Direct Communication...What a Concept

Do you have a favorite restaurant? I'm guessing most of us do. That go-to place or maybe it's the place you go for special occasions, either way it's your favorite. We have a couple of favorites. One of those favorites has slipped though, in fact, we are boycotting it.

Not the actual restaurant from this post.

Note: Some of this is going to be deliberately vague because those who are local to me may figure it out and I do not want that to happen.

So here's the story. We have been frequenting this restaurant quite often because we liked the food and it was in a convenient location. We have noticed a significant change in the customer service over the last few years that is not getting better. Yes, we all know that the pandemic wreaked havoc on restaurants and staffing was horrendous. Let me tell you that this place had issues before and now well after those years. I gave them grace for as long as I could.

We often ordered takeout but it was getting to the point where we crossed our fingers that we would get the food that we ordered. We also would eat in the restaurant and as I mentioned earlier, the service was slow and not friendly. The last time we ate there we were ignored and then not-so-nice comments were made by staff.

We gave them one last try a few weeks ago with a takeout order and yet again we were disappointed. To say our order was incorrect is a huge understatement.

So what to do if anything? Many people take to social media and complain but I do not feel this is helpful. Maybe they feel that they are warning others. Think about it though, if a place of business has bad customer service, other people already know. Does it really help solve anything to bash them online? Maybe your bad experience was a one-time event.

What I chose to do was contact the business owner through email. I could have phoned or just walked in but I do better in writing. So I respectfully let this person know about our experiences and that we were done. I explained that I didn't want anything in return like a free meal etc but this person needed to know that customers were lost.

I truly did not expect a response but I did get one. This communication also was respectful and included an apology and the opportunity to meet in person. The owner said that they were working on improving customer service and offered to tell me what they planned to do. I declined the invitation to meet since I felt I had done what I set out to do in a respectful and productive way.

Business owners have a lot to worry about and especially in our economy today, things are tough. No matter what business you are in, it isn't easy.

I respect anyone who runs a business and as a business owner myself, I know we all want to succeed. While my business is not big enough to hire employees, I know that if I did have them, I would want to know that they were doing a good job (or not).

While there may be times when publicly sharing about a negative experience is helpful to others, it is not always necessary. If a company is taking advantage of someone or outright stealing then yes, bring it to public attention (carefully) so others don't get caught in a scam or something similar. But if your local restaurant offers a bad experience over and over, isn't it better to go to the root of the problem to help solve it? Whether they respond to you positively or at all, the ball is in their court to fix the issue. That's a big enough job. in itself, having to try and defend themselves on social media platforms on top of it is a big time waster.

I could have just not done anything except stop patronizing the restaurant. I still feel it was a good idea to let the owner know.

What do you think? I would love to hear about your experiences. Leave them in the comments.

Until next time, take care of your beautiful self.

~Kim~