As it was pretty early (about 10am) on a Sunday morning, there were only three tables occupied when I reached there.
We were asked if we had make a reservation and was quickly shown to a table at a corner.
The restaurant was beautifully furnished with huge chandeliers, carpeted flooring and unique cutleries.
Before we could sit down, one of the waiter asked what kind of tea do we want. Prompt service? Maybe a little too fast as they obviously did not have to rush given the few customers.
We ticked the items we wanted on a piece of order form and signaled to the staff that we are ready.
Now, for Chinese Dim Sum restaurant here, they usually will look through the list, circle the items ordered and confirm them verbally along the way to make sure they did not miss out any one. Of course, this may differs from one restaurant to another. But the procedures are about the same.
As for this, the staff came over and just circled the items without confirming with us verbally. However, I made an effort to count the number of items she circled. There were eight of them.
Our food came quite fast. For every item served, the staff will strike off the item on the receipt they printed from the system that was on our table.
Just when I thought all the eight items were served, a service staff brought another item to us.
We asked what that item was and she said it's steamed beancurd in oyster sauce. We told her that we have canceled this item on the order form as we have ordered another similar item cooked differently. She took a look at the order form and said, "Oh, you did not strike off it properly. The staff thought you ordered it. Sorry about it."
Then I realized that she was hoping, and perhaps more of expecting that we will just accept it instead of returning it to the kitchen.
We took it to avoid any argument since she said we did not cancel it properly. And the item costs only $5.
Of course, we cannot expect the restaurant to take back each and every item already served because the ordered item was not canceled clearly on the form by customers. Although I'm not sure how often such incident happens, my guess is that it is more common for the kitchen to mistaken a canceled order as confirmed order. And I believe that if a customer says that he has canceled it, it's genuine.
What happens if it's a dish that costs $40? So how do you handle such situation?
It does not matter whether did the customer cancel the ordered item clearly or not. Even if it is his fault, there is no need to tell it on his face.
Instead, why not says that they did not check properly and then give the customer a choice whether to take the item or return it. If the customer return it, just take it back graciously. If the customer keeps it, why not give him a 10 or 50% discount off that particular item on the bill? Or offer him a 10% discount or $5 voucher for the next visit? You can still give the voucher even if customer returns the item. It builds your goodwill and gives customer another reason to come back.
And never rush to send out the dishes in the name of efficiency.
Taking time to repeat the order before sending it to the kitchen goes a long way and better customer experience.