As the owner of two restaurants, I have to deal with my fair share of customer feedback and complaints. Most times, we f*** up royally, as humans do, and swift apologies are the order of the day. A good number of our loyal customers today are people we’ve pissed off at one point or another, but have managed to reel back in with proper and sincere service recovery. Other times, though, some complaints leave me feeling quite sorry for the sender.
Just a couple of months ago, I received an email from a lady who was very upset with her dinner experience at Artichoke. She emailed explaining how she had heard many great reviews from her friends about the restaurant, and was super psyched about her visit.
Upon arrival, she: 1) Did not like that her requests to move to a table inside could not be acceded to (we were fully booked at the time); 2) Was offended that we could not change the music to something less ‘booming hip hop’ (it’s called branding), 3) Did not appreciate us trying to engage her group with friendly banter about the food and beverage (we call that upselling, I’ll admit), and 4) Found it 'very annoying' when our server tried to take their order 10 minutes upon their arrival, while they were chatting.
I replied immediately, expressing my apologies for her poor experience, and asking for more details so that I could investigate further and return with some resolution. She was very kind to write back, but what she said broke my heart. She said that back home, service staff are 'unconditionally subservient' and 'guests are always treated like gods', hence the great gap between her expectations and her reality at Artichoke.
I also hold nothing against her for how her upbringing has shaped her expectations of consumer experiences. However, I do feel that consumer satisfaction is a two-way street, and that if one were to pitch their expectations at such levels, one should then be prepared for many more miserable experiences to come, especially in a developed F&B market like Singapore. Self-respecting service professionals don't see kowtowing to customers as part of their job scope any longer.
I am not in any way defending mediocrity when it comes to service standards. Poor service is unacceptable and should be called out. However, my point is that satisfaction starts from within. You just can’t go to a restaurant, arms folded, unwilling to engage, and then expect a mind-blowing experience to fall on your lap. You have to be willing to participate in the experience, engage with the staff when they speak on behalf of the business, and try to jive along to the groove – aka branding – that the restaurant has worked hard to create. Even if it involves Mexican gangster rap.
I’m not trying to persuade you to like everything. I’m just saying that my own personal favourite dining experiences have happened when I walked through their doors with an open mind and a willing heart, conversed at the same level with their service staff, took up their recommendations, and let myself go with the flow of the place. Even when the music was inane elevator jazz.
Obviously, this complaint is an extreme example. But hear me when I say that among my peers and I, we see so many people who come to our restaurants with body language closed off. Apart from the occasional obnoxious ones, all other service professionals are trained to read your body language and speak to you only as much as you seem comfortable with.
At Artichoke, we have the honour and pleasure of hosting many happy regulars we know on first-name basis by now. But we also see many who come and go without wanting more than for our servers to merely take their order, send their food, and bring the bill. We can, and want to, do much more than that. Anyone who goes out to a restaurant with the mentality of 'just cook my food, pour my wine and wash my plates' isn't going to live a life full of pleasurable, memorable dining experiences. And that kinda sucks.
Show Bjorn some love at Bird Bird at 18 Ann Siang Rd.