Saturday, July 07, 2007

Victory over Checkers ... of a sort

You may recall I've had an ongoing feud with Checkers over customer service. More specifically, I grew tired of the local restaurant's carelessness in handling a special order, where they time and time again ignored requests to hold onions on sandwiches Bocona would order, despite warnings that she was allergic to them. Even a call to their corporate offices went unreturned.

Bocona forgave them, since she really does like the Big Buford burgers. I was the one who had to deal with their ineptness, however, and I insisted that my boycott of the restaurant be maintained.

Perhaps I was not alone in my actions.

Earlier this week we drove past the restaurant in question and found it closed. Not just closed, but very closed. Quite permanently so. The signs are gone, the windows boarded up. It appears the company decided the store simply wasn't worth saving.

No, we never did hear from the company. But Bocona's temptation is gone, as are the chain's employees who simply couldn't learn from their mistakes. I don't necessarily wish ill-will upon those employees, but I would hope they weren't simply transferred to other locations. These people shouldn't be in a position to put customers at risk. I hope they found other work ... the kind where customer lives aren't risked when they make mistakes.

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to work in fast-food, but you do have a responsibility to remember the health of your customers may be affected by your actions. If you can't live up to that responsibility, don't get a job in a restaurant. It's that simple.

I'm not celebrating. I regret the restaurant had to close. But I'm glad there is one less place where quality of service plays second-fiddle to the profit margin. I truly am tired of what fast-food has become.

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