After nearly a year of working at Nation’s Restaurant News, I’ve noticed a not-so-subtle change in the way I view dining out: I am much pickier about food, service and cleanliness, yet at the same time, I am also much more forgiving.
Before I began interviewing operators about their businesses, I never gave a second thought to sending food back if something was even remotely disappointing.
I only get three meals a day, so the ones I pay a premium for better be good. I’m not going to pay $15 for a bowl of cold pasta I could have made myself for less than a buck, and I am certainly not going to eat brown, wilting lettuce.
While restaurants should always strive to serve the perfect meal in a clean environment, I now understand the picture is much bigger and more complicated than one bowl of cold pasta could ever reveal.
I still send things back because I believe customers should get good-tasting, fresh food for their hard-earned money, especially in today’s abysmal economy. But now I always try to look around me to put it in perspective, because I know that things will, and often do, go wrong. But when they go wrong, I want management to step in and fix the situation.
I happily recall a recent Saturday afternoon trip to a very busy Wal-Mart with my 5-year-old son, Lliam. I don’t know what insanity drove me to visit the large retailer on what must be its busiest day of the week, but I do know I felt weak from fighting the crowd with no breakfast or lunch in my stomach. To my relief, the store had a Subway unit, where I could get a sandwich and my son could get a hot dog, one of the few foods he’ll eat.
After standing in a long line, we sat down to eat. As I bit into my turkey on wheat, I was immediately disappointed to note that the bread was hard and dry and the turkey was actually roast beef.
I walked back to the end of the queue to get a fresh sandwich, but was quickly noticed by the manager, who intervened and immediately replaced my sandwich with an apology and a smile. As she watched me sit back down, my son asked for chips. I sent him over to the line with cash, but again the watchful manager intercepted and gave him a free bag of chips and even a fresh cookie for mom.
Clearly this manager wanted to make it right, and for that I was thankful.
Yes, things will go wrong, but responding properly when they do can make all the difference. I’ll return to that Subway, and I bet other operators who remember that customer service is even more important as the economy stalls will weather the slowdown better than their competitors.
