Just wanted to post about a really positive experience at Brix restaurant in Napa Valley.
My wife and I went to the restaurant for dinner last Friday. We ordered a nice bottle of wine and some appetizers. All excellent. Then we ordered our entrées. They never came, the waiter apologized profusely and promised to get them out asap, but we had just flown in from the east coast and didn’t really care to wait anymore, no hard feelings. The manager comped everything, including the wine, asking that we come back during the week and try again.
We did just that last night, mixed drink, nice bottle of wine, app’s, dinner and dessert. We asked for the check and again, they comped it! We insisted, but they wouldn’t hear of it.
I always tell my associates that the way you win customers for the long haul is how you treat them when things go awry. This was a great example of that and I just wanted to share.
Well done by the restaurant. Very classy move.
It’s amazing to me how customer service has become a lost art. Kudos to Brix for showing that CS still exists.
Great note Rob. I have dined at Brix often and have never had a bad meal or service. It’s great to hear how well they dealt with your situation…
Excellent - nice to see a positive experience post. Above and beyond treatment.
Some restaurants get how powerful this type of treatment can be, customer relationship wise. I would go there just based on your story.
Because of how well they treated you, I will be sure to go there.
There’s an old saying I like: You learn the true measure of a person when he doesn’t catch a fish.
When things went wrong, Bix showed you what they were made of.
What great treatment!
The customer reaction means a lot too. You get farther with honey than with vinegar. I was always more willing to go the extra mile for someone that didn’t seem bothered than for someone that was trying to make me feel like I owe them something.
Add me to this list. My wife and I are trying to plan a vacation there soon and Brix is now the main place we want to try. Sorry French Laundry!
We’ve had several excellent experiences at Brix in several of their reincarnations. We’ll have to consider another visit when we head out there in July.
Although it’s always been the other way around in my experience (i.e. it’s a soup, salad or appetizer that gets overlooked and not delivered, then the entree arrives), it’s probably worth noting that by the time you realize they forgot to put in that order or bring it to you, you realize you already have more than enough other food and are just as happy not to have it and have to pay for it.
That should tell me something in terms of how much I overorder at restaurants.
The other telling thing is that every once in awhile I’ll order something from a nice restaurant to take home - maybe it’s a weeknight and it’s Valentine’s Day or my wife’s birthday and the circumstances don’t permit me to cook the nice meal I would want to, so I go to Ruth’s Chris or something and get takeout.
In those cases, we are more likely just to sit down and eat the entree right up front and all at once, without the hour of sitting around nibbling and all. It’s amazing how much better an entree tastes when you’re actually hungry while you eat it, rather than sort of eating it out of obligation or for the taste while not hungry anymore after 60-90 minutes of sitting at the table. That too should tell me something. I’m a slow learner, though.