Originally Posted by
kokonutz
For example, last night we went to our favorite local hot pot for dinner. We go there regularly and service is usually good. Last night it was TERRIBLE. On the way out I pulled the host aside and let him know how disappointed we were and he apologized profusely, said he would talk to the staff and that it would never happen again. That was good enough for me and I won't be writing a bad review based on that (hopefully) one-off experience.
I do that frequently. I tell the manager I'm not after anyone's job but perhaps that waitress could use a little more training, etc. I always get a nice thank you. I sometimes get invited back for a comp dinner to 'give them another chance.' Again, they can't fix it if they don't know it's broken. My parents had small retail businesses when I was growing up. I learned about customer service at a young age. I was in customer service for most of my adult life. When something goes wrong that was in our control, I try to remedy it, try to ensure it doesn't happen again, and always ask the customer to give us another chance- that I want them to continue to do business with us.
On the other hand, I am also very pro-active in notifying a manager when I receive excellent service. People tend to complain easily but rarely praise.