January is a month full of promise, fresh starts and hopeful pledges to become the best version of ourselves.
A month full of fresh starts and hopeful pledges to become the best version of ourselves.
If one of your new year’s resolutions is to become more assertive at work, then a restaurant manager from Perth might just have some pointers for you.
Nongmay Buncharoen is the manager of Mae Ping Thai, a family-run business she has worked at since she was 16.
The restaurant has an impressive 4.5 out of 5 rating on Tripadvisor but it is Nongmay’s approach to those less than flattering reviews that has divided opinion.
Her assertive responses to criticism – including one where she responded to a reviewer who said the food was overpriced: “Funny how you think you are even welcome back” – are entertaining to read.
But is it unprofessional for businesses to go tit-for-tat with customers?
‘Limitations as a reviewing class’
Many think they should take the high road when it comes to negative feedback, even when they think it is unfair, unfounded or an outright lie.
Review platforms like Tripadvisor have turned the average customer into a self-appointed critic.
It doesn’t matter if your own culinary skills leave you struggling to make beans on toast.
On the internet, there is space for everybody to have an opinion.
When it comes to businesses, this can be a good thing.
It helps customers make informed choices about the places they visit before they hand over their hard-earned cash.
But we must be honest about our limitations as a reviewing class.
For every good-faith write-up of a restaurant experience, penned to help others avoid a bad experience, there are some people who use the power of the review for nefarious purposes.
There are some among us who seem to derive genuine pleasure from complaining about stuff.
They love to moan – to people and about people – and saying the words “I want to speak to your manager” is like a dopamine injection straight into their solar plexus.
You will have no doubt encountered a few of them over the Christmas period, when overworked retail and hospitality workers are already at their most stressed.
‘Professional moaners’
I sympathise with Nongmay for sometimes getting a bit tetchy with customers on the internet.
Some of those reviewers might have had genuine complaints or feedback about the quality of food or service they received on their visit to her family’s restaurant.
But there will be negative reviews among them that come from the professional moaners – those customers who don’t think service workers deserve the basic courtesy and respect that they always demand for themselves.
In response to one review alleging poor service, Nongmay responded: “(Neither) myself, nor any of my staff, will be treated like trash under your shoes.
“Yes you’re the customer but you’re not always right.
“So don’t think you can point your fingers and shout in my face and not receive it back.”
She makes a fair point.
Being a customer doesn’t give you a divine right to treat others poorly.
The societal norms that govern basic decency aren’t waived because you’ve got your debit card in your hand.
You must develop a thick skin when you work in a customer-facing role, otherwise dealing with Joe Public on a regular basis would have you crying in a ball on the floor.
Eating in a restaurant is a transaction.
We give money, they give us food and the assurance that we don’t have to do the washing up afterwards.
Customers are perfectly entitled to leave bad reviews of places they have visited.
But that doesn’t mean they’re always well-founded.
Hospitality workers should be free to point out that the customer is not always right.
Conversation