I am glad that Olive Garden stepped up and worked to make it right. Yes, it could easily due to your praise fir them. But at least they did interact and show that they do care.Nobody wants to feel unwelcome or ignored by a brand. So kudos goes to Olive Garden!
They may have the great customer service, but it's not a substitute for quality. That's a real brand killer. Most customers just want, and should expect, decent food and service. By not delivering either consistently customers will stop coming back. Complimentary or not, MBCS (marketing by customer service) after the fact is not good for the top or bottom line.
Yes, being aprt of Landry's has hurt their brand, to be sure.
So their regional manager called me and offered me their apologies and said they were going to fix the issue at the particular restaurant and offered to send me a gift card for my trouble. Oh boy! I got the gift card today: $25. That will barely buy you a drink at Mortons. Maybe I will use it at one of their other chains and see if things are better.
Interestingly, my wife and I went to another Olive Garden last week just to try them out again. The food arrived late and cold, and again, before we could complain, the manager came by and comped our entire meal. While it wasn't a great experience, we will give them another chance!
Morton's was acquired by Landry's hospitality group about a year ago. Now one of forty restaurants in the portfolio, their somewhat disinterested response is not a surprise. But then Morton's has been consistently underwhelming since expanding beyond Chicago. Customer attrition took it's toll once loyal customers realized the restaurant forgot the importance of offering a great customer experience and there were other places to get a good steak. Eventually a takeover target, Morton's is just another cog in the wheel of a conglomerate ready to exploit the brand, seeing the customer as a necessity and not a relationship. On the Landry's website (landrysinc.com), there's only one short reference to the customer. Interestingly enough, the page "Our Philosophy"(landrysinc.com/philosophy), has no reference to the customer at all. Strange but telling - one brand down, thirty-nine to go.
Olive Garden is one of only eight restaurants in the Darden restaurant group. Their stated mission: "Darden's core purpose is "to nourish and delight everyone we serve" and their place on the Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work Forsay it all. BTW, Darden also owns The Capital Grille, a competitor of Morton's. Unlike the many not-very-memorable meals I've had at Morton's, I remember every one I've had at The Capital Grille.
One reason might be due to the increase in volume. While a certain percentage of people might not want to complain in-person, what number of those have no qualms about typing some comments into an email, Facebook, Twitter, or an online comments form? I'd think it's a greater percentage than would take the time to call or write - then actually mail - a letter, pre-Internet.
I don't disagree with you at all, Sunita -- but if a company waits until the feedback process to check in on a customer, the damage may have already been irreversibly suffered.
Once a person's mind has been made up about something, it is very difficult to get them to change their mind. Better, then, to do address a customer concern before the concern leads to a "I'm never coming here again!" -- post-experience cathartic feedback or no.
At that point I probably would have -- very unhappily -- eaten around the charred outsides of my steak (rather than have been the guy who insisted on sending his steak back twice), and then perhaps never have gone back to the restaurant. The manager, by inviting me to share freely my realtime experiences with him, saved a customer that night.
It's still the old problem, companies neglecting customer feedback and delays in the process.
@kq4ym, I totally agree with you. I am surprised why companies neglect customer feedback. I guess many companies forget the fact that if customer is not happy then it will definitely impact the growth of the company.
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