Great Expectations
Imagine for a moment that you and your lover/spouse/closest friend (any couple that is you and one other person you prefer) is seated in the dining room of a restaurant you've never been to before. There are only seven other tables that are occupied aside from yours. Seven of the tables will receive excellent service, yours among them. Seven of the tables will enjoy wonderful food, yours among them. One table will experience lousy service and food that isn't much better. Not because they did something to offend the server or kitchen. It just worked out that way.
How many of the eight parties that were dining there are likely to tell others about their experience? One. The one that had the negative experience. Why is that? Because. The expectation is that when we spend our hard-earned money, we will get the service we expect. Or the product we expect. When something or someone does what they are supposed to, we pay it no mind. We don't take a moment from our busy lives to pass out a "warm fuzzy" and let the person or establishment know they did well.
And I've ranted about this before, but it's fresh in my mind. That's because I had yet another negative experience involving food service and I'm going to let the people who own that eaterie know my displeasure. However, I've also resolved to start handing out positive feedback too. No, I'm not going out and joining Yelp and giving everywhere that is even a tiny bit above acceptable a five star review. If something is just average, it isn't worthy of comment. Something that is exceptional, either exceptionally good or exceptionally bad is worthy of notice. I think it's only fair. Most people don't share that opinion. Give them good service and they go on about their business. Even excellent service isn't noteworthy. If the service is bad though, the owners will hear about it. Or others who might have patronized that business will hear about it and go elsewhere.
I know several people who think that most of the negative reviews that are posted on Yelp come from the competitors of those being excoriated. Particularly when the bad notice doesn't have specifics about the visit but is just filled with generalities. It may be true.
How many of the eight parties that were dining there are likely to tell others about their experience? One. The one that had the negative experience. Why is that? Because. The expectation is that when we spend our hard-earned money, we will get the service we expect. Or the product we expect. When something or someone does what they are supposed to, we pay it no mind. We don't take a moment from our busy lives to pass out a "warm fuzzy" and let the person or establishment know they did well.
And I've ranted about this before, but it's fresh in my mind. That's because I had yet another negative experience involving food service and I'm going to let the people who own that eaterie know my displeasure. However, I've also resolved to start handing out positive feedback too. No, I'm not going out and joining Yelp and giving everywhere that is even a tiny bit above acceptable a five star review. If something is just average, it isn't worthy of comment. Something that is exceptional, either exceptionally good or exceptionally bad is worthy of notice. I think it's only fair. Most people don't share that opinion. Give them good service and they go on about their business. Even excellent service isn't noteworthy. If the service is bad though, the owners will hear about it. Or others who might have patronized that business will hear about it and go elsewhere.
I know several people who think that most of the negative reviews that are posted on Yelp come from the competitors of those being excoriated. Particularly when the bad notice doesn't have specifics about the visit but is just filled with generalities. It may be true.
posted by me at 6:08 AM
<< Home