26. Dining Experience - What Do You Mind?

For me, especially at establishments that claim to take pride in its excellent service, I mind:

  1. Mediocre and lukewarm welcome.

  2. Not being ready when there is a prior reservation made.

  3. Wobbly table or chair (How come this was not noticed by anyone during set-up, day after day?)

  4. Seating a single diner or couple right next to a big group when there are many other tables available.

  5. Seating a single diner at a table set for 2 or 4, and not bothering to remove the covers, making the diner feel as if all his/her friends have stood him/her up.

  6. Presenting menus closed (or/and having too many leaflets and promotional materials). 

  7. Not automatically informing soup/dish/specials of the day. 

  8. Asking for recommendation and the employee simply points to the item/s on the menu without giving further information about the recommendation.

  9. Service delay without informing guests. 

  10. Not reverting when diners ask to check with the kitchen for delay. 

  11. Being informed the dish/drink is not available after order is placed.

  12. Intrusive and inefficient service – when employees keep coming over to ask about the food, if we would like anything else, and yet not clearing the necessary from the table. 

  13. Employee offering "Let me know if there is anything I can do" when it is apparent there is much to clear from the table.

  14. Two main courses ordered and one arrived before the other (i.e. the other diner has to wait)

  15. Group meal – staff not knowing who had ordered what, and therefore diners have to raise their hand to say “Me!” when each dish is being announced.

  16. When guest places the soiled cutlery on the plate to be cleared, and the employee puts them back on the table to be re-used. 

  17. Service staff putting the blame on kitchen when food is delayed or order is wrong. 

  18. Senior staff behaving unkindly to his/her own team in front of diners.

  19. Body language, comportment and grooming of service team – e.g. dragging the feet when walking, slouchy posture, stained uniforms, faded name tags, etc.

  20. Presenting the bill in a dirty/highly stained bill folder.

  21. Pen offered for signing is not professional (e.g. a Hello Kitty pen).

  22. Soft-pressurising guests into writing a positive review. 

  23. Saying goodbye without looking at the guest and lacking sincerity 


Reflective thoughts: In your opinion, what are the things that compromise a dining experience?  What can be done to avoid these negatives?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

1. The Service Bank Concept

Put simply, it is an analogy of how a service interaction makes you – the guest, client or customer – feel.  Just like your bank account, the feelings experienced can be negative (a withdrawal or minus), neutral (status quo  or zero), or positive (a deposit or plus).  In each and every service interaction, whether a hotel stay or flight experience, a retail or house viewing encounter, a phone reservation or bar experience, there is the bland and disappointing (minus), or the thoughtful and extraordinary (plus). Expected service – even if good, garners a zero in the Service Bank. (e.g. Getting a clean room upon check-in or the restaurant hostess extending a standard   welcome doesn’t count as a service deposit. However, should there be a strand of hair on the bed or if the greeting was done half heartedly without eye contact, these would amount to a withdrawal in the service bank.) To illustrate further, each plus is represented by a heart 💖. The more hearts, the mor...
Read more

132. Post-Stay Surprises

What are some mention-worthy post-stay surprise you have received from a hotel after you have returned home? Here are some of examples: The mailman arrived with a rather large package from this Bangkok hotel: packets of tom yum paste presented in a woven pouch with recipes of the signature tom yam soup. (The guest had ordered this dish on two occasions during the hotel stay.)  Front office manager at a Japanese property emailed the guest to ask if she was feeling better. The guest had a high fever the day prior to checking out and had requested for a doctor. Email greeting from a Thai resort, with a photo of the butlers standing in front of the villa (in which the guest had stayed), holding several hand-drawn signages with messages such as   "We miss you (guest name)",   "Please come back soon", and "Have a lovely day in (country)!" A handwritten thank-you card, signed by various departments. A personalised email greeting on guest's birthday six months...
Read more

134. Small Gesture, Big Impact

At NH Leidseplein Hotel in Amsterdam, guests are offered a coupon for a hot beverage or small glass of wine/cocktail should they decide to skip Housekeeping services for the day.  During the morning check-out, I returned the 3 unused coupons to the receptionist, who then asked if I would like to use it to have some coffee or tea. I thanked him, but informed I just had my cappuccino from the hotel restaurant.  Evan the receptionist then asked, pointing to the coupons:  "Is there anything you'd like with these?" , to which I replied, "What could you offer?"   He then asked what I would like and he would see what he could do. So I told him I was over at the lounge area writing some postcards with my niece and enquired if he could arrange for a plain croissant for her. He smiled and said he would give it a try.  After quickly informing his colleague he was stepping away for a minute, Evan walked to the breakfast restaurant which was just adjacent to t...
Read more