09/22/09

Horrible Customer Service Experience

by Slyoung

This is a letter I wrote to Star of Siam

To whom it may concern,

I used to be a fairly frequent corporate customer of Star of Siam. Unfortunately due to a horrible customer service experience this past week, I am writing to let you know that you have lost a customer as well as my recommendation to more than 15 other colleagues who are responsible for multiple catering orders a week for our company.

In the past I have ordered anywhere from $300 to over $1000 of Thai food from your restaurant. Once even via CEO Deliveries for an order for our entire office, I placed an order for over $4000. You have lost a valuable customer.

This past Thursday I had an order scheduled to be delivered at 10:45am. At 10:45 the food was not here and I was not notified of any delays. After numerous calls and complaints, the food finally arrived more than 30 minutes late. This is completely unacceptable. More than 25 people were waiting for lunch that had a designated time. Their lunch time was cut short because the food was extremely late.

When I spoke on the phone with management, every excuse was given from traffic to the hassle of having to go through security to waiting for the elevator. Being that this was not the first time we have ordered from your restaurant before, those reasons fell on deaf ears and the travel time should have been taken into account. At the very least, I should have received a call notifying me that my lunch order would be delayed. There was no proactive measure taken from the restaurant.

Once the food arrived, I spoke on the phone with a manager about a form of compensation for the inconvenience and complete unprofessionalism I experienced. Her suggestion was an order for free spring rolls on our next order. I found this to be insulting. There would not be a next order considering the circumstances. And the best way to compensate would be to discount part of the order for that day. She suggested taking $20 off of a $400 order. Again I found this to be an insult and said that wasn’t good enough. Eventually the manager agreed to take %10 off the total bill. Realizing that she had to intention of righting this wrong, I agreed to that knowing that they had lost an customer and an email would be sent firm wide letting everyone know of this horrible experience.

I understand that orders are mixed up at times or traffic delays a set delivery time. I’ve worked in customer service before and I know that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong at some point. What is important in these moments is how a company fixes those wrongs; how they compensate for the inconvenience. Taking a small step in that direction builds a better relationship with your customer. People are forgiving when a wrong is made right.

Star of Siam did not do this. What I experienced were excuses after excuses, unprofessional tones, and insulting suggestions on how to fix a problem that the restaurant caused. I hope this was an exception to the way you deal with customer service and that that manager was not a reflection on your company’s leadership skills. I write this so that you are aware of how a situation was handled and would hope that you find a better way to deal with this should it occur to someone else. Perhaps calling a customer if you know you will not be able to make a delivery time. Perhaps airing on the side of delivering a little early rather than 30 minutes later. Or perhaps being a little generous in compensating customers when a mistake has been made.

Thank You.

• Pros: Fairly Good Thai Food
• Cons: Horrible Customer Service

04/19/08

RUDE STAFF

by mmc123

My boyfriend and I have been eating at Star of Siam for about 2 years now, almost on a weekly basis. The owner knew us and would say hello when he saw us. It was our favorite place for thai. Until yesterday. We were there for almost an hour, finishing the carafe of wine we bought, getting ready to go (my boyfriend was in the bathroom) and a staff member came to me and asked us to leave because we were taking too long and they needed the table because it was busy. Are you serious?!! Ask a customer to leave? Especially two loyal customers who regularly stop by and tip extremely well??!! I don't think we will ever go back. Too bad.

11/24/07

Average Thai food

by psnchckn

Went here for lunch on a Saturday. I got a noodle dish and my girlfriend got steamed veggies with tofu and rice. Her steamed vegetables were drenched in butter, of all things, and my noodles were average at best. The fish cakes appetizer was good, but nothing exciting. Service was very fast. Overall an average Thai place, probably won't go again and wouldn't recommend it.

• Pros: Fast service, quick seating, OK prices
• Cons: Average food, at best