Pizzaloop: how not to treat your potential clients
Today I come up with a different topic compared to what I usually write. A few weeks ago I was on vacation in my town and I was treated in an unfair and derogatory way by an employee at Pizzaloop, a restaurant my friends use to visit. The employee didn’t allow me to be there because of no reasonable grounds, creating an uncomfortable situation. This is not the first time I hear about this kind of behavior at work, so I want to share with you what happened to me and what I think about it.
What happened?
It was my last night in Chiclana, my town, and I wanted to meet my friends. As I had to wake up late-night to take a flight and go directly to work, I couldn’t stay long. However, I wanted to go over for a little time to say goodbye to them and then go home. They had met in Pizzaloop, a restaurant from which I had heard many positive comments regarding their promotions. I entered the restaurant at 22:25h and my brother was picking me up at 22:30h.
The restaurant was empty and my 4 friends were the only clients. They were waiting for the pizzas to arrive, so I took one empty chair and sat down with them. A few moments later, one of the employees tells us with an unrespectful tone that I haven’t ordered anything. Not only that but I can’t either enjoy the promotion because it is for 4 people. However, if I want to occupy a chair I have to pay or leaving the restaurant.
I replied to her that, if the problem was the chair I could wait standing. It would only be a couple of minutes! But no, if I didn’t pay I couldn’t be there. All of this in a bad mood without letting us explain the situation and with the pizzas already on the table. So, in order to avoid problems, I said goodbye to them under the look of the employee, who keept a keen eye on me until I left. I went outside without believing what had just happened.
When my brother arrived he didn’t understand why I was waiting there alone. I told him the whole story. He had also thought about getting off the car and say hi to my friends, but given that he wasn’t about to eat anything there, he couldn’t be in Pizzaloop neither. So we went home
It may be seem a foolishness and that I’m taking it too seriously, but I felt treated unfairly when the only thing I wanted was having a good time and finishing my holidays with the people I care about. The last thing that came into my mind was that I would be literally taken out from there for no reason at all.
Generally I consider myself as a tolerant person and I put myself under the other one’s situation when we don’t agree in something. If the restaurant would have been full I wouldn’t have had any qualms about leaving the chair empty. Actually, I wouldn’t even have taken it. On the same way, if I really had stayed more time, I would have ordered dinner as the rest of the people. Even if the promotion wasn’t working for me. I even dare say that, if she had explained the rules of the establishment with respect and good reasons, I would have accepted it and, despite my will, leave the place.
Maybe the woman was having a bad day. Or maybe it was late and she wanted to take work off as soon as possible. I don’t know. But what I do know is that this kind of attitude towards a potential client is unacceptable and it shows a lack of professionality. I consider inappropriate not letting a person be in a restaurant because of occupying a chair for 5 minutes when all her friends are usual customers. It is wiser to be warm and empathetic rather than looking for problems where there are none.
It can also happen that I’m giving to this case more importance than it deserves (I’m even dedicating it a blog post) or that my version is too subjective. However, I had never experienced this kind of sittuations and I think it as a good example of how not to treat a potential client.
Talking about customer service…
This situation that could have been perfectly avoided. Not only that, this foolishness has cost the company a potential client. Maybe 4 more ones, if we count my friends. An employee must take care of their clients, attend them and above all treat them with respect and as an equal for their experiences to be positive. Your must give them reasons to take you into consideration for the next time.
Human treatment is a fundamental factor when talking about the quality of a service. They may elaborate the best food in the world, but if they are not able to treat a client well all this effort doesn’t make any sense. Not to say that a place like this doesn’t encourage you to return. Clients are the base of a business, and losing them this way is sad.
What did I learn from this?
Despite the bad moment and the negativity of the situation, this experience has made me reinforce two opinions I already had. On the first hand, there are people for everything in this world. You’ll always find someone who will look for the slightest reason to find trouble. Boredom is too bad!
On the other hand, and maybe due to the precarious situation of unemployment we’re living, it is increasingly common to see unprofessional and poorly qualified people performing a job they don’t like or with poor conditions. This may affect more than expected, provoke stress and put you in a bad mood, like it happened to me with the woman in Pizzaloop. It is important to avoid as much as possible that your personal problems affect negatively to your job.
