My mother would love this...
As we looked over the English version of our menu at a cute little restaurant in Porto, Portugal, we noticed a translated comment at the bottom of each page: "The Book of Complaints is available". I brushed it off as a mistranslation, giggled, and turned the page.A few days later in Lisbon, Portugal, we sat at the same table as a local Portuguese family who happened to mention this infamous, "Book of Complaints". The father of the family explained that most countries in Europe have this book available at restaurants and other areas offering service throughout the country. He offered us a funny tip: mention this book all over France and watch the service transform in front of your eyes...
As the mother explained, in Portugal, the people are perfectionists. The Book of Complaints is taken very seriously by the service industry and other areas of public service. As a citizen, if you are paying money for a service, you deserve excellent service in return.
The 13 year old boy of the family vented (in perfect English)... "My father would walk up four flights of stairs in the metro station and wait in line for a half an hour, just to ask for The Book of Complaints, to submit his complaint that the escalators are not working..."
The father interrupted, "And... they are fixed now aren't they...?"
The Book of Complaints. A place for the people to have a voice. The service industry encouraging constructive criticism. Countries accepting feedback to provide better service to its citizens. What a concept.
