Good for you, Geminise, but would you have said those two clients were ''whining''? I, personally wouldn't have said that. They were just expecting an apology that they didn't get. Then they took it to higher level. Maybe a letter would have done the job. As it happens, the management of the bar did take action to apologise and tell the employee to act differently next time.
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Geminize Wrote:As a business owner with employees who interface with clients every day, I take a written letter from a disgruntled customer much more seriously than a whining customer. I respond to all critical letters or email (thankfully few). I have low tolerance for whining, from clients or employees.
It's ridiculous to put up with whining from employees when you pay their bills. Clients, however, pay yours.
(Yeah, I know, some clients are such utter assholes that they're not worth doing business with. Unfortunately, not many businesses can afford to make that excuse whenever they like.)
By the way, I'm glad to hear that you do take written letters from customers seriously - but in my experience, such businesses are the exception and not the norm.
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When I work for someone I try not to whine or complain. When a client/customer treats me bad I put on my best smile. Apologize and try to make them happy beause yes they are the one the technically pay our bills.
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davearoo Wrote:If an employee is a moron, the customers had better whine about it, or that employee is going to keep being a moron. A written letter is much more likely to be ignored.
On the contrary, letters to corporate offices get "action".
If I am aware of what kind of management there is at a place, and I know that they are actually there to manage the place, then I will say something to them.
99% of the time, the "manager" is just a lazy employee who got the management position just to make more money in their paycheck. They couldnt care less about anything else.
I found out a long time ago, that complaints to headquarters get action. Not only that, it makes the managers do their job. Getting complaints filed on them or the place they run goes on their records and counts towards any raises or bonuses they might get....or might not get because they got complaint letters.
But I usually dont complain unless its something really bad, or they just dont give a damn about what they are doing.
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What I find truly... what's the best word? Disappointing, let's go with disappointing (I refuse to use the word offensive, overused and abused as it is).
What I find truly disappointing is that the waiter needed to apologize at all. Sure, it was foolhardy of him to make such an assumption, but is the assumption that a man is gay that traumatic? How often do gay men get misidentified as straight? (psssst. The answer is all the time) Yet we don't bitch about it and talk about how offended we are.... well, not in public maybe, here... it's a different story.
If someone thinking you're gay is that upsetting to you... then maybe you're the one with the homophobic issues.
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davearoo Wrote:It's ridiculous to put up with whining from employees when you pay their bills. Clients, however, pay yours.
To be clear, I'm open to suggestions or constructive criticism from both employees and clients -- but whining? No. I will listen to a whining client to let them vent and know that I have heard them. If they push it beyond that without shifting to a mature dialogue I calmly let them know the conversation is over. If it's clear my employee was at fault for something, I will take resposibility for that and deal with them later to prevent it happening again.
Just because someone pays me for a service does not grant them the right to be abusive towards me or my employees. I have never believed or trained my employees the nonsense that "the customer is always right." 18 years in business and it seems to be working for me. 
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A good head on good shoulders, Geminize.
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Wade Wrote:What I find truly... what's the best word? Disappointing, let's go with disappointing (I refuse to use the word offensive, overused and abused as it is).
What I find truly disappointing is that the waiter needed to apologize at all. Sure, it was foolhardy of him to make such an assumption, but is the assumption that a man is gay that traumatic? How often do gay men get misidentified as straight? (psssst. The answer is all the time) Yet we don't bitch about it and talk about how offended we are.... well, not in public maybe, here... it's a different story.
If someone thinking you're gay is that upsetting to you... then maybe you're the one with the homophobic issues.
I understand the disappointment, Wade. But we don't live in an equal world, and we are only the whatever 3-5%, so the assumption that we are straight still prevails unless otherwise perceived. It shouldn't be an issue and those two straight clients shouldn't be offended, but whatever it was that they were offended about, the assumption (whether right or wrong) shouldn't have been written in black and white on the bill presented to the clients. That was, to say the least, tactless. Someone's Gaydar wasn't working very well. It really wasn't the bartender's place to decide which sexual orientation these two clients had. He should have gone with numbered stools or tables.
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Clearly if you don't want to be accused of being gay you shouldn't act like a homosexual.
This is what has happened to the world, hybridized and genetically altered foods are clearly making men more feminine, thus they act like sissy-girls instead of real men.
Of course this is England, everyone has that gay-ass accent over there. So its going to be harder to tell who is straight and who is gay.
But clearly holding hands with your best buddy at a restaurant is going to be seen as gay - and no doubt there was plenty of other indicators which strongly suggested these two 'straight' men (yeah right) were actually of the rainbow persuasion.
Good for the waiter, calling it as they saw it. Maybe these two self proclaimed straight guys will start getting girlfriends and dating instead of being so 'buddy buddy'.
:tongue:
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I'm sure you're right, Bowyn, as usual... haha.
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