A few weeks ago I was at a local comedy club, per usual they ask you to turn off cell phones, keep your table talk to a minimum, no cameras, and just enjoy yourself. The group next to us had a really difficult time not talking. They didn’t heckle the comedian but they did have a comment or conversation for almost every joke said. After about fifteen minutes of this, I did ask them to not talk and they looked at me blankly. When I got up to use the facilities I stopped our waitress and let her know that the table next to us wouldn’t stop talking. She said “Ok, and I’ll let the manager know.” Which is good, it usually takes an employee just coming over and saying something to get them to hush. As I sat down I watched as she went over to the manger and said something. He nodded, she pointed out the people, I could see that he said something. The waitress nodded and walked away. But the manager just stood there watching the comedian. The people continued to talk. Nothing was said and our experience was ruined.
I was happy that the waitress took my complaint seriously, she handled it right away. But the manager didn’t and there wasn’t any follow up. Because of this my wife and I won’t be going back to that comedy club for a while. Not when we spend $15-30 a ticket plus drinks and food just to have people talking over the comedians.
When a complaint does come in, there are a few simple things that should be done to ensure that all your customers are happy and will continue to come back.
- Assess – The manager should have moved from across the club to a position that he could have watched the table and the waitress should have let me know the problem would be handled.
- Address – Next upon seeing the people continue to talk, the manager should have asked the table next to us to keep table talk to a minimum.
- Follow up – After 10 minutes, the manager could have sent our waitress over to ask me if everything was all good.
None of that happened. To me that says they don’t care. So why should I care to come back. It is a gamble if our experience will be good or not and that is a gamble I don’t wish to take when I can go to another comedy club. Most people just want the situation addresses and a follow up. This says that you are serious about their complaint and want to make sure they are happy. If that is redoing a food dish, exchanging an item, or just taking that moment for personal care, it goes a long way. Your guests will be more than likely to come back and spend money.
The point is, no matter how small the complaint is, it should be taken seriously and it should be addressed. So how serious are you taking a complaint?
