Script: 'Freddie's Place' survey
Freddie’s Place is a casual restaurant in town. The staff regularly ask for ramdom customers’ opinions to evaluate the success of the business. Most customers are quite willing to give up a few minutes to take part in the survey.
Manager: Thanks very much, Mr Wong, for agreeing to take part in our survey. What our customers think of us is very important to all of us here at Freddie’s Place.
Ben: No problem at all.
Manager: So, on a scale of one to five, with one being ‘Strongly disagree’, two ‘Somewhat disagree’, three ‘Neutral’, four ‘Somewhat agree’ and five ‘Strongly agree’, could you please evaluate these five statements.
Ben: Hm…fire away!
Manager: First: My food was served hot and fresh.
Ben: Hm…definitely a five. The food we ordered was just right.
Manager: [interrupting] oh…good.
Manager: The menu has a good variety of items.
Ben: Hm…oh, a four. We all thought there could have been more choices of vegetables.
Manager: The quality of food is excellent.
Ben: A five. We are regular customers here and wouldn’t keep coming back if the food was anything less than fantastic.
Manager: Oh, the food sometimes lacks taste and flavour.
Ben: Oh, a one. The food here is some of the tastiest in town. And we discover new flavours every time we come here. The lavender icecream tonight was unusual, but I loved it.
Manager: [interrupting] Oh, [laughing]
Manager: Now, I have a few more questions.
Ben: Please, go ahead.
Manager: Was your food order correct and complete?
Ben: Well, my girlfriend ordered a salad as a starter, and I ordered soup. But her salad was brought at the same time as the main course, which isn’t very good.
Manager: [interrupting] Oh…
Manager: But were you served promptly?
Ben: Well, we had to wait about ten minutes, which was acceptable.
Manager: Did you look at the special menu on the blackboard? And was it easy to read?
Ben: Hm… a special menu? Was there a blackboard? I didn’t see it.
Manager: How availabe were sauces, napkins, utensils…?
Ben: Well, there were only two paper napkins on the table. We needed more. And there weren’t any forks. But these were brought when I asked for them.
Manager: Was your waiter patient and helpful when he took your order?
Ben: Yeah, he was fine when he took the order. But it took quite a long time to get someone to bring our bill. There were four waiters around but none of them seemed to notice when we were ready to pay.
Manager: [interrupting] Oh!
Manager: What did you think of the background music this evening?
Ben: Ah…horrible. And too loud. Why do restaurants always think customers like music with their meals? I hate this.
Manager: But did your waiter speak clearly?
Ben: Hm… yes. No problems at all there. And he was knowledgeable about the menu.
Manager: How would you rate our service overall?
Ben: Hm… good. Just ask your staff to be more attentive when customers have finished their meals and are obviously ready to leave.
Manager: Hm… did you get good value for money here tonight?
Ben: Yes. The food was good value. No better nor worse than any other restaurant of your type.
Manager: [smiling]
Manager: What did you think of the quality and variety of beverages we serve?
Ben: Yea, the same as any other place, I suppose. Nothing outstanding. It’s the food we came for, not the drinks.
Manager: How would you rate our service?
Ben: Hm… ah, eight out of ten.
Manager: Thank you very much, Mr Wong. You have been most helpful. I’d like to give you this voucher for free desserts the next time you visit us and I hope to see you here again soon.