Now this is to remind myself..and maybe a warning to all of you not to do the massive error as I did last night.

Another word..some might say.. 'complaint'

Last night, I was bringing about 40 people to Korean BBQ. Unfortunately, it was too windy, raining hard that the prawns were flying everywhere. But this would be the last meal with 20 friends of mine who were going back to Canada on the next morning. So we decided to move to a bigger and probably safer place on Rama9 Rd. Pretty much, going there was a good idea but with no reservation would make it a little bit confusing and difficult for 40 people moving there at once.

But hey!! We have been there too many times. Our company always gathers there for important parties of 30 people up. With the 'kind of' resort environment..we like the karaoke houses...nice pond outside with fountain...and good food.

But everything turned up last night. I had my friend call the restaurant for reservation and maybe if we could get the big room with a good deal. But she couldnt get through it.We then decided to just go there.

So I was the first to show up and I walked straight to the waitor..asked if we could get 40 seats..he then looked at me like i was crazy..asked if i had made the reservation...I said no..and told him the reason why we suddenly decided to come. Now whenever I think about it, I can't help being pissed at myself cuz i didnt need to be there explaining or asking for his sympathy to understand our situation...

He then told me that he couldn't set the seats for me because the restaurant wanted to keep them for the 'walk-in' customers...

Oh yeah....said as if i was just crawling in or hopping in.

More people started to come..and I explained to him that we didnt need any karaoke room because we would probably be talking ..or even some meeting or some speech. We just needed seats that we could sit about next to each other.

He turned me down..trying so much to sell the karaoke room to me. So I was asking for the deal if they could just let us use the room, order food and drinks.That was when the other thai guy came..I assumed that he was the captain for that night..I was speaking to him..then my eyes caught a glimps of one person...

A farang ...who seemed to be the manager....

Bingo..why wasting my time talking to ones who couldn't really decide anything..

As he was walking about to pass us to the cashier counter...I called him over..and asked if he was the manager...I was about to tell him what I wanted.. Being "Best of the year manager" norminee, he then decided not to listen to me but asked if i had made the reservation..knowing that I didn't, he then asked me if the guy was taking care of my case..I said..yes..kinda but I wanted to talk to him..he then asked me again ...if my case were taken care of...I was about to say something..then he just said..ok..and walked away....

Left me there....confused...pissed....

So instead of asking for the deal, i got the other guy offer them the deal instead. We got the big room for 40 with only 1,000 B charge.

And it was......the worst service EVER !! The room wasn't ready. ( but that was ok because it was an accident that we were there as well ) They left us there for almost 30 minutes before they turned all the lights on. Believe me...turning the lights on are not that difficult and I dont think you need a reservation to do that. They turned the a/c on....but they didn't close the door ...I understood that we got the discount..but we couldnt get the best service? or at least the standard one?

They turned the karaoke on for us..but ..as i said..we weren't there to sing..just meal..conversation..laughters... My boss and some other people left the room to outside..so that they could have a small meeting..still the rest could enjoy listening to the music or maybe singing..But to waste the a/c as I told..they didn't close the door..so the air as well as the noise went outside so my boss asked if they could turn the volume down.... Exactly..they did it right away...but they turned it off instead... And the floor was wet because it was raining and the roof leaked..Moreover, we smelled rat pee from every corner.

At about 11 PM..we came down...Man..how I expected to see a lot of 'walk-in' customers in this rainy day.....

Yeah right..I only saw the waiters and waitresses standing with nothing much to do and only 4-5 lives breathing and eating...

Being the smallest person in the world..I decided not to give any damn care to the manager..I wouldnt tell him what had happened in the room..how mess it was..because he wouldn't wanna talk to me at first anyway...why complain later? I'd rather wait till the next customers experience this themselves..

For now....

13 Baht? 13coins? 13 whatever..its not that much...

But they ain't gonna get any coin nor bill out of my pocket anymore...

Sorry to hear about that. I was thinking about to go there some time with my friends, i might have to think again.

Hey, if you like Korean BBQ i suggest soi Thong Lor. They have many nice Korean BBQ there.

wow....i'm always stunned by idiotic stories like this. How do these places stay in business? BTW...you should complain, in detail, to the owners...although, it probably won't make much difference.

well, 40 walk ins can easily expect to be turned away. But if they are not turned away then the restaurant needs to provide service on par with their quality leve. Sounds like they failed. 1,000 x 40 = 40,000 baht

Complaining is one important aspect of improving customer service. It goes a long way in customer service friendly places like the States. But lets remember that years ago it was like it is here in Thailand so the process needs to start somewhere. I would go see the manager privately, review the experience and ask what happened. If he tried to make up for it in a meaninful way, I would accept his offer and give him another chance. If not I would not return.

I have wanted to write up a series of case studies like this to sell to schools of hotel and tourism management like the Dusit School. I think case studies are a great way to teach this stuff. They read the case and then break up into groups and sort out what to do and how to handle it. It builds analysis skills, decisiveness, responsibility and communication.

btw...what does rat pee smell like?

hmmmm Pi Jack..the question is hard..you may have to try going to that place and smell it yourself..anyhow..its quite a sharp smell ( dont know if thats the right word though _ hmm strong...mai roo si

WOW!! dear.... if you invite me to join....it would be FUN.....yeah... not kidding...

sorry to hear that...but this kind of situation can easily happen here... i cant remember exactly how many times i had to deal with this silly cases... or how they was... BUT i never let it go...at least... easily...

they should get what they give.... and we should get something worth (not worst) for what we paid....

sorry... my evil wakes up...

PJack... your question is hard.... ammm...hard to explain how its smell.... you might not be familiar with this... for myself, i can tell it as well (as Nave does)

anyway, do you know "cockroach"'s smell?

where is the joint?

I have seen 13 coins restaurants in Chiang Mai, Vientienne, and Bangkok - i think it was Soi Ari?

nah not in soi Ari...

read it again.....then you will know..its called..........( im pissed whenever i say the name ) resort

Are you usually walking in to anywhere when you have forties ppl along? They should service you guys better but u also should make a reservation.. Yes, they are plain lazy, u should not stay since they didnt seem to welcome you. How come you bothered waiting for 30mins for the light? I'd walk out after 15mins but yeah with a group of 40, it's not really ur choice.