surely the simple steps above are a start that would help to make most situations better for everyone involved.
I’ve had excellent food from a self-service cafeteria … and I’ve had scran that was a little bit this side of heaven from a sit-down restaurant.
I think the main criteria is how they react when things go wrong … as they occasionally do in the best of places.
If they couldn’t care less, I don’t go there again … but, one place, i complained about the chicken, which the maitre d and the chef agreed ‘wasn’t quite on’. They cooked me a lovely steak instead, and said there wouldn’t be a bill. That sort of thing gets my vote!
Wow, that is some service Keith. A steak and no bill…. that’s a place you’d definitely go back to. So much of it is simply about thinking of people as long-term customers and not one-off transactions.
I think we may have discussed this before but … if you’re reviewing somewhere, or even just posting in your blog & you have an issue. If it’s speedily and satisfactorily dealt with, should you mention this?
Or, is it going to provoke the reaction ‘Hey, if you complain about this place, you get a refund/upgrade/freebie!’ ?
Interesting question and yes, I also remember that discussion although can’t think of the context. Definitely agree with you that if you mention an issue it’s only fair to include any follow-up action, good or bad.
Andy, it really is that simple and yet it is amazing how many businesses get it wrong. The key is to ‘listen’ to your customers and that means observing body language and behaviour. Forget any notion that the British are too shy to complain. It is true they might not do it at the time but you can be quite sure they will be on TripAdvisor or other web site….or perhaps even on a blog (not all bloggers will be like you and spare the blushes). A business cannot get it right all the time but, as Keith suggests, if it has a good recovery strategy in place the negative experience can be turned into a ‘magic moment’ for the customer and they will be only too pleased to spread a positive message.
thanks Tony – I remember hearing a talk many years ago where it was said that you will create a happier customer by causing a problem and then resolving it to perfection than you will be merely doing a good job. Not sure if it’s a sustainable business model but it’s certainly got an element of truth to it.