Bad Service at The Wave?

There has been an interesting argument between a disgruntled customer and the wait staff of The Wave, a Western campus bar and home of Rick McGhie, playing out in The Gazette over the past month.

In the February 12th issue, Nicole Borst wrote about her experience dining at The Wave. A response written by three waitresses at The Wave appeared in the March 5th issue - interestingly almost a month after the fact.

Both parties are correct on some points. Borst contends she and her friend were "seated by a visibly sick server who proceeded to cough on her hands and subsequently provide us with cutlery." The waitresses' response did not even touch the issue of sanitary food practices. Although I cannot speak for The Wave, from my experience with The Spoke (which is co-owned with The Wave) hygene is not even a part of the corporate culture. On several occasions I have gone to The Spoke, I have seen servers wiping their nose on their hands, and then proceeding to handle food without any attempt at handwashing. I fully believe Borst on this point about a server coughing on the cutlery.

What is the waitresses' attitude? "Unless you have worked in a restaurant, serving others, you will not understand the efforts and hard work put into serving at a restaurant, especially one of such calibre as The Wave." It sounds to me like they are making excuses for the poor behaviour they are being accused of.

I worked in a restaurant for almost four years, and I agree it is not easy. You get a lot of impatient customers who can never be pleased. But, the customer has a right to have some basic expectations, especially in the areas of food safety and courtesy from staff. Borst referred to the waitresses discussing their "personal life within ear-shot of customers" and "finishing up personal conversations with other servers while people are waiting to be seated" - again, issues the waitresses' response did not even touch. On the part of staff at any restaurant or retail business, this is unacceptable service and Borst has every right to be upset.

The only area I would disagree with Borst and agree with the waitresses is where Borst accuses them of "giving the customer attitude, picking a fight with the customer" when trying to get reimbursement. Again, as a former restaurant employee, customers must bear in mind businesses have to maintain a level of consistency when dealing with customer disputes. It doesn't matter so much what the policy is, but no customer should be favoured over another in the same type of dispute. That said, the onus is on wait staff to be courteous and professional in the process.

Unfortunately, I feel these waitresses are protecting each other and are trying to cover up real problems. It is common in business for employees to protect each other and deny that certain problems exist. Borst has a point that should be taken more seriously by The Wave.