When to complain
Unfortunately things don’t always go right … even in the the best run establishment, things can go wrong, problems can arise, and grounds for complaint can occur.
There are some people who complain “at the drop of a hat”, who think nothing of making a scene at even the smallest mistake or mishap, whilst others never complain and accept everything that happens with a shrug and “shy away” from complaining, reluctant to create a scene. Most people, fortunately, fall somewhere in between.
The client, the consumer, has a right to complain if something falls below an acceptable standard … If they pay money for an item or a service, then they are entitled to expect certain standards to be upheld in return. Apart from being their legal right as consumers, it is only fair and reasonable. What’s more, even though no-one really likes to have a complaint made, a businessman should welcome complaints. They be willing, (if not eager), to listen to the complaint and to apologize, investigate the problem, (to see how and why it arose, if only in order to learn from the event and to try and prevent it happening again), and to try and make amends.
Yesterday, I happened to be in the hotel and the staff showed me the comments book. They were somewhat upset, surprised and even shocked by one of the latest comments … even the one person who had been singled out by the guest for particular praise. The problem was that they had stayed with us for several days, been very polite and cheerful, never giving any hint that there was a problem, and then when it came time to check-out, asked for the comment book and wrote down a list of complaints … things that had “gone wrong” or been less than satisfactory as far as they were concerned.
“Why didn’t they say something?” was the question I heard over and over again.
I had some sympathy with this, especially as the guest had pointedly said that his comments would be posted “on the internet”. Under other circumstances, I might have taken this as a “threat” in order to try and force concessions out of a management reluctant to concede that something was unsatisfactory and to do something about it, but in this case we weren’t given the opportunity to do either and so I presume they were simply informing us of their intention to do so.
If they want to post a review on the internet, that’s their privilege. They will be able to say what has happened, why they were disappointed and what they thought was unsatisfactory.
In the days before the internet they might have told their friends and relatives, colleagues and acquaintances … many, (if not most … if not all), may not be particularly interested in that they were unlikely to visit Bishkek. In these days of “social media”, however, guests can now write a review which could be seen by tens, hundreds or thousands of internet surfers. Those surfers presumably read the reviews in order to decide where they want to stay if they are going to be visiting Bishkek.
Such reviews are actually a good resource for consumers, especially those who have not been to and do not know either Bishkek or Kyrgyzstan in general. I know, because I use them myself. However, they need to be treated like all reviews, however, with care and caution. The surfer needs to remember that they represent one person’s account and opinion, events and experiences are presented as seen through their eyes. If there are several reviews that all reflect the same sort of experience, (either positive or negative), then this is probably indicative of something. Where there is just one, however, it could be that it is simply represents a “one-off” unfortunate occurrence. It’s also possible that the reviewer has forgotten to mention something, or wasn’t aware of something that was materially important.
Then again, they didn’t say where they would post their review, which means we may won’t even have the opportunity to exercise a “right of reply” … unless, that is, we happen to come across the review by chance. That doesn’t seem fair and reasonable to me.
Notice, I haven’t commented, so far, on their actual complaints … It may well be that in some cases I agree with them: that something did go wrong … that we should have done better … something for which we would like to apologize … and which we would like to try to put right … and for which we would like to try to make amends … and thank them for bringing the matter to our attention … so that we can investigate … and try to prevent a repetition of whatever it was. For example, if they really were kept waiting an hour for a meal to be served, then I do agree that this is unacceptable. I find it unacceptable when I go to restaurants and have to wait an inordinately long time for my meal to be served. It shouldn’t happen. I would like to try and find out why it did … however, we weren’t given the opportunity to apologize and to try and make amends. That doesn’t seem fair and reasonable to me.
In other cases I would have welcomed some more information. As it happens, I know which room they were staying in and so I can investigate the problem with the room that they describe and take remedial action to correct it. However, once again, we weren’t given the opportunity to apologize and to try and put things right at the time. That doesn’t seem fair and reasonable to me.
It is also possible that in cases I don’t agree with them: everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and to come to their own judgment – even if they are wrong. I would have welcomed the opportunity to explain why I think something happened … or why it was “as it was”, but I wasn’t given that opportunity. That doesn’t seem fair and reasonable to me.
Of course, I would had preferred to see a positive review rather than a negative one … but they are entitled to give an account of their experiences and say what happened and to give an opinion … and, unless they tell lies or give a very biased account, then there is nothing we can do except “grin and bear it” and try to ensure that we do better, that we improve our facilities and service and that nothing like this happens again in the future. It would have been so much better, however, if we had known and been able to do something at the time.
The correct time to complain should be, in theory at least, when a service or product is below the expected standard.
Trying to take a positive slant on the experience and use it in order to improve our service, the lesson seems to be, I suppose, that one way to avoid this sort of thing from happening in the future is to be proactive and to ask, (and keep asking), clients: “Is everything OK?”, “Is everything satisfactory?”.
After all, as the old slogan has it: “If you are satisfied with us, then please tells others … if there are problems, please tell us!”
Bishkek