Service Recovery in the Restaurant Industry Case Study

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Service Recovery in the Restaurant Industry Case Study
Service Marketing
Name
University
Date

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Introduction
Service failure occurs whenever a customer is rendered services which he/she perceives
as not meeting his/her expectations (Chaung, Cheng, Chang, & Yang, 2012). Based on this
definition, service failure translates into customer dissatisfaction with the services rendered.
According to Liat, et al (2017), it is almost impossible to operate a service business without
encountering instances of service failure.
Typically, customers expect some form of compensation whenever a service failure
occurs (Mattila, 2001). The process of providing this compensation is referred to as service
recovery. Examples of service recovery strategies include offering an apology, discounts,
financial refunds, alternative services and credits among others (Preston, Kristie, Charlotte,
Seawright, & Hoopes, 2008). This report provides an in-depth analysis of a service failure
incident and recommends related service recovery strategies.
One of our group members experienced a memorable service failure at a local fast casual
restaurant. The group member (hereinafter the client) visited the restaurant for a quick meal
before an afternoon picnic with his girlfriend. The restaurant offers table service and the
attendants typically move around, take orders and serve the food. The client then pays the bill on
his way out. The client in this case proceeded to sit at an empty booth where a restaurant
attendant came to take his order after about three minutes; the attendants at the restaurant
appeared quite busy since it was lunchtime and the restaurant was almost fully occupied.
The client placed his order which the attendant wrote down. He then asked the attendant
how much time he would have to wait since he was in a rush and wanted to time his lunch well.
The attendant replied that he would wait for “a maximum of five minutes” for his chicken and
chips to be warmed and served alongside a milkshake. However, it took another 15 minutes

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before the food arrived. When the food arrived, the client dug in immediately only to realize that
the chips were cold and hard. Since the attendant who had served him had already moved on to
serve another group of clients who were calling for an attendant impatiently, the client stopped
another passing waitress and voiced his concern about the state of the chips. “Who served you? I
can get her here to address this, I have my customers you see” the attendant replied. The client
pointed out the attendant who had served him since he had not caught her name.
It took another two minutes before the original attendant showed up to hear the client’s
complaint. She went ahead to ask him what the problem was which he explained again. By this
time, the chicken was also getting cold and he asked whether he could get both items warmed up.
The attendant replied that “we cannot warm the food, our microwave is broken at the moment
and is being fixed. But I can get you a fresh batch of chips from the kitchen if you can wait for
about two minutes”. She added that she could do nothing about the chicken seeing as he had
already taken a bite. Seeing that his meeting was getting close, the client agreed with the
recovery plan and requested the attendant to hurry. He heard the attendant click as she walked
away with the cold chips.
After waiting for about another five minutes and having finished the milkshake, the
client walked to the ordering window where the attendant was standing to enquire about the
chips. “You have to wait for about another four minutes for the kitchen to finish making a fresh
batch of chips or you can just take these if you are in so much of a hurry” the attendant replied
pointing to the cold chips which were placed on the side of the ordering counter. This reply
infuriated the client who opted to leave and hence asked for the bill. The attendant issued him
with a receipt which included the chips and the chicken. The client opted to pay the bill and
leave without arguing about the bill so as to make his meeting.