I was sat reading the Facebook wall of my favourite restaurant this morning, hoping we may have won a Mothers Day competition, when I saw a long rambling complaint from a customer posted on a Facebook wall!
Now I am guilty of sending a tweet if a company has done something wrong, but most companies are now social media savvy and have done their very best to resolve any situation and I have always said thank you and made sure I tweeted back.
Things happen, whether we like it or not. I used to work in retail for a number of years and have been screamed at, spat at, had things thrown at me for a number of reasons. It is amazing what upsets some people and the reaction it brings. I’ll never forget the lady that was adamant that her coupons hadn’t come off her bill and even when I sat down with her and re-calculated her shopping bill to prove all her discounts had come off, she was adamant they hadn’t and left the store threatening legal action against me!
Anyway, I digress. This complaint mainly surrounded the fact that the restaurant refused to accept at £20 note that ceased to be legal tender in June 2010. The restaurant manager advised that they could take the note to the bank and they’d possibly exchange it, but the customer took offence to this.
If a bank note is no longer legal tender it cannot be used – FACT!
A complaint was also raised about the speed of service. Very valid, but I think everyone was caught on the hop but the unusual warm weather at the weekend.
I have to say that the restaurant concerned as handled the complaint very well and have responded on Facebook with a well worded reply and have invited the customer to email or phone them with any other concerns, but surely they should have emailed first and not facebooked.
I am sure loyal customers, such as I will brush off the comments, but it’s true what they say – if you’ve had good service you’ll only tell a couple of people, if you’ve had bad you’ll tell everyone! Now with Facebook and twitter that statement is more true than ever!
I for one have learned a valuable lesson. I’m going to think before I tweet, and never complain on a Facebook wall!
It shows no class whatsoever by complaining on Facebook.
I had to stop myself responding!! The complaint was very rude! I can understand the customer was upset but there is a time and a place
The people who wrote the complaint probably didn’t have the guts to say much in the restaurant. They took the coward’s way out and slagged off the company on a public forum. My friend runs a B&B and was horrified when a couple wrote a load of nasty comments and PURE LIES about her place on Trip Advisor. Unfortunately, there’s no protection from this.