Saving the Customer when Rats appear at dinner
Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2021 9:52 amSo...given the justifiable response to the CC debacle, it reminded me of a "Win pulled from the clutches of defeat" moment that happened to me back in the 70's.
I was in Pittsburgh, and took my girlfriend out to dinner at the Station Restaurant (which used to be the old Railroad station)--very swank place, great ambiance. The upstairs had all that wonderful architecture, the high ceilings, etc. and downstairs, in what used to be the baggage area, was a very intimate part of the restaurant--low lit, romantic and cozy. We had a table downstairs (by our choice)--our table was right next to one of the support columns from the building.
So we are having this wonderful dinner, when a big rat comes climbing down the column right to our table. Needless to say, we bolted.
Now when i tell this story, I often get interrupted, and asked..."I bet you never went back to that restaurant.."
Well listen to what happened.
As we were rushing out the door, the maitre de stopped us, and said "We have arranged for a table for you upstairs, your dinner, dessert and drinks are on us"
With that offer we decided to stay, and had a wonderful albeit it "rat'less" dinner. But the story doesn't end there. As we were leaving, the Maitre De stopped us, and gave me a gift certificate for $200 for the restaurant. (remember this was the 70's so that was a lot of money)---The Maitre De told me "We apologize profusely for what happened, we want to keep you as a customer, so please, come back, bring your friends, have a dinner on us..."
Which we did. And all our friends had a wonderful time, and they told their friends the story, and we all kept going back to that restaurant and told more friends and for that Maitre De, from a potential disaster, he created a ton of more business for his restaurant.
Now STRAT is in the same situation. People are upset, quite a few have indicated that they will no longer buy any more credits, STRAT is going to lose business. But they could turn this around. They could and should offer free credits to all customers whose cards got hacked. So instead of customers bad mouthing STRAT, the reverse would happen.
This mistake, though not initially caused by STRAT, is an opportunity for them to turn it into a positive. Lets hope they seize the moment and bring all their customers back and more....
I was in Pittsburgh, and took my girlfriend out to dinner at the Station Restaurant (which used to be the old Railroad station)--very swank place, great ambiance. The upstairs had all that wonderful architecture, the high ceilings, etc. and downstairs, in what used to be the baggage area, was a very intimate part of the restaurant--low lit, romantic and cozy. We had a table downstairs (by our choice)--our table was right next to one of the support columns from the building.
So we are having this wonderful dinner, when a big rat comes climbing down the column right to our table. Needless to say, we bolted.
Now when i tell this story, I often get interrupted, and asked..."I bet you never went back to that restaurant.."
Well listen to what happened.
As we were rushing out the door, the maitre de stopped us, and said "We have arranged for a table for you upstairs, your dinner, dessert and drinks are on us"
With that offer we decided to stay, and had a wonderful albeit it "rat'less" dinner. But the story doesn't end there. As we were leaving, the Maitre De stopped us, and gave me a gift certificate for $200 for the restaurant. (remember this was the 70's so that was a lot of money)---The Maitre De told me "We apologize profusely for what happened, we want to keep you as a customer, so please, come back, bring your friends, have a dinner on us..."
Which we did. And all our friends had a wonderful time, and they told their friends the story, and we all kept going back to that restaurant and told more friends and for that Maitre De, from a potential disaster, he created a ton of more business for his restaurant.
Now STRAT is in the same situation. People are upset, quite a few have indicated that they will no longer buy any more credits, STRAT is going to lose business. But they could turn this around. They could and should offer free credits to all customers whose cards got hacked. So instead of customers bad mouthing STRAT, the reverse would happen.
This mistake, though not initially caused by STRAT, is an opportunity for them to turn it into a positive. Lets hope they seize the moment and bring all their customers back and more....
