From your lips to God’s ears and amen.
At the Wendy’s I worked for (franchise after the first 1 year), it depended how you contacted us.
If you use the 800 number on the windows or comment card, we got a fax with the comment (anonymized). I presume the corporate handles the free food and whatnot - we just got to read it and the managers got in trouble if there were too many bad ones.
If you called our store directly (say, looked it up in the phone book), you’d get put on a list we had taped to the wall and would get free food the next time you came through.
Presumably if you called Wendy’s corporate directly we wouldn’t hear anything since we were owned by a franchise for most of the time I worked there.
Now the secret shoppers were totally different - those played a big part in manager bonuses and secret shopper reports got posted on the wall every time we got one.
Years ago, a local Wendy’s had a drive-through that just could not seem to get an order for four people correct; usually it was the wrong toppings on burgers. After enough incidences of this to assure me that it was a pattern and not just a few random errors, I wrote to the regional office for the chain. I got the usual letter of apology and some coupons, but I swear to Og that the drive-through shaped right up. Never had a problem from then on out.
So, it seems someone was listening.
KFC
Oh look chicken fingers with ginger dipping sauce, sounds interesting.
Gets order…um pardon but where is the dipping sauce?
We’re out.
You’re out? So why did you let me order this? Why didn’t you tell me to order the strips instead of charging me for this?
I’ve had some real doozies, but a talk with the manager usually solves things.
I am stealing nothing. I ordered a #1 combo meal, not a big mac, fries and a drink. A #1. So why shouldn’t they replace the whole thing, rather than part of it? They screwed up part of it, they ruined all of it. It is a whole, not a fraction. But if you don’t mention the whole thing, they will only replace a fraction. They don’t want to replace it, the solution is simple: pay attention, and get it right. No one said I called in screaming or demanding anything. I was simply bringing their error to their attention. And their policy is to replace my order that they did not deliver, as agreed per our drive thru speaker-box contract.
I don’t see what’s wrong with letting them know about it when your order is legitimately incorrect or otherwise inadequate (cold, mouse-nibbled, whatever). These days they actually ask for the feedback: seems like every receipt I get these days has a “customer satisfaction survey” attached to it. Go to the website, fill out the survey, get a coupon whether you were satisfied or not.
My last order from Chick-Fil-A (no politics please) was wrong: of three 12-piece nugget boxes I ordered, one box had 12, one only had 8, and one had strips instead of nuggets. So I told them that on the receipt survey, and they sent a couple of coupons for free 8-piece nugget boxes. They asked for my opinion, I gave it, they thanked me, everyone’s happy.
One time I filled out the customer complaint form on the McDonalds website because the local store had not shoveled the snow from their sidewalk and it was a real pain to walk down it. Got a nice call from the local franchisee and a couple of coupons. Sidewalk was maintained pretty well after that too.
No you didn’t…
So you ordered a Big Mac… on a Quarter Pounder bun… only one slice of cheese, half the lettuce, and Tartar Sauce instead of special sauce… ok, and make the meat extra well done… and fries and a Coke.
Because…
You just admitted that the sandwich was the only thing wrong. There was nothing “ruining” the rest. You just made something up so you can get free stuff.
I’m a firm believer that fast food places should charge double for everything you special order… then if they get it wrong you have a legit complaint. (ok, all of you with special allergies, don’t jump on me… maybe a doctor’s note would waive the charge).
I never ever complain about my food unless the order is vastly wrong. In this case, it was. I had ordered 2 triple-stacker sandwiches from BK, and halfway home I noticed there were 2 single-stackers in the bag. I had WAY overpaid for the amount of food I got, so I turned around and explained the situation to the drive-thru guy. He said, “Okay,” and fixed the order. But he didn’t offer a coupon or apologize or anything. When I explained that I had to drive an extra 10 miles to fix their mistake, he still didn’t offer anything. I asked for a manager and he said he WAS the manager. I asked if I could get a coupon or something for the inconvenience, and he said no. 
What the fuck? He was a total dickhead. It was too late to go inside and see whether he was actually the manager, or whether he was just an employee pretending to be the manager so I didn’t get him into trouble. I dunno, I ate my sammiches and quit giving a fuck.
So in that case, *nothing *happened when I complained. I could probably have called corporate about the issue, but meh. I just chose to never go back.
You ate two triple stackers all by yourself? Yowsa.
A little more than ten years ago, while I was a resident of Marietta, GA, I was a secret shopper of the seafood restaurant chain called Captain D’s.
At first it was a four page fill in the circles questionnaire that I had to mail in and then wait for a reimbursement check mailed to me.
Then, it was updated to an online questionnaire which made things much easier for me.
So, it worked out to two free meals per week (for a reimbursement check of around $10.00).
My communications are not complaints but constructive comments (“You can attract more bees with honey that you can with vinegar, etc”).
I will not hesitate to snail mail a constructive comment if there is a need for it.
It is usually in regards to an oversight at a business.
I look at is as I am acting like an independent consultant … pointing out oversights,
In a way, I am looking for some freebie coupons as a form of compensation – it the long run, it is a lot cheaper than them hiring a consultant and it is part of the cost of doing business.
Using the Internet, I will find the snail mail-to address of the head honcho.
I really do not go the route of an email or a facebook comment, for me, it comes across as being too impersonal.
Oui, the letter might be intercepted by someone else but at least I am addressing it to the top gun.
The way that I think about it …
If a snail mail letter is addressed to the CEO of business, it will be handled and passed down to a regional manager with the implied, “The CEO is expecting you to deal with this … do not let us down.”
My letters are always a one pager (no novels, and very easy to read and to understand) and I include photocopies of supporting documents like receipts.
There are three short paragraphs … the intro, the body, and a conclusion.
My conclusion paragraph is asking for them to reply to me in writing.
My letters take five minutes to compose and I do let them “ferment” 24 hours by forgetting about them and then rereading and refining them 24 hours later.
My letters are more that venting … they are pointing out an oversight and hopefully the business will do something about it.
During one winter, the Arby’s located in Middleburg Heights, OH ignored their driveway / roads.
It ended up being an honest-to-goodness ice skating rink!
I sent them a snail mail letter mentioning that I spent my hard earned money ($30.00+) at a nearby Perkins restaurant instead of risking my life negotiating that ice skating rink.
I did ask for a written reply.
I never heard back from them.
Their loss.
AND IT NEVER OCCURRED TO YOU THAT I MAY BE LACTOSE INTOLERANT AND SHOULD HAVE TO PAY EXTRA TO GET THEM TO HOLD THE CHEESE. ACTUALLY, I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH NOT GETTING A REBATE WHEN I DON’T GET THE CHEESE.
If they charged double for special, then I would know that before I accepted their offer to sell me a cheeseburger. But they don’t, and they have substitution and “-” and “+” buttons on the registers for a reason. You don’t like the way the fast food world operates, then open your own store and hang a sign that states “special orders may cost extra.” But if I order a #1 and either the fries or sandwich is fouled up, I expect to get a replacement #1. Do you have any idea the profit made on a serving of fries or a drink? And the small number of people that get replacements or refunds? They can afford to replace my meal, not just a fraction of it. It’s called customer service, and it is how the fast food world operates.
I’M REALLY SORRY YOU FART A LOT WEN YOU EAT CHEESE!!!
I AGREE YOU SHOULD… ORDER A HAMBURGER INSTEAD AND THERE IS NO CHEESE TO WORRY ABOUT.
HOW MUCH CHEESE OR OTHER DAIRY IS IN ONE BUN VERSUS THE OTHER?
HEY… CAN YOU MOVE A LITTLE CLOSER TO YOUR INTERNET CONNECTION SO WE DON’T HAVE TO KEEP SHOUTING?
Anyway… to claim you simply ordered a #1 is wrong… you had a special order, not one the minimum wage high school kids can make in their sleep.
Back to what you said…
Let me break it down for you…
Except they weren’t because…
And…
Which there wasn’t because…
Let’s say that you order a Big Mac… with no cheese, and they somehow give you a Filet 'o Fish… do the fries somehow cool off faster? Does the Coke loose it’s fizz?
I just had this happen at Freddie’s Steakburger. I ordered a meal from the drive through and when I got home the only thing that resembled what I ordered was the hamburger patty. I called the store and complained to the manager and he told me that next time I’d get a free meal. So when I went back, I told the clerk what the manager said and they credited me with the full amount.
Discount code on the receipt? “MESS UP”
Bob
Gee Spud, do you own a lot of McDonalds stock or something? I’ll just tell you flat out: I pounce upon every error in my order. Cheese when there isn’t supposed to be any? I’m calling. Fries cold? I’m calling. I get a postcard from the local store or coupons from corporate at least once a month. Wendy’s, I’m in the book about once a month because they forget to put shit in my bag. It’s like another poster said, you’re ten miles down the road and you have to turn around and go back. They’re rushing you out of the drive-thru, you seem like an ass if you choose to sit in the window, digging through the bags, opening sandwiches, so yes, they can give me a little extra for my inconvenience.
And I’m content to know that it bothers you so damned much, and there is absolutely nothing going to change about my complaining and collecting my free food, and the restaurants aren’t going to stop handing it out.
I appreciate your interest in my portfolio, but to the best of my knowledge I do not own one single share of McDonald’s or any other fast food establishment.
Cheese when there isn’t supposed to be any… I’m taking it off.
Fries Cold… I toss them… what, it’s 59 cents.
What, something like…
or…
So, here is my non-stock holder advise to you. If you want to special order… go inside.
There are some assumptions you make when going to a fast food restaurant… the service should be reasonably fast… the food should be consistent with what you get at other stores in this chain. Stick to these rules and you will be satisfied 99% of the time.
Special order and you are one of the 1% who does so and throws the minimum wage teens totally off of their routine and you run a 99% chance of having an error made.
And, if you have your precious special order messed up… MAN UP and tell them… “I ordered a special order and you didn’t get it right. As part of this order I really wanted to enjoy a fine dining experience which included warm fries and a cold soda. Since I had to call the manager over yet again, could you please replace my fries with some warm ones and my warm soda with a cold one. I know I’m a special customer who doesn’t order off of the normal menu, but I’m sure you should expect this since after all, I get reimbursed from several fast food chains every week for my inconvenience in your obvious inabilities to serve people like me.”
I almost forgot about this…
Yes I do actually… let’s keep the math simple by using made up numbers… We’ll say that an order of fries costs $0.10, and a drink costs $0.05 and they charge $1 for each. This means that for each order the expect to make $0.90 and $0.95 respectively. I won’t even complicate it with such things as overhead… things like packaging, electricity, rent, advertising, snow removal, dental insurance, etc. We’ll just assume it is pure profit.
So, your burger was messed up, and as you admitted you want new fries and a new drink (even though they were perfectly fine). So, the store initially made $1.85 on your drink and fries. Then you assumed you were owed a reimbursement for these, so they lost that profit, and you think "well, it just cost them $0.15 to give me new ones… Sorry, but they expected a profit on those items, so they lost not only your original order profit, but also the replacement profit. So, it really cost them $3.70…
And you do this several times a week at several different fast food places? Plus, they are apparently giving you free burgers, etc.
Way to stick it to the man dude.
“Rich and vibrant” aren’t words I would probably use if I were to guess as to what sort of life you’ve lived up until now.
Sorry… it is late, and I’m tired. I left out the $0.15 cost of product for both the original order and again for the replacement… make that an even $4.00 they are out for things you admit weren’t actually wrong in the first place.