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Apparently You, The Customer, Are The Problem
"I don't know what is going on. I was supposed to leave an hour and a half ago."
That was the first thing that our waitress said when she arrived at our table. We had arrived more than five minutes ago and quickly decided on our usuals. This was one of our regular restaurant chains. We had not been to this location before. We were on the way home after a long drive. We were looking forward to enjoy our usual, quick service and then back onto the highway for the final leg home.
Instead we were seated by a friendly hostess and quickly forgotten - or so it seemed. A stern waitress walked by us at least three times without making eye contact. A stoic waiter (who also had mastered the power of avoiding eye contact) served the group across from us who arrived after us. We were wondering if we should leave. Perhaps we were at the wrong table.
For some strange reason I felt a little better when the group behind me got up and mumbled something like "let's just pay at the cash." Apparently, we were not the only ones being ignored.
We caught the eye of the friendly hostess across the room and gestured that we were waiting to order. She nodded and appeared to act on our behalf.
Within 30 seconds the stern waitress (the same one who had walked past us three times) arrived at our table and opened with that line, "I don't know what is going on…"
There was no apology, no greeting, no "welcome to our restaurant".
Then she snapped, "I'll take your order." as if that implied that she was doing us a big favour.
Realizing how lucky we were, we quickly placed our order. We even said please because we didn't want to upset Ms Sternface. She might sabotage our food.
The food arrived quickly. It was delivered by Mr. Stoic. He was mechanically efficient. He was personally cold. There was no explanation about the handoff, no apology, no greeting - not even an "enjoy your meal".
The food was delicious and up to our usual expectations.
However the service had annoyed us. I must have said "no tip" to myself several times - yet when it was time to pay the bill I still added a tip - a small one - but certainly an unearned one. I left a tip because I felt an obligation to be kind. As I walked away from the restaurant I felt cheated by the poor service and disappointed that I had been too weak to leave a zero tip.
PS: This was Swiss Chalet in London, Ontario, Canada. They have since sent me a gift certificate to compensate us for our discomfort.
© George Torok is co-author of the bestselling, Secrets of Power Marketing. It's the first Canadian guide to personal marketing for the non-marketer. More marketing tips and insights at http://www.facebook.com/PowerMarketing1 Arrange a presentation at www.Torok.com To arrange a media interview call 905-335-1997