Sometimes I think that some business owner do not realize what the effect on bad service is on their businesses.

The thought came up yesterday when I meat a friend for coffee at one of our local coffee shops. They were here on holiday and I was telling  them where they can wine and dine.

My friend then pointed out that they had a lovely meal the previous evening at the restaurant around the corner.

I suddenly realized that I have not been there since we arrived in Langebaan 3 years ago.

The reason for that is that we once got bad food and bad service there 5 years ago. 5 Years ago we were still staying in Pretoria and we were on our way from the Richtersveld to Cape Town and stopped in Langebaan for lunch. We visited one of the restaurants next to the lagoon. We soon realised that the guys in Pretoria can prepare better seafood than this restaurant next to the sea.

We moved down to Langebaan two years later and during the past three years I referred hundreds of people to my favorite restaurants. I never ever referred anybody to this spesific restaurant.

When Gordon told me about his good experience I realised that because of ONE bad experience five years ago this restaurant lost out any many referrals and lots of business. I also realised that because of this one bad experienced I never felt like going back and see if things improved.

So, if you run your own business or restaurant keep this in mind. You never know what the effect of bad service can be on your business. One unhappy customer can keep hundreds away from your door. Also keep in mind that most unhappy customers will never tell you that they are unhappy, they will just leave, never come back and never refer others to you.