Don’t Go Next Door « Magdeline Lum

September 28th, 2009 by Magdeline Lum

Don’t Go Next Door

I am conflicted with making this post given that Perth, Western Australia, is a small place and everyone is separated by 1.5 degrees of separation. Perhaps 2 degrees of separation during peak tourism times. However, I can’t stay quiet about it. It will most likely mean that I burn bridges yet to be made but enough is enough.Especially when it’s an establishment based upon customer service.

This afternoon my mother, my aunt and I went to Next Door for a respite after an afternoon at the Fremantle Markets. Upon arriving we did enquire whether it was table service of counter service as it was difficult to ascertain what the set up was. We were told table service.

We sat down and were then asked what we were after. My first reply was that we wanted coffee and I asked quite clearly, “Do you have a menu?” as there was no menu on display anywhere and given that it was table service, at the very least, one would expect a menu. Ok, so fine, no menu and at which point our attendant went through the coffee selection at breakneck speed and yet miraculously an order was made.

While sitting and chatting I noticed that some of the patrons around me were being served cake and other beverages. This was also the point at which I noticed menus underneath the register. I don’t know what was on them as I wasn’t offered one and commented on my observation. My aunt placated things by saying that they could most likely be lunch or dinner menus which is logical.

However, what didn’t make sense was how other patrons knew of the other options besides coffee. We weren’t offered cake or even made aware of cold beverages or any specials that may or may not have existed. What really increased the irritation level which was being slowly abated by the arrival of my mocha was a patron nearby was given a menu.

My aunt questioned a waitress because at that point, nothing made sense. We were then told that there was indeed no coffee menu but there was a dessert menu if we wanted it and that the original person who served us was the manager. I was floored and gobsmacked. How can a manager not be able to perform the most basic task of add-on selling or offering a menu? The waitress was outperforming the manager with her 30 seconds of conversation with us.

The manager then took over the conversation. At which point, things just went ugly. Apparently it was our fault for mentioning that we wanted coffees before asking for a menu. His defence was that he assumed that I had wanted a menu of coffees and the presumption that I did not understand the English language. At which point I bluntly told him in a clear loud voice that “A menu does not mean a Menu of Coffee.” The manager also went onto say that there was no menu of cakes either despite the waitress informing us otherwise mere seconds ago. He also explained that the only menu available was a tapas menu which makes even less sense with the various wine bottles clearly visible behind the bar.

No apology was offered and it was made abundantly clear that our custom wasn’t welcome, not that we felt overly welcomed in the first place. The $1.86 surcharge for visiting on a public holiday on the final bill felt more like an insult after all said and done. I feel sorry for the waitress who spoke with us for having such a brute of a manager.

I won’t be going back there again. The only way I can see myself going back there is if someone decides to hold a function there, and even then I would probably advise them not to. It’s a real shame that an establishment in the heart of Fremantle on the coffee strip can offer such bad customer service. I wonder how many visitors to Perth have walked away with a bitter taste in their mouth.

To the owner of Next Door, if this isn’t your typical service, feel free to leave a comment explaining why your manager on this particular day was behaving so very badly.

Posted in Blog, News

Tags: Australia, bad customer service, bad service, bar, cafe, customer service, Fremantle, Next Door, Perth, restaurant, review, Western Australia

10 Comments

Jackie
5:38 pm on September 28th, 2009
I hate to say it, but there is a bitter ‘customer service’ taste here in Perth in general. I’ve found very few places that rise above the basic adequacy of making eye contact. Apparently smiles are too hard. I don’t know about Fremantle, as we always hit Little Creatures, then San Churro, but Source in Northbridge (I think), on Beaufort Street anyway rocks Perth’s customer service socks off.

Appreciate the review. We’ll steer clear of there. I cannot abide places that make life unnecessarily complicated.
Yolie
6:00 pm on September 28th, 2009
Next Door would do well to take some service advice from Pizza Bellaromas. We visited it probably about the same time as you were having a bad experience. The waitress was polite, attentive, made us feel welcome and we were seated and served within a reasonable time considering how busy they were. Meal, wine and coffee menus were provided upon seating. The food was well portioned, hot, tasty and the pricing was good. I would recommend it to anyone. Even the 15 minute seating wait was worth it!
Magdeline Lum
6:06 pm on September 28th, 2009
[sad sigh]
Since publishing this post, a few people have told me of similar experiences at Next Door which really is unfortunate and makes me think that this is the regular treatment. I’ve been to San Churros and Little Creatures both of which I’ve always had a good time and the staff encourage you to have an enjoyable time.
miyori
7:58 pm on September 28th, 2009
Dude, that sucks. I’ve never been there before, but if there is some tiny pull at the race card, that’s pretty much enough for me to avoid it. I’m not one to tolerate any kind of bad service or general discourteousness because lets face it, most of us have worked in some sort of customer service oriented role before – to be polite and happy isn’t that damn difficult is it.

Sorry that you encountered such borry service but thank you for letting us know where to avoid
Kitta
8:20 pm on September 28th, 2009
Good for you for blogging about it!

I had my own dose of bad customer service this week. I was told by a staff member at CottonOn that they would extend my layby that was due, then when someone went to pick-up said layby for me (my back I couldn’t because my back has flared-up this and has been very painful) they were told my layby was canceled, stock had been returned to the floor, they were keeping my payment, “have a nice day” and then moved onto the next customer. I tweeted about it, and so far, I’ve only received “your comments have been passed on” response. It seems that ‘the customer is always right’ has been replaced with ‘the customer is never right’.
Magdeline Lum
8:28 pm on September 28th, 2009
Would you believe that I dismissed Pizza Bellaromas because it was so busy? I also didn’t want my aunt and mother to wait for a seat. We had been walking around for a bit by that time.
Magdeline Lum
8:38 pm on September 28th, 2009
I think it’s hard pressed to find someone who hasn’t worked in a customer service orientated role. It’s a shame when people forget the very requirements of their job. They certainly aren’t about to get repeat business from me unless I can be convinced otherwise about this place.

The slight pull of the race card was less than impressive and I’ll admit shocking. I was gobsmacked when the manager tried to define the term menu to me. I clearly asked for a generic menu. He turned it around on me saying that I had asked for a coffee menu and that I was the one confused and the cause of the lack of a menu being provided.

He did not appreciate being corrected at all by my aunt who was being diplomatic. I do admit to cutting the conversation short with my reply as his wild reasoning was getting tiresome.
Magdeline Lum
9:01 pm on September 28th, 2009
I’m sorry to hear that. I hope something gets sorted out for you especially given that you had made prior arrangements to extend your lay-by. I hope that at the very least you get your money back.

I would have thought that in the midst of an economic slow down that businesses would be placing customer service as a top priority to convince us, the customer, (their income source), to spend. It seems to be proving otherwise. I would like to be proven wrong though.
Damien Lay
7:38 am on September 29th, 2009
I don’t believe ‘the customer is always right’. However, if the customer wants a menu, don’t give them a lecture on the historical origins of the modern-day food list, just give them the menu, alright!? May you have better luck next time Mags, in your on-going journey for good coffee.
Lauren
5:05 pm on November 9th, 2009
Give Sandrino’s a go if you are looking for fantastic service in Freo. My boyfriend and I went there for the first time a few weeks ago and we both enjoyed the genuine (rather than forced customer service type of) friendliness we experienced. I am have been there since with a large group and have to say the pizza is also fabulous!

Don’t Go Next Door

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