Should you ever complain about your local pub or restaurant? Revisited…
Well it’s been just about 3 weeks since I wrote my ‘controversial’ blog post about whether you should complain about your local pub or restaurant. I have had a lot of feedback, both public, private, wanted and unwanted. It’s been a very interesting experience and something I felt I needed to follow up on.
The good news (for me) is that I am still alive! No one took out a contract on me (although I think a couple of people were close to it!). The other piece of good news is that some actions have been taken in the pub in question and little by little, improvements are showing up. So, credit where credit is due. I’m going to run over some of the differences that have been observed in the last couple of weeks and you can judge for yourself how ‘complaining about your local pub or restaurant‘ actually can make a difference.
So, what have been the ‘big’ changes? Here is a list of some of the observed differences during the past 3 weeks:
- Kitchen is now open an extra hour in the evenings on Friday and Saturday (let’s hope that gets extended to the whole week)
- New ‘buzzer’ system installed so that servers know when their food order is ready
- Full-time food expediter/runner employed to help with service
- Extra person added to busy shifts (I think this one is still a work in progress and being monitored)
- More attention paid to restroom and table cleanliness
- Better restraint shown with regard to taking breaks and personal calls
- I think a new system of allocating tables to servers is being / has been introduced to better handle customer load and service (but I can’t be absolutely certain on this one)
- Website updated to match ‘happy hour’ and main menu in pub
- Slightly better presence from management during busy shifts to observe pub ‘workings’
There are still some gaps, but I am confident that those, too, will be closed as time moves forward.
So, was it worth me writing the original article? Was it worth encouraging the wrath of all that work in a place I enjoy going to? I have to emphatically say ‘yes’. I believe my words have benefited the experience of others and ultimately benefited the long term reputation of my local pub.
To quote a part of my original article:
“So, should you ever complain about your local pub or restaurant? YES - You have an investment in it, whether you realize it or not. Your investment is not in shares, but in time and a contribution to the atmosphere and ambiance and clientele. You as a regular customer often see more of the workings of the place than the management. I urge you for the sake of the business and your relationship to let them know.”
Don’t let life pass you by. Don’t put up with things you are not happy with. Make your thoughts and feelings known. No one is a mind reader. No one can change something they know nothing about. You are ultimately responsible for the experiences in your life.
“When I’m working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I think only how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong.” - R. Buckminster Fuller (1895 - 1983)
