Sit where we tell you to, then leave a tip....

Meeting for a lunch with my learning partner and colleague who currently lives out of town is an all-too-rare occasion, and we like to max out on our time together. In service of any type, taking the time to appreciate the client or customer's experience is paramount to success - kinda like customer service point a) in the 101 course.... right? As we all know, it's not how the world works most of the time. When our experience as clients and customers is focused on by the service provider, it's a win-win for all involved in the transaction. One (as in this case, I) wonder why businesses striving for success don't bother with point a) in Customer Service 101.

We met up at the Pickle Barrel at Yonge and Eglinton on Wednesday. They have a calorie friendly menu section designed by Ruth Reisman which we find value adding. It's been our experience that the food and service are generally good there. My pal and I are taller-than-average. We were ushered to a table, a small booth for two, at the end of a section, facing larger booths beside the windows that look out over the street. We weren't fussed about sitting anywhere special, but at this table, our knees knocked together because of the short distance between the seats. We sat down not knowing this, ordered, and then one of us spoke up as we watched two tables across from us being cleared and bused.

We asked our server if we could move, explaining nicely that we were squeezed at this spot. The eyes rolled. "You can't move there, it's not in my section". Wha'????  Here's our (and I expect, most folks') interpretation of that response: "Don't bother me with your fussiness. It's inconvenient to me. Your experience here is not my concern." This seemed wacky - why not fulfill our simple request? We hadn't got our order yet or 'messed up' the table. When someone else finished busing the table and the hostess came by, we explained our situation and again met with resistance... smiling, the hostess told us, "This is how we do things. The waiter would be cutting in on another waiter's tips." 

I explained that I found this interesting as a customer service strategy, and that I understood she was following training and rules, but somehow this flew in the face of pleasing the customer or displaying care for their experience.  She seemed to get it. 

We switched tables. Our order came and the waiter was absolutely not engaged. No eye contact, no, 'you're welcome' when thanked. (Say, anyone who's training front line staff may want to remind them that an 'already-always' attitude towards customers, i.e. 'ah, two women = lousy tip....' is one I hear frequently is incredibly unhelpful. One can't know what another is thinking or feeling, period.) Try as we might, no way was our waiter going to give - he seemed to want to communicate how wrong we were. The food was just fine. We got the cheque - and noticed we'd been double charged for coffee - we hadn't been offered refills on that, or a glass of water - perhaps because we'd ordered a fizzy mineral one - but it's always better to ask.  When we pointed this out, our waiter said, "that shouldn't happen."  Mistakes are acceptable. Bad service isn't.