Comment cards

alleepally

Just a question.. Has anyone ever filled out a comment card for a restaurant, hotel or whatever?

Was just getting a coffee this morning and noticed comment cards looking a bit forlorn in the corner. I swear I saw cobwebs on them. I know lots of places do have them but I always suspect that if a comment card is put in with a negative comment, the staff will have swiped it before it gets to the manager/owner. Also, even if I wanted to fill in a card, there's never a pen handy.

Nightwish

i worked in a restaurant for a short while (3 days) a few years ago, and if anyone filled out the comment cards, we just laughed at them out the back and threw them in the bin

Selik

Haha I've only filled out one of those once or when I was really really annoyed with the service I had recieved/was receiving. I guess they probably never did make it to the higher echelons of the cafe/restaurant management hierachy after all...

AdMMM

It's amazing just how little an employee cares about a customer behind their backs!

Rhyme

I guess its their own little bit of contempt for those who can walk out of the shop whenever they can... i used to fill them out but me being a diplomatic soul it just turned into a 'thank you for that lovely lunch' card.

Riamfada

LOL. When I used to work for a large Dublin Cafe chain I would read the comment cards at the end of the day. Id flick through them and seperate the good from the bad. The Bad would go in the bin. Comment cards serve only to spy on staff and mosts companies will not act on customer suggestions because they simply dont care what ONE person thinks. Oh happy days.

Dont fill in comment cards. They Just get Staff Into Trouble

Riamfada

|.Murderer.| wrote:

It's amazing just how little an employee cares about a customer behind their backs!

The Employee is getting paid to give the impression that he/she "cares" about you because they are told to and in all probability they dont actually care about you as a person. Your walking money for management and an incovienence for the regualr joe . The same way you dont really "care" about the people you are forced to meet and smile at in your job. The same way you dont care about the person thats serving you . So dont fool yourself. They really really dont care at all.

Femelade

i wrote a few comment cards in my day, but i was working in the place and basically wrote down all good things about my self, got called into the office after a while to be told that "seriously, its not funny anymore" i hung my head in same and left the office....
never filled one out since.

Ciaran500

Grimes wrote:

Dont fill in comment cards. They Just get Staff Into Trouble

Mabye if they were better employees we wouldn't need comment cards

Hydroquinone

Comment cards are a waste of time, especially in large or franchised companies, which let's be fair, are the only places that ever have them. If you want to complain about a specific thing, you should write to the head office. Though, you'd be better off saving your energy and the price of the stamp.

AdMMM

Grimes wrote:

The Employee is getting paid to give the impression that he/she "cares" about you because they are told to and in all probability they dont actually care about you as a person. Your walking money for management and an incovienence for the regualr joe . The same way you dont really "care" about the people you are forced to meet and smile at in your job. The same way you dont care about the person thats serving you . So dont fool yourself. They really really dont care at all.

Well I work in a hotel so I'm usually someone who serves the customer.

alleepally

I guessed that comment cards would be "intercepted", and now these responses have confirmed it!

If I ran a restaurant I would definitely encourage customer feedback and I'd want to know if someone had a bad experience because as soon as that customer walks out the door, they will tell 9 people about their experience. It's the silent customer that kills a business (i.e. they don't tell you what's wrong, but tell everyone else and Joe Duffy)

nedoo

I work in a hotel and we use comment cards all the time. Good and bad are reviewed and are given to all employees. If names come up(in a good way) we reward the employee. It is very hard to get people to fill them out though. Out of 7000 customer a month we only recieve about 200. They are a good tool for keeping up with the competiton and reviewing our own levels of service. We generally know who fake cards as they are the assholes who get praise and have never done a good days work in heir life.

Riamfada

A better idea would be to get the name of the Duty manager and complain in person . Then you will be noticed

alleepally

nedoo wrote:

Out of 7000 customer a month we only recieve about 200.

Nice €€€ turnover in that hotel then

Why do you think people don't bother with comment cards? Have you tried to do anything to entice the customer into providing feedback?

AdMMM

Grimes wrote:

A better idea would be to get the name of the Duty manager and complain in person . Then you will be noticed

No you won't lol. Unless you are hated by the Duty Manager, in most cases he will only pretend to notice you.

We used to have comment cards in the hotel but we got rid of them, instead we now have a A4 pad in the backroom where we are encouraged to write comments about the food and general eavesdropping info. "Woman at Table 5 said beef was nice" etc.

nedoo

alleepally wrote:

Nice €€€ turnover in that hotel then

Why do you think people don't bother with comment cards? Have you tried to do anything to entice the customer into providing feedback?

Its a combination of people not taking the time because EVERYBODY is sooo busy and a lot of places dont take their customer feedback seriously. If it is set up right, the layout and the system by which you use the information is researched and used, then it is a top metod of research. I did a lot of work on ours and I think the system works well( appart from the low return). We have tried the old give us a business card and enter a draw etc. but it didnt help.
We also use staff comment cards which gives us their ideas on how to treat people better and from other places of employment. We have these in every language spoken in the hotel and these work well too. We offer rewards for the best suggestions and again all comments and suggestions, if used or not, are displayed for all to see.
Asking to speak to a manager can solve the problem there and then. There is no point in complaining about something later as it is past our control in many situations. 99% of people who ask to speak to managers though are people with a do-you-know-who-I-am attitude or pissed and generally make a tit of themselves. Oh I love my job!