Bad Hosts - Sadly, It's A Thing

If you've read my book you know it's about bad customers; I had so many complicated guests that I compiled a collection for entertainment and insight, should someone dare to think about opening a B&B. I was appalled, over and over, how people behaved in my home; the awful things they said and did to me, their entitlement, expectations and demands. Through it all I did my best to carry on, to improve and to make my customers happy. Some would, of course, never be happy, but even with them I always tried to keep composed and be a gracious host - that's the key to business survival in the hospitality industry. There were, of course, some rare exceptions, where I lost my cool and had to react harshly but as an everyday rule the name of the game was to make the customers happy.

A Very Unexpected Customer-Service Experience...

I went to lunch with a friend this week to a place that has great food; we had visited this Italian restaurant before and thought it was time to support them again. It was almost full so we had only the tiny table right in front of the door or the table underneath the TV. We took the second choice because the waitress told us she would turn down the TV which was blasting a talent competition that the chef/owner and his staff were watching. She came back to tell us that the owner refused to turn it down so she would relocate us to another table as one was opening up within about 10 minutes. My friend (who also used to own a hospitality business) and I were surprised at the outright refusal to turn down the crazy-loud TV but we agreed to take the other table since we were already sipping our glasses of prosecco. Our conversation for those moments was very awkward as we had to practically shout to hear each other. In retrospect, we should have just left.

Once we moved to the other table (which truthfully, is only about 15 feet from our first table) and ordered our lunch, the owner turned the TV up even louder so that our entire experience was spent competing with that noise. It was really unpleasant, and it almost felt like the owner was showing us who was boss and we thought it was inappropriate for an owner to blatantly disregard your customers like that! We didn't stay for a second glass, or coffee, just ate and asked for the bill.

When we were leaving we told the server that we probably would not come back, that the customer service was really bad. She asked us, "You don't blame me do you?" We didn't actually answer because, like I often say, if you're not part of the solution then you're probably part of the problem. We left a very modest tip for her; it really wasn't her fault but she wasn't an amazing waiter so it worked out to less than 15%.

Shortly after, we were chatting in a very peaceful winery, doing a little tasting flight of their new, Spring releases and lamenting over the horrible hosting that we had just experienced. I was tossing around the ideas of sending him an email or giving him a google review.

The Review

In the end, I knew if I sent him an email he would just hit the delete button and move on so the next morning I wrote a google review. I want to be very clear that the review was kind; I do not believe in slamming anyone, I just lay it out like it was. I started out by saying that the food was fabulous, 5 out of 5. But for customer service and atmosphere I could give only 1 out of 5 due to the audial assault that we endured for our entire visit. I included that we asked for it to be turned down and that they had outright refused to do so. I concluded that we would probably not go back and it was too bad because the food really is very good.

Unlike some of the fabricated reviews I share in my book (LOL!!) I was fair and honest, no judgement or anger, just the truth of what happened and our disappointment in a host who, without saying so, conveyed to us that his tv show was more important than his customers. I was also very honest in how good the food is there.

The Response

"I'm so sorry that our culture turned you off our restaurant. I don' think we had an acceptable loudspeaker because not one present on that days was complaining except you."

Clearly, he does not see the error in his ways, nor does he care about a disappointed customer. He's not even accurate in whatever that means about his culture turning me off; my friend and I have both been to Italy and absolutely love the country, the people and the culture (and have never experienced anything like this there either)! This was not a cultural misunderstanding, it was a restaurant owner putting his own interests above those who are there to support him... so I will be happy to move on and support someone else, who will appreciate our business a little more.

What's The Lesson in This?

Not all hosts are great, in fact, some suck rocks. I know they're out there, in probably just about every business imaginable. When I cross paths with one I try to be as kind as I can when addressing problems but it doesn't usually do much good; it's a flaw in their character and best to just move forward without giving them any further support. I think back to my 14 years owning that B&B and I can't think of a single instance where I intentionally carried on an activity that really disrupted my guests' experience then refused to curb my activity after being asked to. Not once. I remember going to the ends of the earth to make sure my guests were comfortable and happy while I provided the best experience for them that I could squeeze into my budget.

So what do you do when you are at the mercy of a inconsiderate host? I would love to hear from anyone out there on your experiences and reactions in a similar circumstance! Fortunately we were only there for lunch, but imagine if you were stuck in a B&B with someone like that for several nights?! Ugh, that would be brutal and worthy of cautionary tale in a book like mine!

Please feel free to share your stories with me, I'm always very happy to hear from a supporter and am grateful for the time you took to read my blog posts!

Clearly a disappointed/unhappy customer! I doubt it was a "cultural misunderstanding" LOL