Guide to the Perfect Customer: mistakes not to make in the Pizzeria

The customer is always right: the phrase coined in 1909 by Harry Gordon Selfridge is true until a certain point. Because the customer is sometimes a pain in the ass, he demands impossible things, he is not very inclined to change or to other people’s points of view. Even more so when he is “the one who pays” by creating precise expectations before crossing the threshold of a restaurant: more often than not, with this attitude he will never be satisfied.
In this article, together with some forcing, we try to dismantle some myths by interpreting them from a pizzeria customer perspective and underlining which behaviors should be modified to truly become the perfect customer, the one who deserves the highest quality and attention from the pizzeria.
Don’t worry, sooner or later the handbook will also arrive with the mistakes not to be made by the latter, but for once let’s start from the other side of the fence first.

NO SHOW OR EXCESSIVE DELAYS AFTER BOOKING

More and more frequently, pizzerias offer the possibility of booking conveniently online, by telephone call or WhatsApp. This is done to reduce the waiting times for each customer as much as possible, better organize the available seats, and optimize the overall profit.
Not showing up after a reservation or arriving well beyond the typical tolerance (15 minutes) not only puts the organization of the pizzeria in difficulty but is also disrespectful towards other customers who, due to this lack, will find themselves having to wait longer and perhaps ruin themselves the evening.
Notify the restaurant in case of delay or impediment and do not complain if your table was assigned 30 minutes later. Respect calls for respect.

MAKE THE PIZZERIA CRAZY WHILE ORDERING

Pizzerias often offer a limited menu to guarantee fresh ingredients or to better manage all orders, especially those at the same time. The variations for any real intolerances (for example) are understandable, the rest much less so. Driving the kitchen crazy with “exotic” or other requests means further invalidating the organizational machine, as does asking for dishes that are not on the menu, evidently for a reason. If you have to heavily modify a pizza, it is better to order another one, perhaps experimenting. If there are twenty of you, then, it is difficult to demand pizzas at the same time, even if the ovens are the same size as a football field. Finally, it is even worse to get angry if the requests cannot be fulfilled.

HAVING AN ARROGANT ATTITUDE OR DENY THE IDENTITY OF THE PIZZERIA

Being sulked, always demanding a smile, pointing out every little flaw, and “putting yourself over” as if we knew more than the pizza chef, leads to an often useless “toxic climate” between the customer and the pizzeria, which can rarely translate into a satisfactory experience. The attitude must always be collaborative, at least neutral, to then draw one’s assessments at the end of the evening and decide whether or not to return to the pizzeria. When possible (especially if you are annoying…um, demanding) it is always better to search for pieces of information about the pizzeria where you are going to eat: type of menu, price range, atmosphere, presence or absence of certain services. When everything is clear, it is unprofitable to demand a style of pizza or an offer that goes against the identity of the pizzeria itself: often it is curiosity that rewards, getting advice and trying something new, experimenting, and “immersing yourself” in the proposed mood, to understand if it is right for you or if it is better to go elsewhere.

REVIEW ONLY IF YOU HAVE NEGATIVE EVENTS OR TAKE IT PERSONALLY

When we want to speak badly about something, we are all ready to talk about it to everyone, make petitions, and use any evaluation system available to share our negative experiences. It may be right, but obstinacy or excessively personal evaluations should be left out, they only denote a mood swing which among other things is not helpful for other customers who simply want to find out about the pizzeria.
If you like to share your opinion (perhaps even with useful details, beyond the “philosophical” ones), it would be nice to do it positively, to bring out the excellence simply by obscuring those who don’t work well and don’t deserve your money or other people’s.

CLAIM NOT TO PAY THE MEAL OR TO HAVE DISCOUNTS (POWERED BY INFLUENCER®)

Let’s not kid ourselves, visibility and communication have become increasingly important in the world of catering, they do not have a defined value like the cost of a tin of San Marzano, but they still represent something perceptible and often non-trivial. If there is no prior agreement, however, you remain customers whether you eat alone or with four GoPros on your head and one hundred thousand followers on the other side of the screen. You should always ask for the bill, pay willingly if it is presented, and don’t expect anything just because you make a post or some Stories afterward. The choice of discount and not asking you to pay must always and only be the initiative of the restaurateur – who can do it out of friendship, following a pleasant chat, because he is doing the math in his pocket or for who knows what other reason – or, as mentioned, of a more structured agreement agreed upon by both parties in advance.