Monday, July 12, 2010

McLoone's Pier House has just lost some costumers

Gi and I went to the beach last Sunday, to finally enjoy a beautiful day by the sea and get some tan. But we also wanted to watch the World Cup Final so as soon as we got there we asked around and looked for a place to see it. The woman at the diner we had breakfast told us to come back and they’d put it on. At least we had an option in case we didn’t find a more exciting place.
After having as much sun and sand as a normal person can have, we decided to check out the boardwalk/mall they have there. It took us a while of going around to find a bar/restaurant with tvs. It was very nice, with a beautiful view of the beach, we couldn’t ask for more. We chose our seats right at the bar, waited for about 10 minutes, I went to the restroom and came back and they had just served Gi her beer. I sat, waited (and waved) for another while until one of the waiters looked at me and asked what I wanted. The game started and everything was fine, the bar was busy, I could imagine how hard it can be for them.
We enjoyed the game (120 minutes), our beers (six, I think), but everytime we needed a waiter we had to pretty much grab their shirts (figuratively). We felt invisible, sitting with our empty cups for ages, but then we saw that it wasn’t only us, other people were complaining too. So the problem wasn`t us, it was bad service in general. I told the waitress I didn’t want another and she put our bill in a cup in front of us (it didn’t mean Gi was done too).
Game over, Spain won (yay!) and I was dying to see them hold the Cup but as soon as we payed our bill the waiter changed the channel and started spraying and cleaning the counter (he actually sprayed us!). Gi and I looked at each other and took a deep breath, when the other guy came asking if the tip was correct (U$1,80 – our bill was U$41,20).
We went around the counter, to the last tv showing the World Cup, and he came and changed the channel, without even asking, or apologizing. Gi left, but I said “Excuse me, we`re still watching that.” “Baseball is on now.” “Can we just finish…?” “Do you want your two dollars back?” And that was the last straw. I`m a coward, I don`t fight, I don’t argue, and when I get nervous I forget English. We left and I was so mad at myself for not replying, for not saying that if they wanted big tips they should offer a better service and respect their costumers.
And that left us thinking and discussing a lot about service, tipping and human nature in general. I think I should improve my emotional intelligence, my arguing skills, but at the same time, I pity him, he won`t get any farther in life acting like that and although the situation made me feel mad at myself it also made me feel glad I am not the asshole.

1 comment:

Jhonny Simões said...

Hi Ana! Too bad it happened to you. You are in the US though. There, things like that are not as common as they are in Brazil. Guess I've only seen that in one of those places people don't really care about foreigners. Even though, we make them get lots of money. Unfortunately, Brazilian service is even worse. I used to be dumbfounded when I got here and realized I "had"to pay this 10% tip for "no service". I mean, I used to go to places such as Outback - where service should be at least similar worldwide - and it looked like I had to go there to grab something. =( Something's got to change!