This restaurant does what others dare not do - fight with customers
Arguing with guests is a cardinal sin in the service industry. It’s arguably the hardest part of the job: People working in the hospitality industry are required to be nice to people – even to those who don’t deserve it. We’re trained to show respect. We’re taught to “kill them with kindness,” no matter how they behave or how critical they may be of our actions.
Those of you who saw “Fury of the Dragon” or “Return of the Dragon” will remember the hero Tang Lung played by Bruce Lee indulge in some wild ‘chop - sock’ fighting scenes. The story line revolves around Tang Lung helping his cousins prevent their restaurant from been taken over by a crime syndicate that was harassing them with brutal attempts to force them to sell their property.
Reminiscent of these classic Bruce Lee films, comes (enters) another Lee - Dragon Lee. And yes, this ‘real life’ story too features a restaurant. It is a family owned Chinese restaurant located in upstate New York, named Dragon Lee.
TripAdvisor gives the Dragon Lee restaurant a 3.5 rating. It includes some very good reviews, such as “Love their hot and sour soup! One of my favs”, “I love the food and the atmosphere and I’ve never been disappointed with the food or the cost of it”.”This place is by far the best Chinese food up here, their hot and sour soup is the best I' have ever had, love their garlic shrimp combo, and also always order their steamed dumpling”.
On the flip-side, like every restaurant that has a handful of difficult guests, Dragon Lee too have its critics. The difference however is that Dragon Lee is doing what other businesses don’t dare do: Fighting back in a ‘chop-sticky’ manner by arguing with its customers.
Here are some examples of how the restaurant’s manager responds in a feisty manner to some negative reviews:-
Disgruntled Customer:-"Avoid at all costs".
Restaurant’s Response: - Yup, don't come here when we first Re-Open. (That was a bad choice on your part.) It gets turned into a utter warzone. Parking is crowded, Line is long, Wait is long, but the Food is good. Also Avoid When the parking lot is full. It means we are a working and serving at full capacity. This place is only run with a family of 4. (Only 1 Chef,1 Fry Cook, 1 Expeditor, and 1 Server / Cashier).
Disgruntled Customer: - "Possibly the worst in the State of New York!”
Restaurant’s Response:-You should visit some places in Chinatown and Lower Manhattan. You wanna see sketchy. We have been open for almost 30 years now and were doing just fine, just a bit older though. There used to be a lot more Asian Restaurants like this in our area, but they come and gone.
Disgruntled Customer: "They mix whatever they have around to fill orders!”
Restaurant’s Response: - Kind of have to obviously. Can't make Pork fried rice without Pork, onions, bean sprouts, scallions, rice, and some Sherry. We don't cheap out with our meats; we use USDA Choice or Prime meats. Some of the brands we use are Perdue Harvest land, Mountaire, Farmland/Smithfield. None of the off brand stuff and our prices reflect that. You get for what you pay for.
Here’s some more of Dragon Lee’s knock-out responses; to the diner who commented that the menu was outdated, the restaurant replied “just shows how ignorant you actually are It’s reply to a complainant that the sesame chicken and chicken wings were raw, was “If you didn’t like it. We understand … but saying its raw, just shows us how uneducated and stupid you actually are”.
Probably not the response you thought you were expecting, huh.
Ilzaf Keefahs is a freelance writer who enjoys focusing on hospitality related matters that he is passionate about, and likes to share his views with hoteliers and customers alike. He delves into the heart of hospitality to figure out both customer service and consumer trends that impact the industry
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