I have had a lot of customer service oriented jobs in my day. Whether I am smoothing things over in the office, with a customer/client, or otherwise. Through this experience, I have learned that the person who throws the giant tantrum is never the person you want to help resolve their problem. You really just want to say “no” to them even more for acting so childish. Whenever I have a problem with a service or business, I will either 1) not address the problem, just know that I will never be a repeat customer, or 2) address the problem directly and sternly, but try my hardest not to shoot the messenger. I try to give people the benefit of the doubt. I really don’t love confrontation, so I usually choose solution 1, and only result to solution 2 when there is a serious issue.
Well, this week, I have realized that complaining actually carries a lot more clout than you would think. Let me present.
Exhibit A:
I went to Red Mango 10 minutes before they closed. The lobby was full of customers, and as my friend and I pulled up to park, we saw other patrons walking out the door. Somewhere between when we parked and when we walked up to the door, someone had locked the doors. The lobby was full of people, and I was there yanking on the door like a crazy person, trying to figure out why it wouldn’t open (yes it was a pull door, and I wasn’t stuck because I was pulling on a push door). Locked out. The patrons were staring at me with confused/concerned looks, like “Why is this girl unable to open a door. That is a simple enough task.” I looked at the hours posted on the door, and at my phone. Sure enough, I was there 10 to close, and they had locked me out. The little pimple-faced punks behind the counter didn’t even acknowledge my spectacle, which was sign #1 that they knew they were doing something sneaky.
So, what did I do? I got mad. I wrote a letter. A strongly worded email. I sure showed corporate Red Mango that I was upset. How dare they let little lazy teenagers afraid of staying at work an extra 10 minutes come between me and my tart, low calorie goodness? Well, they weren’t happy with my discontent. I received an apology from the national Red Mango headquarters as well as one from the local franchise owner. Both mailed me free Red Mango gift certificates to earn back my business. Congratulations, Red Mango, you won my patronage back. Good thing I’m easily swayed with cold, sweet treats.
Exhibit B:
I was off work around 9:30. I was hungry. I didn’t want anything off of the CPK menu. I don’t love pizza, and the 3 or 4 items I do order when I work were not sounding great to me. So, on my way home I decided to stop for a SuperSonic Breakfast Burrito. One of the few fast foods that can be ordered any time of day vegetarian style, and eggs are WAY better for my tummy that late at night than say a 7-layer burrito from Taco Bell. I pulled in to one of the car-hop stalls and ordered. On the other end was someone who clearly didn’t know how to take my order, as I had to repeat myself several times, and then my total came up to be half of what the posted price of my burrito plus the cost of a drink should be. When the little car hop brought my food, she told me that the girl who took my order messed up (obviously), so they didn’t charge me for my drink. I asked her if my order did come through as a SuperSonic Breakfast Burrito without meat. She said it was, so I left. When I got home, I opened the burrito to make sure I wasn’t going to be biting in to a big fat disgusting piece of sausage. Well, not only would I not be getting meat, but it seemed the only thing that had found its way into the tortilla was a very burned scrambled egg and a couple of tater tots. NASTY!
So, what did I do? I wrote another email. Another firm letter explaining how my experience was less than satisfactory. What did I get? The next day, the shift leader called my phone to apologize and offered me a free meal and gave me his cell phone number. A few hours later, the general manager of that location called and gave me his cell number as well as offered a free meal. The following day, the regional manager called to see if I had been called by the first two and also gave me his cell phone number and a free meal. WOW! Can you say Sonic advocate for life? Like the delicious pellet ice and Diet Dr. Pepper on tap wasn’t enough? Give me free jalapeno and eggy goodness, and I’m yours!
So, what did we learn this week, children? We learned that sometimes being a whiny baby when things aren’t exactly how they should be ends up with getting copious amounts of free junk food. I am not saying to make up things to complain about if everything is fine, just to get free stuff. That is dishonest and annoying, and anyone helping you would probably do everything they can to NOT give you something for free. But, a firm email detailing your truthfully poor experience that is then handled in an over-the-top manner will turn a customer into a fan. OR we learned that all you have to do to win CoCo over is give her free food.
Whiny Baby
I have had a lot of customer service oriented jobs in my day. Whether I am smoothing things over in the office, with a customer/client, or otherwise. Through this experience, I have learned that the person who throws the giant tantrum is never the person you want to help resolve their problem. You really just want to say “no” to them even more for acting so childish. Whenever I have a problem with a service or business, I will either 1) not address the problem, just know that I will never be a repeat customer, or 2) address the problem directly and sternly, but try my hardest not to shoot the messenger. I try to give people the benefit of the doubt. I really don’t love confrontation, so I usually choose solution 1, and only result to solution 2 when there is a serious issue.
Well, this week, I have realized that complaining actually carries a lot more clout than you would think. Let me present.
Exhibit A:
I went to Red Mango 10 minutes before they closed. The lobby was full of customers, and as my friend and I pulled up to park, we saw other patrons walking out the door. Somewhere between when we parked and when we walked up to the door, someone had locked the doors. The lobby was full of people, and I was there yanking on the door like a crazy person, trying to figure out why it wouldn’t open (yes it was a pull door, and I wasn’t stuck because I was pulling on a push door). Locked out. The patrons were staring at me with confused/concerned looks, like “Why is this girl unable to open a door. That is a simple enough task.” I looked at the hours posted on the door, and at my phone. Sure enough, I was there 10 to close, and they had locked me out. The little pimple-faced punks behind the counter didn’t even acknowledge my spectacle, which was sign #1 that they knew they were doing something sneaky.
So, what did I do? I got mad. I wrote a letter. A strongly worded email. I sure showed corporate Red Mango that I was upset. How dare they let little lazy teenagers afraid of staying at work an extra 10 minutes come between me and my tart, low calorie goodness? Well, they weren’t happy with my discontent. I received an apology from the national Red Mango headquarters as well as one from the local franchise owner. Both mailed me free Red Mango gift certificates to earn back my business. Congratulations, Red Mango, you won my patronage back. Good thing I’m easily swayed with cold, sweet treats.
Exhibit B:
I was off work around 9:30. I was hungry. I didn’t want anything off of the CPK menu. I don’t love pizza, and the 3 or 4 items I do order when I work were not sounding great to me. So, on my way home I decided to stop for a SuperSonic Breakfast Burrito. One of the few fast foods that can be ordered any time of day vegetarian style, and eggs are WAY better for my tummy that late at night than say a 7-layer burrito from Taco Bell. I pulled in to one of the car-hop stalls and ordered. On the other end was someone who clearly didn’t know how to take my order, as I had to repeat myself several times, and then my total came up to be half of what the posted price of my burrito plus the cost of a drink should be. When the little car hop brought my food, she told me that the girl who took my order messed up (obviously), so they didn’t charge me for my drink. I asked her if my order did come through as a SuperSonic Breakfast Burrito without meat. She said it was, so I left. When I got home, I opened the burrito to make sure I wasn’t going to be biting in to a big fat disgusting piece of sausage. Well, not only would I not be getting meat, but it seemed the only thing that had found its way into the tortilla was a very burned scrambled egg and a couple of tater tots. NASTY!
So, what did I do? I wrote another email. Another firm letter explaining how my experience was less than satisfactory. What did I get? The next day, the shift leader called my phone to apologize and offered me a free meal and gave me his cell phone number. A few hours later, the general manager of that location called and gave me his cell number as well as offered a free meal. The following day, the regional manager called to see if I had been called by the first two and also gave me his cell phone number and a free meal. WOW! Can you say Sonic advocate for life? Like the delicious pellet ice and Diet Dr. Pepper on tap wasn’t enough? Give me free jalapeno and eggy goodness, and I’m yours!
So, what did we learn this week, children? We learned that sometimes being a whiny baby when things aren’t exactly how they should be ends up with getting copious amounts of free junk food. I am not saying to make up things to complain about if everything is fine, just to get free stuff. That is dishonest and annoying, and anyone helping you would probably do everything they can to NOT give you something for free. But, a firm email detailing your truthfully poor experience that is then handled in an over-the-top manner will turn a customer into a fan. OR we learned that all you have to do to win CoCo over is give her free food.
The CoCo Lifestyle 