Offering Your Restaurant Guests A Free Meal |
An all too common issue with restaurants is when to give out a free meal and when to know you are being taken. Sometimes things don't go right such as a customer sitting there for 30 minutes and then the waitress finds the order is still in her pocket. They should definitely be compensated in some way. Other times though they are just complaining about anything and everything in an effort to get the food for free. They wanted you to comp their meal and set out to get you to do just that. They aren't going to stop complaining until that offer is extended to them. It is expensive when restaurants have to comp meals because they don't make any money off the sale at all. Yet it can be a great way to get a customer who didn't have a wonderful dining experience to come back again. It is less expensive to give them one free meal and have them come back then for them to avoid your restaurant in the future. When you calculate the number of people that they will tell of the negative experience who also don't come it you really are better off paying for their meal. When you do try to make things right with offering a free meal, it does show your commitment to customers. They will remember what you did to remedy the situation and that will likely get them back in the door. Most people are willing to forgive things that occur if they feel the mistake was sincerely addressed well. Some individuals take restaurants for a ride though. They are looking for a free meal and they know that many restaurants offer just that if they complain. They will look to make the most out of it by creating an issue that everyone in the restaurant can see and hear. As a result many managers feel pressured into comping the meal so that all the customers will be happy with the outcome they saw. It doesn't seem practical that people go out for dinner with the intention of getting it paid for, but many do. You only have to search this information online to see how true that is. You will read stories from those who have done it as well as the restaurant owners who are tired of it. This game is hard to prove and it is costing the business money. It is important for the restaurant to have a plan of action for dealing with such issues. That way they don't escalate out of control. This is a decision that the manager needs to execute though rather than the staff. This way discretion can be used to determine when offering a free meal is right and when it is a ploy that someone is after. You will have to decide what lengths you want to go to in order to keep your customers happy. Some of them will really appreciate the gesture while others walked out with exactly what they went it looking for. You definitely want to be fair but at the same time you don't want to be taken advantage of.
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