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Location: ๏̯͡๏﴿ Gwinnett-That's a Civil Matter-County
2,118 posts, read 6,374,505 times
Reputation: 3547
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dad_loves_to_cook
Any thoughts on how to tactfully deal with this situation and still keep my job? While jumping across the counter, grabbing the phone and dunking it in a glass of orange juice is appealing, probably not the wisest idea.
Repeat after me...
The customer is always right no matter how wrong they are.
The customer is the boss. The person who signs my paycheck only channels their money to me and directs me to perform my duties.
Don't let yourself get bothered by the little things. I've worked in hospitality.... if you want the customer to come back you make sure they are comfortable. If they're comfortable talking on the phone, then you let them do it.
If they're holding up the line you can do one of two things as I see it...
You can say something like "I'll take the next person in line please" and take other people until they get off the phone or...
you can smile and patiently wait and as soon as they're out of the line, you give the next person and everyone else in the line a coupon or a little freebie for being patient with the delay. When you do that, then people will actually want there to be a wait hoping you'll do it again.
Make your cafe known for being that cafe that welcomes cell phone users. There's hundreds of millions of cell phone users in this country so you'd be silly not to welcome that activity with open arms. Let your competition shoo them away.
Put up a sign that says "cell phones welcomed!"
As for this post... frankly I'm glad you posted it.
Customer service is my all time favorite thing to talk about and had this not been posted, I wouldn't have seen it or participated.
When a post gets to 5 or more pages, I don't reply to it and most of the time I don't even read them. So thank you for posting and I hope that the moderators will consider leaving it as a separate discussion.
Any thoughts on how to tactfully deal with this situation and still keep my job? While jumping across the counter, grabbing the phone and dunking it in a glass of orange juice is appealing, probably not the wisest idea.
Do what I do. Ignore them and move on to the next customer.
Don't let yourself get bothered by the little things. I've worked in hospitality.... if you want the customer to come back you make sure they are comfortable. If they're comfortable talking on the phone, then you let them do it.
So you are suggesting they lose ten customers because "it takes too long to get our order placed there" so you can wait on a person that has poor manners?
I suggest a sign that basically says "NO cell phone use while at the register" and enforce it.
So you are suggesting they lose ten customers because "it takes too long to get our order placed there" so you can wait on a person that has poor manners?
I suggest a sign that basically says "NO cell phone use while at the register" and enforce it.
Location: ๏̯͡๏﴿ Gwinnett-That's a Civil Matter-County
2,118 posts, read 6,374,505 times
Reputation: 3547
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trackwatch
So you are suggesting they lose ten customers because "it takes too long to get our order placed there" so you can wait on a person that has poor manners?
+++ No, I'm suggesting that they create customer loyalty by demonstrating that you're welcome to take that important call in this cafe and if there is a wait, we care enough to make it up to you.
Last summer I was at a chick fila in the north ga mountains after a full day of paddling and recreating, I was famished. The drive through line was held up for some unknown reason and I was starting to get a little impatient.
When I got to the drive through window, they gave me a coupon for a generous discount off my next visit. I didn't even say a word to them. It was the first thing out of their mouth... "Here's a coupon thanks so much for your patience".
Now every time I go back there I hope there's going to be another wait at the drive through window so I can get another coupon.
That's why chickfilas are always packed. They have customer service absolutely nailed. It always takes at least twice as long to get food from chickfila because they're so crowded. I could go to the hardees across the street which is empty or the BK and get out in half the time but I like the welcoming feel at chickfila and the odd chance that I'll score a coupon keeps me going back.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trackwatch
I suggest a sign that basically says "NO cell phone use while at the register" and enforce it.
+++ Nothing is more unwelcoming than a "NO" sign.
If you want to make it in food and bev or hospitality, you have to be welcoming, not bossy. Guests don't visit on your terms. They just won't visit.
Let the other cafes be the ones to kick out the cell phone users.
You know I'm a cell phone user and I have to answer the phone during business hours. Often times I can sneak away from the office to go to a cafe or something but I have to take the phone and I have to answer it when it rings. If I don't, the I'd miss out on sales that would enable me to go to the cafe in the first place. So in the unlikely event that it rings while I'm at the counter, I'd say "pardon me I have to take this" and if there's a wait I'm sorry but I had to take the call. I would hope that the server or cashier would take the next customer in line until I got off the phone. It's either answer the phone when it rings or stay in the office and not go to the cafe. It IS possible to make everyone happy.
Starbucks is packed.
How many "NO CELL PHONE USE" signs do you see at starbucks?
The customer is always right no matter how wrong they are.
The customer is the boss. The person who signs my paycheck only channels their money to me and directs me to perform my duties.
Don't let yourself get bothered by the little things. I've worked in hospitality.... if you want the customer to come back you make sure they are comfortable. If they're comfortable talking on the phone, then you let them do it.
If they're holding up the line you can do one of two things as I see it...
You can say something like "I'll take the next person in line please" and take other people until they get off the phone or...
you can smile and patiently wait and as soon as they're out of the line, you give the next person and everyone else in the line a coupon or a little freebie for being patient with the delay. When you do that, then people will actually want there to be a wait hoping you'll do it again.
Make your cafe known for being that cafe that welcomes cell phone users. There's hundreds of millions of cell phone users in this country so you'd be silly not to welcome that activity with open arms. Let your competition shoo them away.
Put up a sign that says "cell phones welcomed!"
As for this post... frankly I'm glad you posted it.
Customer service is my all time favorite thing to talk about and had this not been posted, I wouldn't have seen it or participated.
When a post gets to 5 or more pages, I don't reply to it and most of the time I don't even read them. So thank you for posting and I hope that the moderators will consider leaving it as a separate discussion.
You have got to be kidding me right??? It's called MANNERS and RESPECT. Obviously you have none of your own or have no balls to tell someone they have none.
BTW-I work in the hospitality industry myself and your sense of customer service is completely backward
I get what you're saying about customer service and the customer chooses where he/she will go based on their experience. I think that as Americans we are much more demanding and whiny than the rest of the world. An example would be, another cashier got in trouble because a customer complained that she was rude and had rolled her eyes at her. She called the cafe and emailed corporate. The customer will never return until that employee is no longer working there. I know the employee very well and cannot fathom her doing what the customer said. IMO basically the customer wants this woman to be fired because she didn't have a good experience. I can't understand this type of thought process. Sadly many employers are more concerned about losing whiny customers than valued employees that perform extremely well.
I agree with the poster who said a sign with the word "no" is off putting. While I would love to put a sign up like that, as a customer even if I'm not on my phone it would be offensive. I frequent our local Walgreens and go through the drive-thru. They had just such a sign on the window. I was a bit put off by it when I saw it, even though I do not use my phone. A few months later I noticed it was gone. Not sure why it went away but it was more inviting to be at the window without the sign. Sounds dumb but true.
I believe we have become a nation of the phrase my brother would say when we were kids, "don't tell me what to do!" It was a joke in our family, but I look at it like, as Americans don't tell me what to do cause as the customer I'm entitled to treat you like crap, but you even look at me the wrong way, there's the unemployment line buster.
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