The two sides of customer service
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In the last week I observed customer service from the perspective of the provider and the customer.
I had lunch last Friday at on campus restaurant at Edinburgh First where you can have a self service 3 course lunch including soft drinks and coffee for £7.50. As I entered the restaurant the reception informed me that I would need to go upstairs to the bar to pay for my lunch. When I came down again the enter the restaurant a group of around ten people sauntering into the restaurant, were requested to pay by the receptionist. This prompted one of group, a middle aged lady to start shouting at the receptionist, “that she couldn’t go this every day, she was on full board and had already paid and this was all so ridiculous.” If only she had approached the receptionist and given the name of her group this could have all been avoided. It transpired that lunch had been prepaid for a group of ten but there were in fact 11 in the group! I don’t think that the lady’s behaviour was acceptable, you shouldn’t start shouting at another person like that, the restaurant receptionist had no way of knowing that this group was on full board.
Last Thursday I had lunch at a pub in Eyemouth in the Scottish Borders. A group of French visitors came in to the pub. Fortunately some of the French party could speak a little English and I assisted with my patchy French to enable them to translate the menu and order their meal. The group requested a mixture of chips and boiled potatoes with their main course. The waitress was having none of it, it was one or the other. One lady dared to ask why this was not possible which was met with a pretty forceful, ” you can’t have both.” The lady uttered a resigned sigh and all the party plumped for chips. Now, how difficult would it have been to put a mixture of chips and potatoes on each plate? This was the French visitors first stop in Scotland on a three week trip, I do wonder how they will fare with the Scottish version of customer service?
Good customer service is a two way process, where the customer should treat the service supplier with courtesy and respect but the supplier should do their best to provide an excellent service to the customer.
What is your experience of customer service a la ecosse?
