Denrael

I seem to be spending a lot of time in Detroit lately. Well, not Detroit actually but DTW; Detroit Wayne Airport. The other day I was passing thru there and stopped at Max & Erma’s for some lunch. (Note: As far as airports go, I hang my hat on MSP having the best food of any airport in the country. Ike’s Rocks)

Now Max & Erma’s usually isn’t bad, and it’s not a chain that I see every day so it makes for a nice change. The food it consistant, and good. I went in and sat at the bar, glanced at the menu and ordered. Then I grabbed my copy of the WSJ and sat back to find out what was going on in the world.

About 10 minutes later, the bartender came back to let me know that my food was almost up, but they were doing a shift change and he’d like to close out my tab. Instantly turned a normal experience into an annoyance for me. Back in college, I put myself thru school working in hospitality, and I spend a good portion of my waking hours talking with customers about how to develop customer loyalty. Let me tell you now, in case you weren’t sure; this is not the way.

There are two reasons that this question ever comes up. First, the waiter/bartender is worried about collecting his tip and wants to make sure he gets it before leaving. Second, the company has implemented policies that tabs cannot get easily transferred from one server to the next. In either case, the end result is that the customer has to stop his meal regardless of if he is done to pay. I can think of few other ways that can make a customer feel like he is something to be dealt with rather than valued.

I don’t know what the reason was the other day, and frankly I don’t care. In either case, it’s a training issue. This most often happens at chain operations in the casual dining tier. While M&E is my example here, they are definitly not the only place that it happens and it never ceases to leave a bad taste in my mouth. What do you all think? Drop me a note and let me know.

Will I go back to M&E next time I’m in Detroit? I don’t know. If I have time, I will stop by to talk to the manager, which I admit I did not have time for this trip. Beyond that however, the hot dog stand next door is looking pretty tasty.

My parting request to restaurants and servers everywhere is to stop this annoying habit, and start treating your customers like you value their patronage.

(He steps off the soapbox and wanders into the sunset)