Have you noticed that DDs never gives out napkins? Why is this. Every time I order a muffin or sandwhich I always have to ask for napkins. I asked the manager one day why they didn’t hand them out and he replied, “it must be a cost cutting thing.” I can’t imagine any company having a need to cut back on napkin expenses. Then again, I work for a large Bank and they want to control the number of yellow stickies that you get.
Come on DDs, give more napkins!
Boy, what a mess! I went to DDs this morning to get my normal caffeine intake to start the day. For the most part the coffee was good and fresh which is typically the case in the morning...at night it's a completely different story and the taste is different (see my other blog on this). Over the last few weeks I've been occasionally getting a large coffee - yes, when I'm a little more tired than usual. For some reason, the damn lids don't fit right on the larger cups. They're fine on the medium size cups but the large ones seem to leak. I bought my coffee this morning, drank some of it in the car on my way to work while eating my low-carb bagel (hmmm, yes, I'm carb conscious!). When I got to work I logged into check my email...while I was reading, I reached for my coffee (the large one with the leaking lid) and took a sip of it. I said to myself this coffee tastes good this morning. I then continued to read my email. I looked down at my desk and saw that I had a few drops of coffee on my desk. I then looked at my cup and saw that there were some droplets on the side of it. I realized the damn lid was leaking. When you see coffee leaking from your lid, the first impression you have is that it's leaked all over you. Sure enough, I looked down at my shirt in quasi-slow motion and bingo, it leaked on my shirt. Needless to say I wasn't a happy coffee drinker! So, why are the larger coffee lids more prone to leak? I haven't the foggiest idea but I hope that DD addresses the issue with their lid supplier. I'm tired of leaky lids - I've had the same experience with Starbucks. Have you had this experience?
No one has time to wait any more....oh, except at DDs! I decided to patron my local DD since there wasn't any line in the drive thru. Of course, as soon as I decided to pull in a couple of other people decided to do the same. After waiting a few minutes I finally get to put my order in. A nice voice says, "Can I help you?" So, I order my usual, a medium, regular coffee. I asked for a low-carb bagel but they didn't have any (not sure why some do and some do don't - another BLOG!). The voice says, "We have multi-grain bagels." I said, "Is it low-carb?" and she responds back with "No but it's healthier." I guess she didn't hear me ask for a "low-carb" bagel.
After I clarified what I wanted I pulled up but there were two cars in front of me so I had to wait. I thought it would only be a couple of minutes before I got my order. The first car got its order, paid and drove off. The second car pulled up, paid and then had to wait...tick, tock, tick, tock...the wait went on. At this point I'm flipping through various radio stations to find something to entertain me while I waited. I realized pretty quickly, because this happened once before, that the guy ordered one of those new hot sandwiches. So, I waited and waited and waited. All I kept thinking about was beeping the friggin horn to let everyone know that I was irritated with this whole notion that hot food can be served through a window. I thought about sharing my thoughts about the wait and about selling hot sandwiches at the drive-thru but then I heard the voice of reason in my head (my wife) saying, it's probably a kid and they'll look at you like your crazy! I decided just to get my coffee and leave. Now, I regret not saying anything. Always pass along your opinion and thoughts on customer service.
So, I pull up to the local DD's drive-thru window to get a coffee and a bagel. I'm greeted with a warm but scratchy voice, "I'll be right with you!" I sat their in my car with my window wide open for a few seconds in the freezing New England cold winter. A few seconds seems like an eternity in harsh cold weather. Then I heard a scratchy voice again coming from the drive-thru speaker...was this person talking to me, "God I hope so," I thought for a brief second. "No, I'll get...okay," said the scratchy voice. I said, "Hello, what was that?" The voice continued, "No, I'll get it...yes, please do...what was it that was needed...sure..." I said, "Are you talking to me?" Then the mysterious voice said, "I'll be right with you, sir." The scratchy voice was now a laughing scratchy voice and this person continued to have another conversation while failing to properly service me.
I really don't mind waiting in the freezing cold a few seconds to have someone take my order but when this person isn't providing the properly customer service (it's all perception!) because they're having another conversation regarding who knows what, I don't want to hear it. DD please tell your people to turn off their headsets when they're having other conversations. It's terribly distracting and demonstrates poor customer services.
Have you ever experienced this before at your local DDs?
I was with some friends over the weekend and learned that one of the DDs that he goes to doesn't put any meat in their meat sandwiches. The DD is located in NJ and has an Islamic owner. Apparently, its against the owners religious beliefs so he has decided not to include any meat in any of the sandwiches that DD provides. Although I appreciate the nutritional consideration, it's not up to the owner to decide what's best for his patrons - diet, health or religion or anything else. So, don't visit an Islamic owned DD if you want a meat sandwhich. What do you think about this?
I found an interesting article on this topic that I wanted to share with you. A Muslim franchise owner suited because he didn't want to sell Pork products at his store - and he won! I found out that there are many DD stores that carry the label, "No meat products so here." Check out this article - Click here
I don't know if you've every experienced this at your local DD but a few times now they haven't given me my change back. There are several ethnic groups that work for DD so I'm not sure if this is a ethnic thing or not. Perhaps in other countries it's customary not to return someone's change when it's a small amount but this isn't the case in the USA. It's not right to keep someone's change. Please give me back my change regardless of how much it is AND, don't automatically put it in your tip jar.
DD, please address this with your franchisees.
Gee...what's up with DD with napkins! For some reason the help at DDs doesn't understand that you need napkins when you order food from them. I patronage DD each day and 99% of the time they don't automatically give me napkins. I have to ask for them. When I ask for them, they usually give me tons of them. I'm not sure why they just don't automatically hand them out. Perhaps they need some customer service training! What do you think?
