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Restaurant Rants - Poor Service - Racism - Is The Customer Always Right?
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Restaurant Rants - Poor Service - Racism - Is The Customer Always Right? I often read rants against restaurants by customers. Poor service, orders are not taken, being asked to leave because they are sitting a long time without ordering, being thrown out, racist remarks by staff. Maybe the man on a blind date, or at a bar, orders a drink, or two, or three, whilst waiting for her. Nervous on his first date, wondering if he'll be stood up. The restaurant staff see a surly man drunking and consciously or subconsciously don't want to take his food order after being turned away by him the first time they ask for his food order. She switches tables. Their food order gets lost. Later, the female date, having not eaten, low blood sugar, drunk and bad tempered, blames the drunken man for being in a bad temper with the restaurant. The<b> male date </font></b>blames everything on the restaurant for bad service. I've arrived late. Sometimes my date is drunk and cross. Sometimes he hasn't ordered and the staff ignore us all evening. Sometimes he has already read the menu, chosen his food and drink. He has got chatted up by the manager, or chatted up the manager. My date is not bothered by my being late, he has phoned and said to me, Take your time. So we are given water without being asked, a sip of house wine to tempt us, and free liqueurs and have a great time. My view is that you should not drink alcohol without drinking water and eating. I don't have the full facts in most of the cases I read. I don't know the owners or customers. However, this is a topic for concern to restaurant owners and customers, both in individual incidents and in general. Are people of all religions and none welcome in a restaurant? Is a restaurant a public place? I'd be interested in other people's comments. Lots of restaurants and pubs have people standing around the doorway smoking, preventing would-be diners from entering easily. When I visited or passed one restaurant it did seem that customers or onlookers were standing around outside treating the place like a bus station. What of the people hanging around the doorway? Many people think even a bus or train station should not be treated this way. (A gathering place for groups. Are they groups of homeless and penniless teenagers who stand smoking and talking before gathering in a group to go off elsewhere, presumably to gatecrash parties?) What are the aims of the restaurant owners and the customers? What the real problems? What caused the problems? What's the first spark of conflict? Is there an ongoing conflict? What's the last straw? What could be changed? 2 What do the owners want? To sell food and drink? Many restaurants have this problem. They want to attract and fill the place with the small spenders in daytime and between meals. Only if the small eaters spend on drink. They want people who have finished eating to move on. They don't want people to sit without ordering. It seems to me that the initial problem, or the ongoing problem is this. 3 The secondary problem is: The secondary aim of the restaurant is to provide a place with a theme. Provide a place where people of any age or religion can feel at home? Provide a place reminiscent of the culture and religion back home for expats, nostalgia and tourists? Turn the situation around. Are Italians more welcome in Italian restaurants? Can the italian speaking waiters explain the menu's dishes to English speakers? Can the Polish speaking waiters explain Italian dishes? It seems to me it took a long time for us to make it a legal requirement to list drinks prices. It should now be a legal requirement to list the ingredients of dishes in English. I remember years ago a dispute between a customer who ordered a canneloni, expecting to get a meat canneloni, and getting one filled with spinach (Florentino). A restaurant owner cannot expect every customer to know every dish on the menu. I think as a minimum, we should do as the French, and make it a legal requirement to have a set meal including a drink (soft or alcoholic) and coffee and tax and service for a set price so the customer will know what it will cost and that he or she has enough cash or credit to pay. It would make entertaining easier too. If seats must be vacated by a certain time, a sign should say so, and a customer should be given a five minute warning. Now lets look at another source of dispute. Racism. Are Jews welcome in Arab restaurants? Are Arabs welcome in Jewish restaurants? How does the restaurant owner know the customer is Jewish? Arab? Muslim? By dress, language, topic of discussion? How can the restaurant owners make friends with the customers? Have the customers make friends with the owners. At one restaurant the premises provide a mixture of the outdoor shish smoking lounge at the front (attracting youngsters who want to smoke and drink and snack) and the more expensive restaurant at the back (attracting the older and affluent couples and groups who want to eat a three course meal or youngsters who want celebrate a birthday. The result is that the front area attracts onlookers and passers by and groups, who block the entrance to the diners. If the owners, as is the case with most businesses, want to make money from selling food and drink (with the lounge at the front attracting attention), then customers who want to sit and chat to each other without ordering food and drink will not be popular with the staff. Do we know anything about the owners when customers write rude comments? Very little. Do we know anything about the customer? Very little. In one complaint or rant which I read, the customer seems to have had a smoke without ordering any food or drink. The customer, on that internet site, had not praised or patronised any other food or drink place. What could restaurant owners do, there or elsewhere? Any restaurant needs to keep on good terms with all local communities. Some would say: Be careful not to alienate youngsters whose parents or grandparents may be dining inside. Make it clear what the seating policy is. Has a restaurant become very popular and attracted more than they can seat? Maybe if both sides tried to apologise and think of helping the other, life would be better for everybody. Others would say, don't let one set of customers alienate others. But I've seen Arab/ Muslim and Jewish restaurant and shop owners who are both in sales get on very well. The Jew goes into the Muslim's shop or restaurant and knows him by name, greets him, expresses interest. 'How are you Mohammed. How's business? Wonderful place you have. Wish you every success. Is it okay if I have a drink without ordering any food today? Mustn't get in the way of your regular customers. ... Please go ahead, Madam... Mohammed, you are the best. Give me your card. I have a cousin / neighbour who could help you ...' Then Mohammed is giving 'Moishe' free drinks and leftovers. Suddenly you find they are actually in business, bosom friends, renting each other's property, sharing this and that, making profits together. In one customer complain I read it sounds as if the customer went back 'after everything calmed down' - to complain - and did not get a good reception. What if you heard this story in court, as a magistrate, a case of assault? One has to hear both sides of the story. Clearly one has to avoid racist remarks, whatever the provocation, because they are likely to alienate everybody. Should a restaurant be invited to reply? 'Elizabeth'[   |
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