Getting snubbed at the Delauney
It started great
My girlfriend and I were visiting London last year. We were staying in London Central, and decided to have brunch at a fancy restaurant that describes itself as “All-day brasserie in elegant grand cafe surrounds, serving modern and classic European menu.” It had a very high google rating (more on that in another upcoming article) so expectations were high. We walked in and immediately were greeting with huge smiles by no less than three hosts. This certainly was a good start! We felt special and welcomed.
The restaurant was beautiful and certainly lived up to its description. We sat down and to my delight they had eggs Arlington (Norwegian at other restaurants); my favorite. The waitstaff was friendly, informative and attentive.
I was at first somewhat surprised by their prices however; a fresh orange juice was around 8 euro’s, and so was their coffee. But once our drinks came, that concern immediately dissipated, because the presentation was absolutely amazing.
The food was delicious, the ambiance and surroundings fabulous, and the waitstaff stellar. This was going great! We were impressed.
From there it went downward
During our meal, a family was seated next to us, and I noticed the waitstaff seemed to give them the same care and service we had received. However, I also noticed that once we had eaten and didn’t want anything else to eat or drink, they were much less attentive to us.
In fact, as time went on, and keep in mind we were still sitting at their restaurant, they seemed to simply ignore us! And suddenly with a drop of a hat, it felt like we didn’t matter anymore. Gone was the warmth, that feeling of being special.
It seemed that because we weren’t ordering anymore, we were expendable. Our water wasn’t refilled anymore, no contact was being made with us, including eye-contact; we were completely ignored.
This is unfortunately a phenomenon I see happening at most restaurants and café’s I visit. Once the guest has stopped ordering, or has paid, they are completely ignored.
But I always tell my participants in the hospitality trainings I give; a guest is a guest from the moment they walk into your establishment (and actually even in front of the door) till the moment the guest walks out.
It baffles me that we were sitting there and we didn’t at all matter anymore.
And two curious things happened; I vowed never to return to the Delauney, and I found it ridiculously expensive.
And this is the key message; if your guests don’t feel special, don’t receive the outstanding warm hospitality they deserve, they will inevitably find your establishment too expensive!
Last moments matter, because they are freshest in our memory, and the last thing we experience. So those moments after all has been ordered, and the bill has been paid, really matter to a guest. If you ignore them, they will feel snubbed (as I did at the Delauney), and you risk losing that guest forever.
So what can you do after the guest has ordered, eaten and paid? I can imagine the difficulty of this moment in the stay of your guest. What could you possibly still offer in service and hospitality to those guests that are done, but still seated? And you certainly don’t want to keep bothering them. What more could they need afterall?
Well, for starters, keep seeing them! Keep acknowledging them. Keep filling their water if they want. Make sure they have everything they need, without obsessing over them. The guests will undoubtedly indicate in their body language, or verbally, if they need something. But they key is; keep making contact, keep being available to them should they need anything. Keep making them feel like they matter and are special. Because if you don’t, your guest will notice, and that’s a shame.
Everything was pretty much perfect regarding our experience at the Delauney; a great welcome, fabulous presentation, consistent friendly checks from the waitstaff, until that final moment when it all seemed to fall apart; as if we didn’t matter anymore. And that mattered to me. A great deal.