The Blame Game

I know I am supposed to talk about Pakistan for this post but more interesting things happened today that I am itching to talk about!

My team at work took a dear friend out to cheer her up. We went to a restaurant nearby (I won't name the establishment) at lunch time.

I am all for customer service but when its done hastily and YOU feel like the intruder who has upset the flow of things, obtaining a free meal doesn't feel worth it anymore.

My boss had told us that she had a few bad experiences at this restaurant but our friend wanted to eat there - so to oblige her, we decided to stay and order. We were asked about drinks and then proceeded to wait 10 minutes for them to arrive. I personally have a billion special needs whenever I go out to eat - I don't eat meat that is neither halaal or kosher and I am picky about my seafood. After mulling over the menu, 'heeing and hawing' about what little choice I had, I ordered a tuna and avocado salad off the lunch menu. Everyone else placed their order as well but we waited 15 minutes before our server came to take the order. As the clocked ticked, we realized that over a half hour had elapsed. The server came back to announce that my meal was no longer available, despite being on the menu. My boss and I exchanged looks. Before I could respond, she was already challenging our server why the item was STILL on the menu. He suggested I pick something else -- without offering a idea for substitution or handing me back the menu. He blamed the hostess for leaving the lunch menu out and gave me the main menu. I selected a vegetarian stir fry; but my boss still asked to speak to the manager.

Our food arrived 45 minutes late, although mine came at the same time --and to boot, my veggie choice looked like it had chicken on it! Five minutes into the meal, the manager finally showed up. My boss grabbed my plate and demanded to know if that was chicken on my stirfry. He said it was not and that it was tofu. "I know you ordered the turkey and avocado salad..." he began, looking exasperated and bothered. I held up my finger. "Correction. I ordered a TUNA and avocado salad." He paused and agreed with me and then hurriedly proceeded to accuse the hostess for being away for a week and forgetting to remove the lunch menu which had the tuna/avocado item on it.

I opened my mouth to interject when my boss spoke up. "I understand that people make mistakes but our service was very slow and we have been waiting over 45 minutes." She had her GAME face on which meant, you don't mess with her in this state. She pointed to me and asked if my meal was free. The manager pursed his lips and said very quickly, "All lunch is on me," and then walked away and vanished. My boss looked over at all of us, stunned. I looked at my coworkers and our friend was giggling incessantly. "I should go to lunch with Marketing more often!" she exclaimed. My boss was clearly dismayed. The build up was there but for her, no release.

While we tried to confirm whether he meant my lunch was on him or the entire table, the server came back to check on us and my boss told him what his manager said. Without a pause, he revealed that the manager was only happy when he wasn't working. Nice. In that single proclaimation, we then understood the dynamics at the whole restaurant. The top guy just didn't care.

Prior to opening, the manager should have had a meeting to check that the menus with this item were removed and communicated this error to his entire staff. Instead, the server blamed the hostess and the manager blamed the hostess. And in a blink of an eye, he was rid of us by giving what HE THOUGHT was customer service. The manager could have kindly apologized without compromising the reputation of his staff and owning up to the mistake himself. Five free lunches were unnecessary, seriously. Instead, his own loyal staff inadvertently exposed the restaurant for what it really was.

Suddenly, our free lunch didn't taste so good after all...