I went to the Suga Sushi in University Village for lunch and ordered a Chicken Katsu Donburi. To my surprise, I found a blue elastic band curled up in my food. The elastic band was so soft I feel like it was already partially melted from the heat in the food. I requested for a free new bowl, thinking it was reasonable compensation. He disagreed and told me that he won’t charge me for the current bowl and that if I wanted to eat something else I’ll still have to purchase the full price. I ended up arguing my way through and eventually, after long contemplations, he gave in and agreed.

As I reflected later on, if he didn’t give me a free bowl, the restaurant could have potentially lost revenue because I’d give negative feedback on the restaurant and tell my friends not to go. This feedback loop would include a negative word of mouth, which would cause them to have fewer customers and decrease profits.  Aside from applying the principles we learned in class to assess how successful a business is, I think basic customer service is just as important and Suga Sushi definitely did not have this.