Ok, so I'm looking for an evening meal since The Mrs. and I had a late lunch. I go to a local restaurant not too far from my house and grab a seat. The server comes by and asks me what I want to drink. I ask for iced tea and she quickly replies, "I'm sorry, we're out."
"What do you mean 'you're out'?" I inquire while looking at my watch.
It's 8:15 PM and the place closes at 9 PM. Now, granted, I'm the only person in the place not sitting at the bar, so it's safe to say I'm the only one asking for tea. But, still, it's 45 minutes until close and your response to me is "you're out"?
"Yes, sir. We're out. We do have Coke products." she replied.
Now, since I've worked in a restaurant before, I know that it's nothing to go to the back and brew some fresh tea. Yeah, it seems like a waste to brew a new urn for one person, but given that iced tea is one of the biggest price mark-ups in restaurants, I don't see the big deal.
I was a bit frustrated, so I chose to go elsewhere since iced tea with my meal, to me, is like morning coffee to half of the world.
Another incident was with a recent trip to another restaurant in the town north of me. Now, I knew based on my experience and their reputation that they tend to be slackers, but it was convenient to go this day. I choose to go inside since I could probably hatch and raise chickens during the time it takes to get served in their drive-thru.
"Here or to go?" the lady asks.
"Wow." I think to myself. "Not even a 'welcome to (insert name)' or anything."
It's 830 PM and they close at 9 PM, so I know I'm pushing my luck in getting what I want. "I'll take a two piece, mild, please?"
"We're out of mild. All we have are spicy thighs and legs."
Well, that would be great if I were ordering women, but I'm ordering chicken and I don't prefer those particular pieces. "What do you mean you're out? What time do you all close?"
"In 30 minutes, but we've been out for 20 minutes now."
Do you see a theme here? Places that say they close at one time, truly close an hour prior to that time. That's bad management. I realize that no one wants to get stuck at work when it's time to leave, but if you're scheduled to work until 9 PM, then do it. Don't stop at 8:30 PM and start putting everything up. You do that after you close, not before.
Needless to say, I don't frequent these places much any more. They'll probably never miss my presence, but in the long run, it will hurt them. Mainly because I've complained about both places to my friends and co-workers. Also, toss in the fact that I review restaurants regularly on Yelp and Urbanspoon.com.
It just shows the mentality of some people. They do just enough to get by. Not just in crappy service, but life in general. They do just enough in their relationships, just enough in parenting and just enough in being respectful.
I had an opposite experience. I showed up to a Jamba Juice to buy a shot of wheatgrass. I showed up 5 minutes before close time AND the machine was put away. They brought out the machine and made a shot for me. That's service and THATS the reason I will go back there.
ReplyDeleteWow! That is very uncommon! It's nice to know that some people still believe in good service.
ReplyDeleteGood service goes a long way!
ReplyDeleteMost definitely, but it's so difficult to find now. Managers don't always try to make sure the customer is top priority. Most jobs aren't necessarily hard, it's just that people make them hard. Unfortunately, the customer suffers in the long run because of it.
ReplyDeleteI HATE GETTING BAD SERVICE! on top of that, the lazy pricks always take forever getting to their cars at the end of their shift too. One time I waited two hours for some chick to get to her car so I could tell her about her "service" ;) Lazy shit head!
ReplyDeleteLOL! Falen you waited to tell her how bad her service was? She must have really sucked for you to be mad enough to wait that long!
ReplyDelete