Have you ever gotten food at a QSR and not gotten exactly what you ordered? QSR, for those who don’t give much thought to restaurant classifications, stands for “Quick Serve Restaurant” and includes such fine establishments as McDonald’s, Subway, Burger King, Taco Bell, Wendy’s, Starbucks and…Dunkin Donuts, which we’ll get to in a minute.
My guess is that you have. It’s the type of industry that makes process improvement experts giddy with glee—so much opportunity to play hero. After all, the ‘defects per million opportunities’ (DPMO) are seemingly countless.
The reason I bring this up is that, given that tidbit of knowledge or supposition, you go into a QSR—or drive thru one—expecting a less than 100% delivery on your expectations. Not that you can’t be satisfied with what you’ve ordered—it just may not be exactly what you ordered. Lettuce is limp. Ketchup’s missing. You said “French” dressing and got “Ranch”. So it’s like the saying goes, “forewarned is forearmed”.
You do things like checking your takeout bag before leaving the place. Count the number of straws. Repeat the order back to the order taker. Say that it’s the orange-colored dressing, not the white one. You’re on guard. And that’s for you or me—the average Joe without any medical condition that might otherwise have us on super high alert when ordering fast food.
Now, back to Dunkin Donuts. So Danielle Jordan—who by now everyone knows is 47 and lives Read the rest of this entry »
All’s been relatively quiet on the Alfred Rava front. Only a bit of a hub-bub over his threatening ski resort Squaw Valley with a discrimination lawsuit because they were offering discounts to furloughed California state employees. Rava doesn’t like it when good-hearted folks try to do something good for those in perhaps a less fortunate situation. Case in point, the Mother’s Day breast cancer awareness promotion with the Oakland A’s.
At any rate, I was scanning this Sunday’s papers and as I was looking at all the super-processed and newfangled foods that had special deals in the weekly FSI coupon section, my eye caught a Dunkin Donuts ad. I don’t go to Dunkin Donuts. Ever. But none the less, there was this little parenthetical phrase on the DD coupons. This is what the one for “99¢ for any two (2) donuts” said: “($1.19 in Manhattan)”. Cough up another 20¢ for those “two (2)” donuts it you live—or just shop for your doughnuts—in the asphalt jungle.
(I would’ve included a pic of the actual coupon, but there in the small type it also said, “Internet distribution strictly prohibited” and well, this being a legal site and all, I didn’t want to risk anyone mass producing DD coupons. But the pic above is the lead promo folks in the NYC area saw this weekend in the paper.)
But that’s when I thought of him. That beacon of light in an unjust world—Alfred Rava. Here’s something he oughta be sinking his teeth into next. Why should New Yorkers—heck, we’re not even talking all boroughs—only “Manhattan”—not be included in the 99¢ deal? Isn’t that some form of discrimination?