This article also makes clear what is “post purchase dissonance”, according to psychology; “well spent time” and “learning relationship”, according to the experience economy.

Besides that we are normal people with different fates, with our daily good and bad moments, complicated or simple relationships, with ups and downs, with aspirations or lack of them, we are also customers.

When we go somewhere we have claims, requirements or just expectations from the place we visit. Sometimes we’re happy, sometimes we don’t, sometimes we raise scandals, sometimes we keep quiet if we’re not happy, but one thing’s for sure-after that we’re talking, commenting, writing on forums, social networks, in the profiles of restaurants. I write a blog, even giving ratings with my 5D Sensograph. 😊

For us as customers it is important to show our point of view, we want people in restaurants and hotels to serve us as if it is very clear to them and they are obliged to comply with it.

It is true that our money, which we pay to these people, provides them with wages, that we share this item from our expenses and we decide to give it to a specific place, to specific people and we are not satisfied when this decision proves unsuccessful. Especially if we had many other alternatives to spending this money. In psychology this client’ s frustration is called “post- purchase dissonance”[1]. This condition depends on many factors such as preliminary expectations, availability of other options, degree of satisfaction, difficulty of choice, price, etc. In such dissonance, we, as clients, experience tension and anxiety, to be satisfied with our choices, and we want to be right.

But are we always right just because we’re customers?

Do we ever think about who is standing on the other side, what effort they made to create this business, and what effort it costs them now to maintain it at a level. It’s hard for them to find quality waiters, chefs, assistant chefs, receptionists, housekeeping employees…. Whether or not they worry about having unsatisfied customers or just don’t care about all this and their way to bankruptcy is and already drawn.

I always try to write my articles in this blog as much as possible objectively, or at least if I do not give max score of hearts to support with concrete examples my rating, to suggest constructive comments to show how things would be better for me as a client. I don’t like criticizing just for sports and I am not doing it.
To prove what I write here, I will copy the answer the owner of restaurant Aubergine Ivo Cholakov to my review published in Tripadvisor. (The articles I post partially there, so the comment was taken from there.)

Read the original review for Aubergine:

VISIT AUBERGINE IF YOU LIKE ORENTAL CUISINE IN SOFIA, BULGARIA

“Officeaubergine, Owner at aubergine, responded to this reviewresponded yesterday

Thank you for your detailed review and kindly words!
When someone make such an effort to appreciate we work, you knew you’ve done something special… All the hard work, and sleepless nights are worth it… All the Hard times and rainy day, are forgotten.
However, Suche Reviewss of us, that there’s still more we can do to improve and develop our restaurant, our tastes and the experience of our guest.
We promise you even more hard work and efforts, and even less sleep, so this you can visit aubergine-Craft beer. Craft food. and enjoy the experience of our place.
With kindest regards and warm wishes!
Ivo Chalakov
Owner @ aubergine-Craft beer. Craft food. “

Here I want to note that for me very often I am not so much interested in customer reviews on Tripadvasior but rather the responses by restaurateurs and hoteliers.

Ivo Cholakov’s comment once again reminded me how much responsibility I carry when I rate and review a place. All you Dear awesome-reading-friends of placescases.com, reading these reviews decide whether to go to any of these places or not, shape your expectations, you have desires, requirements, claims, just like me.

When a client is fighting the waiters just because today he is crooked or believes that this type of staff should be crushed in order to seek cheap respect, or just something is wrong in the service, because the waiter is new, the order mistaken, the food is delayed and one is in a hurry to rub the staff nose, or believes that in the kitchen no one cares what is served on the tables, that client is not right.

On the other side, that of the owner, the manager, the staff of this business, there are people probably trying hard, looking for a way to find a solution to the extraordinary claims of the client, do not sleep at night to make plans, think of further development, endeavor to achieve this so desired by us satisfaction and prevent post-purchase dissonance.

For us, customers, it is important to feel pampered, to be assured that our expectations cared to be met, not to doubt that we have given our money in the right place, that we have spent our time well. In the theory of the experience economy[2] it is argued that such “well spent time”[3] enables the business to earn better because we, customers, are willing to pay for such added value.

‘ Wow, they really baby you here! ‘The good performance of a place is a collaboration between a polite client, aspiring to a high-quality owner and team, realistically created expectations by marketing, striving for development and learning from mistakes. For example, it is important to have a graceful excuse of a mistake, not to deny it, to be able to offer alternatives when a customer’s claim cannot be satisfied. This is a complex but achievable balance. It is achieved by the so-called “learning relationship” [4]between the business and the client. I am trying to maintain a quality learning relationship with all restaurants and hotels which I visit to help achieve this perfect balance through mine, I hope, constructive and objective feedback in placescases.com.

[1] Consumer Behavior, Building Marketing Strategy, 11 ed. by Hawkins and Mothersbaugh, p.623

[2] Experience economy is a theory created by B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore

[3] Source: Harvard Business Review, ‘ Do you Want to keep Your customer Forever? ‘ by B. Joseph Pine Iidon Peppersmartha Rogers

[4] Source: Harvard Business Review, ‘ Do you Want to keep Your customer Forever? ‘ by B. Joseph Pine Iidon Peppersmartha Rogers

Read more posts about Experience Economy on placescases.com.