Survey shows reasons why customers would leave a restaurant

By Max de Liberato

According to an unscientific survey by the MediaPlex, 93 per cent of people would leave a restaurant because of an undesirable smell.

There are many reasons why customers may leave a restaurant. An unscientific survey suggests a bad smell, a noisy kitchen and rude wait staff, among other issues, would cause them to leave.

Anthony Del Brocco, owner of Mettawas Mediterranean restaurant said, the proper procedure in a situation involving smell is to “move the complainant to another table away from the smell. Try to find the source of the smell and deal with it.”

Chain restaurants have their own procedures and guidelines to deal with tough complaints regarding bad scents.

“We apologize and then ask where and what the smell is to find out what the problemed thing is,” said Dylenn Masse, a manager of a McDonald’s. “Then fix it so the problem doesn’t continue.”

A foul smell is not the only thing that would cause customers to want to leave a restaurant.

According to the survey 1 out of 54 people would leave a restaurant due to an overzealous, loud kitchen.  Both managers agreed the only solution to the problem is to tell the staff to keep their tone at a reasonable level.

“It’s cool to have fun at work but to keep the noise to a minimum,” said Masse.

The survey also shows 80 per cent of people would leave a restaurant because of rude wait staff. When this issue arises, Masse said he would apologize to the customer for the inappropriate behaviour of the employee.  

“[We would] bring the employee to the office and tell them that they represent McDonald’s and then have a conversation about what could be done,” said Masse.

Every restaurant has their own standard of service and there can be consequences if they are not met.

“If they are not following the company’s policies of customer service, they likely will be let go,” said Del Brocco.

According to Del Brocco, perhaps the most common complaint any restaurant will receive is a problem with the food.  The best way to deal with this problem is to quickly remove the food from the table and bring them something else. Both Del Brocco and Masse said it is best to offer something free of charge for the inconvenience, usually a dessert.

According to 11 survey respondents they said a big problem they have with some restaurants is the overall cleanliness. Del Brocco said it is important to implement a cleaning schedule for the staff to avoid issues.

The most evenly split problem was the wait time.  According to the survey, 70 per cent of patrons would leave a restaurant if the wait was too long whereas 30 per cent believe patience is key for quality service.

“If the whole experience is bad, the chances of you coming back are pretty slim,” said Masse.