Customer complaints: how to turn them into an asset for your restaurant
20 October 2025
Complaints are (unfortunately) part of everyday life in the catering industry.
They always come at the wrong time: a customer raising his hand while you're in the middle of a shooting, a Google review published at 2 a.m. or an inflammatory e-mail received the day after a complicated service.
It's annoying and sometimes depressing, but it's also a mine of information. Because a customer who takes the time to complain tells you that he still hopes to be heard.
The challenge is to capture this feedback effectively and use it as a basis for improving the overall experience and building lasting loyalty.
Customer complaints: 5 signals never to be ignored in the restaurant business
What are the main customer complaints in the restaurant business?
Complaints often follow the same patterns, whatever the establishment:
➜ waiting too long: an order that takes 40 minutes in the dining room, or an interminable queue at the counter. This is one of the most common criticisms, especially on large rushes.
➜ ordering error: a burger requested without cheese served with it, a dish that doesn't come out, a botched cooking job.
➜ service quality: waiter considered unfriendly, overworked team a little dry in their welcome. These remarks are often found in online reviews, where the human element is as closely scrutinized as the food itself.
➜ payment-related problems: Wrong bill, terminal not working, cash-out too slow. Nothing dramatic in itself, but it leaves a bad impression at the end of the meal.
➜ atmosphere and hygiene: room considered noisy, toilets not clean, music too loud. Details which may seem secondary but which weigh heavily in the opinions.
Even in the best teams, there's always a slip-up, it's part of the job. Where it becomes a real red flag is when the same reproach comes up several times. We're no longer talking about an isolated incident, but an organizational problem (which can sometimes have serious consequences).
The sooner you spot this recurrence, the more you can prevent it from growing. It would be a shame to wait for 12 e-mails and 15 Google reviews before realizing that one detail really annoys your customers.
Want to find out more? See our resource ➜ Restaurant: 8 mistakes that ruin the customer experience, without you even knowing it
What are the complaint channels?
Customers don't all express themselves in the same way, and the channel changes the game:
➜ live: the customer calls out to a waiter or asks to see the manager. It's embarrassing at the time, but you have the power to react immediately.
➜ online reviews: Google, Tripadvisor, social networks. Here, feedback is no longer private. A service error is transformed into a public trace, sometimes exaggerated, that influences the decision of future customers.
➜ e-mails or forms: They often provide detailed feedback, with specific examples and sometimes photos. However, this is not a natural reflex for customers, and many won't go so far as to write an e-mail unless they're very dissatisfied.
➜ word of mouth: invisible at the time, but harmful in the long term. An unhappy customer who tells colleagues or family can have a lasting impact on your local footfall without you even knowing it.
Each channel requires a different level of management. A dish sent back to the kitchen can be sorted out in a matter of minutes. A negative Google review stays up for months and can turn off dozens of potential customers.
How can we collect and process complaints more efficiently?
Not having a clear channel for collecting reviews creates two risks:
- Miss out on important returns. When complaints are scattered between in-room remarks, Google reviews, Instagram messages or direct emails, there are bound to be signals that get lost. These are often the first signs of a problem that's likely to get worse.
- Receive unusable notices. A star accompanied by "Nul" doesn't really give you an answer as to what went wrong. The more the customer is forced to seek out a channel for self-expression, the more rapid or even aggressive the feedback will be.
Give customers a clear, simple channel
If you want to prevent your customers from venting their frustrations on Google, give them an official outlet to express themselves.
By giving your customers an official, quick and easy channel to share their opinionsyou change the dynamic. Feedback is more detailed, more constructive and, above all, easier to analyze. You also reduce the risk of criticism finding its way directly into the public eye, where it weighs most heavily on your reputation.
It can be :
➜ a QR code on the table or on the bill
➜ notification after payment
➜ a short message by e-mail or SMS
Customers don't have to worry about where to express themselves, while you get direct, accurate, actionable feedback. Above all, soliciting feedback yourself shows that you're genuinely interested in your customers. This little attention doesn't go unnoticed and also helps to strengthen the bond of trust.
Want to find out more? See our resource ➜ Restaurants: 5 ways to collect customer reviews
Centralizing feedback: an asset for managing your facility
Forget the notice box in the corner. Customers don't think about them, and you never really read them. What's important is to have a system that captures feedback automatically, at the right time, and gathers it all in one place.
How can we do this? By automating the notification process. Thanks to an integrated notification solutionYou can ask for feedback after each order: customers rate their experience from 1 to 5 in just a few seconds.
The process is intelligent:
➜ if the note is good, the customer is redirected to your Google listing to publish a public review and boost your visibility
➜ if the note is average or negative, they receive a personalized message (e-mail or SMS) detailing their feedback and making them feel that their opinion counts
It's a win-win situation, greater visibility and appeal thanks to positive public reviews. On the other, the possibility of defuse negative criticism in privateto understand what went wrong, and to win the loyalty of a customer who might otherwise have left for good.
Every piece of feedback can be put to good use: either to enhance your reputation, or to help you make improvements.
Take back control of your customer relations
Where a poorly handled complaint can lose one (or even several) customers, A well-executed complaint can build long-term loyalty and strengthen your reputation.
With the Obypay solution, you can centralize reviews, encourage relevant feedback and transform each review into valuable data for managing your establishment.
