Opinion Rude Food
It used to be pesky salesmen on the phone but now they are pestering you at lunch.
It used to be pesky salesmen on the phone but now they are pestering you at lunch. I am talking about this new trend in restaurants of collecting feedback from customers. If you havent noticed it then look again it may be that youve just been falling in line without even being aware of it.
Of course this is not entirely a new trend. There was always the odd occasion when a waiter sheepishly proffered a printed sheet for you to fill; the sheet with three types of cartoon faces to indicate whether the food and the service was good bad or poor and the mandatory questions regarding contact details and dates of birthdays and anniversaries.
These days however it is not a one-off thing. Anywhere you eat it is likely that you will be handed one of these printed sheets to fill. And likely as not there will be nothing apologetic about the manner in which they are presented; the expectation is that you will fill them out and if you demur,waiters are likely to be aggressively insistent.
It is a baffling phenomenon. There is absolutely no obligation for a customer to provide feedback to a restaurant,particularly after it has just burnt a hole in his or her pocket. At best an establishment can request it as a matter of courtesy or goodwill. I dont know anyone who likes to sit with a pen in hand filling up a form after he or she has been through a relaxing meal or is in a rush to get somewhere.
It is an imposition and anyone in the business of hospitality would know it. A capable manager should not need to rely on such hasty feedback; he or she should be able to judge what works and doesnt in an establishment from observation. In any case the number of reservations and the size of tips are likely to be far better indicators of customer satisfaction than vague adjectives. So why do restaurants do it? Is it a just a silly fad thats going around or is it a more commercially-minded exercise in data collection?
Interestingly nobody refuses. You can see diners,faces contorted with indecision as they ponder over their answers and companions waiting impatiently for the ordeal to end. It is not hard then to understand how corporations and governments can so easily invade the privacy of citizens. Most of us just too polite to say no.
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