Perhaps one of the most relatable lines from the indie classic Clerks is, “This job would be great if it wasn’t for the customers.”
And while some out there in the workforce might argue that their jobs have more problems than that, you’re not likely to find a more widely understood sentiment in the retail and food service industries.
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Yet while it’s certainly true that customers have been screaming in employees’ faces for decades, the modern service experience presents so many more opportunities for them to be annoying. After all, the same customers that behave this way are also able to leave negative reviews on websites like Yelp and TripAdvisor and act like their bad experience was entirely the fault of the staff.
But based on the details one restaurant owner shared in his response to such a review, this strategy can backfire if the customer tries to pull out a tired old trick in their complaint.
Although the quality of food tends to be the most common gripe among restaurant reviews, one disgruntled customer couldn’t find fault there after visiting the Sticky Walnut in Chester, England.
In his review shared by Bored Panda, Rob V said that the food was excellent but added, “The bad news is that the restaurant management doesn’t give a toss about customer experience.”
He didn’t get specific but said that an experience with a manager was bad enough that he wrote to the owner directly.
However, what may have seemed like a power move to Rob only ended up putting him on that very owner’s radar.
In his response, the owner named Gary reminded Rob that he agreed to an hour-and-a-half time limit when he was made aware that the restaurant was busy that night.
And he also said that the manager Rob dealt with had only reminded him that his party’s time at the table was running out. Yet this didn’t seem to matter to them as they ordered another round of drinks.
In Gary’s words, “Perhaps if your party had arrived on time for your reservation this could have been avoided.”
He also claimed that when the manager returned to warn the guests that staff were about to clear their table, Rob got up and started getting in their face. When they asked him to stop, both he and his mother apparently said that person didn’t deserve to be a manager and that they should get their drinks for free.
Finally, they threatened to contact Gary himself and said that he would like how his “friend” had been treated.
Given their supposed personal relationship, Gary was then amused to see that Rob had reached out to him via his publicly posted business email.
As Gary put it, “You must have lost my number Rob!”
So yeah, Gary had never heard of the man before, but he now knew enough to ensure that neither he nor his mother could book any further reservations.
Congratulations Rob, you played yourself.
Finally, Gary made a point to note that Sticky Walnut had made the National Restaurant Awards top 100 list in the same period that this manager has been working and Gary is indeed convinced that they’re deserving of their role.
h/t: Bored Panda
