I also think that the level of expectation in quality of service depends highly on the establishment you visit. If you visit a high end restaurant that has universally good reviews and you drop a fair amount of money for that meal you bet I'm going to expect impeccable service. And that is going to be the norm at restaurants like that. But as you drop down on the quality chain, so too does the service. I think the same goes for any industry. There are bad people in every business. Take real estate for examples, something I know a little bit about. There are a gazillion really bad brokers out there who don't know the first thing about real estate. They think the whole job is walking someone through a house and making it look and sound nice, warm and inviting. That's probably the least important element. I've met so many brokers who when asked specifically to provide justification for their pricing recommendation with actual sales as comps, not current listings, and what do they give me? Only current listings. When I go out to eat and want to try something new, I'm checking TripAdvisor for consistently good reviews and I'll read the bad ones. You can tell if the bad ones are just sour grapes or valid complaining. And this has served me very very well. Also, if you go to a casual dining establishment where the checks are small, there is a higher likelihood that you could get a server who isn't all that good. There is one restaurant near my house where we have eaten there several times during the first year or so it was opened. And each time the service as practically non-existent. The food actually matches the service and we will never go back there again. But we gave it a shot because the space it is in is incredible. Unfortunately the County built the structure and gave an operator a 40 year lease. A shame. But in the end, I don't see any difference between real estate brokers, exterminators, lawyers, doctors or wait staff in a restaurant. There are lots of really bad quality people practicing every one of those professions. The lesson is know the restaurant you're going to and walk in with an expectation that is realistic of the place you are dining.
