{"id":25375,"date":"2022-12-05T14:12:23","date_gmt":"2022-12-05T19:12:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev-gordon-food-service-canada.pantheonsite.io\/ideas\/complaints-dont-get-angry-get-smart\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T12:42:47","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T17:42:47","slug":"complaints-dont-get-angry-get-smart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gfs.ca\/en-ca\/ideas\/complaints-dont-get-angry-get-smart\/","title":{"rendered":"Complaints? Don\u2019t get angry, get smart"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-managing-gripes-with-grace-means-your-customer-service-is-showing\">Managing gripes with grace means your customer service is showing.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You can\u2019t please everyone. It\u2019s an expression worth remembering in foodservice, because there will be complaints. Great customer service means being able to handle them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In healthcare, long-term care and senior living establishments, guests will speak out when they perceive you\u2019ve fallen short of providing the best dining experience. Your team must be trained to be calm, fix the problem if they can and, ultimately, make sure guests know you\u2019re listening.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-brace-yourself-prepare-your-team\">Brace yourself, prepare your team<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are some best practices for managers and staff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Management-level best practices<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Support your staff.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Have an assigned delegate for complaints.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ensure the process is guest-centred and timely.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Train your team on compliance policy, using a clear, timely process.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Staff-level best practices<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Keep calm, don\u2019t take things personally.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Allow your guest to present the problem.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Show active listening (make eye contact, pay attention).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Confirm your understanding by paraphrasing.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Do not challenge the complaint.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Acknowledge mistakes with sincerity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Take responsibility and apologize.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Genuinely thank your guest for pointing out a problem.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Offer solutions to fix the problem immediately.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Always smile. Do not argue, criticize, ignore or challenge.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Inform the manager about complaints and how they were resolved.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-always-d-e-f-u-s-e-nbsp\">Always D.E.F.U.S.E.&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Remember this acronym when dealing with unhappy guests:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>D<\/strong>on\u2019t lose your cool.<br><strong>E<\/strong>ncourage customers to vent emotions.<br><strong>F<\/strong>ind out the facts.<br><strong>U<\/strong>nderstand your guests\u2019 feelings.<br><strong>S<\/strong>uggest a way to fix the problem.<br><strong>E<\/strong>nd on a positive note.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-manage-diet-order-complaints\">Manage diet order complaints<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Guests in care settings may complain about prescribed diet orders \u2013 a legitimate complaint, but one that must be deferred to clinical staff. Here\u2019s how to handle such complaints:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Explain that prescribed therapeutic and consistency diet orders can only be changed by a member of the healthcare team. \u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Suggest that concerns can be brought to the foodservice manager.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Let the guest know you have escalated the issue.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If food quality and safety standards are not being met, report it to your manager.<br>\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Managing gripes with grace means your customer service is showing. You can\u2019t please everyone. It\u2019s an expression worth remembering in foodservice, because there will be complaints. Great customer service means being able to handle them. In healthcare, long-term care and senior living establishments, guests will speak out when they perceive you\u2019ve fallen short of providing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":26661,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[122,123,112,69],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-catering-small-business","category-hotels-hospitality","category-restaurant-bars","category-running-your-business"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.9 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Complaints? Don\u2019t get angry, get smart | Gordon Food Service<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Turn negative feedback into loyalty. Discover smart strategies for handling restaurant customer complaints and service recovery.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gfs.ca\/en-ca\/ideas\/complaints-dont-get-angry-get-smart\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Complaints? Don\u2019t get angry, get smart\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Turn negative feedback into loyalty. Discover smart strategies for handling restaurant customer complaints and service recovery.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/gfs.ca\/en-ca\/ideas\/complaints-dont-get-angry-get-smart\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gordon Food Service\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/GordonFoodService\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-12-05T19:12:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-12T17:42:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/gfs.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/4-WOW-Anger-Management-760x400_2.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"760\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cody Rivers\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cody.rivers@gfs.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@GFSDelivers\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cody Rivers\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Complaints? 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