A New Restaurant

Several years ago Tim Zagat of Zagat Surveys proposed a Diner’s Bill of Rights to help protect the public from bad restaurant service.  These rights were:

1. The right to courteous service.
2. The right to be seated within 10 minutes of the reservation time.
3. the right to clean, sanitary facilities, and fresh healthful food
4. The right to make special dietary requests.
5. ….

You get the picture. 

My initial reaction is that these are expectations, and if a restaurateur wants to stay in business, he should deliver on these expectations, and then some.  But rights???

How’s this for a right:  Customers have the right to leave a restaurant and not return for whatever reason they so desire.

I am a big proponent of freedom.  As a business owner, there are certain freedoms that should not be taken away.  You should be free to run your business the way you see fit, as long as you are not violating the law.  That being said, there are consequences that come with that kind of freedom.  If you make bad financial decisions, you will lose money.  If you make bad customer service decisions, you will lose customers.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not opposed to anything Zagat said, other than to call them rights.  The customer expects to be treated with respect, and to receive safe, properly prepared food.  They expect a clean facility.  They expect that someone in charge will be available to complain to if their expectations are not met.

I also believe that as a restaurant owner you should make sure everyone that works for you understands what the customers expectations are, and that they understand that they are all responsible for seeing that those expectations are not only met, but exceeded.

If you don’t do that, you can expect a very short life in this business.