Earliest this month, one of our reviews covered Side Pockets located near Kellogg & Tyler. If you haven’t read it, you can check it out here. To sum up the review, it mentioned a fun atmosphere plagued by poor service.
I was unhappy with the service on multiple visits and wrote about my experiences. The review was then shared on the Wichita By E.B. Facebook page which spurned on many more comments of diners who mostly agreed and shared their sentiments which centered on the lack of service.
I actually had one server there who was kind enough to reach out to me. She offered me the opportunity to return, ask for her and she would be sure to take care of my group. It was an email I appreciated but politely declined saying that I probably would eventually but would rather do it inconspicuously to get a genuine feel of what any other bar-goer would experience.
After that a member of their management team reached out to me. She mentioned how unhappy they were with the review but were more upset with the response from everybody who commented. She called it a wake-up call for the entire team.
Based off of the reaction of many of you, she said changes would be made. Since the blog post, they have had individual meetings with staff members and developed a customer service initiative that would include adding new team members and developing new positions. They have also enlisted a customer service professional to provide ongoing customer service training for the entire staff. Additionally, they are rolling out an online customer service survey where guests can also be entered into a monthly drawing for prizes.
She mentioned they are committed to ensuring that their customers have a great experience.
I thought it would only be fair to post their response to give them a chance to openly discuss the review and comment not just to me but to everybody who reads the blog. If anything, I appreciate their openness to hear the criticism. I’ve had my fair share of nasty messages in response to reviews so it was nice to see. I’ll eventually make my way back to Side Pockets to see these changes for myself. The important part will be if they execute on service. In the meantime if you do go back and see changes or things kept the same, I’d love to hear your experiences in the comments below.
Happy Dining,
Eddy
To nominate your restaurant or event to be considered for a review, please email us with your restaurant information. We are always open to suggestions.
Service is still crap, hire a new consultant.