Comments on: Dear “know-it-all” bartender, you’re wrong

By: Sharon

Sharon — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 20:29:07 +0000

Great post!! Isn’t it a shame that customer service seems to have gone by the wayside? Rather than the bartender presenting a customer with “attitude” a simple, “I’m sorry, let me fix you another drink” would have made a world of difference. Management needs to take a bit of the responsibility for this situation as well as they should be shopping their staff frequently to ensure proper customer service.

By: Praveen

Praveen — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:52:21 +0000

Barry,

It’s a major attitude problem here.I am surprised he is still serving drinks! The right course of action would have been to ask for his supervisor & let him/her know such arrogance of their employees.

By: barblog

barblog — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:14:15 +0000

I agree with your point but in this case, it was definitely an employee. Learning how to apologize is definitely key in any business! Mistakes happen! Get over it and get on with selling more!

By: Hits Home

Hits Home — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:10:45 +0000

Part of me wonders if the bartender to whom that letter was written was really the owner? In my years of experience on both sides of the bar, bartenders will take the drink back, dump it, and ask how the customer would like their drink created. The owners of the establishments tend to take the return personally and are far more standoffish and offended

By: Ashley

Ashley — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:22:26 +0000

Right on!!! This post certainly hits home to me and I’m sure there are many others with similar experiences! I wouldn’t get away with behavior like that in my job…I think this bartender needs a reality check!

By: Ron Cushing

Ron Cushing — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 03:59:43 +0000

The worst service in the world isn’t the service that is untrained; it is the egotistically uncaring service that you wrote about that turns guests away forever.
Restaurateurs should understand & teach that everyone makes mistakes and that the measure of a restaurant’s health can be decided in how they execute their service recovery when something goes wrong.
Teach your staff how to apologize!!!

By: Alan

Alan — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:31:27 +0000

Great post! I know exactly what you mean!

By: Not Delia

Not Delia — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:48:23 +0000

Good posting, Barry! I had a similar bad experience in a restaurant where I pointed out the shortcomings of the food. I got the response, “Well, no one else has ever complained before.”

What! Just because your usual undiscerning customers are happy to trough your mediocre food without complaint doesn’t mean it’s good. Bah!

I’m glad I’ve “met” you, Barry. Although I’m a little bit concerned as I’m not sure that my soap box is big enough for two. LOL! I guess that’s OK as you seem to have a big enough soap box of your own.