Not all stress is bad. We need some level of stress to help us function. But something like a waiter dumping spaghetti bolognaise in your lap could just make you snap.
“Anything that causes frustration increases stress levels”, says Ilse Terblanche, Cape Town psychologist. “Bad service can also make you feel that you are not being taken seriously or not being valued. It causes additional stress if you take it personally.”
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South Africa is notorious for the bad service. Often, shop assistants are unwilling to help, employees are not trained well, or the food in an expensive restaurant tastes like cardboard.
Terblanche advises to “see the problem for what it is and act on it without being aggressive or entering into an argument. If you have a choice between companies, restaurants, etc., don’t continue to support the ones that did not deal with your complaint satisfactorily.”
Bad service can certainly up your stress levels. But it doesn’t have to. How do you deal with bad service?
Never lose your temper. If you lose your temper, especially if it is over something small, you will feel like an idiot afterwards. Apart from this, who has ever won an argument after losing all sense of logic?
Dead-end job blues. The person responsible for the bad service is probably sitting in a dead-end job. In countries like our own, being a waiter/waitress is not even seen as a profession. Shop assistants are often frustrated and bored, and they convey these feelings to paying customers.
Take a deep breath. This will help you think, and give you time to cool off.
Ask for the person’s name. This will indirectly tell the person you are serious about taking this up with management. People tend to be more careful with what they say and do if their names are known and traceable. Taking the name of the guilty party also motivates that person to shape up.
Speak to management. As South Africans we are either too scared or too lazy to complain. Management needs your feedback, and often you will find that they do go out of their way to accommodate you.
Remember that you are paying for service. If that steak has a green tinge, complain to your waiter. If he/she is unwilling to help, ask for a name and speak to management.
Do not be mean. It is unnecessary. Merely state what the problem was and why. Do not under any circumstances attack the character of the guilty party.
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