How-to Lose a Customer for Life Featuring Orsino in Hove

In General | 18 comments | permalink

waiters

I was recently at a local Italian restaurant called Orsino, which is located in Hove (south coast of England)... and they gave me a lesson in how to LOSE a lifetime customer with one stupid and greedy act.

Disclaimer: I appreciate that this act may have been the acts of just one or two employees, and may not represent Orsino as a brand.

So here is the quick back story…

I have eaten at Orsino’s at least 10 times in the past few months alone…

I have taken girls, business colleagues, clients and friends…

I also recommend the restaurant to local people, so it is fair to assume that I was set to generate thousands of dollars for the restaurant as a customer and via word of mouth.

That was until greed took over…

Here is what happened: We finished our meal and asked for the bill (the cheque).. we paid, and I gave my usual, generous tip in cash. (not the norm in the UK)

However, just as we were about to leave, we noticed that the receipt for our meal had been craftily folded over part of the way down.

We opened it up to see what was being covered, and here is what it said:

“Service charge of 10% included: = £10.50″

Note: both the percentage and the amount are purely for the purpose of the story, I don’t recall the exact amounts.

Now, I am not a huge fan of compulsory service charges, but I appreciate that often restaurants decide to include them, and I go along with it… BUT, to conceal the service charge in the hope that the customer won’t realise, and therefore add an additional LARGE tip on top of the service charge, is in my opinion, nothing short of fraud.

Needless to say, we scooped up our additional tip, and will now no longer be eating at Orsino ever again.

I estimate that in an attempt to make a few pounds extra, they have lost a customer that was potentially worth thousands of pounds lifetime value to them.

So what is the moral of this story?

Focus more on the lifetime value of a customer, and don’t try and get a quick buck in the short term… especially if that involves being sneaky, aggressive or dishonest.

For the staff or management at Orsino, feel free to contact me with an explanation, I am more than happy to publish your thoughts on this matter.

Dean

email this | tag this | digg this | trackback | comment RSS feed

Subscribe to my FEED and you will age gracefully

18 COMMENTS

  • http://www.houses-for-sale-in-spain.net/audiobooks Graham Hunt

    Very good point. I wonder how long it will be before the management find out about this (Or was it them all along)
    Graham Hunt´s last blog ..Protected: Here Are Your Links To The Downloads My ComLuv Profile

    Current score: 0
  • http://aviewofmadrid.blogspot.com/ Richard

    Cover charges are a con. I have no objection to being charged a fair price that includes all the costs and profit of the restauranteur. But to then make the customer pay on top of that it wrong. I agree with you. I would never go back there again, particularly in the light of the underhand way they went about it. I would worry what slimey tricks were going on in the kitchen!
    Richard´s last blog ..Lucky Thirteen My ComLuv Profile

    Current score: 0
  • http://deanhunt.com Dean Hunt

    Richard,

    Yes, it is a bit of a joke…

    Also, to clarify… the bill was folded over twice, once above the service charge, and another a centimeter or so further down = below the service charge, thus making it appear as though it wasnt there.

    VERY sneaky.

    Dean
    Dean Hunt´s last blog ..How-to Lose a Customer for Life Featuring Orsino in Hove My ComLuv Profile

    Current score: 0
  • http://www.stogblog.com Brandon

    Good thoughts my friend. That’s dirtier than Paris Hilton at a Frank Kern seminar (you know the shenanigans:)

    I find often on the internet people try little tactics like that.

    Often on One Time Offers and Continuity Programs. A little off topic but what I think is similar is many big wig marketers who you may purchase a product from with a considerable investment. And after you purchase the product they offer no support but begin to bombard with affiliate offers that do not compliment their product but aim to confuse and clutter the brain to inaction.

    Every time that happens they lose me. No lifetime value as well.
    They are in a perfect opportunity to create a personal brand for themselves and keep me for a long time but lose out trying to create a quick buck.

    It baffles the mind.

    Hope you enjoyed vacation and enjoy your Bike trip on the 300 lb. shwinn:)

    p.s. Shoot me a link to your website to donate. I would like to help out.

    Latr
    Brandon´s last blog ..Overnight Success Takes a Lifetime My ComLuv Profile

    Current score: 0
  • http://deanhunt.com Dean Hunt

    Brandon,

    The site is http://www.justgiving.com/deanhunt for the donation. Much appreciated mate.

    Couldnt agree more about your points, 100% true.

    Current score: 0
  • http://www.davidwalker.tv David Walker

    Hey Dean,

    That really is the pits.

    When I went to New York a year ago the restaurants around Times Square were cheeky enough to demand as high as 20% service charge on top of already pricey food – but at least they didn’t try to hide such a shameless request for more money!

    I suspect they will ignore your requests for a statement until they find this post starts ranking for “Orsino Hove” and such like in Google ;-)

    Keep fighting the system…

    David
    David Walker´s last blog ..Christmas Round Up 2009 My ComLuv Profile

    Current score: 0
  • http://deanhunt.com Dean Hunt

    David, it is already on page 2 of Google for Orsino Hove for me ;-)

    Current score: 0
  • Orsino Restaurant Hove

    Hi Dean

    Thank you for publicising our restaurant and am glad to hear that you have recommended our restaurant many times.

    I’d just like to say that our folding the bill tactic is only used in extreme circumstances. In this instance the bill only came to a mere £4.95, as you only had a starter and chose to drink tap water. The 10% service charge only added up to 49p so we were keen to get a little bit back for the fact you had occupied a seat for 3 hours using your laptop.

    I understand you are on a diet for Cycle India, but in future would it be better we agreed an hourly rate for using our free wi-fi service?

    Mario
    Head Waiter

    Current score: 0
  • http://deanhunt.com Dean Hunt

    haha,

    Nice one Matt. ;-) a.k.a “Orsino Restaurant Hove”

    I wish it was only £4.95

    Looking forward to seeing you in India.

    Dean

    Current score: 0
  • http://renegadeconservatoryguy.co.uk/ Matthew

    How did you suss me out?

    Yeah, looking forward to India. Don’t forget your toothbrush.

    Matthew
    Matthew´s last blog ..How was your 2009? My ComLuv Profile

    Current score: 0
  • http://www.internetmarketingspeed.com James Schramko

    Add to the fact that this post already has a page one ranking for the search term Orsino Restaurant Brighton (oops that won’t help the matter) http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en#hl=en&q=orsino+restaurant+brighton&aq=f&aqi=g1&oq=&fp=cbc2f75bf9d43a8f and that act of greed may have a much larger impact…
    James Schramko´s last blog ..The Hidden Benefits of the ‘Buy With Bonus’ Internet Marketing Strategy My ComLuv Profile

    Current score: 0
  • http://potpolitics.com John@Do Follow Blogs RULE :)

    Hey Dean glad I stopped by loved the fake comment from the rest that was hilarious :)
    Best wishes for all your success in 2010

    Current score: 0
  • http://www.johnpaulaguiar.com John Paul Aguiar

    Short term thinkin, loses a long term customer.. big mistake.

    With a blog or online business, sometimes more IS NOT BETTER.
    John Paul Aguiar´s last blog ..Blogging for Money Then Stop Stealing Your Own Sales My ComLuv Profile

    Current score: 0
  • http://richquickreview.com/ Shane

    Completely agree with you on this one, Dean.

    I wouldn’t even mind high service charges and whatnot. In the end, eating at a place will come at a certain price-tag. How that price is broken down on the bill is secondary (to me).

    The only thing that’s totally off-putting about this is the sneakiness of it.
    Shane´s last blog ..Strategic Link-Building (Videos) My ComLuv Profile

    Current score: 0
  • http://www.markdavidcopy.com Mark David

    Top of the Google tree to you, Dean!

    Though restaurants get mighty quiet come January anyway, but nevertheless, Orsino’s start to 2010 looks like a sticky one once they start Googling themselves – assuming they haven’t done so already ;)

    Mark
    Mark David´s last blog ..Paint Just ONE Picture With Your Thousand Words My ComLuv Profile

    Current score: 0
  • http://blogicthink.com satria nugraha

    good critic. i think every customer must have best service from who give the service . so i think case like this not happen again next time

    Current score: 0
  • Adam

    I was only looking for the Menu for Orsino in Hove and this site was obstructing my search sitting at the top of my page results.

    not good publicity for them! I’m surprised they’ve not seen this yet.

    Not sure I want to look for that menu now…

    Current score: 0
  • Adrian

    We had the same thing happen to us last night, when I ate there with my family.

    A shame as the meal was really good.

    It spoilt a nice evening, to have the waiter try and rip us off. We wont be going back there in a hurry :-(

    Maybe someone should email Orsino this blog entry….

    Current score: 0