Increase in prices.. does it translate to better service?

With the advent of globalization everywhere, India too has jumped into the ‘high life’ bandwagon. People are no longer conservative about going out , spending their money at fancy restaurants, bars, shopping complexes etc. Swanky restaurants have taken advantage of this increased spending tendencies of people and have mushroomed all over the cities and quote, well, swankier prices. Agreed, inflation, purchasing power and high operating costs do substantiate the steep increase in prices, but has our service industry kept up with the pace? I doubt it very much.

Take the restaurant industry for example. If you have dined elsewhere in the world, you would certainly agree that there is a  large gap in service levels between Indian restaurants and restaurants in another country. Look at programs such as Master chef or Top Chef. The amount of preparation in running a restaurant is absolutely mind blowing. The fact that judges rate the contestant on presentation and service just goes to show that times have changed and good food is a package and not just all about taste. One contestant even got thrown out because she didn’t take care to learn about the guests and she served shrimp to a pregnant woman! While this is a bit extreme, I think restaurants in our country should take serious action to step up to International service standards.

The other day I had gone to a restaurant in a 4 star hotel. I spotted a cockroach on the table and called the waiter. I was already quite speechless but was totally stunned when I saw the guy pick up a paper napkin, squash it in front of me and clear it away. And he just walked away without even apologizing! This when a plate of cheese toast costs 400-500 bucks . Why? We shell out a high price to get good food and service in return. What is the point in charging atrocious rates when you can’t keep up the standards? What is the difference between you and a roadside vendor?

Another example is when I ordered  potato wedges and got something else instead. When I questioned about it, the waiter picked it up without apologizing and did not even ask what I wanted!! A third example is when me (a strict vegetarian) had dined with a group of people at a restaurant and one of them ordered Mutton biryani. While serving , the waiter spilt some biryani on my pudina parantha. I explained that I am a vegetarian and I do not eat meat and can he please replace my paranthas? Instead he gave me back the same parantha’s after brushing  the rice off them. I expected them to respect and be sensitive to my religious and culinary sentiments and provide me fresh food, if not for anything else, at least for the price I pay. No! They wouldn’t do that.  Utterly appalling attitude!! I refused to eat it and asked them to serve me some different dish instead.

And this is just the restaurant industry. I can go on and on about various other industries. Attitude of serving staff is pathetic in almost 90% of the places.

Unless we, the people of our country put our foot down and refuse to accept substandard products/ service, our country will forever only be “Developing”, never “Developed”.