Positive and Negative Experiences in the Hospitality Industry

Positive and Negative Experiences in the Hospitality Industry

I once visited a restaurant and received very good customer service. The waiter was friendly and did her best to bring me drinks when I was out. She and the other workers were very courteous. I remember having a problem with one of my dishes. Part of the dish was undercooked and tasted terrible. I politely asked the waitress to help me and she apologized and fixed it. I thanked her for it and told her it was no problem. Right before I left the place, the manager again apologized and I said it was no problem once again. Problems like having undercooked food isn’t very uncommon, sometimes things just happen. At another point in time I was at a different restaurant and had the same problem. To begin with the waitress was unfriendly and ignored me several times through the whole experience. When I told her the problem she said there was nothing she could do about it, very rudely. When I complained to the manager he also didn’t do anything about it, and even told me to just order something else if I didn’t like it.

Hospitality and customer service are the backbone of the entire industry. Having bad customer service can greatly impact business, as customers won’t return to a business again if the service they received was bad, often not even if the food is amazing (“Hospitality,” 2016). If customers aren’t enjoying their time at a business and feel unwelcome, they won’t return. Since most customers won’t come back a second time, the restaurant is losing business, not just from those customers, but others as well. Customers speaking of their positive experiences at an establishment can really help the establishments sales, but it can also negatively impact a business if the customers tell others about the negative experiences (“Hospitality,” 2016).

A technique used in the hospitality industry to make a negative experience positive is correcting problems when they arise instead of ignoring them (“Hospitality,” 2016). This way, the customer is happy and knows the establishment cares about them enjoying their time there. If the restaurant I visited had done this I would have been happy to come back multiple times, the food was really good, and aside from that it seemed great. In fact, the place I had the positive experience implemented this technique and it made my time there a lot better, and I’ve returned many times.

References

Hospitality, Tourism, and Travel. (2016). Retrieved February 21, 2016, from http://coursebuildercontent.careeredonline.com/Content.aspx?sun=29867