The food industry is a very tricky one. As an owner of a restaurant, you have to always be on your toes to ensure that you give customers exactly what they are looking for. One bad review can go a very long way. So you have to make sure that you work hard enough to satisfy your customers. In this guide, Jay Holstine takes you through a few common customer complaints in restaurants. With better awareness of this, you can surely work hard to improve.
Most Common Customer Complaints at Restaurants by Jay Holstine
Here are a few of customers’ most common complaints when they dine out.
Below Par Food Quality
When customers dine out, they want value for their money. They come to your restaurant with certain expectations, so they do know what they are looking for. If they don’t get the quality they are looking for, that really ticks them off. If the food needs to be served hot enough, or the drinks they give you seem dilute, this will disappoint them. It will compromise their food experience, and the chances of them visiting your restaurant again will be really low, says Jay Holstine.
Order Mix Up
If customers order something and they end up getting something else, then this makes them think twice about coming to you next. An order mix-up can be very frustrating, especially when customers have already placed their order and are waiting for their food to be served.
Long Waiting Time
If your restaurant is very popular, you will surely have people waiting in queues to come and eat there. But no one likes to wait for too long. For this, you need to have a thought-out system in place. You need to have a decent waiting space, and you also need to only take reservations in line with your capacity. Not just that, but you also need to be very clear with your communication. If you have a high influx of people on a certain day, then you need to inform customers beforehand that they will have to wait so that they aren’t caught off guard, says Jay Holstine.
Rude Servers
As a restaurant owner, you must know that the customer is the king. You need to check for their concerns and must train your servers to be extra polite at all times. Even if the customer is being unreasonable, they have to be trained to deal with them politely and never come off as rude. Customers can be very unforgiving at times, and this can backfire too.
Lack of Cleanliness
Cleanliness is key if you wish to run a restaurant successfully. Customers are looking for a great experience overall. If you don’t prioritize cleanliness, then that compromises their experience.
Final Words by Jay Holstine
As a restaurant owner, you have to be very vigilant. You have to be spot-on with customers, providing them with exactly what they want. Jay Holstine says that by bearing in mind common customer complaints, you can make a deliberate effort to ensure this doesn’t happen.