Poor service hurting SVG

Editor: St. Vincent and the Grenadines still has a long way to go in terms of the provision of quality service if my experience on Saturday evening is anything to go by.

Two friends and I went to a small local restaurant overlooking the sea in the Ratho Mill area for dinner. When we got there, the woman whom I subsequently found out was the Manager, told us that even though there was a table available, we would have to sit at a picnic table in an uncovered area outside the main restaurant dining area, as she had a previous booking for the table inside. {{more}} We willingly agreed, as we could see the restaurant was busy.

As she was taking our drink order we tried engaging her by asking what would happen if it rained, and jokingly suggested that the meal would be on the house if that happened. She brusquely said, “no, speak to the man upstairs about the rain” and added, “hurry up, I am very busy.” We dismissed the first incident and put it down to a momentary lapse.

When she returned half-an-hour later to take the dinner order, we asked how long would our wait be for the meal. In an extremely unapologetic tone, she retorted “very long. The restaurant is booked out, the kitchen is booked out, so you will have to wait a long time.” There was no attempt to assure us that she would try her best to speed up the order, or that she was sorry for the long delays. Rather, it was a take it or leave it attitude. At that point, we decided not to take it, paid for our drinks, left and took our business elsewhere. It was clear that she did not appreciate our business.

If this is an example of the type of persons in authority in our service industry, Lord help us.

AG