Have it your way, Mr. Fallon

Those of you who know me, know that whenever I feel particularly disgruntled about something, I always say "They are going to get an email (or letter) about that". Many people over the years have asked me "what the heck do you actually say in those letters". Well , tonight I spent the better part of an hour writing my complaint letter for our recent experience at the Burger King in Las Vegas, NM. After writing the letter, I also remembered that a few blogs ago I stated that I would fill you all in on what happened at the King. So I guess I can kill two birds with one stone here. It is a little long, but I figure that the President of any major corporation should have a few minutes for me ;-) . As such, here is the letter which I am sending to Burger King (just as soon as the postal service decides to re-open).

Mr. Chuck Fallon
President, North America Operations
5505 Blue Lagoon Drive
Miami, FL 33126

January 2, 2007

Mr. Fallon,

I am writing in regards to a recent visit my family made to your Burger King establishment located in Las Vegas, NM. I am not writing you (the President of N.A. Operations) regarding a simple matter of poor service or food preparation. In this particular case, I feel compelled to raise a larger issue regarding the corporate culture/framework upon which you operate your business.

On December 23, 2006 my family and I visited your restaurant located in Las Vegas, NM for dinner (roughly 6 pm). My 3 year old son and I approached the counter and ordered a Whopper combo with cheese and a cheeseburger kid meal with no mustard. Twenty minutes later I received one Whopper combo with no cheese and one cheeseburger kid meal with mustard. When I approached the counter employee and explained the situation they promptly replied with the following: “We are really sorry for the mix-up, but you must understand that it is really hard for us now – you know, dinner time and all”. Obviously I would not expect the official position of Burger King to be “Visit us at off hours if you would ‘Like it your way’” so I was able to simply ignore this statement. I was not very happy when I received my “new” Whopper. What I received was the same Whopper I had given them before with a piece of cheese added and apparently it had been put into a steamer as the bun was soggy and the cheese was as hot as molten lava (no, I will not be suing as it was only my mouth which was burnt and I do not believe in that kind of stuff).

While the service and food quality was well below average, the most troubling aspect of my visit was what occurred in the midst of the aforementioned events. An exchange between the manager on duty and a worker in the back (I will call him Mr. B.) is why I am directly writing you today. The exchange was over a miscommunication between the two individuals. Mr. B. apparently made someone else’s order incorrectly and the manager indicated that it was Mr. B’s fault. Mr. B. immediately retorted that “it was his f*ck-up”. The manager then replied that it was “put in correctly and that it was his fault”. This drew a second retort from Mr. B. which again clearly stated that “it was his f*ck-up”. Unfortunately I witnessed this exchange while holding my 3 year old son in my arms. I immediately interrupted and asked “who is the manager on duty”. The man whom I suspected was the manager informed me that he was in fact the manager. I immediately conveyed to the manager that I found it tremendously improper that the employee in the back had just used the F-word twice in front of customers (especially my son). Furthermore I added that I expected him to explain to the individual that this is not proper behavior and to ensure that this does not occur in the future. To his credit he did take the employee to the back of the store and talk to the individual but I can not confirm what in fact was stated.

To be honest Mr. Fallon, while I am disappointed by the behavior of Mr. B. I am regrettably not surprised. I suspect he was making next to minimum wage with little tutoring on the corporate policies/guidelines of Burger King operations. Conversely, I am absolutely taken aback by the fact that a uniformed manager would engage in such a conversation and not immediately recognize/address such an egregious violation of normal business conduct standards. I would sincerely hope that this incident in no way reflects the official framework upon which Burger King bases their corporate service standards.

I can unequivocally describe my recent experience with your company as “NOT having it my way”.

Sincerely,
Mr. Robert Cavagnaro

And there you have it...our wonderful dining experience at the King!!! I fully expect to get a gift certificate good for exactly one free steamed w/ molten cheese Whopper in return for all my efforts...but somehow I don't care...it just feels good to get it off my chest!

Now...let see...what about all that lovin' we got from Hertz...yup...I do believe that one will get a Rob letter too......I know that Jen will make time for me to write that one!