When good restaurants go bad
I'd like to know if anyone has had good luck complaining after a bad experience at a restaurant. What works? What doesn't? Why don't restaurants write soothing letters even if they aren't sincere and even if they don't want to send a gift certificate or whatever?
Why not at least respond?
Maybe a restaurateur would post a few suggestions about the way to go about complaining. (I can always hope.)
Here's the e-mail that got me thinking. I'm eliminating the name of the restaurant because I don't know what the situation was: ...
Dear Ms. Large:
I apologize for this complaint that has nothing to do with you, but I wanted to vent somewhere. And I noticed you reviewed [name omitted] in December 2006.
My wife and I had an unusually bad experience there earlier this month. The next day I spent about a half an hour writing a letter, which I admit at times was salty, but they never even bothered to respond. My time is valuable, so I can't believe they didn't even have the decency to call me. Also we go out several times a week to Baltimore restaurants, we tip well and I haven't felt the need to send a complaint letter to any restaurant for several years. So its not like I just get upset over nothing.
Baltimore's restaurant scene is fairly close knit and competitive. I didn't think this lack of customer service could survive here? Regardless thanks for lettting me vent.
Sincerely,
Adam Edward Rothwell
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Comments
I read your comment and agree... but the real reason for their lack of response is that the Baltimore restaurant scene is behind the times in several aspects of the dining experience. Service is poor in most restaurants in the area, maily because of poor training.
Posted by: Anonymous | June 3, 2007 5:57 AM
I had a great experience with Andy Nelson's BBQ in Cockeysville. After a subpar meal that was clearly not up to the normal standards, I sent an email to the restaurant to let them know I was surprised at the unusually bad food. The next day at 8am my phone rang - "Hi, this is Andy Nelson Jr. and I wanted to apologize for the bad meal." He then offered me a free $20 gift card (the cost of the bad meal was probably less than $10).
More restaurant owners should be like the Nelson family.
Posted by: Andrew Miller | June 6, 2007 12:05 PM