Eventful evening - a lesson in looking after contacts
Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2006-09-02 08:08:24 - Graham EllisYesterday evening, we went out for a drive ... a glorious evening at the end of a long day. Late afternoon over the Marlbrough Downs; glorious Wiltshire. Then down to Calne for a quick pub meal to round off the brief break. In the car park there, this guy we didn't know ran his car into ours.
D'you know - I would NOT use that pub again, and yet I would very cheerfully welcome the chap who pranged us into my home. Odd, but it all come down to interaction and attitude - and it's a good reminder for us in a customer facing industy that presentation, willingness, helpfulness are so vital; reaching a conclusion without keeping people waiting and good, reliable results are also important, but they're not everything.
It's only a smallish dent on the car - we're perfectly OK. We were stopped, he reversed out and his nose swung into our front wing as he turned. He moves a yard forward so that I can get out; we both leave our cars "are you alright?". "Yes, are you". Good - no need to apply yesterday's First Aid lessons. Easy exchange of details. profuse apology (from him) to the extend that I was reasuuring him that these things happen. And he even came back a few minutes later after he had spoken with his insurers to check that I had ALL the details that I would require. Seen those "Direct Line" adverts where someone smiles because he's been hit by a Direct Line driver and they clear it up for everyone? Well - we'll be testing that out in practise.
The pub (it's a hotel as well). We walk in to reception from the very limited car park. "You checking in" asks a chap seated eating a steak and chips at an awkward table in the public area of reception. "No - just looking for a meal - can we eat. Are you the proprietor?". "I'm the owner" he confirms, and I end up chatting about our business customers and his internet access which I've seen widely advertised around. "Oh- there's something wrong with it at the moment - has been for a while - it just cuts out... but if anyone needs it they can use our computer behind reception ...". I'm not sure I would be happy about that if I was there on business; the room prices looked too good to be true and, yes, they were too good to be true.
In a quiet pub, it took over half an hour to serve two meals, and both came out wrong - one the wrong dish, and a rare steak came out well done. "Probably the worst steak I've ever eaten" I'm thinking to myself and it's very VERY unsual for me to think in such terms. The staff never came round to 'check service' and see that everything was OK with us (I suspect they knew they had served a dreadful meal), and the barman came over to claim an extra 10 quid that he had given us in excess change (I told him of his mistake at the time, but he had assured me that I had given him 2 x 20 not 20 + 10!). As we were about to leave, "mine host" offered me a compliment slip so that we have their details on file. But then he couldn't find one anywhere around and just told us his URL instead. I do know it anyway, but I'm not inclined to post it here.