The Common Complaints in a

Restaurant
*Restaurant customers are people too and if
you intend on controlling your restaurant
customer complaints you should look at
them from a different point of view.

*Let'sbreak down the different types of

customer complaints in order to help you
to understand them and to better control
them.
1. SERVICE

*Too Fast / Too Slow Service

*Annoying / Ignoring Service
*Rudeness / unprofessional of Waiter/s
*Acknowledgeable Waiter / s

How to Avoid :
*Have a good communication with Guest
*Be Aware / Attention to Details
*Have a good timing
*Be a knowledgeable
*Be friendly and never appear to be stressed out.
2. Food / Drink

*The food / drink is immediately delivered and something

does not come out the way the guest ordered it.
*The quality of the food is not fresh / good.
*The food is not done to Guest’s liking.
*Food / drink is overpriced.

How to Avoid :
*Make sure you take your time and listen to what the guest
is ordering and write it down properly.
*Always double check about food from the kitchen.
*Have a good communication with kitchen staff.
*Give a expectable explanation to the Guests
3. Ambience

*Guest not comfortable with either the temperature inside

the restaurant or the volume of the music
*Too noisy
*Restaurant, bar, toilet are dirty

How to avoid :
*Try to make a quite ambience
*Arrange the Guest’s sitting as perfect as possible
*Maintain the cleanness
 Handling Complaint
* Listen
On occasion a complaining customer will be rude, angry, and use vulgar
language, stay the course and remain calm and level headed.

When the customer is done venting; in a calm, non-judgmental tone, repeat

their problem. By repeating the problem at hand, you've demonstrated your
ability to the customer that you heard and understood their problem.

Listen and clarify. Never defend or justify. The customer doesn't care if you
were shorthanded or if you're having a bad day, they only care that they get
taken care of. No excuses, just solutions.

* Body Language
The way you stand and look at a customer can speak more than words.
Maintain eye contact and the best body language is to stand with your
hands clasped behind you. Having your head tilted slightly to one side
can help give the impression that you are listening closely to what the
customer is saying. Avoid the urge to roll your eyes,
And voice modulation, pitch and tone are very important.
* Apologize
Always apologize even if you did nothing wrong.
The customer is always right. Apologizing helps to deflate a customer’s
anger. Don’t make excuses to customers, who will always respond
negatively if they think you are being evasive.

* Respond, resolve and satisfy.

Make it right. Ask the customer "What can I do to make this right for
you"?
We always gave them the unexpected as well, maybe a free dessert or
an extra side dish just to show that we cared about them.
Resolve the complaint according to policy if your restaurant has one.
Decide in a fair manner what you are responsible for and initiate some
positive action to remedy the situation.
If you can’t resolve the complaint refer it on to your superiors.
* Thank
At the beginning, at the end, in the middle; it doesn't
matter, thank the customer for calling and complaining.
Thanking the customer for letting you know there is a
problem reaffirms that you were listening to them.
Customers are also more likely to remember that you
thanked them for bringing a problem to your attention.

Why? With the simple act of complaining, your customer is

telling you "I care about your business and your success".

* Report and follow up.

Report the complaint to your manager. Keep a written
report of what transpired and what you did to resolve the
complaint.
Written records are useful for making sure the complaint is
followed up. The record is also useful if you have regular
staff meetings and it is shared with other staff as a learning
tool.
*A rule of thumb :
First time shame on me, Second time shame on me,
but I'm watching you, Third time... Shame on you and
I will make the decision on how I will deal with you as
a customer.
Keep track of who calls to complain, names, phone
numbers for follow up, addresses for your postcards.
Using a binder and tracking your complaints, you will
be able to detect and deter those that would take
advantage of your new complaint procedures.

* A happy customer will tell two or three friends about a

good experience, but an unhappy customer will tell at
least ten friends about their experience and it always
multiplies through word of mouth.
Thank you