How to Lose Customers In Any Economy

While most businesses are thinking about how to WIN new customers and make more money during this recessing economy, there are certain businesses that seem to be hell bent on losing customers and cultivating a terrible reputation.

Case in point – Daikichi Sushi in West Vancouver.

I have to say at this point that I had originally not planned on including their name in this blog post, but the follow-up call I received (see below) has prompted me to include all the specifics of this terrible experience.

Here’s how it all went down:

1. Ordered delivery for 2 at about 5.30pm, just as the Oscars were starting.
   My girlfriend had to repeatedly (like 5 times) spell the name of our street, which is one street below where the restaurant is – they should know this.
   She got off the phone saying “I think we might get food soon… possibly.”
2. 20 minutes later we realized they didn’t ask how we were paying… and we planned to use credit so we phoned them back.
   After another 5 minutes, we were pretty sure they had the credit card info correct and
3. 40 minutes after that (now a full hour after ordering) we called back to find out where our food was (they said it would be 25 – 35 minutes originally)
   Their answer – they’ve already left, it is there.
   Umm, okay, but I’m here and the food isn’t.
4. 35 minutes later the food finally shows up (we are a 5 minute walk from the restaurant – what I get for being lazy, I suppose).
   I ask the delivery guy why it took so long and if the food is still hot.
   Yes, hot. Is the only answer I get from him.
5. We open the food and find out that the food is decidedly NOT hot – in fact, the salmon is almost cold, the udon is lukewarm and the sushi? Well hopefully it is fresh…
   When we open the soup, one of them is a beef udon, not the seafood that we ordered (we are vegetarian although my girlfriend will occasionally do “meat days”)
6. I call them back to let them know about the food, that it is cold and wrong.
   I am told that the order was for beef – they are looking at it (their written order) right now.
   Obviously they do not understand that they wrote it down wrong and I can’t seem to get that through to them.
   I eventually get frustrated enough to say “I expect that you will not bill me for this – if you do, I will charge it back to you with my credit card company.”
   “Ok.”
7. 20 minutes later they call me back.
   They are still trying to figure out what happened because the only order they have is for beef soup, not seafood.
   They still don’t understand that they wrote it down wrong and have somehow decided that calling me, already in an aggravated state, is a good idea.
   They were wrong.
8. I ask “Why are you calling me?  What is the purpose of you calling me right now?”  They hang up on me.

I understand that there is a definite and obvious communication challenge going on here – they are Japanese and don’t speak very good English.  I’m Canadian and don’t speak a lick of Japanese.

But there is more to it than this…

There was no interest, at any point, in trying to make me, the customer, feel okay about ordering from them.  No apology for the beef.  No apology for the 90-minute delivery window (when we were told 25-35 and they are right around the corner).  No apology for the cold food.

Needless to say, I will not be going back to Daikichi Sushi.  I live in Vancouver – there is an overabundance of sushi joints, the vast majority of which would be more than happy to have my business.

It seems like this place simply didn’t want to be there.

If the owner of Daikichi reads this I hope you will have a long, hard look at your staff.  Either you are doing a terrible job of hiring or you are treating them very badly.  Those are the only explanations I can think of for why they would treat me with such disdain.  Especially when business is apparently slow!

(To cap it all off I was told that there were only 2 orders for delivery that night which is why they were confused about where my seafood udon order went.)

If you’re only getting 2 orders on a Sunday night you already have problems.  If you treat your customers as problems rather than opportunities, you’re going to have more problems. Or you’ll have no business and, therefore, have no problems at all.

Takeaways for YOUR business…

1. Everything is marketing and marketing is everything.
   Marketing is acquisition and retention of customers.  Ergo, marketing is everything that comes before the sale and everything that comes after the sale.
2. Treat your customers well and they will treat you well.
   I’m sorry to say that I got rather upset and heated when I was speaking to them.  I didn’t say anything mean to them, but I did raise my voice and expressed my dissatisfaction in no uncertain terms.
3. Every problem is an opportunity to make it right.
   I’ve had problems in the past that have been handled much differently (by other restaurants or services). Most consumers understand that problems arise from time to time and mistakes are made.  It’s what you do when you become aware of the problem that really counts.  It’s an opportunity to make it right and RETAIN a customer who will come back again and again.
4. What goes around comes around.
   The folks at Daikichi don’t know that I am a business coach.  They don’t know (or probably care) that I am writing this about them (if you do, please leave a comment – I’d love to discuss it with you further) and they have no real sense that treating me poorly is going to result in me never coming back.
5. What you do to one, you do to all.
   Not only will I not go back there, but I will wholeheartedly recommend all my local friends that they avoid the place like the plague.  And when business contacts come into town and I want to share a Japanese experience with them, Daikichi will definitely NOT be where we end up.

Leave your comments below – I’d love to hear your restaurant horrer stories or how someone took a problem and totally turned it around.

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