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snugglekittyI have recently had the same experience at two different restaurants, that in the past, I had good or even excellent experiences with.
It starts with some kind of problem. I do not assume that problems reflect on the restaurant's quality. Restaurants are busy places, and shit doesn't always work out. That's life! In one case, my food was overcooked. In the other case, the restaurant could not accept the form of ID I had to buy alcohol. Then the waitress (female in both cases) decides to escalate the complaint, bringing in one case the chef and in the other case, the manager. Then, this higher up person actually makes the situation worse.
This is about the form, not the content. I didn't necessarily expect to have the food taken off the bill, or to be served alcohol against your rules. But I do expect you to be polite and apologetic if there is a problem. I do not pay people money to be rude to me. It goes against my grain.
In the first case, the chef told me that he was offended that I felt his dish was overcooked, and that he knew exactly what he was doing. Okay! Very educational. We won't be visiting that spot again, and the fact that the waitress was a total sweetheart and took the fish off the bill anyway is the only thing that keeps me from telling all my friends to never go to this place again either. In the second case, the manager was simply a good deal more aggressive about the issue that he needed to be, and focused on how it was my fault. "What you need to do is go to the RMV and get a liquor ID," is what he said. And I said, "No offense, but I think what I need to do is go to a different restaurant, because this is the only place where I've ever had a problem," and we left. He apologized, AFTER I said we were leaving, but didn't seem to mean it. I would probably go there again, but not if I wanted to drink. He could have said, "I'm sorry, but we can't risk losing our license," and it would have conveyed all of the same information, and we would have stayed, even with them not serving me. It's not just what you say - it's how you say it.
How hard is it to say, "I'm sorry there's a problem, is there anything we can do to make it better?" Seriously. I'm not that hard to please, and would have happily accepted polite nothings in lieu of any actual action in both cases. But throw me a bone!
It starts with some kind of problem. I do not assume that problems reflect on the restaurant's quality. Restaurants are busy places, and shit doesn't always work out. That's life! In one case, my food was overcooked. In the other case, the restaurant could not accept the form of ID I had to buy alcohol. Then the waitress (female in both cases) decides to escalate the complaint, bringing in one case the chef and in the other case, the manager. Then, this higher up person actually makes the situation worse.
This is about the form, not the content. I didn't necessarily expect to have the food taken off the bill, or to be served alcohol against your rules. But I do expect you to be polite and apologetic if there is a problem. I do not pay people money to be rude to me. It goes against my grain.
In the first case, the chef told me that he was offended that I felt his dish was overcooked, and that he knew exactly what he was doing. Okay! Very educational. We won't be visiting that spot again, and the fact that the waitress was a total sweetheart and took the fish off the bill anyway is the only thing that keeps me from telling all my friends to never go to this place again either. In the second case, the manager was simply a good deal more aggressive about the issue that he needed to be, and focused on how it was my fault. "What you need to do is go to the RMV and get a liquor ID," is what he said. And I said, "No offense, but I think what I need to do is go to a different restaurant, because this is the only place where I've ever had a problem," and we left. He apologized, AFTER I said we were leaving, but didn't seem to mean it. I would probably go there again, but not if I wanted to drink. He could have said, "I'm sorry, but we can't risk losing our license," and it would have conveyed all of the same information, and we would have stayed, even with them not serving me. It's not just what you say - it's how you say it.
How hard is it to say, "I'm sorry there's a problem, is there anything we can do to make it better?" Seriously. I'm not that hard to please, and would have happily accepted polite nothings in lieu of any actual action in both cases. But throw me a bone!
