All of this is soooo familiar and seems like we’ all been on the other side of the counter from that customer who is just entirely out of his/her mind. Imagine if we charged a surcharge if the customer took too long to come to the door for a delivery, causing the driver to fall behind.
It reminds me of an article Kim and Iread in one of the industry magainzes (I hopeit was this one) about “Finding the Yes”. For those customers who truly are ranting just so that they know they are valued and that we really care that we goofed (not the folks looking for a free lunch), finding a way to say “yes” to something as a way of ‘giving in’ to their need to be valued. No, it won’t work for the guy demanding 4 free pizzas because you had 3 too few pepperoni on one of them. It is an art form.
De-escalating a fired up customer (or employee) is an art form and high skill. It is amazing what a really talented negotiator can do to save a sale or a customer that is jumping the tracks. Sure, sometimes we need to give up the whole tomato to save a good customer . . . but it is a cool feeling to win one back over.
On a separate note, I fantasized one day about listening to my customer rant on and on about a seemingly minor problem that reallyis solvable, but wants nuclear war . . . . and then with them on the phone, or in the dining room while I go berate one of my cooks loudly and cruelly (like one of those cheesy used car dealerships), telling him/her it is the last straw, and to get the h#ll out of my store. Return to customer and tell them that I will not have anyone working for me who would do that to one of my customers. We value our customers too much to tolerate that sort of crap.
As you say dealing with these customers is an art and I certainly don’t get it right some of the time however I have found that one of the best ways to deal with it is to just be soooooo apologetic that they tend to then back up a bit and then tell you that actually its not that bad and maybe we can just add the missing bottle of soda to the next order.
As i say it don’t work all of the time but its my starting position as soon as I realise a complaint is on its way.
As you say I’d just love to do what you said.
Customer - I just don’t care its not good enough the driver cut me up, what are you going to do about it.
me - hey xyz, come here. This customer said you cut him up. Pack your stuff up your fired.
Customer - hang on you can’t do that…
On a separate note, I fantasized one day about listening to my customer rant on and on about a seemingly minor problem that reallyis solvable, but wants nuclear war . . . . and then with them on the phone, or in the dining room while I go berate one of my cooks loudly and cruelly (like one of those cheesy used car dealerships), telling him/her it is the last straw, and to get the h#ll out of my store. Return to customer and tell them that I will not have anyone working for me who would do that to one of my customers. We value our customers too much to tolerate that sort of crap.
Nick.
I think you have been watching too much of Gordon Ramsay and his Hells Kitchen … except you would leave out the F word.
I could just imagine you going into a wobbly and knocking someone in the head with you flying pigtail. Read it in the Grantville News " Pizza man gets sued by staff after long hair pigtail knocks him in head"
just curious if your supplier shorts you do you ask for your whole order for free? If yes WOW I would be rolling in dough, and I commend you.
If the answer is no, is it because you do not feel you deserve the same customer satisfaction that you give?
Or that your supplier is not up to your level and gives terrible customer service? have you ever thought of leaving them over this?
Of course I always try to get the orders right, but NO ONE cares as much as I do and we do have some high school seniors that have their mind elsewhere at times and mistakes do happen.
lastly I do over compensate like most others here I just needed a place to vent, and seeing things like the video of the pizza scammers on how to get free pizza… If I keep it bottled in …oh brother
I re-read this thread and wanted to clarify what my wife and I believe in rendering customer service. The idea of comping the whole meal over a dipping sauce is something we whole-heartedly do if the customer appeared that unhappy and needed that to feel they were cared about and that we amply regretted the mistake. If I am involved in the discussion, I look for the simplest resolution to make everyone satisfied. I start as small as is reasonable, and work up to whatever it takes. We have only said “no” a very few times over the years. Most of our regular customers even fight to keep us from giving them anything at all. We like them best
Every now and again we get a person who appears more unhappy than we thought a situation should warrant . . . and they are more challenging to work out. Unfortunately, they are often low-volume customers who don’t have lots of money to begin with. It always turns out to be pespective.
We agree with Registered guest’s early post that a $30 write-off meal costs us about $10 . . . and that is a TINY price to pay to retain a customer and show our staff we mean what we say.
“Be so generous that THEY feel embarrassed”
“There is honor in generosity”
“Generosity is the seed of loyalty”
I’d also like to add that the analogy of asking for your entire supply shipment to be comped because they short you a case of cheese - doesn’t work here. Everything else you ordered is 100% functional without the missing case of cheese.
Typically, when someone orders a sauce of some kind, it is because they are going to use it WITH whatever else they ordered. If they don’t get that sauce, then the pizza they ordered is not the same. It is no different than if they ordered a pepperoni pizza and you gave them a cheese instead.
Some people don’t care. Some people don’t want to eat the pizza without the sauce. I can understand both.
[quote=“Rockstar pizza”]
ANYTHING is wrong at all its the end of the world, I mean do you believe I had someone ask for there whole meal compt because they forgot the cheese sauce with the bread sticks. what if I was to do that to them? quote]
RegGuest, I think we both actually have similar views, but maybe not identical. That customer is valuable, and to be valued. we should give them what they ordered every time.
Using the pained analogy that is in play, the only thing that was affected by the cheese fiasco appears to be the breadsticks with which they were advertised to be paired. Any other expectation is not all that arguable for getting an entire meal free. Tell me the cheese is missing, and I’ll replace the breadsticks, cheese AND give you a discount on your next one. Going in for $30 meal when the $3.75 appetizers was not dippable does seem to be something I would resist until it had to be done. Seems a lesser solution should be aceptable to the ‘rational mind’. Not always a what we are working with, though.
apparently Registered Guest is using Grande cheese if you are shorted cheese on your shipment he can still make pizzas…
I said one item like cheese or Sauce or flour…not one case.
also I did offer to bring them out fresh breadsticks and cheese, skipped right over just the cheese and that wasnt good enough, Also on a side note the driver said he checked and the cheese was there and the girl who packaged was sure she added it.
ALSO if they were even remotely reoccurring customers I wouldn’t hesitate to do what ever it takes it just seemed as everything seemed faked.
I love the thought of firing instantly hells kitchen style.
Comping an entire order is INSANE. The only time that should be done is as a last resort. Even after comping you will lose some customers. If you allways comp for any infraction you breed a customer base that will abuse you. I get very few complaints because we double and triple check everything and I keep the employees responsible for their errors.
I did have a customer who would allways order a Roni and sausage calzone who complained twice (2 seperate occaisions) about the calzone being undercooked. I remade them and sent them out. On the second complaint I asked him to send the “raw” calzone back so that I could use it as a training example to prevent this from happening again. When it came back it was almost completely eaten. No sign of any rawness. I called him back and said thanks for your past buisness and for being so patient with us. I asked him why he didn’t send the raw portion back. I have not received a complaint from him since. I will allways remake the food. I will not refund the money.
honestly, I would make every effort to make sure the order was right. If cheese sauce was forgot, offer to bring it to them. Most shops have delivery drivers. On the other hand, I would never hesitate to do a complete refund if THEY bring the food back. That would show that they’re serious and not just trying to scam a free meal.
:twisted: 