When to Complain...

When is it right to complain about the food you have eaten? Anytime? Is there any time when you've complained and then felt remorse? Confrontation is difficult for some, but necessary. I've been with friends who've been served improperly cooked hamburgers. One mom spoke up and did so with a red face, and later cried, even though the burgers may have made her two sons ill. At that same table I watched a grown man eat an entire burger that was so obviously not cooked, I felt ill. He didn't want to stir up trouble, he said.

What do you say when someone complains. The customer is always right, of course, but do you make excuses, or do you simply apologize and offer them something to make it "almost" better. I know of a repeat customer who complained every time he ordered a pizza because he knew they'd offer him a free one each time. How many times are you supposed to deal with that?

I was once told that my vanilla cupcakes were very dry. I was embarrassed, and of course, offered them compensation. But when they saw me proceed to dump the rest of the cupcakes out, they instantly realized the impact of one complaint. I wasn't going to serve dry cupcakes to anyone. They gave me the compensation back, bought ANOTHER cake, and came back the next day and apologized again!

So does this mean they weren't dry? Or was she exaggerating? She had said maybe it was the wrong time to complain. So was I going to serve dry cupcakes for the next hour to lots of other customers before she complained? Reputation is everything. One dry batch of cupcakes wrecks the whole lot when they are mixed in their trays.

Obviously, raw hamburger is a no brainer. Food poisoning is not optional. Dry cupcakes - who wants them. BUT if you are the type of person looking for a deal like the pizza guy, or someone who likes to complain and feel empowered, then don't buy cupcakes from me - or any of us who rely on our reputation to keep our businesses running.