Firstly we were asked if we had a booking. When we told the waiter that we did not, we were asked to move to another table, not yet set for dinner. We understood and moved.

She then began to set our table with cutlery and napkins, directly onto the unattractive stone top of the table. When I asked whether we could have a tablecloth like the others, she replied, “Oh, they are for customers who book. We usually don’t provide them for people who don’t book.”

We felt about 2″ tall, as though we were inferior to those who booked a table, and certainly not welcome at this restaurant. Although we were given a tablecloth, we considered leaving (there were plenty of other restaurants in the street) but we stayed. I am happy to say that the food was excellent and the rest of the service was attentive.

One small sentence from staff to customer – probably said in haste to cover a mistake – one huge impact.

I am not sure that I am totally in agreement with all that you say about Gen-Ys. They certainly are different to Baby Boomers, but that is to be expected, right? Part of the responsibility of the organisation is to ensure that the right processes are in place, the right metrics are being measured, that feedback is gathered from the source (e.g. the customers) in the right way (to eliminate bias) and that the results are analysed and acted upon.