As a foodservice manager, you’ve probably noticed that customers are becoming increasingly critical or demanding, right?
So, you’re not alone. In fact, that’s also the view of 40% of food service operators in Brazil, according to a survey by the National Restaurant Association (ANR).
But what exactly are customers complaining about?
To help you improve your network service, this article outlines the main reasons for customer complaints, according to ReclameAQUI.
And you know what?
Customer service ranked among the top three complaints across all segments of the food industry.
Therefore, this may be a good time for you to assess your customer service team.
Below, you can find a detailed breakdown of the most common consumer complaints regarding fast-food chains, restaurants, bakeries and coffee shops, snack bars, bars, and ice cream shops.
Don’t miss this opportunity to improve your service and build customer loyalty!
Fast-food chains
- Poor customer service – 1,642 complaints (customer service)
- Quality of service provided – 929 complaints (customer service)
- Refund of the amount paid – 902 (payment)
- Misleading advertising 828 (report)
- Poor service from a service provider – 753 (customer service)
- Unjustified charge – 626 (payment)
- Poor quality – 555 (product)
- Delivery delay – 426 (delivery)
- Wrong product – 393 (product)
- Poor quality – 333 (product)
Restaurants
- Poor customer service – 660 complaints (customer service)
- Quality of service provided – 389 complaints (customer service)
- Low quality – 374 (product)
- Delivery delays – 294 complaints (delivery)
- Poor service from a service provider – 242 (customer service)
- Improper charge – 231 (payment)
- Misleading advertising 217 (notification)
- Refund of the amount paid – 200 (payment)
- Wrong product – 205 (product)
- Spoiled food – 160 (item)
Pastry Shops and Coffee Shops
- Bad taste – 157 (product)
- Delivery delay – 150 (delivery)
- Poor service – 116 (customer service)
- Poor quality – 97 (product)
- Misleading advertising – 68 (report)
- Net content less than stated on the package – 64 (report)
- Unusual consistency – 64 (product)
- Product not received – 62 (delivery)
- Quality of service provided – 56 (customer service)
- Wrong product – 52 (delivery)
Snack bars
- Refund of the amount paid – 36 (payment)
- Delivery delay – 34 (delivery)
- Poor service – 32 (customer service)
- Wait time – 28 (service)
- Poor quality – 28 (product)
- Professional conduct – 26 (customer service)
- Poor service from the service provider – 26 (customer service)
- Unjustified charge – 26 (payment)
- Quality of service provided – 21 (customer service)
- Misleading advertising – 19 (notification)
Bars
- Poor customer service – 22 (customer service)
- Unjustified charge – 15 (payment)
- Poor service from the service provider – 13 (customer service)
- Quality of service provided – 11 (customer service)
- Misleading advertising – 11 (notification)
- Staff behavior – 10 (customer service)
- Refund of the amount paid – 10 (payment)
- Poor service from the waitstaff – 6 (service)
- Wait time – 6 (service)
- Unfilled reservation – 6 (customer service)
Ice cream shops
- Poor service – 20 (customer service)
- Poor quality – 18 (product)
- Poor service from the service provider – 12 (customer service)
- Quality of service provided – 8 (customer service)
- Foreign object – 8 (product)
- Sweepstakes and Contests – 4 (notification)
- Net content less than stated on the package – 4 (report)
- Poor taste – 4 (product)
- Refund of the amount paid – 3 (payment)
- Delivery delay – 3 (delivery)
Customer Complaints in the Foodservice Industry
In fact, customer service is the main reason customers complain about foodservice chains, according to ReclameAQUI.
With the exception of bakeries and coffee shops, complaints about all other sectors were mainly related to customer service.
See the details for each one below!
The importance of monitoring the quality of service
At fast-food chains, complaints about customer service accounted for 45% of all complaints recorded during the period.
Among restaurant chains, that figure was very close, at 44%.
At snack bars and ice cream shops, the rate was even higher, at 48%. And at bars, it reached an unbelievable 68% of complaints!
Complaints Regarding the Product
At ice cream shops, more than a third of consumer complaints are related to product quality (35%).
Meanwhile, at pastry shops and coffee shops, that figure reached 30% of complaints. And at restaurants, it was one-quarter, or 25%.
Complaints Regarding Payment
At fast-food chains, one-fifth (20%) of customer complaints relate to payment.
At snack bars and bars, this rate was 23%.
The delivery service
Finally, at bakeries and coffee shops, a quarter of the complaints received relate to delivery service (25%).
Note
The data from ReclameAQUI is constantly updated. It was collected on January 7, 2022.
So, if you want to get an up-to-date overview of your industry, check out the Reclame AQUI page using the links below:
Want to improve the quality of your customer service?
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Would you like to learn more about how it can help you improve your customer service and build customer loyalty?
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