Apt142’s Blog

I blog infrequently. So, I never did finish out what happened with Arby’s. The last blog I did on it was this on: Missed My Point.

Ok, so I sent that email in to the person that responded to me. I didn’t get a response back. I’m guessing that either they thought I was just a jerk looking for pay back and therefore it was better not to get me going. Or they just didn’t care. That basically comes down to apathy or strategy. I would wager on apathy. What was I expecting exactly? I think I was hoping for some dramatic change. What I got was a little underwhelming but it was something.

I ended up waiting a few weeks for some sort of reply. I had fully intended to give the coupons away. But, when I hadn’t gotten a reply after 3 weeks, I came to the conclusion that they really didn’t want to change. What they probably wanted was for me to go away and quit bothering them. In some sad way this is a lot like one of those sessions for marriage counseling.

There I was, telling the psychologists all about the abuse that I had received at the hands of Arby’s. And here they are saying they were sorry and that if we’d just go home and give up the shrink, it would be all better again. The Shrinks would all tell you at this point that if the other person doesn’t want to change then you really can’t force them to. So, it would seem, me and the local Arby’s would be better off just going our separate ways.

And you know, I was fully committed to that. I would have to go into Roast Beef withdrawal, but I could manage that. Except well, those two coupons were sitting there. I hadn’t gone back since my letter. I had stated in that letter that I would be back to check on the service. So, I decided I would check on them on their dime.

So… I go through the drive through, place my order and pick up the food. I check the food. (As is my habit now with all fast food. Not that this helps much… See Drive Thru) Everything seems to be there. Service was prompt. The person who took my order seemed to actually be awake and listened to me. The order all and all went smooth. I was a little flabbergasted by the whole thing.

The thing about the coupons is that they have to be rung up by a manager. They apparently don’t trust peons with such exciting tasks as discounting food. All things considered, I can see why. The manager that rung me up was not the manager I had seen on any of the previous occasions that I had been there. I got excited about this. Could it have been possible that the other manager had been canned? Could I expect better service? Such burning questions!

So, I asked. Was she new and if she was, was she the new manager of the restaurant? She stated that she was in fact new. And that she was a manager. However she was a new shift manager. Apparently the old manager hadn’t been fired. Just this new one had been hired. I wondered if this was my doing or not. I couldn’t exactly ask this. I’m assuming that the other manager knew about my complaint. I had also assumed they may have discussed it. I can’t say for certain one way or another, but the results were good.

Just from that one trip, I saw night and day in the staff. Her staff were attentive, awake, and they took care of business. When I later went back, the old manager was there. Service was poor and they forgot my fries again.

The Arby’s had turned into a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I could show up at any given time and have a 50/50 shot of getting service that was decent. On one hand, service still had a significant chance of sucking. On the other hand, it had improved dramatically for me.

My compromise was that I’d be extra vigilant. On occasions where I was sure to get the bad manager, I would either not go or I would eat in. Eating in has the significant advantage that if the order is messed up, you can just walk about 10 feet and complain. Usually this is usually fixed quickly.

On those nights that I know that person is there, I’m much more likely to go. On those nights I’m not sure well… I have to decide if I’m feeling lucky.

I think the staff there has come to recognize me in some capacity. The last time I was there they messed up my order while I was eating in. While my wife and I sat down to eat, they worked on getting the missing fries (again?!) taken care of. According to my wife, (who is a lot better at picking things up than I am) the crew were all looking at me and whispering behind their backs.

Now, I’m not sure if this is because one of the guys at the registers thinks I look like Tom Green (Which he and everybody else in my town does. That’s another story.) or if it’s because I’ve been identified as Mr. Squeaky Wheel. The looks and whispers were more upbeat than accusatory. So, I’m going to guess Mr. Green. I haven’t been back since this. So, I can’t tell you if this has had any effect on my future orders.

One can hope.