Sunday, July 16, 2006
My Private War with Burger King
Well, maybe it's not so private any more.
Pardon me while I vent about the Burger King restaurants in Eugene. There are two, one on the north side, one on the south. There's also one in Springfield, but I don't have anything against that store ... at the moment.
BK is doing a Superman Returns promotional with their kids' meals. Last week the family went to the North BK to get one. Now we've had problems in the past with this store not having the advertised toys in stock, so it wasn't too much of a surprise that they were out of the Super toy. Unfortunately they only had the infant toy. To say that salted my fries would be putting it mildly. So I made the drive-thru guy get the manager. The manager said, "Yeah, we only get one case of toys a week" and I could exchange the baby toy at another store or I didn't have to take the baby toy at all.
So I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. If the store isn't going to order sufficient toys to meet demand they should at least post notices at the reader board when they're out of stock. Coming back later (when they're probably out of stock ... again) or going to another store just ups the odds of another purchase while you're in the neighborhood. Giving an infant toy or nothing in the kids' meals (which are marketed to kids up to 8 or 10) is just insulting. No more North BK.
Today we went to the South BK. They had Super toys. Two kinds in fact. They also had cash registers programmed to overcharge customers. The boy's kids' meal was overcharged a quarter. "Yeah," the register girl said, "the applesauce instead of fries is more expensive." Except that it isn't according to the menu. Cue the manager. "Yeah, whoever programmed the machine did it wrong ... if you order extra mayonnaise," he says, "it charges you more, too." And they'll gladly take your money unless you complain. So now no more South BK.
Are there more grevious things going on in the world? Yeah, a baby toy bait-and-switch and stealth overcharging twenty-five cents here and there can't hold a candle to African genocide or even domestic televangelist hoo-hah. But you fight the battles you can (give me a gun and put me in a room with a warlord and I'll solve the warlord problem; give me a pair of steel-toed boots and a televangelist and he'll be hurting in a tender location). And really this isn't much of a battle--if the Burger King exercises his sovreignty without sufficient noblesse oblige I'll let some other clown annex my fiefdom--still, I feel better having vented.
Got a fast-food gripe of your own? (or a gripe about my gripe?) Get snarky.
Pardon me while I vent about the Burger King restaurants in Eugene. There are two, one on the north side, one on the south. There's also one in Springfield, but I don't have anything against that store ... at the moment.
BK is doing a Superman Returns promotional with their kids' meals. Last week the family went to the North BK to get one. Now we've had problems in the past with this store not having the advertised toys in stock, so it wasn't too much of a surprise that they were out of the Super toy. Unfortunately they only had the infant toy. To say that salted my fries would be putting it mildly. So I made the drive-thru guy get the manager. The manager said, "Yeah, we only get one case of toys a week" and I could exchange the baby toy at another store or I didn't have to take the baby toy at all.
So I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. If the store isn't going to order sufficient toys to meet demand they should at least post notices at the reader board when they're out of stock. Coming back later (when they're probably out of stock ... again) or going to another store just ups the odds of another purchase while you're in the neighborhood. Giving an infant toy or nothing in the kids' meals (which are marketed to kids up to 8 or 10) is just insulting. No more North BK.
Today we went to the South BK. They had Super toys. Two kinds in fact. They also had cash registers programmed to overcharge customers. The boy's kids' meal was overcharged a quarter. "Yeah," the register girl said, "the applesauce instead of fries is more expensive." Except that it isn't according to the menu. Cue the manager. "Yeah, whoever programmed the machine did it wrong ... if you order extra mayonnaise," he says, "it charges you more, too." And they'll gladly take your money unless you complain. So now no more South BK.
Are there more grevious things going on in the world? Yeah, a baby toy bait-and-switch and stealth overcharging twenty-five cents here and there can't hold a candle to African genocide or even domestic televangelist hoo-hah. But you fight the battles you can (give me a gun and put me in a room with a warlord and I'll solve the warlord problem; give me a pair of steel-toed boots and a televangelist and he'll be hurting in a tender location). And really this isn't much of a battle--if the Burger King exercises his sovreignty without sufficient noblesse oblige I'll let some other clown annex my fiefdom--still, I feel better having vented.
Got a fast-food gripe of your own? (or a gripe about my gripe?) Get snarky.
Mikesell
2 Snarky Remarks:
What truly irritates me is when I get my food via the drive-through window, get back to the office or home or wherever, and only then discover that they didn't give me the right food, or all the food I ordred. If I have someone with me, it's easier to check to make sure it's all there, but when I'm alone, it's hard to do that and pull away before the guy in the monster truck behind me runs over me. :)
lindaruth, at 8:26 AM
Love your blog! Found it from over at Kanner Lake.
I had an issue with BK just last week. They put mayo on a burger when I specifically requested none. So I pulled in to get it fixed and they just.....wiped it off the bun. I was so stunned I just stared at it and walked out, leaving the rewrapped disaster on the counter. What if I had been allergic to mayo?
I had an issue with BK just last week. They put mayo on a burger when I specifically requested none. So I pulled in to get it fixed and they just.....wiped it off the bun. I was so stunned I just stared at it and walked out, leaving the rewrapped disaster on the counter. What if I had been allergic to mayo?
