Yet another story about customer service from the land of extremes. =0)

Why, you may ask, do I bother to bring to you stories of this kind? What do these kinds of stories have to do with security and how can they possibly improve your personal situation? Well it is simple; I want to share with you the idea that you have a right to be treated well as a part of maintaining control of your life. If you are treated well and are happy with decisions that you make, like where you decide to bring your family for dinner, you will enjoy a more positive outlook on life in general. More positivism will breed more opportunity which in turn will breed more happiness. Not a bad cycle to be caught up in, right?

Now let’s see…how do we start this story? I brought my family, (see picture to the right), to a Pizza Hut located here in the Philippines located in a place called Makati Cinema Square. This whole commercial structure is one of the older “malls” located in Makati. Now it is renowned for being the place to go to buy pirated or bootlegged DVD’s. There are also gun shops and two shooting ranges located in the basement. (The later will give the casual visitor an insight into my personal interests. This site is called “Security for Idiots” after all.)

An important part of this story is the fact that my family has an argument every time we have to decide where and what to eat. Really, without fail every meal that we are together becomes a heated debate as to where to go or what to cook. Usually ending up in a non-committal, “Whatever”. A bad dinning experience will become fodder to be used against the recommending party for years to come. Ergo, the food better be good, the place clean and comfortable and the service good. This particular day we decided upon Pizza Hut. Why? Well, pizza is an easy pitch to kids and they have this great special where you can get a personal pan pizza, a bowl of soup, and a soft drink for only 99.00 Philippine Pesos. (That is about $2.20) A good deal right?

So in we walk and are immediately seated in a window box. Remember, this is an older “mall” so that makes this Pizza Hut an “older” Pizza Hut. (At least as far as appearances) A server takes our order and leaves. A reasonable amount of time passes and we are served our food. So far so good right? Well, no sooner had we started eating when my daughter says, “Eeewww, Daddy look on the wall!” I look up and on the edge of a picture frame hung on the wall behind my son is a cockroach is staring back at me. My son, who is sitting next to my wife sees it and immediately starts to crowd into my wife pleading, “Keep it off me”. (Hey, he’s just a kid) I swat at the roach in an attempt to put an end to the crisis and its life. The roach senses its impending doom and jumps just milliseconds before sure death landing on the floor before scurrying off to the adjacent table where it stops and looks back taunting me to chase it down. Refusing to be goaded by a roach, we continue our meal. (I know that some of you would have walked out right there) After about 5 minutes, another roach falls from somewhere above, landing square on my wife’s bosom. Yes, in her shirt right between her…you get the picture. You can imagine her swatting at her chest trying to evict this squatter from its newly found home. At this point we called a server over to make our grievance known. She came over and was told what had happened including showing her the freshly killed carcass of the bosom raider on the floor as well as the little tough guy roach still sitting under the adjacent table apparently wanting a piece of me.

What happens next will take longer to explain than what I am willing to invest in it. Let’s just say that the customer service aspect to this outlet was somewhat lacking as much as the hygiene. Apparently, the staff on duty did not realize the gravity of the situation. Ultimately, the half eaten meal was begrudgingly offered for free with an assurance that something would be done about the “problem”.

Boy, was that an understatement. That same day I received calls from Pizza Hut apologizing for the incident. I was told that an exterminator would be called in immediately and was invited back to the store for a walk through tour so that I could verify myself that all possible corrective actions were taken. Oh, when I say “calls from Pizza Hut” I mean from the store manager, the area manager, and the President of Pizza Hut Philippines himself.

I did go on that walk through tour a few days after the incident. The store was impeccable. Still a little out of date on the ambiance side, but clean. I did not see a single roach. One of the managers from Pizza Hut’s corporate office met me there to guide the tour. She was courteous and professional. It did indeed appear as if they took the situation seriously and took all the necessary corrective action. Needless to say, I felt important. I felt like I mattered and that my money was valuable.

After a few weeks the family decided that they wanted to eat out and since we were in the area, I suggested Pizza Hut. Yes, the very one. Upon entering the dining area, we were seated by a very polite smiling waiter named Archie Santos, who by the way remembered my name. I was shocked. Our order was taken, prepared, and delivered correctly and hot. The service was great and the restaurant clean. After we paid the check and were preparing to leave one of the restaurant supervisors named Janice Castillo approached me and offered me a discount certificate for use during my next visit. My wife and kids also noticed the changes and were pleased. My wife even commenting that she felt like a VIP.

As far as the restaurant business goes, these guys experienced a restaurateurs’ worst nightmare. I could have very easily just got up and walked out with my family in tow. By complaining and demanding that corrective measures be taken, Pizza Hut was being given a chance to shine, to have the chance to redeem itself if you will. (They really did in my book) For my part, I was standing up for my right to be treated well and get what I paid for and was expecting; good food, good service, in a clean and comfortable setting.

In the end, Pizza Hut shone like the sun and I got what I expected. Kudos

Please Read More ;o) >>

Speak up about poor service and give people a chance to shine.

Part of owning your universe is defending your right to be treated well in everyday situations. In short, when you are a customer, you should be given every courtesy and respect that should be given by a business wanting your loyalty and more importantly, your money.

The other day a good friend of mine invited me and my family to watch Iron Man at a local shopping center called Rockwell. Yes I am a fan of these comic book based movies. Shoot me.

Rockwell Power Plant Mall is an upscale shopping and dining destination. This mall is a very nice place. One of the attractive features here is the fact that there are not that many people walking around so the environment is unhurried and relaxed.

We arrived a bit early for the movie. My friend had actually pre-purchased the tickets so there was no need to stand in line. Deciding that we were all hungry we began the difficult process of choosing which of the many fine restaurants we would eat in. Finally after careful deliberation and a couple of false starts, we chose a place called “Kaya”.

Located in what would be considered the “food court” of this mall, Kaya is competing with several of Manila’s heavy hitters in the restaurant industry. Kaya itself focuses on Korean fare on a somewhat affordable level compared to other similarly apportioned establishments. The restaurant itself is relatively small but nicely decorated in what could be considered a fusion style of modern Asian design and Denny’s. You would have to read a menu to fully realize that this was a Korean restaurant.

Upon entering the restaurant we were greeted by several employees repeating what I think was “welcome” in unintelligible Korean. I asked to be seated in a place that had an electric outlet nearby because I knew that the battery of my laptop was running low. Without hesitation the server lead us to a table near the kitchen entrance and after seating us, proceeded to pass out menus.

It was when the server came to take our orders that the problems started. First, my wife usually does not order anything when we dine out with our two children. There is inevitably a large amount of leftovers which she then happily consumes so as to not waste perfectly good food. The problem here is that to keep the pricing deceptively reasonable, it appears that the portion sizes were kept very small. I did not have a scale with me but it seemed that the portions were approximately 80 grams or so. When you order kalbi ribs a good portion of that will be bones. This order did not go very far and we were forced to order more items. Good for the restaurant but does not make you feel like you are getting very much value for the buck. I would have preferred to have been charged slightly more and been pleased with what was brought to the table. My wife had a sour look on her face almost the whole time. Not only was there nothing left for her but the kids wanted more.

I on the other hand was “watching” everybody eat. Yes I said watching. My food was missing in action. My friend followed up twice. Each time he would ask where my order was our server would rush off never to be seen again. The third time we followed up, another server came back informing us that all the items we ordered had been served already. By this time, the group had finished eating and I was upset and hungry. I immediately called for the original server. When she arrived at the table I tried to ask what had happened to my order. Not having a good answer to my question, she said sorry and asked if I still wanted it. That was the last straw, I asked for the manager.

Her name is Cynthia A. Esperanza. She introduced herself as the manager of the restaurant. After explaining what happened she called the server over to ask her side of the story. The server to her credit admitted that she made a mistake. Ms. Esperanza then explained that the server would be disciplined and apologized for any inconvenience before she returned to the kitchen. I thought that the problem was solved. I was still not happy at this point and definitely still hungry.

After a few minutes a server came out with two bowls of ice cream. I thought it was a nice gesture and thanked the server. I thought again that the problem was solved. I was less hungry and a little happier by this time.

A few minutes later, two full plates of cool delicious watermelon, and two plates of sweet sliced pineapple were placed in front of us. The group was shocked. I was impressed. I called the manager to tell her that I was very happy with her attitude towards customer service. I could not think of anything else that she could possibly do to show us how much she did not want to loose our business. After we paid the bill, she had one more surprise. As we walked out of the restaurant, she handed me my missing order. Incredible. She even handed my two kids lollipops as we left. I will definitely be dining here again.

My point in telling you this story is two fold. First, when you do not get what you are paying for, you must not be afraid to speak up. By “letting it go” you are actually empowering the negative service to continue and affect others. You are also perpetuating being a victim. This negative energy will remain within you attracting more such incidents. Secondly, this manager should be very secure in the service industry that she chose as a career. She was willing to make decisions that some may think went above and beyond what was necessary to not loose a customer’s loyalty. To her it was a natural decision which demonstrated that she has taken ownership of this business. This is an invaluable asset in an employee and the owners of Kaya should be happy to have her on board.

Please Read More ;o) >>