Speaking of the good balance between IQ and EQ, Pitstop cafe learned through yet another lesson...
A jolly good folk dressed in shirt, pants and ties climbed all the way up to close a deal with us. He claimed that it was for his group from 12-3 am.. this folk asked for many stuffs like discounts, prizes and us to facilitate the games.
Pitstop cafe always goes the extra mile and try to meet customers satisfaction. We therefore agreed to conduct a buffest for him and his group.
Lo and behold, we sprang straight into action, buying the food and preparing for the Buffet.
We waited and waited, and at 12 sharp, decided to give him a call. This jolly good folk then claimed that his friend met up with some shit and had to cancel the event. Also he claimed that he had tried calling us but the phone was engaged.
Whether its a genuine claim or an outright prank, we will not jump to any conclusion. But we'll give him the benefit of a doubt and hopes that this jolly good folk will turn up and rectify this problem.
What Pitstop cafe learn thru this incident was that, as much as we try to meet customers' satisfaction, we have to really protect ourselves from unneccessary problems. Now the fridge is packed with food for the buffet and it is really causing us lotsa shit.
We need to learn to have a set of protoccol especially in terms of holding events and not get to overwhelmed and excited over the deal....
I really would like to know what exactly happened at the other side.....
Pitstop cafe... we go the extra mile, but please don't go to wild...
2006/03/20
Far Q I say.....
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14 comments:
Did you collect deposits? Hope you did and collected a sufficient deposit, not just a token sum. I didn't collect deposits too but life has taught me a lesson, so now I collect.
we did not collect any deposit and that is the lesson we learn in the hard way too. It was too impromptu and thought it was ok. Personally i am upset not because the person did not turn up but rather the lack of sensitivity to just give us a call to let us know about it
Imagine the trouble that we encountered to go out of the way and stay back for the late hour booking... the guys went out to get food for the buffet when they called and confirmed at 8pm! i m just upset dat i came over after my fren's wedding and missed my beauty sleep... just to find out at midnight that nobody will turn up.. zzz...
So how you guys going to deal with the food? Have a buffet for loyal customers? :P
haiz....damn it.... maybe ill eat up the food all by myself....
deposit is important!!!!....who wanna buy the food man.....anyway, to dk: if you like buffet,..drop by this thur..we have premium ice cream buffet!!!
Remember to collect full up. N also if it is like 12am to 3am sounds VERY fishy. On a Sunday no less.
Genuine customers NEVER worry about leabving a deposit. But if it really is a last minute cancellation, there should still be damages to be paid.
2cents... :D
thanx folks for leaving your 2 cents worth of 'deposit'.... come to thinkof it, we were really too eager to please...
that guy really looked 'genuine'.. running up, sweaty and all.. wanted us to organize and have prizes etc..
but fortunately, the lesson was not to costly to pay, rather I just felt so weird as to why a person would behave like that...
but still, I'll give him a benefit of a doubt... hope he clarifies and resolve the issue...
Ice Cream Buffet.... Thur.... hmmm....
Let me see if I can get a few piggy friends along or not.
btw: how much huh? :D
Following your blog since Dec, and read all the problems you met along the way. can't help but see the same cycle over and over again. Couple of years ago, when the big bro cafe just started, people there also very flexible and friendly and compromising. But along the way, got bitten by their flexibility. So, become more stringent every time they got bitten. Well, guess biz is biz, have to protect the biz's interest, else difficult to survive. It is easy to improvise when small, but when biz grows, flexibility will go out of control. But not all customers understand...Anyway, in any service industry, it's a matter of balance between flexibility and self-protection. I believe we as consumers are always on the winning end. I just change a place to go if I don't like the service.
yea man....words of wisdom indeed... that's why I learned that its hardly possible to please all customers.. but we r working very hard to please and retain those folks who really give a damn and appreciate our service...
I guess, I ve learned to let go of those folks who r here to capitalise or criticize us..
someday, ill share with you folks about this fren I know for almost 10 yrs.. and how he had an anti-establishment mentality the moment he stepped into pitstop cafe.
timo
An appropriate amount of non refundable deposit should be worked in. Simply: no money, no good. Cancellation notice given later than less than 24 hours to go for the event will forfeit the deposit. If you want to kiasu a bit, ask them pay 50% upon signed confirmation received fax and the remaining 50% paid 1 day before event. This will deter unnecessary trouble on your end.
You are talking about business, not charity here. Who is going to sympathize you when you are the one stuck with the food?
to DK:.....
the buffet, 11plus. Check the annoucement at the bottom, which says ice cream buffet...will have the details..worth it man..coz premium ice cream...n get to play games too!!!
I think its perfectly ok to leave a min amt of Deposit. Its only fair to both the owner and the customer. As customer, once i place a deposit, it simply means The owner have confirm my booking and will not allow some other functions to be held instead.
I dun see why a potential customer will mind paying deposit since its just a matter of time to pay the full amt.
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