General Discussion

Something that has been on my mind for sometime now.

What ever happened to good customer service?

After various visits to the Model fish and chip shop of Queen Street, Dawlish I cant believe how bad the customer service is in this establishment.

From the non smiling welcome, all the way through to leaving, I didnt feel welcome for a minute.

Not once was I greeted, smiled at or even apologised to for having to wait excessive amounts of time.

Instead I was presented with, a bored looking, miserable, and snappy workforce who each looked like they would rather be anywhere else and made no attempt to hide it.

Maybe Im asking for too much but I think the paying people of Dawlish deserve more, how these people have a custome base is beyond any comprehension.

Thoughts?

Quite agree!!!! gave up going in there and any of the others ages ago, rather drive over to Teignmouth where not only do you get pleasant service but also good fresh fish and chips!!!!

I stopped going there 10 years ago! ..customers seemed to be a nuisance then, nothing changes..anyway the chips were never that well cooked...

Went in 20 minutes before closing time and was told no fish,they couldnt be arsed to cook some.Was told i could have chips or chips. Never been back since.

I always use Rock n Sole , great fish (good choice) and decent chips.You sometimes have to wait but its worth it.

Thanks for that.Your not the only one to suggest Rock n Sole. I'll give it a try.

Anything got to be better than looking at her miserable face in Queen Street chippie.

Rock n Sole rules ok

I went to the fish and chip shop in Queens Street a couple of months ago. There were about three customers in front of me, I stood there with my disabled four year old in my arms. The woman was serving all three customers at once but did not even look at me. Some more people came into the shop who she obviously knew, she asked them what they wanted and then put their order on. I was completely flabergasted! She eventually asked me what I wanted and I got my order over half an hour after entering the shop. There was no apology and, to top it all of, the fish and chips were rubbish. Will not be using the chippy again ever and told them exactly what I thought of their crap customer service. Its a wonder they have any customers!!!

Harbour fish bar Teignmouth. Fish and chips as they should be freshly cooked and Russel and his missus always have time for a chat. None of the Dawlish chippys compare. Grab a wooden fork and take them up the point carpark to eat them cant be beaten on a nice summer evening

exactly what we do moh, but do bring them home occasionally, finn mcools is great too, never bother with Dawlish chippys even rock and sole never had a good bit of fish in there, it was alright when Andros had it!!!!!!!!

I have to say, I'm extremely surprised at this appraisal of the Model Fish Cafe. I live just around the corner, and go there reasonably regularly - probably a couple of times a month - and have been doing so for the past couple of years. My experiences have been totally at odds with those described above.

I've found the service to either be completely neutral but nonetheless polite, or I've found them to be friendly and welcoming. More often than not, whilst I'm waiting, I catch the eye of whoever is serving and I end up having a nice chat about something or other. Not infrequently, this happens both between myself and the person serving, but also with other customers - it's enjoyable when everyone is friendly and chatty whilst waiting for the food to be ready. Perhaps it's because I go in there in a good mood, feeling happy and looking forward to a nice dinner, that I have a commensurately pleasant experience? That's not to say that if you're feeling less chipper or less talkative you should be treated rudely, but I personally find it quite hard to pass judgement on the cafe without knowing how people behave and the nature of their interactions with the staff in there when they visit. Please don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to insinuate that those who have had bad experiences in there must be being rude themselves, I'm just trying to figure out why I've had universally pleasant experiences in there whilst other people seem to have had problems.

There is a variation in the staff in terms of how they are with customers - the man and lady in there who seem to be in charge always seem to be very friendly and warm when I've visited. Some of the younger members of staff vary in their degree of confidence and friendliness (a few of them just seem very new, and very shy!), but I've certainly never found any of them to be rude.

In terms of the product, I'd say the vast majority of the time I've been extremely happy with what I've received. Things seemed to be cooked fresh to order, and only twice in the past two years of patronising the cafe regularly have I found the food to be disappointing (one time it was just a little bit greasy, and on one occasion when I noted there was a new young chap cooking, the chips were slightly underdone).

On the other hand, I have (on sereval occasions) watched members of the public behave in such an overtly rude and condescending manner that I've felt deeply uncomfortable and embarrassed. For instance, a couple of months ago, I watched one very short-tempered woman be aggressive and impatient with the (obviously new and inexperienced) young lady serving, because the woman was placing a very large order, and the girl taking the order had wanted to clarify exactly what the woman wanted so she didn't do the order wrong (e.g. whether "two sausage and chips" means "two sausages with one portion of chips", or "two portions of a single sausage and chips"). The woman placing the order was impatiently raising her voice, passive-aggressively sighing, rolling her eyes, and generally behaving like a petulant child. Unfortunately, this is no means an isolated incident, which rather disgusts me.

In any case, sorry for the long message, but I just wanted to share an alternative viewpoint, as I don't like the idea of people coming across this page and thinking that the unanimous verdict on the Model Fish Cafe is that it's poor. I don't think that at all, I think it's a great fish and chip shop staffed by pleasant people, and I would certainly recommend it to others.

Although we don't go to the chippy that often when we do it is to the Model chip shop in Queen Street.

We've never encountered any brusque or rude service. In fact, of the three chippies (I can only think of the three) in the town the Model is the one we would recommend.

I wasn't critisizing the food in the Model chip shop in fact most of the time its rather good, but sorry, friendly & welcoming they are not. I'm glad you like going there Nyanko but I think I'll give it a miss for a while.

Hi BobRees,

I get what you're saying, and naturally, if you've had an unpleasant experience there, it's entirely understandable that you don't plan on going back. I also think it's entirely legitimate to share your views about the place; personally, I find it extremely helpful when people have taken the time to post a fair review online about a business that I'm considering patronising, regardless of whether the comments are positive or negative.

The only thing that I object to that you've said is the way in which you've phrased something that is your opinion as fact ("friendly and welcoming they are not"). You'll notice I prefixed my views about the cafe with "I've found" or "I think", because it's wrong to assume that my experience is an objective one - clearly a number of us have had quite different experiences there. As such, I think it's unfair for you to say that they aren't friendly or welcoming, just as it would be for me to say that they are, rather than I think they are.

I apologise if that sounds awfully pedantic, but I think in writing reviews online, one has to accept a certain degree of responsibility for the veracity of our claims, and therefore we should try to be as accurate and fair as possible - including making clear distinctions between things which are facts and things which are our personal views.

I'd be interested to try out Rock n Sole, as I've heard lots of positive things about the place! I've read that they do mackerel, which I'd really like to try.

Hi Nyanko.

I understand what your saying, but it is a fact that I've been there on numerous occasions & found the more senior staff unfriendly.

It doesn't cost a lot to say "Thank you " or even "Enjoy you meal". Maybe I'm expecting too much.

Hiya. Sum gud comments from Nyanko. Customer service round here isn't the best in the world, but omg sum customers don't deserve gud service!

If you go in a chipshop 20 minutes before it is due to close , and all they offer you is chips because they cant be arsed to cook anything else then im sorry, but if id gone in singing and dancing , it would have made no difference. If a business is to lazy to take your custom then it never deserves it again.

In high season Rock and sole has a choice of 8 or 10 different fish, hence the wait at times.