Here is a tale of how you lose a loyal customer for all restaurateurs who want to learn how to build a sustainable business.
My family has been coming here consistently for over two years, and we have told many people about this place; we have been coming on average every two weeks, have spent well over $2000 here in all of our visits, and have steered a multiple of this through referrals to friends and family. We accept that it is an all-you-can-eat buffet, and that world class service is not typically associated with these types of places. However, when a line is crossed and customers who come regularly and have never caused any problems are treated like low-life scum, then the line of acceptability has been crossed.
We came after work on a Monday night to celebrate my daughter's fifth birthday. She has loved this place since she was three, and she has been one of their most vocal supporters to her classmates! I arrived before my wife and daughter at 6:20, and proceeded to order on their behalf as I knew they would be hungry. They arrive, and as any parent with a small child may understand, my daughter was tired and as a result not the keenest eater that night. I tried some of her food - she usually loves the kalbi - and it tasted slightly expired. No big deal in my mind - as I mentioned, it's an all-you-can-eat place, and not a Michelin-starred establishment, but I could see why she'd be a bit put off. My wife and I finish our food, and ate most of my daughter's order as well as we didn't want to be inconsiderate. We leave a tiny order of noodles, one chicken wing, and about half of the spoiled kalbi on the table about 45 minutes into our meal, and then ask for the bill as we didn't' want to drag the evening on and have my daughter make a scene (we are considerate parents, and when our daughter is being unpredictably fussy as children can be, we do not want to ruin the dining experience of others.)
The following is a transcript of the exchange from our curt waitress after asking for the bill:
Waitress: Are you finished eating?
Me: I think so.
Waitress (within a nano-second, as if anticipating this): We're going to have to charge you for the food left behind.
Me (shocked): Uh...okay.
Waitress: I'll go talk to my manager to see how much it will be.
She disappears for 10 minutes and presumably searches for the manager. Now, the manager knows us, knows we're good customers, knows we've spent thousands here, knows we've never created any problems whatsoever. We are in every respect good, honest customers.
The curt waitress returns.
Waitress: it's going to be $6. You can take the leftovers home in a container.
Me: Can I speak to the manager?
Waitress: Sure. He's on the phone right now. I'll get him.
5 minutes pass. The manager comes out.
Me: Hi, you know us right?
Manager: Yeah, here's what I can do. If you don't take the food home, I'll waive the $6.
Me: We didn't want to take the food home in the first place. My daughter was unexpectedly not in the mood to eat tonight - we didn't over-order, we under-ate!
Manager: It's our policy to charge for food left behind.
Me: I could send my family home, and I'll sit here for another hour and finish this food, and order more. Your margins will actually come down.
Manager: I know.
To summarize: i) the curt waitress did not ask, "was everything okay?" when we left the food behind, she was all too ready to pounce on their policy and make us pay. ii) The policy is in place to prevent people from being abusers of the all-you-can-eat model. We clearly were not doing that, and if they paid any attention they'd have noticed that we ordered only twice, and were out within 45 minutes - hardly the stuff of buffet-abuse. iii) The manager had a chance to resolve it by coming over (he knew it was us when we were charged the $6 by the curt waitress, but at least he could have faked being a warm problem-solver at that point) and saying, "oh, it's you guys, don't worry about that silly policy." But no, he simply tells us, "I'll waive the fee if you don't take the food home." Treating us like animals instead of being sincere - fantastic.
Bottom line: I'm never going back here, and I'll unwind all of the positive reviews I've given. The food is decent for this type of place, but it's not worth being treated like a complete stranger despite being a loyal customer. Lesson learned for restaurant owners: the marginal cost of some leftover food is $0 to you - the food's already been cooked. Look at the customer leaving the food behind - have they been here almost a hundred times, have they ever caused a problem, and maybe try asking them if there is anything wrong. Because if you slavishly adhere to a policy that is designed to keep bad customers out, you will absolutely do something that will anger the best customers. "Disgust 8" - you got your $6 - I made sure to pay, but you will lose out on the many thousands I would have continued to bring. read more