What Not To Do When Mouse Is On The Menu

I heard a news story on CNN yesterday, that would have been almost funny if it wasn't so sad. A woman was interviewed who held up the dead mouse that she found in her food at a local Chinese restaurant called Mr. Linn's. As a service provider, what do you do when a service infraction comes along that is as monumental as a customer finding a mouse in her dinner?

Well, the first thing you don't do is kick her out of the restaurant and threaten her. You also don't start claiming that she must have put the mouse in the food herself. After all, I am sure that there are a lot of middle aged women around who can't wait for the right opportunity to sneak a dead mouse into a restaurant and put it in their food. A teenager out for some laughs maybe, but otherwise - no.

So what does a service provider or a retailer do to make amends and limit the damage to their business?

Firstly, they apologize profusely - even if they don't think that whatever happened was really their fault(unlike the mouse incident). I have always found that a genuine apology goes a really long way to making things better, but it is amazing how hard some people find it to do. I always look at the other side of the coin and ask myself 'what is the downside of apologizing' and I usually can't come up with anything.

Next they state very categorically that they are going to do everything they can to not only rectify the situation but to make sure that it doesn't happen again. This is important, because women are often more inclined to look at the big picture and wonder if this is likely to happen again to some other hapless customer.

Thirdly, they make a goodwill gesture - such as a gift card or a free meal. This is really important. It can mean a lot to the customer that the store is willing to compensate them for their experience, while at the same time, not really costing the store that much. Women are easily wooed by small but meaningful gestures that can head something worse happening down the line.

So don't make the mistake that Mr. Linn made. If a customer finds a mouse in her mince (so to speak) own up and admit you made a mistake. It will be a lot less painful in the long run.

Personally, I could have found it in myself to feel sorry for Mr. Linn except that he was so rude and belligerent that I ended up hoping he would go out of business!

There you are then.....