There
are times when the way a business is run can best be described
as quirky. Doing something that few, if any, other places do.
These are the stores and restaurants and merchants of all kinds
in the neighborhood—your neighborhood and mine—where they operate
just a bit offbeat and we absolutely love them for it.
Have
you ever been to a bakery that has no closing time? It’s not that
they don’t close. They do. But once they start out in the morning,
they stay open until the inventory is gone, and they sell out
every day.
One
place may only take cash. Another operates only one or two days
a week. I know a fabulous restaurant that only takes cash and
is only open five days a week for three hours each day around
lunch. And then… well… look, there are cat cafes and places that
rent goats to mow lawns. Somehow, many of them thrive.
Quirky.
I
said quirky, and I stand by it.
There
are strange operating plans out there, and some of them succeed
beyond any sensible reason for having been created (while a few
are just brilliant). But lately I’m beginning to encounter something
a bit distressing, and it’s happening more and more. It points
to problem that I would best sum up like this: it’s one thing
be by quirky and loved for tradition, quite another to be different
by stupidity.
The
issue is places that are embracing technology, but using it so
poorly it ticks off potential customers.
Example?
Sure. Why the hell do some restaurants have an online presence
that forbids me from seeing their menu?
I’m
not talking about a limited or really basic appearance on the
web. This isn’t about places that only have a social media page.
Nor is it about a place that has a web site, but it’s a single
page that features their address and phone number with little
else.
No,
my outrage is growing for places that have all sorts of details
and links and information but no menu. Click here to learn the
history and here for directions and here for hours of operation.
Honestly, it’s easier to find an e-mail address for them than
it is to see a menu. And then there’s the top of the heap, the
summit of frustration, the ones with a link to a menu page that
doesn’t provide you with a menu at all. It’s… well… hold on, let’s
start a new paragraph…
The
other day, around 2 in the afternoon, we were discussing dinner.
Had a few ideas, looking for some common things but not our usual
orders, and decided to pull up some web sites to look over the
menus of locations nearby. The first three places wouldn’t let
me access the menu. And why? Because it was 2pm, and the first
one of them to open didn’t unlock their doors until 3:30. All
of three used an online ordering system, with menu viewing tied
to that system, and since the restaurant was closed the menu wasn’t
active.
Really.
And… really? That’s quality customer service?
You’re
thinking some food. Maybe you want to order something to bring
home, and maybe you just want to see the options because you’re
considering a restaurant or two and aren’t familiar with the menu,
or perhaps you’re looking for something specific. So, you head
to the computer or grab your phone and off to the internet you
wander. Quick search leads you to a restaurant’s web site, where
you click on the link to the menu, only it won’t open. And why?
Because the link is designed to trigger an order online feature
and the restaurant is closed when you’re looking at the page.
Closed restaurant won’t take orders, so no menu. Even if that
restaurant will be open in ten to fifteen minutes.
(Deep
breath… and… exhale.)
Honestly,
in my opinion you’d be better off with no web site at all.
And
this is just one way of presenting the menu problem. More and
more often, I’m finding restaurants that very much do have an
internet presence have no menu available. The result from our
home has multiple times become that we’re not heading to your
restaurant. You’re losing business.
Now
hold off on those grumpy old folks and their technology pointing
of fingers. Actually, I don’t mind ordering online. This is especially
true when the site is so well designed and developed that it allows
me to easily make special requests (like what things to add or
remove from my sandwich, looking for getting specific sauces),
set a time for picking up my order, and even a place that would
text me when they opened to confirm the order receipt and time
it would be ready.
I
can appreciate dealing with less people.
Instead,
I started this essay out by using the word quirky. I covered some
ground where I said that some businesses manage to find methods
that may be unusual and yet they work, and every so often work
brilliantly. My issue is I have no idea why so many places want
to make it impossible for me to learn what they are selling.
Have
you ever gone to a retailer’s site where they have multiple locations
and in some way access where you are and try to line you up with
a specific store? That usually works out wonderfully.
Perhaps
I’m just frustrated. I’m definitely hungry, and we’re not getting
baked stuffed shrimp or ribs. Regardless, I don’t think it’s too
much to ask of a place to offer the details you likely want. It’s
really not too much to ask that a restaurant that has a link to
a menu on the web site should provide a menu. And I don’t think
that’s just me.