Customer is King?

Third_Echelon

I thought I'd put this in after hours rather than consumer or food/drink as its a combination of a few experiences....

I was talking to a friend of a friend in a bar a week or so ago. She isn't from Ireland, but mainland Europe and she pointed out a lot of issues with the lack of customer service in Ireland... and I had to agree with her 100%. Supermarkets for example, are just not as they once were. Whatever happened to assisting the shopper in packing their bags?

You ask the person at the till for a bag now and they throw it at you. I was in a spar, I had a few items and I asked for a bag to put them in. While I was getting my money out, the bag could have easily been opened and the items placed in the bag by the shop person... Just doesn't happen anymore.. well especially in Dublin...

Anyway my inspiration for this thread was hatched by another bad customer service experience that happened last night.

I was out with some friends, 8 of us altogether. We ended up in Ranelagh put our name down on the waiting list for a table in Cafe Bar Deli. They said it would be about 30 mins to get a table for 8 people. No problem, went next door to the pub and had a couple of drinks...

We left the pub and 6 of us entered into the restaurant about 10.30 pm. 2 of the group were chatting to an old friend they bumped into outside the door.

The Maitre'D said that we could sit down when the whole group is here. We said that the other 2 are coming now so we grabbed them in the door. In the process of the other 2 coming in, 1 of our group went and sat down at the table and then we followed... this is where the fun started.

We sat down and ordered a round of drinks. €18 bottle of wine and 6 beers. Then the Maitre'D threw a hissy fit and came down to our table and proceeded to abuse the first guy that sat down for "acting the maggot". He also claimed that he "barged past" him to sit down, which was clearly untrue. I seen the 'incident' with my own eyes. The Maitre'D then proceeded to take the beer away from our friend claiming he had too much to drink already.... WTF!!! We had 2 drinks before this!!!

This began to feel really intimidating. You want to go to a restaurant to relax and talk to your friends, but this guy just killed the atmosphere altogether.
He basically was insulting and abusive and way out of line.

I asked to speak to the manager to complain and he said he was, which he clearly wasn't. No manager would treat a customer in that way.

Anyway we left the restaurant. I wasn't going to give him my money after his display of ignorance. He pretty much lost the restaurant up to €300 in revenue.... He didn't seemed to worried by this.

He also clearly realised he was in the wrong when logical arguments were placed at him... This type of attitude really pisses me off when you try to have a night out with friends. We were in no way abusive or ignorant to him, but thats what we got back from him...

So really, the customer is king? Well not in ireland anyway....

Goodshape

They pack your bags for you in my local supermarket.

Sound like you had a bad experience in that bar. **** happens. I've never had too much reason to complain about the service industry in this country -- they don't exatly fall over each other trying to kiss your arse (ala USA) but then we're not exatly renowned for tipping either (ala USA).

Cianos

That sounds fairly annoying alright, you should write a letter to the owner, or whoever is above manager! Cafe Bar Deli on Georges St has always seemed friendly enough to me. Wonder did the fact that you didnt stay in the restaurant (Cafe Bar Deli) to have your pre-dinner drinks pi$$ him off?!

Even still, its not fair to judge a whole countries service standards on two incidents. It really does depend on the shop etc. I travelled around most of mainland Europe and didnt really think "wow service back home is crap"

Third_Echelon

Cianos wrote:

That sounds fairly annoying alright, you should write a letter to the owner, or whoever is above manager! Cafe Bar Deli on Georges St has always seemed friendly enough to me. Wonder did the fact that you didnt stay in the restaurant (Cafe Bar Deli) to have your pre-dinner drinks pi$$ him off?!

Even still, its not fair to judge a whole countries service standards on two incidents. It really does depend on the shop etc. I travelled around most of mainland Europe and didnt really think "wow service back home is crap"

I am going to write a letter. One of my mates is friendly with the owner, so he said he would hand-deliver it.

I would be in CBD on georges st quite a lot, 3 to 4 times per month, and between the 8 of us, they would also go there a lot...

It hasn't just been 2 incidents, there has been a few over the past year or so where i have noticed service levels dropping...