I am going to throw this question out for any and all to weigh in

[gatorman_07732]

Sorry, I can't get it out of my head that these customers were completely ridiculous and need to live in a bubble. This is just not reasonable on any level but I understand you would not want to argue with them.

[gator10010]

Bill, is this a customer you really want to keep? I mean you don't really want all of the customers do you?

I think i would have apologized and offered the customer a free sub on the next visit in. I would have talked to the employee and made them aware that customers were complaining about their smell. I would then tell my employee that I trust them to take care of it.

Sit back and see if it happened again.

[gatorman_07732]

Originally Posted by gator10010

Bill, is this a customer you really want to keep? I mean you don't really want all of the customers do you?

I think i would have apologized and offered the customer a free sub on the next visit in. I would have talked to the employee and made them aware that customers were complaining about their smell. I would then tell my employee that I trust them to take care of it.

Sit back and see if it happened again.

The thing is these are obviously very anal people, so they may go around telling people who knows what.

[g8orbill]

all customers are customers I want to keep

they were unhappy and I did whatever I needed to do to make them happy

I am actually surprised by how many of you think the customer was out of bounds complaining about how my employee reeked of cigs

[anstro76]

Originally Posted by g8orbill

all customers are customers I want to keep

they were unhappy and I did whatever I needed to do to make them happy

I am actually surprised by how many of you think the customer was out of bounds complaining about how my employee reeked of cigs

you can tell the difference from industry folks and non

[cocodrilo]

"Nature in the raw is seldom mild." (From an old Lucky Strike commercial.)

[Swampmaster]

in the restaurant business, try to avoid hiring smokers--they create too many problems with smoke breaks, customer complaints, etc. Whenever I go to mcdonalds or wendy's, there are employees standing right outside the door smoking away. Disgusting.

[gotime51]

while you want to please all customers it just isnt possible. i work in the automotive industry and all customers are important but at some point you have to tell them to go someplace else. someone is always going to be unhappy about something.

[madgator]

We're all different and as a business owner, I don't think that the request for a refund is obscene.

I would try to offer a solution like a coupon for a free sub the next time they come in with an apology. If the customer persisted, I would give the refund and take the sub back.

I can certainly understand why it would be offensive. Speaks to hygene and you're eating. Not something you want questioned.



I would then tell my employee that if they must smoke during their break to bring gum/breath mints/a body spray.

keep some of that stuff in your office, let your employees know it's there and always feel free to ask to use it if needed.

I've worked in restaurants a good portion of my life.....would see these things available on a regular basis.

in fact, I think most women smokers today give a few sprays after a cigarette.

[cocodrilo]

You can't please all customers for a fact. An old man used to live next door to me (till he drove his car out in front of another one and went to meet his Maker). He took a loaf of bread back to Publix because there were some holes in the bread. The manager told him, "We can't do anything about that." The old man said, "Well somebody better do something!"

[gator10010]

Originally Posted by gotime51

while you want to please all customers it just isnt possible. i work in the automotive industry and all customers are important but at some point you have to tell them to go someplace else. someone is always going to be unhappy about something.

This is my point. Bill has a customer here that comes into his restaurant, gets a whiff of his employee smelling like smoke and instead of complaining about the problem or bringing the issue to Bill's attention, the customer's response is to get a refund.

While the smelling of smoke doesn't need to go unchecked, this issue hardly calls for a refund...let Subway have the customers that want to eat for free.

[Itssaul]

I hate smoke smell, the smallest scent and I feel queasy, I usually keep to great health. But never would I ask you for my money back. I would inform you, and tell you it bothered me. I probably would not eat.

Oh yeah customers are never wrong. Especially when they are very wrong.

[corpgator]

She reeks because she's smoking in her car. Tell her if she wants to smoke, she needs to smoke in the open air so that the smell does stick all over her.

[gator996]

Customer has every right to refund if any part of the service is subpar...they're paying for the entire service.

You were right to have spoken to the employee and documented the meeting

Funny, if BO is part of your interview process then "cigarette stink" seems it should be legitiate too...

[gatorev12]

At first, I thought the customer was being overly sensitive and just wanting to get something for free...but hearing that they didn't actually eat the food made me change my opinion.

While it seems minor to most, I understand it might be enough to cause one to lose one's appetite.

I'm a non-smoker and used to have severe asthma as a kid. I've since largely grown out of it, but heavy cigarette smoke is always a trigger for asthmatic symptoms even to this day. Wouldn't have made me miss a meal by any means...Firehouse subs are delicious.

[Spurffelbow833]

Ask the customer and the employee if they voted for Obama and act accordingly.

[Row6]

It can be hard to sense the things that bother other people when they don't bother ourselves, and of course what bothers some is not noticed by others. You did the right thing and a simple order to require that employees wash their hands and that smokers take a breath mint after breaks is logical. I think you could be within your rights to not allow smokers to break in their car and smoke as the smell gets in their hair and clothes. I am blessed with a horrible sense of smell and usually don't notice these kind of things, but others - and especially women who have a superior sense of smell in general from what I have read and from the example of my wife - do. If after all that this unusual situation reoccurs, oh well.

[MichiGator2002]

Bill, as another of your tribe (I don't own, but I sure do feel a sense of ownership, if you will), I don't think the customer sounds all that reasonable -- a restaurant can't and doesn't and shouldn't warrant against any and all possible diminishment of the customer's enjoyment. I mean, part of how I would deal with the customer or the employee would depend on the actual events -- her complaint aside, if you know the employee followed the straight and narrow on food handling and wasn't rubbing the lady's brisket on his shirt to imbue it with smoke, honestly, I think she is full of it. She smelled that the guy had maybe had a cigarette from his breath or ambient odor and decided to teach firehouse a lesson by some BS about it tainting her actual sandwich. So at that point, I would have dealt with her like any other difficult but objectively wrong customer -- offered a remake and an apology, or just apologized and bounced her.

As for any real smoke smell problem, other than telling your employees to really scrub up after smoking and maybe buying a jar of mints for the back and orders to use them before going back behind the counter, I wouldn't get too draconian unless you start seeing this complaint a lot more. People are going to get pretty testy working at a restaurant that had really harsh smoking rules, the only thing I can imagine more likely to result in civil war would be harsh smoking rules at a call center.

[Row6]

The customer is always right, and unless you don't need any, you practice that up to the limits of reason. Correcting the conditions where a bad smelling employee serves food is not going beyond the limits of reason.

[g8orbill]

michi- it is a tough situation as most restaurant workers are also smokers-to be honest if during the interview process they have a heavy smell of cig smoke-I do not hire them. I also tell all employees during the interview process that I do not give cigarette breaks. I do give out 30 minute off the clock meal breaks(employees with less than a years service get a 50% discount-those with over a years service get a 100% discount) if they work more than 4 hours and I allow anyone who needs a drink or a restroom break to have one-but they cannot leave the building on that short break.While the lady who complained was 1- within her rights to complain and 2, I did apologize and refund her money and give her coupon for a return visit-I also recognize that you cannot control someones behavior while off the clock.

As it turns out I have scheduled my monthly employee meeting for this Saturday and I will be discussing this issue along with the usual things we talk about- I will also ask my employees for their input on what they think on this issue and how they think we should go forward with it.

I have other things to talk about-the first being counterfeit money- we have been hit 5 times since Thanksgiving with fake $50's-they are usually acid washed $5's turned into a $50-while my first thought is to no longer accept 50's or 100's-that goes against Firehouse Corp rules- I have recently purchased a blue light that shows the water mark
and numerous other tools top help discern phoney baloney. Business ownership has its pitfalls, but is still better than working for someone else.