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Quiz for restaurant managers

post #1 of 13
6/8/05 at 7:35pm
Thread Starter 
Pretend you're a restaurant manager. Suppose someone sends a plate of food back and explains that he just got a mouthful of alcohol when he tasted the sauce, and that the mushrooms in the sauce weren't cooked, that the veal was tough as shoe leather and had absolutely no seasoning. Do you:

1) Smile and say sorry, offer to make another dish

2) Offer to remake the dish

3) Proceed to lecture lecture the customer that the veal was simply dredged if flour and deep fried without S+P, and that the sauce was on par with Buca's and that the alcohol was in the sauce already, and explain that the next time the customer was there that he (manager) would go through the menu step by step to try and explain it in more detail.
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post #2 of 13
6/8/05 at 7:39pm
The customer doesn't want to hear the third option. They don't want to hear why, they just want it fixed!! I would offer to make them any freaking thing they want, whether it is the same or another dish.

The thing to do in the situation is to ask them what they want in order to fix the situation. I would comp their dish, or if it is a nice restaurant, the whole meal. That dish you described is unacceptable.

I would pick 1.
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post #3 of 13
6/8/05 at 8:41pm
#1 but, I would only comp/replace the dish only if the customer ate less the 50% or so of the dish. More then that it seems that they're looking for a free meal.Most likely I'd send over free dessert. I would also mention the problem to the chef ASAP so he can fix any problems in the kitchen.

If the customer in question is a problem customer, I'd be tempted to 86 the customer depending on how much hassle they are and how they treat the staff.

Either way, I'd treat the customer with as much guenine concern I can muster. I've had bad restaurant experiences and I want all my customers to have a meal they feel good for paying for.
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post #4 of 13
6/9/05 at 3:33am
Thread Starter 
Duh of course! No brainer isn't it? Even if the customer is totally wrong would you proceed to lecture them in the middle of a restaurant?

Anyway I'm not going back, no big deal. My ego can take it. ;)
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post #5 of 13
6/9/05 at 3:36am
So I guess this means you can't throw what's left of the dish at the customer, insult his mother and his culinary intelligence and just throw him out???????

Just kidding of course.

Repeat business is the lifeblood oif any restaurant. As long as I felt the customer wasn't trying to scam me, I'd do whatever it takes to make him happy. I want him to come back so I can make up the money I'm losing making him happy this time.

Mark
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post #6 of 13
6/9/05 at 9:32am
had a bad dinner huh???
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post #7 of 13
6/9/05 at 11:08am
:D That's what I was thinking!
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post #8 of 13
6/9/05 at 4:53pm
if it's a chain restaurant i think i'd get a hold of corporate headquarters and ask them if they need someone to train their managers in the fine art of customer retention. perhaps you could have a whole new career. i know i've met plenty of that manager's brothers and sisters. :rolleyes:
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post #9 of 13
6/10/05 at 10:26am
I try to keep an open mind, I'm the chef and the owner-manager, and even I have screwed up a plate. If I did, I try to personally apoligize at some point, it goes very far when I take a moment to do that.

If the wait staff brings back a plate and the customer comments describe what we feel are the main attributes of the dish, it will never be fixed to suite them, so I ask if we can fix them something else. Save your breath, if they don't like it, you can't talk them into liking it.

If a customer has a complaint where I am called out to deal with it, and they are in mid-bite describing why they are wronged, I simply pick up the plate with a smile and ask if they would like something else. It's fun to watch the panic in their eyes as they try to assess their position and get the plate back, and their way. (i.e. customer eating a piece of fried fresh cod, starts announcing loudly that he won't pay for it as he found a bone in his fish. I swept out of the kitchen, smiled, picked up his plate, and told him, "you don't want to pay for it, you don't get to eat it." Rest of dining room applauded, by the way)

My guess is the manager didn't correctly assess what the real problem was, You can't change a customers mind, you can only put a band-aid on it.
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post #10 of 13
6/10/05 at 6:10pm
Thread Starter 
Yeah, bad dinner. :) But I was very gracious about it, I even said "if that's the way you guys do it then that's it. Next time I'll try something different."

You know just before dinner my wife and I were talking. I came up with the theory that if you're the only game in town then you can basically serve crap and come out smelling like Chanel No.5. In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king correct?

This place is experiencing growing pains. This restaurant I went to is part of a group of restaurants that has dominated the local dining scene for umpteen years. This town is also growing with lots of new development and upscale businesses opening up in the more affluent parts of town. People can't be fooled anymore, they gotta watch out and not treat people like they just woke up and moved there from podunk USA.

You know also, the pasta was done beyond fork tender. You know how hard it is to do that? If every customer were like me then I guess every customer would be a "problem" customer. It's not like this place didn't advertise itself as the "premier" Italian dining establishment in the city.

I'm done hollerin' now. :) I'm at my in-laws and my MIL made some kickin' hamburgers. I had mine with just-past-ripe absolutely sweet tomatoes and Maytag blue cheese directly from Iowa.
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post #11 of 13
6/11/05 at 7:25am
funny, i just had the worst experience last nite at a checkered tablecloth, chianti bottle adorned place i've been going to for years. Nothin exciting, but i don't have to cook so i enjoy it.

Kid wanted pizza, so we ordered an antipasto salad and pizza. Who'd of thought both would be inedible....ah well-gonna have to make pizza myself tonite to make amends with the daughter.
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post #12 of 13
6/12/05 at 11:54am
3) Proceed to lecture lecture the customer that the veal was simply dredged if flour and deep fried without S+P, and that the sauce was on par with Buca's and that the alcohol was in the sauce already, and explain that the next time the customer was there that he (manager) would go through the menu step by step to try and explain it in more detail.

kuan- did they actually do this to you???? thats utterly unacceptable. in the hospitality industry the product is HOSPITALITY! the only possible answer is; apologize, offer a substitute, and comp him. (this said as the past host of a vacation lodge on mt. baker) anyway, it wasnt lobster dipped in gold, for heavens sake; they throw more away of a night than the cost of that meal.
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post #13 of 13
6/14/05 at 1:04pm
Thread Starter 
Yeah they sure did! I'm in there with the wife, the kid, and of course I'm all scruffy long hair shorts and sandals total chinaman look so maybe he thought I didn't have a clue. It was annoying, then amusing. You all would have been real proud of me, I was so polite.
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