Have Ghanaian Restaurants Heard Of Customer Service At All?

I always spare the many Ghanaian women selling by the road side when they disregard the all-important ‘concept of customer service’. But if I make an effort to enter a restaurant, I expect to see a little bit of the principles of customer service being put into use…

I will not bother with the several so called ‘High Class’ restaurants in Ghana—-simply because they do not have any to learn from and they’ve no real competitors to keep them on their toes.

From waiters/waitress digging out their noses thinking you aren’t aware while serving your food/drink to paying more attention to the TV on the wall than the paying customer, I’ve come to accept that most Ghanaian Restaurant operators have not heard of customer service at all…

When was the last time you entered a Ghanaian restaurant and received a good customer service which you can even compare to the lousy service they slap our faces with at McDonalds?

I used to wonder why  Ghanaian restaurants in Europe and America do not last—-they pop up and vanish into thin air all the time.  After several visits to various Ghanaian restaurants, I think I know the answer.

Over the last year, I took it upon myself to try dishes from Mexico, Brazil, Turkey, Japan, India, Morocco, Jamaica and Poland. Dinning at restaurants operated by people of these countries confirmed my assertion; Ghanaian restaurant operators have not heard of customer service at all.

I’ve not walked into any restaurant where I will have to sit for 30 minutes without anyone attending to me, except when it is a Ghanaian restaurant. Most times, it is not that those in charge are busy serving other customers. It is either they are on their phones yapping away, messaging or watching the TV on the wall.

Eventually if they attend to you, your food will take an hour or so to show up, that is if you have some luck on your side.

On a normal day, you can wait for over an hour and when you pull the waiter/waitress over to find out what has happened to your food, you shouldn’t be shocked if you are told; can I take your order again?

After having waited for over an hour for your food, you may still have to ask them for cutlery—and that will come to you in another 15 minutes.

When they finally arrive, do not bother to look on them because the dust or marks you will find on them will kill your already messed up appetite…

Try and call the waiter/waitress again and at this point, he or she will be pissed. If you do not get shouted at, you will surely get that dirty look.

I’ve observed that Ghanaians spend a lot of time decorating restaurants, forgetting to decorate their attitude—customer service.

As much as Chinese restaurant workers/operators struggle to speak English, they seem to understand the power of customer service—-the reason why they are able to attract  individuals from different ethnic backgrounds to their restaurants.

When was the last time you walked into an Ghanaian restaurant and saw an Indian or European enjoying some Banku or Waakye ?

It is not mostly about the food, it is about what comes before and after the food.

Over the years, my experience at Ghanaian restaurants especially the so called posh ones (both home and abroad) has been awful.

Until we begin to appreciate the idea behind customer service, we will continue to struggle in attracting other nationals to our restaurants. And eventually shut them down as we continue to do.