Case Study Analysis: Case 9-1 Olive Garden Restaurants Division

This is a case analysis for a field case concerning the Olive Garden restaurant and a customer complaint (O’Rourke, 2010). In this case a dissatisfied customer writes to the division president of Olive Garden about a negative experience at a Mishawaka, Indiana restaurant. The problem started upon entry and proceeded through the customers dining experience.

The first problem that occurred was with the hostess. It started with the lack of a hostess when the customer entered the establishment. After a prolonged wait the customer tracked a hostess down and was offered a seat in an area where the customer could not get to due to a disability. After explaining to the hostess that the customer could not utilize the table provided the hostess showed the customer to a different table that was dirty and provided the wrong menus.

The initial problems with hostess displayed a problem with nonverbal communication. By not having a hostess welcome a customer this seems to nonverbally communicate that a patron is not welcome or important enough to greet. The hostess then failed to properly seat the customer in a disability friendly area; this showed that the hostess was not paying attention to the customer, which possibly made the customer feel unimportant. The dirty table itself showed that the restaurant might be dirty, that the employees did not care and that the manager does not care about the restaurant depending on the perception of the customers. Giving the customers the wrong menus also showed that the hostess did not care about the customers. In this type of business it is important to display an inviting environment for the customer and to make them feel as if they are important and comfortable, the company failed to do this.

The next issue was with the waiter. After another long wait a waiter approached, made it known that the area they were in was not his area and took their order that included wine. Approximately twenty minutes later the food...