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Are You Holding On To Foolish Rules?

In the June issue, editor Michael Sanson wrote about a restaurant that held a $2 Taco Tuesday in-house promotion. The restaurant refused to sell tacos to go, even when customers said they would pay full price. This angered many of you, though some sided with the restaurant. Here are some excerpts from response letters.

The situation that you described is a systemic problem in many restaurants that lack well-trained managers. Restaurant owners and service industries are plagued by their inability to delegate authority down to customer-facing personnel. Even in the corporate world policies are subject to interpretation and are frequently “watered down” when there is a client involved. There is no better feeling than when a restaurant server, manager or chef bends over backward to accommodate special requests, and typically the client will pay any price to reciprocate. Sadly many chains and restaurant owners just don't get it and customers suffer.
Dominic Ferrari
Principal
Ferrari Motorsports
Geneva, Switzerland

As a restaurant owner I understand, kind of. But rules are made to be broken. In this case stupid rules are meant to be broken. Note to your friend: Next time, order the tacos and then request a doggie bag.
Jason Clark
Owner
BIN112 and The Strip Club 104
Greer, SC

It's obvious that the manager of the restaurant made a stupid decision about the $2 tacos. I'm sure your friend won't be back to that restaurant. My customers here in North Carolina would have gotten around the policy by ordering four extra tacos and requesting a to go box. Hopefully they will come back with friends and new customers next week.
Jack Pepper
Owner
Pepper's Restaurant
Boone, NC

The takeout taco thing has got me scratching my head. What we don't know and can only assume is that the boss is such a jerk that this kid manager would be in trouble [for allowing the takeout order]. Or, maybe the kid manager is just lost. I totally get the $2 in-house only promo. However, if you or anyone else wants to pay me $36 for four tacos to go, I would buy you each a beer while you wait! The policy is stupid and the kid's an idiot!
Michael DePasquale
Owner
Michael D's Eatery
Coeur d' Alene, ID

As a general manager and a customer I truly understand both sides. I wish customers would understand that we are just doing our jobs and doing what the owners have put in place as policy. A truly understanding person would see this and not blame the manager and realize that the owner is to blame.
Mark Hodges
General Manager
Pizza Hut
Levelland, TX

My family owns a very popular Italian restaurant and we have a Tuesday Pasta Night for $3.50. This is a dine-in only promotion like the one you mentioned. For a long time we abided by our rule of dine-in only and still do. However, we have a loyal clientele and when they ask me to please sell them a to-go order of the pasta for a loved one at home either sick, working or otherwise, I let them take the pasta home. This doesn't happen often, but it sure makes for happy, loyal repeat customers. Making people happy is more important than a few dollars. Rules can be broken.
Ava Plaszcak
Owner
La Cantina Ristorante Italiano
Paw Paw, MI

I just read your $ 2 taco story! I must say, this is a problem all over this country. No service, no service anywhere. It seems policies have no leeway. Employees need to have the right of good judgment and decision-making. After all, they can only be 50 percent wrong. I use to tell my people that the only reason to get fired is for not making the decision. Return business is money in the bank. The $2 taco people should rethink their business strategies.
Pat Parks
General Manager
The Continental Hotel and Restaurant
Centerville, IA

The supervisor of the restaurant I work at constantly reminds employees that the customer is always right. And if the customer is not satisfied, make them satisfied. He says “the customers make your checks.” I believe he is right.
Dora Read
Assistant Manager
Church's Chicken
Corpus Christi, TX

My family has a strict no-take-out policy on specials and promotions, but we would never argue with a customer willing to pay full price. That is one of the dumbest things I have heard of. I can't believe they would not allow you to pay full price. Ridiculous!
Blaine Hench
Owner
Ye Olde Ale House
Mechanicsburg, PA

This article really hit home for me. I run a sports bar/restaurant and we do all kinds of specials like the taco deal for the exact same reasons as the restaurant in your article. I have run into similar situations as the manager. After 15 years of managing restaurant policies, I have found that if you don't operate with a “grey” area, you probably won't be operating for too long. Especially in the last couple of years, I always bend but don't break with our policies to make people happy. I tell all my servers and bar staff to let me decide who gets what they want the way they want it.
Chad Rogers
General Manager
The Greene Turtle
Ocean City, MD

After decades of owning a restaurant, I have developed a few cardinal rules. One of them is do not hack people off in the name of goodwill. Conditional promotions and coupons will always cause this confusion. You must have a manager who has the flexibility to bend the rule as necessary. I hate these organizations that have managers who only have the authority to recite the policy over and over. It's better to give something away than to make customers mad when your first objective was to build business with a goodwill deal. This usually reflects an organization where managers are afraid to make decisions for fear of reprisals. I would rather my manager make a decision even if it's wrong. We can learn from mistakes. In the short run let's concentrate on making a new customer. Then, we have the opportunity to convert them to a full paying customer at some point.
Van Sykes
C.E.O.
Bob Sykes BarB-Q
Bessemer, AL