No matter how perfect your restaurant’s service is, the simple reality is that there will always be something for someone to get upset about. Sometimes, that’s out of your control — but often there are things you can do to handle restaurant complaints a bit more delicately. Dealing with customer complaints in a restaurant doesn’t have to be painful. In this blog you’ll learn how to turn customer complaints into redeeming moments for your restaurant.
How to Respond to Common Restaurant Complaints
Regardless of the complaint, the most important thing when addressing a guest’s complaints is to listen. While that may seem obvious, the reality is that customer service can be draining, and it’s very easy to just nod and apologize without actually mentally processing the complaint.
Below, you’ll find a handful of common examples of restaurant complaints and, importantly, our best advice on how to handle them.
Slow Service
Slow service is a common problem that can stem from countless issues. Maybe you’re understaffed, in a losing race between the rush and prep, or just straight-up in the weeds. No matter why service is slow, though, it’s important to be aware of it. This is even more important for those who work in full service restaurants, as your servers will take the brunt of the hungry rage from customers.
Sometimes guests will be angry about wait times until they can understand why. While this isn’t a hard-and-fast solution to the issue at hand, it often pays off to simply tell the customer what’s up. A quick and fast, “Hey, we’re understaffed today and are working as hard as we can to get your order out,” can defuse an otherwise uncomfortable situation.
Similarly, politely reminding guests that they are not the only guest in the restaurant that’s waiting and that food can only cook so quickly (especially if you’re dealing with a small kitchen) can make a large difference. Should that fail, the time-honored tradition of free bread, chips, or fries can always keep their hunger at bay.
Incorrect Orders
Incorrect orders happen, it’s just a matter of fact in the restaurant industry. If you’re dealing with customer complaints in a restaurant due to incorrect or misfired orders, here’s what to do — be honest. Hone up to your mistake (or that of your coworkers), apologize profusely, and do your best to get the guest’s order out as quickly (and accurately) as physically possible.
While it’s an easy out for Front of House (FoH) to blame the kitchen, that’s generally not the best approach. It gives the idea that your kitchen may be disorganized or, even worse, incompetent — and we want our guests to return. They won’t do that if your staff tries to blame each other for mistakes; instead, act as a single unit and you’ll find that things tend to smooth out.
Food Quality Issues
In terms of restaurant complaints, issues with food quality are some of the worst things to have to handle. While it’s easy to say that quality can change or be improved with time, the truth is restaurants often don’t have the grace of putting out a few bad plates. If you’re finding that you’re regularly dealing with customer complaints in a restaurant based around your food, it’s time to talk to the Back of House (BoH) — specifically your chef — and figure out what the issue is.
Maybe your menu doesn’t resonate with your restaurant’s demographic, or maybe the food is, put simply, not the best. There’s only one way to know the cause (let alone fix it), and that starts and ends with your kitchen. Keep in mind that food quality is often a touchy subject with chefs, understandably, and approach the issue with tact. Documenting restaurant complaints with reasons can help provide a bit of insight into why your guests feel unsatisfied, helping to narrow down the problem.
Unclean Environment
If you’re getting complaints about an unclean restaurant, there is exactly one way to handle that — clean your restaurant. While you may feel that it’s perfectly clean, and the health inspector may even agree, if your guests disagree, that’s all that matters. Word of mouth travels far faster than the opinion of the health department.
Make a point of regularly refreshing sanitizer and rags, keeping dishes from piling up (especially if your dish pit or bus area is in view of the lobby), and take the time to coach all of your staff on proper cleanliness practices. Creating structure such as a restaurant cleaning checklist or schedule can help keep your staff organized and accountable.
Rude or Unprofessional Staff
Another one of the most common restaurant complaints that you’ll see is that of rude or unprofessional staff. While it’s a terrible complaint, you also have to remember that many interactions that may draw these complaints have two sides; the customer’s point of view, and that of your employee(s). This means that you should always take the time to speak to your staff before addressing anything publicly with guests.
Think about it this way — if a guest is belligerent to a server who, eventually, snaps back, who’s in the wrong? Sure, your server could have taken a break or tried to cool off, but abuse is abuse. Good employers will stand by their employees and support them; inversely, if you know that your staff was actually rude or unprofessional, make a point of quickly (and quietly) handling it. Ensure they know that behavior is off limits, coach them on a proper course of action for the future.
Billing Errors
Sometimes the wrong button gets hit, the wrong number or order written down, and guests get upset (understandably). Luckily, this is a simple open-and-shut case to solve — figure out the error, ensure it is rectified and the correct bill is presented, and apologize to your guest.
Reservation Issues
Reservations are a tricky thing to manage. If your host isn’t able to properly oversee reservations as they come in (or if they miss something), it’s easy to double-book. Unfortunately, this means that the second (or third, or fourth…) table to show up will have to wait — and potentially be unable to dine with you at all. When this happens, it’s on the restaurant to ensure that the guest feels seen and heard with any frustration that they may (reasonably) have.
More importantly, though, be sure to offer the guest a reason to come back. Whether it’s a free round of drinks, free food, or something else, give them incentive to return.
Long Wait Times
Long wait times happen all the time. If you’re regularly dealing with customer complaints in a restaurant that revolve around wait times, it’s time to look at how your kitchen operates. Can you streamline FoH or BoH service to improve ticket times? If not, can you work on seating to ensure that orders can come in staggered, rather than all at once?
No matter the cause, long wait times are a sign of two things: Firstly, you’re doing well enough to be busy and secondly it means that you aren’t prepared for that type of volume and, ultimately, will need to rework how your business operates to sustain it properly.
Inadequate Portion Sizes
This is a complaint that simply requires an “I’m so sorry that you feel that way.” Inadequate portion sizes are very rarely an actual issue in most restaurants; after all, you’ve likely costed out what you’re selling, with portion sizes, to accommodate for both appetite and budget.
On the other hand just like any restaurant complaint if you’re getting it at a regular frequency it may be time to reconsider.
Noise Levels
Unless you’re in a business that’s built around quiet (like a cafe), noise levels are something that most people will simply understand; after all, the busier you are, the louder it’ll get. It’s basic logic. However, if you’re regularly getting complaints about the noise in your restaurant, consider how you can mitigate that.
Maybe the music needs to be turned down, maybe you need to find things to cancel out some noise (like drapes or sound-dampening foam), or maybe your restaurant isn’t the scene that the guest thought it was.
Temperature of the Restaurant
Especially in the summer, the temperature of your restaurant is a painful restaurant complaint to deal with. Your chefs know, your servers know, and your guests know. If you can’t adjust the AC or heat to fix the issue, all you can do is apologize.
Keep in mind that if it gets too hot (or cold), it’s time to close and get your ventilation and climate control maintained.
Food Allergies or Dietary Restrictions Not Accommodated
Food allergies and dietary restrictions are a really difficult thing to handle. Restaurant complaints revolving around what your guests physically cannot eat can become a hard intersection of the guest’s needs (or wants) and your actual ability to reasonably accommodate them.
For example, a brewery or pizza joint is unlikely to be able to fully remove gluten/flour from their building. It’s in the air, on the counters, it’s everywhere. If a guest could die or be hospitalized due to gluten, it’s in both your best interests to apologize and inform them that you can’t safely serve them. In short, do not ever offer to accommodate a dietary need that you aren’t 100% sure that you can easily handle.
Parking Issues
Parking issues are almost entirely out of the control of your restaurant. If you’re regularly dealing with customer complaints in a restaurant that are centered around parking, it’s time to get creative. Build a list on social media and/or your website of nearby street or paid parking, post signage about where guests can and can’t park, and that’s all that you can do short of buying more property for parking.
Training Your Staff to Handle Restaurant Complaints
Training is the most important part to learning how to deal with customer complaints in a restaurant. Teach your staff how to de-escalate, how to apologize without overcompensating, and most importantly, when they need to stand their ground. You can’t answer every issue with free food, and you can’t please everyone. It’s important to have customer complaint training in your restaurant training programs and onboarding so that all of your staff are aware of how to respond.
How to Turn Restaurant Complaints into Opportunities
The best way to turn restaurant complaints into opportunities is to find a place to meet your guest at a reasonable middle ground. If they want their whole bill comped, offer to comp whatever item was the problem and give a coupon for their next visit. If someone enters with a dietary restriction that you can handle, handle it!
This may seem obvious, but the best way to get return customers (especially after a restaurant complaint), is to show them that you care enough to fix the issue.
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