I know I’m not alone when I say that poor customer service is one of my top 3 pet peeves (obviously not in the same class as injustice, lack of world peace and economic worries, but noteworthy and driven by passion, none the same).
At a prominent and somewhat expensive Tallahassee restaurant for lunch this week, a colleague was eating her fried oyster lunch and bit into a shell. Not uncommon when enjoying Florida seafood, especially oysters, right? But in an extreme case with every subsequent bite she was being nicked by more and more shell, and finally discarded her lunch.
When the young waitress checked in with us, we were able to report that while everything tasted just fine, we had a problem that kept this diner from actually having a substantive meal. The response to the complaint and plate of uneaten food? “ok”. Not, “I’m so sorry”, or can I bring you something else?, just, “ok”. Now where I come from that is unacceptable, kind of ridiculous and it was obvious her comment just hung in the air. Is this a values issue, a training issue or an apathy issue?
Needless to say, her tip was less than generous and I won’t spend my lunch-with-clients budget there again. What a pity. In a climate where every piece of business is hard-won and repeat business/customer loyalty can carry a small restaurant through hard times, poor choices in wait staff or more likely, poor customer service training will make a consumer’s choice clearer – by elimination.
