Poor Choices Lead to Poor Outcomes at Outback

the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires labels with the term 'yam'
to be accompanied by the term 'sweet potato.' Unless you specifically
search for yams, which are usually found in an international market,
you are probably eating sweet potatoes! (in the vast majority of
restaurants you eat at)

I don't know where I stand on this issue. I agree that sometimes
restaurants just have a bad day and sometimes need a second chance and
I applaud you for that.
I think that had I wanted a comment card and was given the manager, I
would still be happy. You could have asked the manager if there was
somewhere less busy (a different part of the restaurant, s back
waiting area) where you could express concerns about your meal. The
fact that you decided not to talk to the mgr about this, in my
opinion, makes it look like you aren't brave enough to voice your
concerns in public. I do think though that if they don't have comment
cards the employee should have said that they dont have any, would you
like a manager.
I went to the Outback steakhouse last night and had no problems with
my meal. The only downside to the restaurant was that my second
favourite meal, the Wallhalla pasta is no longer offered.

All I said was that if you watch cooking shows, you'd know that you
don't get yams in the US - no matter what your supermaket says...they
only sell sweet potatoes

If you check out my shoppercast post, you'll see that I've gone from
"Talk to the manager" to a much more accommodating attitude about how
to complain about food/service at a restaurant.

The epiphany came while I pumped my gas this morning.

I just suggest you read it and see if it changes your mind as well.

Comment cards are good. When you fill a bad one out and the customer
leaves, you can just rip them up and throw it in the garbage and
nobody is the wiser.

So you didn't like the soup... and then you didn't like their attempt
at customer service... I think they deserve some credit for attempting
to give you personal service, they were trying to PLEASE you.

This reminds me of the person who complained about Olive Garden - if
you weren't happy with the place before ("I was a bit disappointed
with the meal I ordered this evening (9/17/08) in your restaurant. I
wish I could say this was the first such incident but that is simply
not the case") why did you go back? You set yourself up for
disappointment, and you set Outback up for failure.

How does suop taste like a marketplace?

So let me get this straight. You had an issue with a side item, which
the waitress OFFERED to correct for you, and you turned her down?
Then, you wanted to provide feedback on the issue. When you were
given the opportunity to do so, you refused because you would rather
send in a comment card? Come on!! You had the perfect opportunity to
speak with an owner/manager. I think you didn't want to because they
would have found out that you were given an opportunity to have your
issue fixed. Maybe you were trying to get something for free and
thought you had a better chance if you didn't actually have to speak
with someone. I think that you are probably extremely picky and it
showed when you turned down a replacement side. That would have
corrected the issue. Get over it!!

The hostess handled this completely wrong and hopefully her boss
coached her on this point afterwards.

When you asked for a comment card, if they didnt have them available
or don't use them, she should have said so and then OFFERED to get a
manager for you. If you declined the offer, she should have politely
expressed concern and a willingness to help with whatever problem you
might have had. If you turned that down then she should have sent you
off into the night with well wishes and then let the manager know.
Clearly, getting the manager without doing any of that didn't help the
situation and actually made it worse. In fact, the hostess likely
blindsided the manager who probably wasn't expecting to deal with
someone who DIDN'T want to talk to him.

There are a fair number of consumers out there who don't want to speak
to a manager when there is a problem for a number of reasons; one of
which is that they find it intimidating especially if they didn't ask
to speak to a manager in the first place. That does not invalidate
their feedback nor does it disqualify them from offering it in the
form they choose. Restaurant companies understand this which is why
they offer so many avenues for offering feedback (800
numbers/surveys/website contact forms) which DON'T involve speaking to
the manager on duty.

I managed or owned restaurants for over 25 years across all industry
types - fast food/family dining/upscale steakhouses. While I always
preferred and appreciated direct feedback "in the moment" from my
customers, I valued all feedback my teams received, no matter what
form it came in. And I never thought less of a customer for choosing
to phone it in or write it rather than speak to me directly.

True Yams come from Africa, weigh between 2 and 8 lbs and are not
commercially marketed in the United States. Products labeled as Yams
in the US are the sweeter variety of sweet potatoes.

Sweet potatoes are colored similarily to true potatoes and yams are
darker and more vibrantly colored. Based on my experience, they
always serve the "yam" version of sweet potato in Outback. So, in
essence, they are serving sweet potatoes, just not the version you
thought.

Is this really a complaint letter about a manager who was willing to
talk to you about your complaint(s)? It doesn't sound like he was
trying to be "confrontational". More like he was trying to resolve the
issue. Why wouldn't you want the complaint dealt with right then and
there?

what you call a yam is known as a sweet potato. It's also known as a
kumara, and it is a tuber. I think you wanted the sweet potato that's
not even a potato, it's a bulb of some kind. I am sure the owner
would have been happy to clarify for you, and probably even comp you
for ordering what you didn't actually want.

Okay, while this is a very well-written letter, a few points.

Your soup tasted like a market? No, I joke. Seriously, though, bits of
pottery in it? Alright, I'm done.

Aren't yams a type of sweet potato? Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought
they were either an offshoot of them or very closely related. If the
skin colour is the only way to tell them apart, what's the point?

So you're a person who likes to complain anonymously instead of giving
the information to someone who can actually do something about it?
Bravo. As long as you state your complaint in a calm manner, you're
hardly "making a scene".

The fact that you are upset that they supplied the restaurant owner to
field your complaint, and not a piece of stiff paper, shows you know
little about giving feedback. Who better than the owner to hear your
complaint?

You wanted to give feedback and they gave you that opportunity. It
didn't have to be a confrontation - all you had to do is say exactly
what happened. And justify to the owner's face your outrage that you
received a yam instead of a sweet potato. Perhaps that was hard to
do.

I ask for managers all the time. They often sit at the table with me
and listen to my feedback. When justified they make an adjustment or
give me a dessert, etc. They shake my hand when leaving the table.
Hardly confrontational.

I applaud the restaurant for trying to make your complaint right while
you were there. A polite conversation with a manager or owner is much
more likely to yield a response than some comment card where you have
only a small amount of space to leave your comments.

As a fellow foodie, I know there's a difference between sweet potatoes
and yams, but I personally find that either is acceptable when I'm not
in the mood for fries. But that's a personal preference. Do you
think that the average server knows the difference between the two and
can explain it if asked? Do you think most customers care enough to
listen to an explanation of the two from a server?

Yams and sweet potatoes are used interchangeably, and I believe they
are related (both having originated from the indigenous Indian
cultures of South America--they gave us over 300 varieties of
potatoes!) ("Indian Givers: How the Indians of the Amercias
Transformed the World"). Anyway...

All of this gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands over something
about which you weren't even right?

Wow. Happy dining out in the future.

I do not like Outback...never have. I think their food is over priced
and the customer is paying for the atmosphere and the idea that its an
"Australian" based restaurant.

But you had an opportunity to speak directly with the owner and to
state your displeasure with this restaurant yet you refused because
you wanted to write your comments instead.

I applaud this owner for coming out front to inquire why a customer
was unhappy. But it seems you took this as a form of aggression
instead and felt that he backed you into a corner.
I have no idea why you feel that you cannot talk civily to someone and
explain your issues with their food. IF it was because you felt
uncomfortable then you could have asked if there was someplace quieter
where you could speak to him. He may have accomodated you.

I would jump on a chance to speak to an owner of a restaurant if I had
a complaint. Managers are fine and they do for the most part intercede
and try to make things better...but when an owner offers their
asistance its just something you do not see very often.

As for the sweet potato incident...why blame the cook when yams are
what the restaurant orders? Its not his/her fault. If you did not want
it send it back and substitute something else for it.

All this over a potato? Please! You should have spoken to the owner
if it bothered you this much. I've always found Outback to be very
accommodating when it comes to complaints.

Ok, this intrigued me, so I did a little reading about the differences
in yams and sweet potatos.

What I have found, and I am sure everyone will if they just google it,
is that what we refer to as yams ARE actually a type of sweet
potato."Yams," as the industry and general public perceives them, are
actually Sweet Potatoes with a vivid orange color and a soft moist
consistency when cooked, and tend to have a sweeter flavor. True yams
have nothing to do with sweet potatos, and those can usually be found
in an international market.

Several decades ago when orange flesh SweetPotatoes were introduced
into the southern United States, producers and shippers desired to
distinguish them from the more traditional white flesh types.The
African word "nyami" referring to the starchy, edible root of the
Dioscorea genus of plants was adopted in its' English form, "yam".

I don't understand why so many people equate speaking with a manager
(in this case restaurant owner) with confrontation. Part of the
manager's job is to resolve customer issues. If your experience in the
restaurant was unsatisfactory, speaking with a manager/owner at the
time of the incident is always best as they can resolve the issues on
the spot rather than weeks later (or sometimes not at all).

Actually I give a lot of credit to this owner for coming out on his
own. It shows he cares about your experience in his restaurant.

As for the comment card, frankly I don't trust they'll get to the
right person. I'd rather speak with a live human than fill out some
anonymous comment card.

The owner wanted a chance to make it better for you so you did not
leave feeling unhappy.

Allison,

As a manager who has been involved in more than my fair share of
customer feedback rants I must question why you equate speaking with
the owner as being put on the spot or making a scene?

The hospitality businss lives or dies based on each transcation. In
your case there was an obvious problem and the associate got the owner
to come to your table to listen to your suggestions and observations.


The owners statement that he was the comment card should have
impressed you that he was intersted to hear your feedback and take
action in anticipation of your next visit.

Once this feedback is received at corporate it will be shared down the
pipeline to that specific location and hopefully action will be
taken. At best a circuitous journey when one considers that had you
spoken with the owner he probably would have adjusted your bill,
listened to you and learned a thing or two from and abut his
customer.

BillR.

Why would speaking with the owner create a scene or confrontation?
There would only be a scene if you chose to make one. You didn't even
give the owner a chance. I'm sure the other people in the semi-crowded
restaurant would have had no interest in your conversation with the
owner. Why hide behind a comment card if the owner was available to
listen to your complaint? Sorry, but that doesn't make sense to me.

Also, since you are so picky about your potatoes, maybe you should
make certain you'll be getting a sweet potato and not a yam before you
order. Most people wouldn't know the difference, and even if they did,
they wouldn't care. Since you obviously do care, I think next time you
should make it clear that you do not want a yam.