Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
What a true saying this is and surely never more so in a customer service industry like the restaurant business. Or so you would think.
However, there is one restaurateur that still doesn’t know this.
Let me set the scene for you. Thursday night, after a long difficult week, friends get together to wind down over a relaxing meal.
A member of my party was forced to politely return their starter of foul-smelling capriccio of beef, only to be embarrassed with a verbal onslaught from the manager of “there is nothing wrong with this” – “no one else is complaining”. Mistake number one.
When the main course was served another friend had the same problem with the beef even when it was cooked this time.
So now you would be expecting a profusely apologetic restaurant manager who would be trying to diffuse this unfortunate situation and salvage his reputation, right? Wrong! A furious foaming-mouthed madman arrives at our table bearing a huge bloody side of beef from the depths of the kitchen and screams at us “See! See! It is okay, no problem here, you people are the problem!
“Oops! Mistakes number two, three, four, five, six etc.
Surely things couldn’t get any worse? Wrong again. We immediately asked for the bill and yes you have guessed it, he charged us full price for the inedible, untouched, dishes!
Talk about leaving you with a bad taste in your mouth!
Of course, I couldn’t possible name this restaurant, that would be in even worse bad taste … but if I am invited there again by my friend, all I will say to him is this: “Let’s go eat somewhere else.”
Basil Fawlty, eat your heart out!
