• On Making Things Right

    Posted on October 24th, 2005 by and currently 4 commenting.

    Yesterday I called in a pick-up order for dinner at a local sandwich shop while I was out running errands. I gave them plenty of time to fill the order and have it waiting for me when I arrived.

    As they were ringing me up, the cashier (a young college-aged girl) realized that the order was wrong and proceeded to tell me that they’d fix it immediately, but I would have to wait while they did so. I bit my lip, but I have no doubt that the look on my face told her that I wasn’t happy. She offered me a free drink while I waited or a free cookie with my meal. I declined and went over to the waiting area.

    Then something remarkable happened.

    After a couple of minutes passed, the same cashier left her station, came from behind the counter and walked over to me. “Sir, I’m really sorry that this has happened and I appreciate your patience. I would like to refund your money for our mistake. Your meal is on me.”

    She caught me off guard. And she even got a smile out of me. I responded, “You know what? Stuff happens. The fact that you tried to make it right is enough for me.”

    I’ll be going back there again.

  • http://adpulp.com/ David Burn

    Back where? Proper nouns, please. How else can we share in the love?

  • http://brainsonfire.com/blog Spike Jones

    Yeah David, I hesitated to put them in the post. But since you asked, it’s McAlister’s Deli.

  • http://adpulp.com/ David Burn

    http://www.mcalistersdeli.com/ Sweet. I’m curious as to why you felt shy about sharing the details. You wouldn’t tell your friend the story over a beer and leave out the place in question, so why is the blog different? I don’t mean to challenge your way of doing things, I’m just wondering if you’ve set some parameters on naming names. I couldn’t help but note Robbin left out the name of the client she felt bad about letting down in another post (which is understandable).

  • http://brainsonfire.com/blog Spike Jones

    To tell you the truth, David, I really don’t have a good reason for not disclosing the name. You’re right for calling me out on it, and I thank you for doing so. Robbin’s post, as you pointed out, is a different story.