Sincere service

After reading a post on ‘The Other Side of the Mountain‘, I thought I’d also have a little rant about service. But my rant is about how over the top it has become in our industry…

I run a pub in London for the biggest managed-pub company in the UK. And we are expected to be sincerely friendly. How can you be sincere when you don’t even know the person?!? An example of how we have to train our staff:

customer: “Can I have a whisky and coke?”
staff: “We have Pepsi, not Coke. Is that OK?”
customer: “Pepsi is fine”
staff: “Which whisky would you like?”
customer: “House whisky is fine”
staff: “Would you like a double or a single?”
customer: “Single thanks”
staff: “Would you like ice with that”
customer: “Yes”
staff: “How much Pepsi would you like?”
customer: “To the top”
staff: “In a tall glass or a whisky glass”
customer: (thinking) “CAN I JUST GET A FECKING DRINK!”
customer: (says) “Tall glass”
staff: “Would you like anything else with that?”
customer: “NO”
At this stage you have to smile sincerely, NOT as if ‘going through the motions’ and thank the customer for placing their order.

By now, the customer has already died of thirst and the staff member of boredom!

This is all well and good if you’re on a quiet shift, but try to imagine a Saturday night and a group of 6 or 7 people at the bar trying to place an order! Absolute lunacy!

So next time you are in a UK pub and you feel like you’re dealing with Anne Robinson on ‘The Weakest Link’, give a thought to those poor kids behind the bar earning minimum wage. And how about buying them a drink too?

Chat soon,
Del

Post Author: admin

4 thoughts on “Sincere service

    kyknoord

    (6 October 2005 - 08:58)

    Seeing as you have to do the whole Twenty Questions thing anyway, I have a few suggestions: “Would you like fries with that?” and “Would you like to super-size your order?” and (of course) “Is that your final answer or would you like to phone a friend?”

    ChittyChittyBangBang!

    (7 October 2005 - 06:41)

    Clearly “good service” has it’s drawbacks too. In your case… it has gone way too far.
    The customer is to blame too. Perhaps it is just me, but in SA most ppl volunteer information about the drink upfront. Brand, with ice, double/single, tall glass, etc.
    Btw, I wanted a lemon wedge, sprinkled with a dash of salt to go with that whiskey, please and make it snappy! 🙂

    Ben O.

    (7 October 2005 - 07:36)

    I wanna come to your pub.

    Sounds cool – Ben O.

    Terri

    (7 October 2005 - 14:06)

    Ja but Ben just wants to go everywhere 🙂

    Cuz, I’ve just been catching up on a week’s worth of missed blogs and CONGRATULATIONS!!! You guys must be thrilled!

    Woo hoo, I’m gonna be a 2nd cousin again!!!
    🙂

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