The World According to Mitch

I went out for breakfast recently, which is certainly not a rare occurrence for me. I was seated at a table that was being served by a server that I had never met before. I was completely unimpressed with the service, which was odd because I have eaten at tis restaurant many times and it was the first time.

• t took several minutes to get my first cup of coffee; when I asked for real milk for it (there was a bowl of creamers on the table) it took another six minutes to get.
• It took much longer than normal to get my meal.
• When my meal arrived, the eggs were wrong; it took fifteen minutes for the server to see if everything was okay (by which time the rest of the meal was finished.
• Of course she promised to have the eggs replaced (which was all I wanted); twenty minutes later I decided to go pay my bill and leave… never having received the replacement eggs.

At the cash, I was asked how my meal was, and I was honest. It was completely subpar. She tried to comp my meal and I refused, insisting on paying. I left no tip, and asked to speak with the manager.

Matt was very apologetic, and felt bad that I refused to accept a comped meal. I told him my reasoning, and left him impressed.

In this day and age it is all too common for people to enjoy their meal, then complain in order to get a freebie. I told him that by paying for my meal he will know that my complaints are serious and sincere. I was not coming to him with my hand out; I was bringing him a concern that he and his team would be able to address, and would likely take more seriously for my sincerity.

A couple of days later I was back at the same restaurant, and the waitress who had served me terribly the previous visit (and who had heard my complaints to the manager) greeted me at the door, and seated me in her section. I thought this might be her way of redeeming herself in my eyes.

If that was her intent, that was not what happened. Again, the eggs were wrong; again, it took until the rest of my meal was finished (plus 5-7 more minutes) before she checked in… and before you ask, yes I tried to get her attention, and no the restaurant was not nearly busy enough to warrant her ignoring me. At least this time she replace the eggs.

I paid again, left her no tip, and spoke with a manager again. It was not the same manager, so I filled him in on the backstory and told him, once again, why I was dissatisfied. Once again, he was apologetic.

Restaurant managers need to be able to differentiate between serious complaints and people trying to get their meals comped. There are going to be complaints – there is no such thing as a perfect server – and of those complaints some will be serious and some will be petty. The serious ones need to be addressed. That was a teachable moment, and a missed opportunity to turn a dissatisfied customer into a very satisfied one.

There is an epilogue to the story. I went back a few days later, and specifically asked for a different server. Emily had served me a number of times before, and was always friendly and efficient. Within two minutes of receiving my breakfast she came to make sure that everything was okay. It was, but I am confident that had there been any issues she would have addressed them quickly and efficiently. I told the manager that while she might be young to be a trainer, Emily would nonetheless be an excellent role model for other servers to learn from and emulate.

Waiting tables is not an easy job, and anyone who says it is has never done it. A good manager (or management team) recognizes the need to properly train their staff, and makes sure that they have both the training and the tools to succeed in making their patrons happy. Happy patrons mean more money for everyone – repeat business for the establishment, tips for the server. The old adage that the customer is always right is an absolute fallacy, especially in this day and age of entitled and unreasonable customers. It is important to remember thought that right or wrong, the customer must be properly served, and when they are not then their complaints should be taken seriously. Doing so will reflect well on you and your team. Not doing so will ensure that customers will eventually find alternative restaurants.

Four years ago, my then-girlfriend and I ate at a breakfast restaurant near where I was living, and we got terrible service. At the end I told the server that we would not be back. Her response? ‘Yes, you will be. Everyone says that, but we both know you’ll be back again.’ That was four years ago and neither of us set foot in that establishment again, and we guided others to better restaurants in the neighbourhood… until the day they closed their doors forever. Disrespecting your customers is a very bad way of doing business.

The incidents I experienced recently were not disrespect. They were mistakes that are correctable… and yes, it might take more than a few days to fix some issues. That is why I went back despite two bad service incidents in a row. Listen, fix your mistakes… and hopefully you will succeed.