Julia, Kai and the kids, and Max and I went to the Turqoise Room at Gillman Village (near Villa Bali) some weeks ago and I genuinely felt it was a nice place but I just didn’t feel very welcome somehow. Anyway I left a comment on a food forum:
Nice place but…
Went there
with my husband, another couple and their 2 kids. Nice that they had
serving sets for kids but I don’t think they had a kids menu. The
atmosphere is nice but because we were a little noisy (the kids were 1
and 3), we got the feeling that the owners weren’t as friendly to us
than to the other (angmoh) patrons.
The food was pretty good. We had:
Calamari (fantastic!)
Mushroom soup (so so)
2 sundried tomato pesto with chicken (alright but chicken a bit dry)
tuna and olive pizza (not so good)
sundried tomato pizza with feta cheese (VERY good!)
1 glass white wine
1 glass red wine
Some Kahlua drink with ice cream
Hoegarden
And still water
We were a bit pissed that the first thing they said to us was
"Sparkling or still", giving us the impression that water would not be
served. And then we saw that the other tables had. No we’re not
cheapskates but we just felt a bit cheated, know what I mean?
So total bill came up to be $154. I guess that’s OK for that much food and drink la.
Nice place, nice setting, but we didn’t feel welcomed. Not quite convenient if you don’t drive.
Pretty honest feedback I think. But today I get an email alert saying that the management of the restaurant replied to my comment. You see what they wrote back:
Management Response:
30 Sep 2007
It
is unfortunate that you thought we were trying to ‘trick’ you into
thinking we do not serve regular iced water. There have been numerous
times where customers would simply ask if we have iced water as opposed
to the bottled variety and we have readily obliged, even asking if they
want warm or iced. When we don’t ask/inform, we get chided for not
informing them that we can get them chilled bottles. On the subject of
feeling unwelcome, again, it is unfornate you feel that way because I
recall my staff assisting taking photos for you, making small talk
& finding out your children’s names (Kovan right?), providing you
prompt & efficient service (something which we try to do for all -
locals & ang-mohs alike). I do recall my concern as the young child
was playing near the kitchen door which swings both ways & I
believe I informed the parent to keep the child away from the door as
the service staff exits the kitchen carrying hot food from there. I do
not recall your kids being overly noisy (trust me we have seen/heard
worse) hence my surprise that YOU thought WE thought YOU were noisy.
Having said that, as restaurant owners, there are other customers’
needs to be mindful of & if there are noisy kids, other customers
will complain (some have demanded discounts, freebies because other
customers’ kids were noisy/crying). Most of the tables that day were
regulars so if you mistook our friendliness towards them as
‘favouritism’ or ‘preferential treatment’, then in the good name of
service, my heartfelt apologies.
I’m not going to reply because it will only show that I am reducing myself to their
level. I think it’s really bad business thinking to be so overly defensive. First of all it
was my honest opinion. Secondly if it’s inaccurate then just say "I’m
sorry you felt this way". To write a whole long chunk so sarcastically
only proves you are a small person. "
Heartfelt apologies". I can see the sarcasm dripping off the letters. And rather childlishly written, if I may add. With all that anger. I’m sure whoever wrote that was fuming and read and re-read the letter to make sure it was written well. I know, I’ve written such letters and I’ve regretted them. Another reason why I will not reply. Apart from having better things to do with my time.
And if you look at it carefully, I also said some good things. Of course there was nothing in response to that. If I get such letters, I ALWAYS reply with ‘thank you for your feedback’ and then explanation, followed by ‘we appreciate your taking the time to write to us and hope to see you again at our store’. To me, it shows that we value our customers’ feedback and that we use them to constantly improve. Apparently not all businesses think the same.
Whatever happened to the days of "The customer is king"? Not that I want to be king, and I can accept that I am wrong. But to have a restaurant’s defense shoved in my face like that, not so nice. I felt attacked. People are not stupid. They can tell if an apology is sincere.
But on the other hand, if only I could be that way for my job. How much easier it would be.
So for all your marketing/business graduates, you’ll know that if someone encounters a good service, he will tell 2-3 people, and if he encounters a negative one, he tells as many as 11. To date I think I have something like 141 friends on Friendster, I hope all of you are reading this and share this with your friends.
I would much rather spend my hard earned money (though little) at places that appreciate it. There are many restaurants in Singapore.
