I went to Not Your Average Joe’s on Route 9 in Westborough the other night. If you’ve never been I definitely recommend the place if not for their bread alone. They have some of the best bread I’ve ever had at any restaurant. The funny thing is the bread by itself isn’t that good, I’ve tried it. They give you an oil and Parmesan cheese combination to dip it in and the bread just seems to go perfectly with it. But I digress.
Back to the story…there was a bit of a wait so we go drinks. Good news, the wait was shorter than expected and we got our table. We ordered an appetizer right away since we knew what we wanted and then ordered our food when the waiter came back. After eating our appetizer and as we were waiting for the food it came up in conversation that the service seemed to be slower than usual.
After eating our meals which were good as usual, a couple of things were wrapped up to take with us and one of the people I was with had a thing for a free dessert. We were all full and pretty much ready to go so they asked to get the dessert to go. Most people would think that this implies that we were ready to go.
We waited for the dessert. It took a solid 15 minutes for the dessert to finally come out. It was just a piece of chocolate cake. Is that a long time?
To top things off, we then had to ask for the bill. Now we are sitting there with our stuff already to take home but we didn’t have the bill. We had to wait.
The bill was slow to come and then when it finally came there was a mistake on it. I asked the waiter about the mistake, which he apologized for. No big deal. I gave him a credit card and set to just adjust it and then run it through.
He comes back, drops off the adjusted bill with no pen. Wait, no pen, he didn’t even run the bill through and he had already walked away.
At this point I started to get a bit annoyed so I walked up to the front, where no one was. As I said before I like this restaurant, there were three different waiters/waitresses that stopped to see if I needed things while I was standing there. Some even had their hands full, literally. I had already asked for the manager.
When the manager came out, I just said, “sorry to bother you, I don’t know where my waiter went and I’ve tried to have this bill run through a couple of times.”
She apologized right off the bat and started on the computer. I went back to the table and she was basically right behind me to have the bill all set to go. I was happy because she fixed it right away.
Then she went above and beyond. She proceeded to say, “I took $25 off of your bill for the incoveinence and let me get a bag for your to-go boxes.” Then she came back with the bag, “again I want to apologize for your inconveinece”, as she was putting our stuff in the bag, “I threw a few coupons for your next visit in the bag.”
Wow, thank you. There was a bit more to the conversation but I think you get the gist of it. I would have been happy with a little empathy and a quick fix. This manager went above and beyond. She apologized for my troubles, fixed it right away and gave me a reason to come back. It was a busy night and I understood the slow service and I will happily go back there.
The biggest mistake I made was not getting the name of the manager that provided the excellent service.
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{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey, companies are going to mess up and employees are going to goof. But if they can recover they not only make us happy but can even generate additional loyalty!
Thanks for sharing the story.
.-= LeanLifeCoach´s last blog ..Health Care For Kids When You Can’t Afford It =-.
LeanLifeCoach:
You’re exactly right. I understand people make mistakes, it’s how they correct them that count. This is a great example of that.
I like how you gave them the opportunity to make it right instead of just saying “I’ll never go back” or the like. The worst is when you do give a company a fair chance to redeem themselves and then they STILL fail! Curious though, would you have taken a simple “I’m so sorry” from the manager and been ok with that?
.-= Stay at Home Mom CFO´s last blog ..Weekly Round-Up – Snowed In (AGAIN!) Edition =-.
D’uh- All you wanted was empathy! I guess I meant would you still go back if all you got was the “sorry”.
.-= Stay at Home Mom CFO´s last blog ..Weekly Round-Up – Snowed In (AGAIN!) Edition =-.
SAHMCFO:
I would have gone back either way because I like the restaurant and I’ve been there a few times. If this was my first time though, I probably wouldn’t have been so forgiving without the great manager.
Love the follow up afterwards! I would call the restaurant and ask for who the manager was at that date and time. Then mention to the restaurant owner, or whoever the proprietors are that “X manager” rocked. That one mention will go A LONG way to cemented that person for a raise, promotion, or whatever. It’s worth it!
.-= Financial Samurai´s last blog ..The Curse Of Making Too Much Money And Not Pursuing Your Dreams =-.
Financial Samurai:
That’s a great idea I wish I did it sooner. Why didn’t I think of it? It’s definitely worth a try. Great service needs to be pointed out to be appreciated. The manager definitely deserves to be recognized for it.
I think it also helps that you were polite and honest. I think we feel that if we get loud and angry enough people will notice. But a polite reminder, a simple request, can go a long ways. We have even gotten a free meal at Texas Roadhouse once just because we treated out server well! Folks in the service industry get treated like crap daily- so some kindness and honesty goes a looong way. Plus, you will keep coming back! Thanks for the story.
.-= Ted´s last blog ..The shame of debt =-.
Ted:
You make a great point. I’ve actually gotten discounts and coupons at different places just for giving honest feedback. I do think a lot of it is in the delivery. Most people get emotional. I try to take the approach of understanding what’s going wrong and trying to figure out how it can be fixed.
Now that’s excellent customer service. What companies fail to realize most of the time is one excellent customer service story can bring in droves of new customers just as one bad story can drive just as many away. Thanks for sharing!
.-= David @ MBA briefs´s last blog ..Do mass firings improve performance? =-.
David:
You are definitely right, so if you are ever in Westborough, MA stop by the Not Your Average Joe’s on Rt 9 westbound and tell them I sent you.
That manager was great. And it’s always possible that the waiter was just having a bad night. Sometimes, we forget that the people bringing the food are dealing with life every day, just like we are and in addition to being busy, his mind could have been struggling with something as simple as a fight with his girlfriend or a problem in his family of which you were unaware. That’s why I always try to give folks a second chance to make a good impression.
.-= Tracy´s last blog ..The Price Of Fame: A story about about pre-planning… =-.
Awesome story, I’m originally from Sharon and I’ve only heard good things about the place. It just shows that it never hurts to ask. It’s also nice that the takeaway here is that the service was good when 90% of the story was about how bad it was. Just one good employee can make a HUGE difference.
.-= Daniel´s last blog ..How To Raise Your Credit Limit Without a Hard Inquiry =-.
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