Stereotypical I know, but the British are known for their stiff upper lip and formal manner and not for a knack of complaining. When I say 'knack', I mean it. It really is a skill and I have learnt from the master (my mother).
I don't mean complaining for the sake of it and there is nothing worse than the attitude you sometimes encounter, of a patron snapping their fingers at a waiter and moaning loudly and obtusely. But where service and standard are lacking and we are spending our hard earned money, I do think a word, letter or email to the right person is warranted.
So when we went for breakfast recently and our drinks didn't arrive until we had almost finished eating cue upset toddler, I sent an email. Low and behold we had a phone call from the manager of the establishment apologising and asking if they could prove to us how good their service usually is. I of course, gladly accepted whilst making it clear that the staff were lovely, there just didn't seem to be many of them. So the other night we had a lovely FREE family dinner.
As far as I'm concerned it's win-win. We don't end up bitter and complaining about them to all our friends and we have a free meal, which in the current recession is a big bonus. The restaurant get to rectify the problem, avoid the issue for future customers and retain our custom.
So there is such a thing as a free lunch (or dinner in this case)!
And by-the-by, yes it does work both ways & we also email to say thank you for exception service too!
