At the risk of sounding like a stand-up comedian, a man went into a bar… No, seriously – a good friend of mine popped into a well-known Bournemouth hotel recently to meet his daughter for early evening drinks.
The barman, busying himself with some complex cocktail or other, started off well enough, apologising and promising to “be with you in just a minute”. However, it went downhill from there.
Having completed his mixology magic, the young man then came out with a catalogue of woes – there were never enough staff on bar duty, his employers were too tight-fisted to pay for additional help and, if our barman’s wages were anything to go by, no-one in their right mind would want the job anyway.
Nonplussed (to say the very least!) by this total lack of professionalism, my friend merely nodded knowingly and retreated to a safe distance in order to drink up and leave as quickly as possible.
I relate this sorry tale merely to promote Simon Scarborough Associates’ “Mystery Guest” service. Such sins may not be commonplace, but they do happen. The barman may have had a point, but it was not one to be shared with a paying punter. My friend will not be going back, and that hotel’s manager will never know why.
A thorough, independent warts-and-all Simon Scarborough Associates appraisal might just have nipped all that in the bud.