I’m partial to a good meal.
Too partial some might say. Recently Mrs A and I experienced two opposite ends of the customer service scale at restaurants.
First up we had the bad.
At a bistro pub a week or so ago, we popped in for a light dinner.
The ambience of the pub was ok and the place had a good reputation.
Mrs A is particular when it comes to food due to her allergies. However, one dish on offer seemed perfect for her. The menu boasted that it was a salmon and avocado salad complete with sunflower seeds on a bed of rocket. There’s a reason I’ve gone into details.
When it came out my wife noticed it did not have any avocado and the salmon was sitting on iceberg lettuce. She politely pointed this out to the waiter and he returned it to the kitchen.
He returned five minutes later to explain in a flippant ‘take it or leave it’ kind of way that they had run out of avocado and rocket and this was the next best thing.
We accepted that excuse although I thought it was a pretty poor one. In fairness to the pub we were offered the meals for free.
Though we weren’t after a free, incorrect meal, the goodwill gesture was handled in an ‘I really can’t be arsed’ kind of way by the waiter.
In comparison, a few days later we visited our favourite restaurant Riddle and Finns in Brighton. We love the place. Not just for the fantastic food but for the welcome, the service and the simple things they do so well.
We are always welcomed extremely warmly, always offered a complimentary first drink and most impressively the manager always remembers us. He makes a point of chatting with us, asking how the kids are, how business is or just general, genuinely warm chit chat.
The consistency of the excellent service is one of the reasons we continue to go back. They make us feel special which is the key to all great customer service.
The way Riddle and Finns do things reminds me of the old saying by John Lewis back when he started the famous partnership. “Look after the customers because they look after the profits.”
At My News we continually strive to improve our service to customers as without them we are nothing. We’re going over every detail of how we serve people to improve, develop and make them feel special.
Thanks for reading.
Nik
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