After attending a UMass hockey game, we stopped for a burger at a small tavern that we had enjoyed once before. We were by far the oldest people in the restaurant, which was not too surprising so late in a college town.

Within minutes of taking our order, they turned on 2 giant speakers and flashing lights. They moved us to a different table in the corner and removed our original table along with all the others to create a dance floor. Jekyll and Hyde. 

The food may have been as good as our previous visit, I don’t know. It’s hard to tell when you are miserable. We couldn’t converse and we couldn’t eat fast enough. The check arrived with a customer comment form on which I asked them why they hadn’t warned us about the disco conversion at 10 PM. I can’t believe they couldn’t see we were in the wrong place at the wrong time, but they took our money and ruined our evening. I felt like Cinderella.

I included my name and phone number on the comment form but heard nothing. How hard would it be to call and thank me for taking the time to point out an opportunity for improvement? This is a small town. What are they thinking?

Today’s Lesson is two-fold:
1) Don’t put the sale ahead of the customer’s best interests. You may win in the short run, but you will lose in the long run.
2) If you make a mistake and the customer takes the time to inform you, at least tell them thank you.