I am writing after a long hiatus. Call it an amateur writer's block. Having commented vociferously on an article in the last 2 days, I feel compelled to write an article about it. The article in question can be found here: foodenthusiastsofdelhi.com/2011/11/nightmare-in-machan-taj-mahal-hotel-new.html. For those of you who feel too lazy to read it, it basically talks about the poor service standards in the coffee shop of one of the oldest and the most luxurious 5 star hotels of Delhi.
"Atithi Devo Bhava" is the oft quoted line in the Incredible India campaign. Loosely translated, it means that the guest is god. I feel that off-late, we have moved away from this motto. I can understand this in other aspects of life, but deviation from this in the hospitality industry is unpardonable. Being fond of eating out, I have seen both sides of the coin as far as service is concerned. Let me give you a couple of examples to highlight this.
First, is a good one. A while back, I visited Pickwick's in Claridges, Aurangzeb Road. Dad and I took the buffet and realized that the deserts were not as cold as they should have been. Now, this is a problem which a lot of buffets face, though establishments are beginning to learn how to tackle it. In the comments card, I mentioned that the deserts were not up to the mark as far as their temperature was concerned. No-one likes a warm cheesecake! Having paid the bill, we were waiting for the change when the manager came to our table and asked us about the issue. On being told, he apologized profusely and gave us a huge (ginormous!) slice of their famous 'corn cake'. It was on-the-house, ofcourse. We were stuffed, but were obliged to finish it because of the manager's appreciable gesture.
Now comes the ugly part. Recently, my parents visited Yoko Sizzlers in G.K.-II. Yoko, to establish itself, had been issuing a lot of discount deals on the new deal sites. Dad, never one to turn away from a good deal, bought the vouchers. They visited the restaurant for dinner one day and ordered a vegetarian sizzler. The menu said that the sizzler would have baby corn. To their surprise, they realized that instead of baby corn, they had cut-off pieces of "bhutta" and put it in the sizzler. It, ofcourse, was un-chewable. When my parents complained to the manager and asked for the chef, the manager was defiant and the chef unavailable for comment. They refused to finish their meal and settled their bill and wrote a scathing comment in the comments card. A few days later, my mother got a call from the manager and arrogantly (rudely too) started questioning the comments which she had written. On being badgered further, my mother told him that we would not be visiting the restaurant again. To her shock, the manager's reply was, and I am quoting him verbatim here:" Don't worry madam, we do not want customers like you visiting our restaurant!" Imagine that! I will not bore you with the rest of the story where the owner/MD called us and offered us a free meal. Needless to say, we have never visited this place again.
Restaurants and even shops have moved away from the one rule of customer service: "Customer is always right". I have faced it all, very good service where the manager comes and asks us how the food was and appalling service where the chef tried to pass off a cheesecake gone bad as the original thing (Radisson MBD, Noida). What they have forgotten is that even if your food is spectacular, bad service will always lose you customers. Eating out is a complete package experience. You spoil one part of the package and one will never-ever go there. There have been places that serve brilliant food but I refuse to go there since the service is pathetic.
The posh restaurants have this habit of treating their customers in a way that makes them feel unworthy of being there. The attitude of waiters is such that we should be in their place and they in ours. Remember, your restaurant will do well only if you have customers there, no matter how posh it is. We should learn from hotels and restaurants in South-East Asia where the service is always welcoming, the servers/attendants always smiling and willing to engage in a conversation with you irrespective of the language barrier and your affordability. At the Sheraton in Langkawi, the bellboy/girl namaste-ed me every time I entered the hotel, which was about 5 times in 30 minutes on one occasion. The shop attendants and waiters in Malaysia and Indonesia were always smiling and engaging in a conversation with you about bollywood!
I will leave you now and hope that the service standards improve and reach what we were famous for!
"Atithi Devo Bhava" is the oft quoted line in the Incredible India campaign. Loosely translated, it means that the guest is god. I feel that off-late, we have moved away from this motto. I can understand this in other aspects of life, but deviation from this in the hospitality industry is unpardonable. Being fond of eating out, I have seen both sides of the coin as far as service is concerned. Let me give you a couple of examples to highlight this.
First, is a good one. A while back, I visited Pickwick's in Claridges, Aurangzeb Road. Dad and I took the buffet and realized that the deserts were not as cold as they should have been. Now, this is a problem which a lot of buffets face, though establishments are beginning to learn how to tackle it. In the comments card, I mentioned that the deserts were not up to the mark as far as their temperature was concerned. No-one likes a warm cheesecake! Having paid the bill, we were waiting for the change when the manager came to our table and asked us about the issue. On being told, he apologized profusely and gave us a huge (ginormous!) slice of their famous 'corn cake'. It was on-the-house, ofcourse. We were stuffed, but were obliged to finish it because of the manager's appreciable gesture.
Now comes the ugly part. Recently, my parents visited Yoko Sizzlers in G.K.-II. Yoko, to establish itself, had been issuing a lot of discount deals on the new deal sites. Dad, never one to turn away from a good deal, bought the vouchers. They visited the restaurant for dinner one day and ordered a vegetarian sizzler. The menu said that the sizzler would have baby corn. To their surprise, they realized that instead of baby corn, they had cut-off pieces of "bhutta" and put it in the sizzler. It, ofcourse, was un-chewable. When my parents complained to the manager and asked for the chef, the manager was defiant and the chef unavailable for comment. They refused to finish their meal and settled their bill and wrote a scathing comment in the comments card. A few days later, my mother got a call from the manager and arrogantly (rudely too) started questioning the comments which she had written. On being badgered further, my mother told him that we would not be visiting the restaurant again. To her shock, the manager's reply was, and I am quoting him verbatim here:" Don't worry madam, we do not want customers like you visiting our restaurant!" Imagine that! I will not bore you with the rest of the story where the owner/MD called us and offered us a free meal. Needless to say, we have never visited this place again.
Restaurants and even shops have moved away from the one rule of customer service: "Customer is always right". I have faced it all, very good service where the manager comes and asks us how the food was and appalling service where the chef tried to pass off a cheesecake gone bad as the original thing (Radisson MBD, Noida). What they have forgotten is that even if your food is spectacular, bad service will always lose you customers. Eating out is a complete package experience. You spoil one part of the package and one will never-ever go there. There have been places that serve brilliant food but I refuse to go there since the service is pathetic.
The posh restaurants have this habit of treating their customers in a way that makes them feel unworthy of being there. The attitude of waiters is such that we should be in their place and they in ours. Remember, your restaurant will do well only if you have customers there, no matter how posh it is. We should learn from hotels and restaurants in South-East Asia where the service is always welcoming, the servers/attendants always smiling and willing to engage in a conversation with you irrespective of the language barrier and your affordability. At the Sheraton in Langkawi, the bellboy/girl namaste-ed me every time I entered the hotel, which was about 5 times in 30 minutes on one occasion. The shop attendants and waiters in Malaysia and Indonesia were always smiling and engaging in a conversation with you about bollywood!
I will leave you now and hope that the service standards improve and reach what we were famous for!
