Bad Experience at Moon River Pizza

[Ocklawaha]

Can't say for sure what I'd have done but it probably wouldn't have been this pretty. Sometimes that Scot - Southron blood just boils up the back of my neck and takes control. With all the tact of a modern day Doc Holiday (another near home town boy) and a sarcasm for every event. Call it twisted if you want but it's the ability to leave a trail of bodies and sit next to one of them whilst eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Ah the glory days of Wallace, Robert the Bruce, Robert E. Lee and a little conflict we called Vietnam.

Ocklawaha

[ProjectMaximus]

Don't you mean grammar, not grammer, smart guy.

beware the typeo  ... theres a bit of a difference between the errant typo and a whole littany of misspelled words and atrocious grammAr.  Dontcha love free speech?  Now back to tossin salads ok.

Typo # 2 = "litany" 

just messin'

Seriously though, I thought on more than one occasion that dapperdan must've made those newbie posts himself to strengthen his own argument. I was a little skeptical over the entire situation, but if I do take the new posters at face value, I'm now even more inclined to agree with dan. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, so I'll hope that the folks over at MRP (management and staff) are good people who meant no harm and just didn't handle the situation properly.

[ChriswUfGator]

I dunno, man. The server himself not only posted on here, he also confirmed everything that happened on the phone with Stephen Dare and his friend. He was one of the 'newbies'! So as preposterous as it seems, Dan's story is true and confirmed. Makes your head spin doesn't it? I wonder if you can nominate a corporation for a Darwin Award?

[BridgeTroll]

At this point it really does not matter.  The damage has been done.  This is a textbook example on how NOT to deal with a customer who rightly or wrongly feels slighted, cheated, or otherwise wronged.  Everything Moon river pizza and their employees could have done wrong... they did.

[stjr]

Wow, lots of action over this.  I wish people cared as passionately about other goings on in Jax as much as this issue.  We would all be a lot better off.  Especially, our education system.

As to this issue, it really relates to proper communications. As a manager, I see confrontations and friction all the time because people don't communicate clearly, carefully, and respectfully to each other.  When such communications are re-addressed properly, almost always, the room fills with mutual apologies, forgiveness, and a desire to do better going forward.

Apparently, here, the staff did a poor job of explaining their issues to the customer.  Good training would teach them to, first, calm the situation down with a sense of receptiveness to the customer's story.  Once the customer knows that they have been heard without immediate editorializing by the staff, we are more than half way home!  The staff should at least feign a sincere interest in the customer's concerns and address them one by one.  Such as, we made a mistake, there are mitigating circumstances we would  like you to be aware of, it was an unintentional slight, regardless, and, most importantly, we apologize for upsetting you and we ask for your forgiveness.

Trying to paint this as a black and white battle of right and wrong is pointless as neither side will win.  The restaurant is in the catbird seat and has the most to lose by not stepping up and being the bigger party here.  Hence, the saying, '"the customer is always right" (within reason).  The manager should set an example for his/her employees and teach these tenants to them.  By taking them privately aside and advising them that they aren't being  "thrown under the bus", just trying to resolve the situation for the good of the business in an ADULT fashion, everyone should be able to maintain their inner pride and egos.  The bravado needs to be dispensed with.

It's easy to "pull out a gun and shoot someone" but it takes a "real man" to diffuse a situation and move on while avoiding the building of grudges.  This is what is significantly missing today in our selfish, partisan, black and white society as evidenced by our right-left politics.

Someone should pass around Dale Carnegie's age-old, best selling book, "How to Win Friends and Influence People".  Maybe the world would be a bit more peaceful.

[ChriswUfGator]

Actually, the story of Justin's interaction was related to me by Scarlett.

So the bottom line then is that there's still an independent eyewitness account that confirmed Dan's account of how he was treated?

[ChriswUfGator]

Wow, lots of action over this.  I wish people cared as passionately about other goings on in Jax as much as this issue.  We would all be a lot better off.  Especially, our education system.

I do care. Problem is, our local government doesn't. And it never changes, because you can't get anybody who is both rational and qualified elected around here, to the school board or anything else. Here in "South Georgia" I'm afraid rhetoric sells, and reality doesn't.

As to this issue, it really relates to proper communications. As a manager, I see confrontations and friction all the time because people don't communicate clearly, carefully, and respectfully to each other.  When such communications are re-addressed properly, almost always, the room fills with mutual apologies, forgiveness, and a desire to do better going forward.

Apparently, here, the staff did a poor job of explaining their issues to the customer.  Good training would teach them to, first, calm the situation down with a sense of receptiveness to the customer's story.  Once the customer knows that they have been heard without immediate editorializing by the staff, we are more than half way home!  The staff should at least feign a sincere interest in the customer's concerns and address them one by one.  Such as, we made a mistake, there are mitigating circumstances we would  like you to be aware of, it was an unintentional slight, regardless, and, most importantly, we apologize for upsetting you and we ask for your forgiveness.

Trying to paint this as a black and white battle of right and wrong is pointless as neither side will win.  The restaurant is in the catbird seat and has the most to lose by not stepping up and being the bigger party here.  Hence, the saying, '"the customer is always right" (within reason).  The manager should set an example for his/her employees and teach these tenants to them.  By taking them privately aside and advising them that they aren't being  "thrown under the bus", just trying to resolve the situation for the good of the business in an ADULT fashion, everyone should be able to maintain their inner pride and egos.  The bravado needs to be dispensed with.

It's easy to "pull out a gun and shoot someone" but it takes a "real man" to diffuse a situation and move on while avoiding the building of grudges.  This is what is significantly missing today in our selfish, partisan, black and white society as evidenced by our right-left politics.

Someone should pass around Dale Carnegie's age-old, best selling book, "How to Win Friends and Influence People".  Maybe the world would be a bit more peaceful.

+1,000,000.

The lack of an apology and a conciliatory tone is outright galling at this point. This customer had a legitimate complaint, and all he wanted was, like you said, to be heard and listened to. Instead, he got called a liar, told to **** off, and was blamed for their mistakes. Ridiculous.

[CrysG]

The irony is that as of this typing this thread has be read 1329 times. While I know the most of the views are from the same handful of people who are posting in this thread, but lets say that 50 new people read this thread. And of those 50, 25 people choose to not spend another dime with MRP that would have otherwise done so. They have a chance to lose major money.....

25(lost people) x $50(general average bill) x 12(only going once a month, every month for a year) you end up with $15,000.00.

All this cause a server acted like a punk and a manager turning a blind eye to an easily solvable problem.  

[assorted]

They won't get another dollar from me, but I am not a trendy urban hipster so I guess they don't want my business anyway. 

[ProjectMaximus]

anyone else feel like watching Breakfast at Tiffanys?

[Johnny]

I posted on the very first page telling Dapper he did everything correctly, that doesn't take into account whether the situation is true or not, that's not the main issue, because perception is reality. The ball is always in the businesses court to make it right. When someone takes time out of their day to post on a forum or put a review on an independent site to complain about something, the business has already jeopardized their relationship with the public. For people to attack the person that "felt" betrayed by the establishment that they patronized, apparently frequently and even referred others too... well, I'm just amazed. It's easier to lose customers then it is to win them, so allowing this to escalate as this has is mind blowing.

I personally have a favorite trendy hipster type of pizza joint (Mellow Mushroom), but I would have given business to Moon River had this thread not materialized as it has. Word of mouth is pretty much the only option we have as consumers. It's very powerful too as it should be. The business and their friends (which can be seen throughout this thread) will only say the restaurant is great, consumers are the independent, nothing to gain/lose people, which makes their review much more important than the former.

This company gets a giant FAIL in the way this was handled from the beginning and it's only gotten worse. I will not patronize Moon River. The American dollar is worth the same 100 pennies elsewhere in this city.

[hanjin1]

Wow, this thread is great. I just wasted about 2 hours at work reading this thread. Anyways I always thought there was something weird about Moon River, when my wife and I went there the one and only time. I did get a sense of rudeness or "teenage attitude", kind of like the I'm cool and you not vibe. The pizza was pretty good, but nothing spectacular. But after reading this thread I will probably not go back, instead I will head a few streets down and go to dreamette and fill myself with ice cream. Oh yea, for all the Moon River defectors - go to The Nop (La Nopalera), it's the best. This coming from someone that hated Mexican food growing up.

[stjr]

What is most amazing is that the OWNER apparently hasn't thought it worthy to respond or defend his establishment, especially since MJ called this thread to his attention and invited his response.  Regardless of one's personal position on this, failing to make the attempt would speak volumes about his attitude toward the business and its customers: uncaring.

Even today's lowly Wall Streeters have tried to publicly defend their businesses and reputations, even after they are out of business!

Draw your own conclusions.

[Jimmy Olsen]

I don't have time to read all 9 pages of this so forgive me if I have said something someone else has...

Get over it dude. Life isn't fair and stuff happens. Had you just ignored the fact that someone other than yourself got some preferential treatment, none of this would have happened. You would have just gotten your food, eaten and enjoyed the hell out of it (because their food is awesome), and left happily.

[CrysG]

Jimmy,

Don't worry no one other than the supporters and staff said what you said....and I really do mean NO ONE.