Saturday, October 07, 2017
All The Facts And Still Wrong...
By: Donovan Baldwin
Over the years, I have done many things, including some fast food management.
About 1995, I was with Host Marriot, managing a Taco Bell Express at the airport in Austin, Texas.
The airport's been torn down since then, and moved elsewhere...to the old, deactivated Bergstrom Air Force Base, I believe.
Don't think it was my fault, but, who knows?
Anyway, one day, Cookie, one of my employees, called me over to deal with a complaint. Seems the gentleman's complaint was that he didn't think we were doing our jobs properly, because the meat in his taco was hot, but the lettuce and cheese were cold.
Well, that's how it's made and how it's served.
Perfectly normal.
However, the gentleman, who WAS very polite, was adamant that his taco should be the same temperature all the way through.
I was polite as well, explained as best I could, and offered a refund.
I sometimes think of him when I'm dealing with a complaint, or have one of my own.
Sometimes we are/I am sure that we have all the facts and know what's what. If something doesn't fit our idea of what's right and proper, we get upset, and, sometimes complain...if not out loud, then maybe internally.
Fact is, that, though I feel that all of us may have a right to complain sometimes, we might not have all the facts.
It's easy to complain.
It's harder to get the facts...but, maybe, worth the effort.
About 1995, I was with Host Marriot, managing a Taco Bell Express at the airport in Austin, Texas.
The airport's been torn down since then, and moved elsewhere...to the old, deactivated Bergstrom Air Force Base, I believe.
Don't think it was my fault, but, who knows?
Anyway, one day, Cookie, one of my employees, called me over to deal with a complaint. Seems the gentleman's complaint was that he didn't think we were doing our jobs properly, because the meat in his taco was hot, but the lettuce and cheese were cold.
Well, that's how it's made and how it's served.
Perfectly normal.
However, the gentleman, who WAS very polite, was adamant that his taco should be the same temperature all the way through.
I was polite as well, explained as best I could, and offered a refund.
I sometimes think of him when I'm dealing with a complaint, or have one of my own.
Sometimes we are/I am sure that we have all the facts and know what's what. If something doesn't fit our idea of what's right and proper, we get upset, and, sometimes complain...if not out loud, then maybe internally.
Fact is, that, though I feel that all of us may have a right to complain sometimes, we might not have all the facts.
It's easy to complain.
It's harder to get the facts...but, maybe, worth the effort.
Labels: airport, Austin, complaints, customer service, donovan baldwin, Host Marriot, taco, Taco Bell
