Henry is a chef and owner of my favorite restaurants. I still had to taste it. I did. And it was off, slightly. Most people probably would not have noticed. But it was wrong. I was suitably and horribly embarrassed. I apologized to Henry, got him a different meal and talked to the cooks.
Fast forward three weeks. I'm having a rough day. I closed the pub (working, not drinking) last night, got to bed around 2:30 and got up today at 6:30 to take my wife to the doctor to get a spinal injection of steroids (we had a car accident three and half months ago; she still suffers from a great deal of neck and back pain). I took her home, put her in bed and headed back to the pub to do the books and make a wine order. by the time I am done with that, around 11:30, I am dragging. Not enough sleep and still too much day ahead. I need a pick me up.
I head over to Henry's restaurant. a steaming bowl of his soup calls to my soul. I order a cup of tea and my soup and start writing on my over-size legal pad while I wait. I notice a gentleman eating his soup and scrolling through his smart phone. He stops. Calls the waitress over. Says something quietly to her. She walks over to Henry, who is seated at the bar doing paperwork, and Henry walks over. The gentleman shows Henry a shrimp. Pushes it at Henry as if saying, "Here, give it a try." As if anyone wants to taste an undercooked or bad shrimp. Henry takes the shrimp in his hand, grabs the soup bowl in the other and goes to the kitchen. Five minutes later the gentleman has a new bowl of soup.
Did this make me feel better about Henry getting a bad piece of pork? Of course not. It should never happen.
But it does happen. Everywhere. Imperfection is the perfect condition of the human race. No matter how we strive, no matter how many systems we put in place, no matter how many checks and balances, we will fail. Mistakes will happen. We will dissapoint ourselves and others. It's the next step that determines the reach of our success.
Henry nailed it. He got to the bad shrimp table in about fifteen seconds. He immediately got the offending dish off the table. He got the customer a replacement dish. The customer looked happy throughout the rest of the meal.
I assume Henry said what I would say in the same situation: I'm sorry. This should never happen. Let me take that for you. Would you like the same thing or would you like to see the menu to pick something else. Your lunch, including beverages and dessert, is on me.
It's a darn simple formula-- apologize, remove, replace. In the case of a restaurant, where the cost of any one meal is fairly immaterial, it should also be comped. Other businesses operate with different costs and only need to do the first three: apologize, remove, replace. If those three things are done, the customer doesn't usually mind paying.
What should never ever never absolutely should not happen in any way shape or form is excuses or blaming. The customer does not care whose fault it is. They just want a tasty dish. All the excuses in the world do not change the taste of a bad meal. Blaming the kitchen or the cook does not make the food better. It sounds weak. And in my case with the pork (or, I think Henry would agree in his case with the shrimp), it's my responsibility-- I own the restaurant. I own that pork, I employ that cook. I should have made sure it did not go out.
Blaming and excuses always sound weak. They should be avoided. A strong "I'm sorry. Let me take care of that." goes a lot further with the customer. It allows the customer to put the trust back into you.
And that's where we need to get. A corrected mistake can win the customer back. The customer then knows that under all circumstances he/she will be taken care of. It's about turning a mistake into a victory.
'cause they are going to happen. To all of us.
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