I have heard many stories over the last few weeks (from friends in the industry), all of which have had as the root cause, rudeness and ignorance of the general public towards hospitality industry members.
Take it as the norm that in today’s world, it’s generally ‘all about me’ (and my life, which includes my family and friends, and my work and workmates). So that unattractive age-old theme of ‘insult me, and you insult, or threaten, my life, or choices’ which many of the old US western movies seemed to be based around (ie a gun shootout between two men with a disagreement of some kind), still resonate today, albeit in a different forum.
We are way too civilized these days to have a shootout in the main street of town (but, boy, in a way I would welcome this method of settling issues better than today’s more politically-correct and long drawn-out leaving it to the courts to dole out justice!). It would cause people to think more cautiously about what issues they truly believe in and what they want publicly to be seen to be representing, and potentially fighting to the death about! (It would maybe give perspective to those arguments on a topic such as whether Boags or Cascade is the better beer!).
Today, we seem to live in a place that permits humans to retain the attitude that if someone else is in a position of waiting on them, whether it’s in a retail, hospitality or other scenario, then the server is automatically inferior to the person/customer, and therefore should be spoken to and treated as such.
That attitude is so wrong on so many levels, but it happens constantly.
Turning up unannounced and un-booked at your restaurant or café of choice and expecting to find a seat or table, then served a coffee or meal, is totally unrealistic in today’s life.
The solution – as obvious as the nose on your face – CALL FIRST! And if you don’t, have an alternative plan up your sleeve for the possible (and probable) situation whereby they may well be unable to accommodate you.
And treat everyone as an equal to you – or better! They’re doing YOU the favour by having the business functioning there for your pleasure….all you have to do is walk in and order what you want, eat/drink it, then leave. Granted that without the customers, they wouldn’t have the business, but look at it in reverse, you NEED the business to be there so you can indulge your whimsies of not having to shop for, and make something yourself, and not having to wash up afterwards!
So customers – watch your manners!
Sunday, 2 January 2011
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45 comments:
very off post ...... http://www.ritasbite.com
is off line !?
Forgot to pay domain registration fee ?
CR
yes its arrogance...turn up unannounced expecting a table then getting shirty when the place is booked out..get over yourselves!
more arrogance: pple getting shirty that cafes & rest not open during holiday periods..ok pay more...yes thats right, pay more even though most Tasmanians are tightwads always complaining but curiously the first to whime about staff wages..wher do you think the money comes from half-whits...thats right, your meals....
so we'll charge more to stay open..then you'll whinge more about the prices...like graeme says in todays merc piece on the taste...its not a charity...they have to make profit...in response to the whiners who moaned about the expense of the dishes...hey to all the morons out there in epsilon world...food cost money....it costs more when you open a place...hire staff...buy ingredients....cook it...serve it etc etc...more and more and more...
so book ahead to avoid your dissappointment...be polite to the staff...they could be a member of you family...and be reasonable with your expectations
Don't bite the hand that feeds you... Restaurants only exist with customers. You should be happy to have any. If that means putting up with a bit of rudeness then so be it. If you are so LUCKY to get a passer-by walk in to your restaurant over your many competitors then thank your lucky stars. Just lately from restauranteurs and industry people it seems to be whinge whinge whinge. Your guests are your lifeblood. Considering the lack of financial stability in owning a restaurant...
How is it that they are doing us a favour? We DON'T have to go to any restaurant. If you single-handedly manage to ostracize the life blood of your own livelihoods then you deserve to suffer a slow and painful death. We don't NEED a restaurant to have a nice meal. I think you restaurant people are beginning to take us guests for granted. Ostracize us and we WILL cook at home - and happily wash up our own dishes. Something that has been done for centuries.
Sounds like the above writer is one of those customers who consider themselves to be above the staff.
And you DO need our restaurants. We're a lazy generation who love eating out. Ever walked up Elizabeth St North Hobart on a Friday night, any Friday night, any time of year? Need I say more? You need us way more than we need you, believe me.
Don't customers pay your wages?
Customers are your life blood. True but if that means putting up with rudeness and arrogant behaviour then thats not fine. Just because you spend money somewhere doesnt mean you treat staff disrespectfully.
Anon 9.37 pls let me know your name & I'll turn you away from my door when I see you and you can cook at home AND do your own dishes you bully
Well said, Rita. An old issue worth bringing up again and again. Paying customers versus restauranteurs/chefs/FOH. Each side has its own view depending on where you sit. Human!
What a load of old tosh this post is .. lets hope this is the low point of 2011.
Who would own a restaurant / work on a restaurant / visit a restaurant if this was what it is all about :(
Onward and upward teacups
made me laugh how some ppl were criticising cefs & rests that shut over the hol period due to high staff penalty rates-then the same clods moan that the prices are too high when they are open?
gr8 post rita 1 workin hobart and I'm so sick and tired of rude peeps coming into our cafe with some sort of aggro attitude, whay is this happening we are just trying to make a living doing what we do did I fall asleep and miss something like a big angry cloud seettling in Tasmania
im in rental cars industry and the number of people who have abused me this week that we have no cars left to hire out is ridiculous. like its my fault that they didnt think to call and book a car before they got to hobart.
same here-we run a smll bus in the city and took the public holidays off for reasons already mentioned, opened up again to some extremely irate customers, one berated me for inconveniencing him wtf! I am allowed holidays too.
What a terrible post. Our guests are - as Anon 9.37 said - our lifeblood. They don't turn up we don't get paid. And all those hours of hard work are wasted. So what if they don't call. There is no rule that they have to. The bookings only policy never works and there are few restaurants in Tasmania that can justify that policy - let alone the mainland. We should feel privileged they picked us. Not the other way round. I'm happy to have the occasional rude customer if it means I fill the restaurant four nights out of five.
(Edit to above post (11:07am))
Since most of us barely break even, you should be thinking the same. They will walk away if you ostracize them. At least that's the line of thought I'm following. Humility, loyalty and humble are words used often in this industry. Seems to me that a lot of you don't believe your own beliefs...
Great post Anon 9.37.
..and that is precisely why we'll never be able to progress in this industry in Hobart with an attitude like that (above 11.07 comment). You don't have to lie down and take all the shit that is dished out to you by customers just to pay your bills. You are still entitled to be treated respectfully. Everyone knows the terms and conditions of eating out. They, the customers, don't need to treat you or your staff badly.
They SHOULD book: for lots of practical reasons (staffing, food ordered in etc) and also for courtesy.
Hospitality is about being hospitable. That means you DO have to suck up many things you would probably arc up about in your private life, but that doesn't equate to prostituting yourself in order to pay the bills. If you have all the right ingredients for a successful (ie one that can pay its way) business, you will have customers anyway - so if you have to swallow any customer rudeness in order to ensure your bills get paid, I'd seriously look at your business and analyse it.
hear hear Rita-well said!
...it also pays to book so the restaurant can make sure they have enough food/staff to make your visit an enjoyable one. Dont want to book, go to maccas they're always open
people wont cook at home and not bother to go out...just wont happen..until then why not just book to ensure you get a table...restaurants and cafes will always be there, the world over...so get over yourselves and show some friggin respect like they do in other cultures..
Bookings are really appreciated. Last night we had 30 bookings, so the management decided to only put on two staff. We ended up serving 108 main meals (not including entrees, desserts and thousands of drinks). We were completely overwhelmed running around like crazy for over five hours. Help us help you- you make a booking and you will get better service, end of story.
great comment Hungry Boy-summs it all up well
No business DESERVES to do well and make profits merely for the fact they decide to hang out a shingle.
Well developed people skills and good attitude are as important as the food and service. Your customers will be a cross section of the types one encounters in any interactive people environment these days. Most will well behaved and susceptable to good people handling skills. A (perhaps increasing) minority will be the yobs one also encounters every day in society. Some can be charmed or given a polite putdown. In extreme cases, some can be told to leave. Many will just have to be tolerated using all your reserves of good humour.
Should these measures be not acceptable or possible for you and your staff, get out of the industry, as you will certainly not prosper. Bemoaning the behaviour of some of your customers won't change anything one iota.
what rubbish-moaning about rude customers and business success are not mutually exclusive. Doing one dose not negate the other. The sheer arrogance of some of the former commets is breathtaking and alarming in equal measure.
Moaning about customers usually ossifies over time into an ATTITUDE towards customers in general which DEFINITELY equates to a likelihood of business failure. Any reasonably sensitive person can immediately detect an "anti customer" atmosphere in certain establishments. They are usually on the way out and good riddence.
Customers can get lost. We don't need them. They need us. It is a privilege not a write to come to a restaurant. You come work 16 hours a day 5 or 6 days a week you bunch of lazy gits. If we want to place demands on our guests we will. You are the ones who worship us. Just look at Masterchef. And Iron Chef. And Top Chef. And the Naked Chef. We do stuff that you can't do and that's why you need us. They're is a reason why it's regarded as the toughest job in the world. We have no respect for you when you come into our restaurants and ask for a well done 300g eye fillet to be ready in 10 minutes, don't understand the difference between a shiraz and cab sav or even something so simple as which cutlery to use. You turn up, demand a table, demand this and demand that. Then you whinge when we patronise you. Just get lost. Leave. Go to Maccas.
I'm so sick of "people" turning up and been rude when we can't satisfy your demands. I'm sick of food coming back when it's the way I wanted it cooked. Or sick of seeing our FOH staff struggle with obnoxious customers walking in off the street. We may not be busy at the time but we will be in an hour or so. And I'm sick of when I raise prices you whinge. I need to charge that much to break even.
Get over yourself irrefutable! There's always plenty of choice for we customers to select places run by people who still like the human condition and can exhibit some warmth and charm . Your arrogance is breathtaking. Clearly you are one of those cynics who is on the way out of the industry.
"We are way too civilized these days to have a shootout in the main street of town"
I take it you haven't been to Glenorchy lately.
I love the human condition, its arrogant people I have difficulty with. I run a very busy place, so I'm already doing something right. What I have noticed recently is an increase in customer behaviour that at times borders on belligerence. Should I just accept this? No. Does this make me contemptable of my clients, of course it doesn't. Have I the right to express my feelings? Of course I have.
Just because I dare to speak of those undesirable punters and bring into the light thair appalling attitudes does not mean that 'I am on my way out of the industry' and that I deserve to go broke.
I stand up for my staff who have been reduced to tears on occasion from bullying customers. I feel comfortable showing them the door rather than taking their money and they can take their nastiness with them as far as I'm concerned.
well said last anon-the customer isn't always right.
The customer pays you - that makes them right. Not the other way around.
so you're saying they can do or say whatever they like, even if its offensive or unreasonable just because there's a monetary transaction?
They're not prostitutes
I've heard people say the Tassie hospo scene is tough and reading this post I can see why. Lots of ingrained hostility toward a section of the community who have a go at the restaurant game. I can't believe the total lack of empathy toward this sector if some of the comments here are anything to measure by.
What is in the waters down there? Little wonder real hospitality pros don't stay too long.
Ever thought the reason why Tasmanian restaurants are not amongst our nations elite? It's because of a small minded and ignorant didning public who are too self-obsessed, opinionated and close minded to appreciate and support these businesses.
You lot get restaurants you deserve.
Yes, good manners cheers everyone up, on both sides.
And we should actually be on the SAME side.
For example, yesterday we went on a wee spin to Huonville and decided for simple fish and chips from the punt there.
It was flat out. Every table occupied and two people in front of us, followed by a big swoosh who arrived just after us.
The guy taking the orders was pleasant and said we'd only have to wait 5 minuites or so.
It might have been six! But how they coped I'll never know.
Bloody professionals the lot of them!
And there had been no short cuts on the grub...all cooked to perfection and my flathead was delicious.
What a wonderful glow we had as we ran back up to Hobart (in the car, sillies), hunger satisfied and feeling good about the place we had just been.
And you all claim that you can cope without these businesses being open.............. Just look at all the bloody wingers in the paper every day complaining that blah blah blah shut for 3 days at Christmas.
We have a life too, and unlike most of our customers who have desk jobs answering phones, writing emails and doing other equally useless things, we actually work hard.
where did my other post go????????????????????????????????????????????????????
We don't need chefs or restaurants. Mankind has been feeding themselves for thousands of years. Far longer than restaurants have been around. You're expendable, and your work provides very little to society. You're a luxury and a luxury that can easily be lost. It's time you got brought back down to earth.
ha ha mankind has also made fire, invented the wheel etc, doesnt mean we have pefected it-restaurants will ALWAYS be a part of our culture whether you tightwads and serial complainents think so or not.
Stay in your caves, please so the rest of us can evolve..
OMG you weird Island pple!
Are you SO cut off from the rest of the worlds accepted conventions?
It seems so.
No wonder we are always in 'apologise mode'
"unlike most of our customers who have desk jobs answering phones, writing emails and doing other equally useless things, we actually work hard.
Oh woe is me...
Cue the world's smallest violin...
The self importance of the restaurant people is still strong. And you wonder why people have a go at you.
Working hard doesn't always mean you contribute anything of much importance to the world. Someone said something about ostracizing those you serve. You are facilitating that well...
If people are a little rude or demanding but you can still earn a decent living, then maybe you should just accept that.
Lots of people work hard to earn a crust without the arrogance and sense of entitlement that some of these restaurant people exhibit.I do not defend rude customers in any way but dealing with this must be expected in hospitality. I always take my hat off to the cafes and restaurants who provide good food and service but who can do it with grace and take the trouble to equip themselves and their staff with people skills. There seem to be many in the industry who can serve up a decent feed but who basically don't like people very much and, as such, lack one very essential personal quality to achieve success in such an industry.
You are not indispensible. Competition is fierce and you are foolish if you think otherwise and affect to despise much of your customer base. Wake up.
Come on people, try to be good. Remember those New Year resolutions.
Could I also ask that the texter generation cease forthwith this blinking habit of abbreviating ppl and other words instead of the real word?
I am struggling to keep up. rmmbr dinosaurs r a threatnd spcies.
Dear Sir Grumpy a breath of fresh air as always! And to 1 poster far above in this most expressive set of posts it's "right" not b***** "write"
oh my
Thanks everyone above for their comments. I think the only thing we have demonstrated is to prove that there will always be a big divide in Hobart between many waitstaff (and associated customer service people) and their customers. As long as we can all see that there IS an opposing view to our own, and that, from the above comments, it seems like it's pretty well 50/50 (thus leaving no one 'winning' the argument) at least we know where we stand!
But I'd still like to see more understanding and respect for serving people, and I'd still like to see more responsibility taken by every adult for themselves and their actions, or lack thereof!
I rang a cafe on Boxing Day to see if they were open, and they were. Asked if we would have to book a table for coffee, and was told "We don't do just coffe - you book a table you have to order a meal". Made to feel very unwelcome so we didn't go there. Instead, we dropped into the very charming (and popular!) Petty Sessions cafe at Franklin. Who were more than happy to serve "just coffee". Maybe I don't know my french but isn't a cafe about coffee??? I get that bookings are important for dinner at restaurants or if you're having a special luch or a large party of people or if you know a place is uber popular, but I don't understand cafes getting shirty if you don't call ahead to announce your arrival.
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