Complaints are inevitable in any type of business. Restaurants are no different in this regard. Some common customer’s complaint include dissatisfaction with the food or service, and sometimes these complaints can go unresolved.
As a business, it is our responsibility to listen to these complaints and to take appropriate measures to address them.
Some solutions that can be implemented in response to complaints include making adjustments to the food or service, apologizing to the customer, or refunding their money. It is important to be attentive to complaints and to take the appropriate steps to address them.
By doing so, we can ensure that our customers are satisfied with their experience and that we remain one of their favourite places to go.
Some of the Customer’s complaints we are likely to get in a restaurant will be listed below alongside possible solutions.
5 Customer’s complaints in restaurants and their solutions.
1. Customer’s complaint about the Quality of Food and Drink
As the main aim of a restaurant is to provide food and drinks, people tend to come to restaurants with the hopes of getting something proper and delicious to satisfy their stomachs.
When the foods and drinks served at the restaurant are not healthy or tasty enough then we have abused the purpose of a restaurant. We should be willing to bring nothing but the best to the table so that when people eat from us they walk away with full stomachs and happy hearts.
Using fresh foodstuffs to cook is important as it not just makes the food tasty but healthy too. Things like unbranded oils and meat of animals that died, not in the hands of a butcher should be avoided to avoid cases of food poisoning.
Fruits and vegetables used in the restaurant should always be washed properly and with salt if necessary to get rid of germs.
Given that the foodstuff and condiments for use have been taken care of, the hand that cooks the food is also very important.
To build a strong and standard restaurant, a standard chef is also required. We should make available a chef, tested and trusted to cook the food. This is to make sure that the food comes out is best possible.
The way to a man’s heart is through the stomach they say, but not just a man I tell you.
2. Customer’s complaint can come in form of Order Mixups
People deem to have their preferred choice of foods and drinks also, a preferred temperature in drinks too. Some tend to prefer their drinks or beverages cold, hot or lukewarm even.
When a customer has a preference for a certain kind of food or drink and their expectations are not met, they tend to pick an offence. And their next line of action would be reporting to the authority in that particular establishment.
When such a complaint is brought to our notice we should,
1. Investigate the possible source of such misconduct
it could be traced down to the waiters or waitresses or even so to the kitchen staff.
2. offer solutions.
If the fault happens to have come from the side of the serving staff, inadequate number of staff maybe, then we should facilitate recruiting more staff. this is because having a few numbers of staff working in different parts of the restaurant might cause them to have lack of concentration. And they end up not meeting the customers desired wants in their services.
Having a handful of staff who are obligated to work in different areas in the restaurant makes work run smoother and less tedious. And the chances of not meeting a customer’s desire for their services are reduced.
The fault can also be on the side of the kitchen staff. Say maybe there weren’t enough foodstuffs to put together the order gotten from a customer, they may resort to making do with the available ones and might end up offending a customer.
Therefore the supply of adequate foodstuffs should be made available so as not to cause the staff resulting to alternatives that might not go down well with the customers. And if at any point the food or drink of the customer’s desire is not available, then before deciding an alternative, the customer should be first consulted.
3. Customer’s complaint of Behavioural Conduct of Staff
People tend to feel insulted when it seems as though they are not accorded the respect they deserve. Customers might not be satisfied with how the staff in a restaurant receive them or how they were tended to during their visit and thereby lay a complaint.
Staff being brought to work in an organization needs to undergo orientation. It should be brought to their notice that they are being brought to work in a place that requires constant communication. And therefore the way they relate to their customers should be in check.
We should make sure that they have an appropriate manner of approach and also proper use of words, the tone in which they speak should also be in check so that in any situation regardless, they can maintain a warm and gentle tone.
4. Outlook of the Environment
The physical environment of a restaurant is one of the first things, if not the first thing a customer notices while walking in.
The outlook of the restaurant unconsciously gives them an idea of the type of restaurant it is.
First impressions matter what they say, so what they see can make them feel comfortable eating in the restaurant or make them want to go elsewhere.
We should also ensure that there are staff who have cleaning and keeping the restaurant tidy as per their work description. And meter out measures to ensure they don’t fall short of these duties.
Naturally, people tend to feel more comfortable eating in a neat and properly arranged environment than they would in a dirty and unkempt one. So we should always ensure tidiness and orderliness in the restaurant as it has a way of making our food seem healthier and perhaps tastier.
5. Delayed Serving/ Services
Business is all about timing. When a customer places an order for a certain food or drink and time is wasted in tending to their demands, they can get annoyed and some may go to the extent of posting negative reviews of the business online.
Customer service is key in business because the treatment they receive while in our care, they relay to others, thereby creating an image of our restaurant in people’s minds. And this can result in whether our business grows or crumbles.
Shortage of staff can be a factor to facilitate this issue but the competency of the staff already hired should be reevaluated too. If it so happens that there aren’t enough staff to work at the restaurant then we need to work towards hiring more staff.
But if we already have an adequate number of staff just enough to run our business then we should put on a scale the usefulness and vibrancy of the employees.
Having a lot of workers turns out sometimes not to be the solution but having competent ones is. We need to put the already employed staff to training as easing them of their work might not be the most positive decision on their part.
We need to also make them see the need to be up and doing, mould them into concentrated vibrant staff so that immediately an order comes in they work towards meeting the consumers desires to the best of their ability.
To Wrap up
Making mistakes in businesses is something bound to happen at one point or the other. So when a customer’s complaint is brought to our notice, we should endeavour to listen, so we know what exactly the customer might be offended about and understand why exactly the customer is not satisfied.
After listening to the customer’s complaint, we should ensure we respond to the customer, we should pacify the customer to ensure that they don’t leave angrily or have a wrong idea of what might have happened.
Thereafter offer solutions, and work towards eradicating whatever it is was the cause of such mistake, so it doesn’t reoccur.
