On December 12, I booked a table of six people at Syracuse restaurant, through their website, for December 19. I received a confirmation by email from them.
On December 18, the day before the booking, I received this email saying they were closed on the 19th:
Hi Mark
I just tried to call the number provided on the booking but couldn’t get through.
I was calling to apologise about being closed tomorrow Saturday night.
The bookings from the website were kept open by mistake, this is why you were able to lodge the booking for 6 people for tomorrow dinner.We close from tonight and re-open on the 4th of January. I hope to see you back after then, and please accept my apologies for any inconvenience caused.
Have a merry Xmas and a happy new year!
I was shocked they advised me they were closed barely 24 hours prior to the booking and that they would be closed in the busy week before Christmas. I let them know this in response to their email. They did not respond to me. Then, at 8:30am in December 19, I received this email:
Hi mark fletcher,
Friendly reminder regarding your booking at Syracuse this Saturday 19 Dec. The details of your booking can be found below.
If you need to modify your booking in any way, please contact us on 03 96701777.
We look forward to having you dine with us.
What?! I checked by calling, they were closed. The email was sent in error.
Why am I writing about this here? The experience is a reminder of the importance of ensuring your online operations are fully integrated and aligned with your offline operations.
Your opening and closing hours on your website, Facebook page, G+ page and elsewhere need to be consistent. Your online backend processes confirming orders and engaging in follow up need to reflect exactly how you do trade at that time and to ensure a consistent operation.
As more newsagents represent their businesses online in one or more ways, it is important that this part of the business receives regular attention so you do not provide a failure of service as was delivered by Syracuse restaurant.
More and more people want to be able to conduct business through websites, by email, through Facebook or by text. They are less likely to use the phone today than a few years ago. Instead of ensuring one platform, the shop, is run right, we now have multiple platforms need to get right, every time. Get one of these platforms wrong your business can look bad.
Next time you go to put up a sign in your window about anything, consider whether you need to put up a digital sign in your online ‘windows’.