First, I am not making this up and second, I very rarely complain openly on a social platform about another company underperforming in the customer service area. But I am so angry, that I have to get this out because I think it’s important for management to know when they can do better.
Today my wife and I decided to try some place new for lunch. So it was that we chose Salad Creations in Naples, Florida.
Now this story has nothing to do with crossed signals. misleading signage, or poor service on the front end-this is all about what happened at the end. I ordered a Chinese chicken salad and I was starving and anxious to see how it might taste, given that this was my first time. The salad could have been a little crispier but trust me, I understand, they’re a restaurant focusing on salads. That in and of itself can be tough to keep it fresh
About mid-way through my salad I ate a piece of chicken that did not taste right. An alarm of sorts went off in my head but given that there was an ample amount of dressing on it, I forged on.
A few bites later, I had another bad piece of chicken. It just did not taste right. After I swallowed it, I sat there for a bit and immediately got up and went to the bathroom because I thought I was going to be sick.
So I come back, sit down, tell my wife, and am now waiting for the right moment to talk to “the manager”. I wanted to be discreet and just wanted to let him know that I thought the chicken did not taste “right”. I wasn’t looking for a handout or a new meal and frankly, I wasn’t even sure I could even eat another thing at that point.
So I finally tell the manager and he and another employee grab a thermometer, stick it into some of the chicken, and look up and say, “No, the chicken is fine” and go back to what they were previously doing. Really? Did you just blow me off?
So they were essentially saying, “No, you’re wrong, we’re right and that’s that!” Thank you very much Buh-bye?
Which caught me off guard. But then, he starts muttering how he eats chicken every day and it’s fine and some other inaudible things directed at me- but he’s obviously perturbed at my complaint. It was almost as if he was calling me out and saying I was full of it.
I can’t believe he’s doing this. I stop him and say wait a minute, I eat chicken all the time too and it just did not taste right. I’m thinking it was supposed to be a constructive comment- but don’t mutter under your breath how I’m wrong and I’m crazy and you’re right. You can’t be serious.
At which point I asked him out loud.
Who is the customer?
He says, “You are, and then says, “All of you people are the same, wanting something for free…”
Did he just say that? Are you kidding me? I didn’t want a thing.
I asked him again. Who is the customer? I think I was hoping that somehow I could convey telepathically to him about how I write and talk about customer service all the time, and that somewhere a light would come on and he would come to his senses and say…
“OMG, You’re right! You are the customer, what can we do to make it right?”
Sadly things deteriorated quickly and all he kept saying was that you people are all the same. Was I just stereotyped? Ironically, I thought that Salad Creations had potential but What my man failed to realize was this:
I am now the latter and not the former…Maybe he just had a bad day?
What are the lessons here?
- The customer will always right
- The customer can be your brand champion or your arch enemy
- The customer has a voice it never had before
- The customer has the tools to make or break a company
- A bad customer experience can go viral
