Checkers no longer finishes the race

Bocona likes the Big Buford. I have to admit, so do I.

But Bocona is also allergic to onions, one of the ingredients in Checkers' burger.

"No problem," one might say, "simply order a Big Buford without onions."

If only it were that simple. You see, we've tried that, but the Checkers restaurant on 14th Street West in Bradenton, FL doesn't seem to know how to do special orders. In fact, they can't even get the simple ones right.

Four of the last five visits I've made to that restaurant resulted in botched orders, including placing onions on Big Bufords requested without them. Errors that, if it weren't for the caution routinely taken by the consumer, might have resulted in hospitalization or death.

On the last visit, I told the store manager - who happened to take my order that day - she screwed up.

"No I didn't," she replied, pointing at my receipt, "I told them to make the burger without onions. The cooks screwed up."

Clearly this manager doesn't understand the concept of managerial responsibility. On each of the many botched visits, I've received the same results: a less-than-heartfelt apology and a replacement for the problem order. Nothing to compensate for the time or fuel wasted (Checkers is a drive-thru restaurant, and the errors are usually caught at home, then driven back to the restaurant for correction).

But take heart! The bag says if I'm happy with my Checkers experience, I should tell a friend, while if I'm not, I should call a toll-free number. So Bocona called that toll-free number Saturday, March 10. She told the voice at the other end what happened, and the voice at the other end took her name, her phone number, and her e-mail address (which is actually one of my e-mail addresses, but that isn't important).

And now, over one week later, we're still waiting for someone from Checkers Corporate to call or e-mail about her complaint.

Meanwhile, we've lost our patience. We're voting with our money and boycotting Checkers. What you'd expect anyone to do.

And I'm doing what any responsible blogger would do - telling the world about it. Who knows? Maybe there are a few other lives I can save besides my wife's.