A customer sits down at a restaurant table, leans on the table to get comfortable and...EVERYTHING on the table slides down and hits the floor, or worse, into their lap. The customer is now embarrassed because everyone has just witnessed the incident. A waiter or someone else on staff comes over to help the customer remedy the situation, but the customer just wants to leave out of embarrassment or frustration. I've personally experienced this exact scenario last week at a restaurant my family and I visited.   

The Impact Of A Table

It does not matter where you are in the world, tables are the most important component of any hospitality business. This is where your customers will eat and enjoy a meal out with their family, a business meeting, or a night out with their significant other. This means that in spite of a warm, welcoming exterior and friendly staff, a restaurant could still receive a poor review because of the table. 

The food and service could be stellar, but if the table is somehow inferior, wobbles, or perhaps leans, the entire customer experience can be ruined. The table (all by itself) can lead to bad reviews, complaints, and customers who are reluctant to return to your establishment. This may seem like a small problem but it is a  problem that can have a major impact on your business.

Tables and The Customers

The customers are important and are the key to your business success. This part of the experience is universally understood.  What isn't...is the fact that the table base is critical to the environment and the experience. And, we know that for many, it's the least considered.

Especially those who don't understand the differences between cast iron and stamped steel top plates, think that the table base is an item that can be purchased from anyone, anywhere and they're all the same.  We at JI Bases, can tell you that's a dangerous assumption.

We encourage you to think this through a bit more. 

The table gets all the abuse. Customers push off of it to stand; they lean on it to get further into a booth or seated position; they even lean on an edge throughout the meal. This additional weight can cause stamped steel to bend or flex.  That's what it is supposed to do. But it doesn't "bounce" back, it stays stretched.  Hence, the table now permanently leans to one side or the other. Or, occasionally the attachment hardware pops out due to the metal stress and you're left with a top that isn't sturdy.

It's Not Just Wobbles

The furniture is beautiful, as your customer looks out over the dining room. They can't tell if the table they're being seated at has a fault. That is until they sit down. If your floor is uneven, the wobble can be fixed, either by adjusting the glides (if available) or as some customers may do - stuff some napkins or sugar packets under it. Yes, it's a temporary fix, and the only way to counter it is to have your staff level the legs before each service and reset.

But what happens when your customer is ready for a business meeting, and lays their pen down. It's careens off to the floor because the table top is leaning from all the abuse it's withstood over time.  Nothing that the waiter can put under the leg, or the customer can do to level the top will help the situation. Customers may try to sit there and enjoy a nice meal or drink, but every time they rest an elbow on the table they may worry about the possibility of a glass tipping over. This is definitely not the type of dining experience you want your customers to leave with.

Customers should be able to enjoy their meals without having to get into a fight with your restaurant's furniture. JI Bases supplies a consistent, quality cast iron product with solid cast iron top plates that will never bend or flex.  They offer a LIFETIME guarantee (on cast iron products) and shipment within 24 hours of receiving your order, and never any minimums.