HendersonvilleRestaurant.com Blog

To all employees:
No one likes customer complaints. Like bad news, complaints tell us things are not right.Our feelings can be hurt. Dealing with them can be awkward and embarrassing. Handled incorrectly,a small inconvenience can become a full blown catastrophe, ruining an event for lots of folks and turning a great, fun occasion into a nightmare!

Complaints delivered in the restaurant by guests BEFORE THEY LEAVE also tell us we have a great chance to correct whatever the problem may be. In fact, we have an opportunity to gain good customers and make friends. Which is best? An upset customer walks out of the restaurant, vowing never to return or that same guest tells us of a problem which allows us to: 1-Fix whatever the problem is. 2-Apologize 3-Show how professional we are in dealing with blunders and goofs 4-Find out more about that guest and what he/she likes/dislikes and prefers. It offers us a GREAT OPPORTUNITY to learn and improve.

People go out to eat expecting a good time. As best we can, our job is to provide that enjoyable occasion. Sure, some complaints are off the wall and sometimes guests walk into the restaurant upset and looking for someone to blame. There are also those folks who expect the impossible.Thank goodness these are rare.
More often, the problem is a minor, but real irritation that truly needs attention.

The most common mistake in dealing with a complaint is getting defensive, trying to explain well, “it wasn’t my fault”. Guests in our restaurant ARE NOT CONCERNED about who is right or wrong. They just want things corrected.They expect no more/no less than you and I expect when we go out….and we can all be pretty picky sometimes!

Thanks for the great job all of you do! There will always be things we could have done better but 99.9% of the time you are FANTASTIC!