Dear Reader Column 03-12-08

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Dear Reader,

Actually I'm feeling a little bit sad this morning because two of my favorite places to do business with let me down. No big deal, I know, it's a relatively small thing in the midst of everything that goes on in the world. But it's a good feeling to be able to count on some things and I love to brag about "my favorites."

One of my favorites is, (or maybe was), a local restaurant that serves a great roast beef dinner. But last night after my husband and I divvied up our carry-out (one of their dinners is really dinner for two) and I took a bite of the meat, it didn't taste anything remotely familiar to roast beef. Tasted like a piece of processed Roast-Spam-in-the-Can, or some such thing.

The roast beef tasted so strange that I called the restaurant and asked to speak to the manager. I owned a restaurant for a number of years, so I realize that when someone phones and asks to speak to the manager it's not to tell them how tasty the roast beef was, it's because they have a complaint. I know the feeling inside the manager's stomach before they say "hello" on the other end, so I chose my first sentence carefully. "Hello, this is Suzanne Beecher, I love your restaurant, my husband and I order take-out frequently." Then I got to the business of explaining the mysterious-tasting meat.

The manager assured me they hadn't changed the type of roast beef they were serving. "Perhaps you got an end piece," she suggested, "the next time you order ask for me and be sure to remind me what happened."

It was a nice gesture, (not sure why she wanted me to ask for her, she never explained that part) but it was awkward enough having to make the initial call and tell the story once. Now the next time I order I will have to ask for the manager, hope she is working and retell my story all over again. Sigh!

And now at 5:30 this morning, it happened again when I went to my favorite Starbucks location. The rule is (or was), "Buy a pound of beans, get any free drink." My usual free drink is always a simple tall black coffee, even though the person behind the counter always reminds me I could have any specialty drink I wanted. So this morning when I set my beans on the counter, what the heck, I went all out and ordered a free Grande instead of my usual Tall. And that's when the man behind the counter reprimanded me, "You only get a free 'tall' coffee when you buy beans." So I told him the "story" about the "other" times I'd bought coffee beans, and he stood there looking at me like a deer-in-the-headlights. Sigh!

I took one of the manager's business cards on my way out so I could telephone later. A bit of deja vu--didn't I just do this last night? Sigh!

To my surprise, I ended up talking to the "deer-in-the-headlights" guy, who was in fact the manager. We had a lovely conversation. He said there was a special promotion that had changed the rules for a while, but some employees have apparently forgotten the promotion ended. He said he would remind them and as a thank-you for my taking the time to call and have "such a constructive conversation" there's a bag of coffee beans waiting for me at the counter. Compliments of the management! Smile!

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com 
http://www.DearReader.com

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Comments

[Kuma-chan]

...that's sad. Reminds me of my favorite resturant. I used to eat there only on special occasions, and it would be family celebration.

Then it closed, moving somewhere far away.

At least they're still open! (and at least you met two nice people!)

[Beth]

You know, I really like Starbucks. And, every once in a while, something odd/unfortunate happens at my local one, but they always take care of it if it was their mistake. They remember me and my daughter, and gave her a free piece of her favorite lemon pound cake on her recent 2nd birthday. I'm glad you gave them a chance to explain what happened.