What would you do?

by Hero Jenkins

I know a man who manages a super market. One day a woman came into the store to return a cut of meat that was sold well after its expiration. It was just this side of rancid and she was incensed. The manager took the meat back and gave the woman a full refund. And after she calmed down he pointed out that she had bought the meat from his competitor, the meat did not come from his store.

I asked him why did he do that. He said his company spent millions of dollars in advertising just to bring people into his store. All of that advertisement money would have been wasted if he had sent that woman away empty handed.

“So which store do you suppose she will buy her meat from now on?” He asked rhetorically.

I thought about that when I saw a “Sonic” restaurant commercial on TV today. I wondered how much they were wasting on advertising to get people into their restaurant. You see, I went to the local “Sonic” drive through and ordered a foot long Chicago Dog the other day. I love Chicago Dogs so I was really looking forward to it. When I got home however I discovered that they had stuffed two regular hotdogs and two regular buns into the package designed for the foot long.

Apparently they ran out of foot long dogs and buns so they were counting on me not checking the package until I got home… they were right.

Now here’s the problem, I was kinda pissed and I’m not sure I should have been. For all I knew, if I were to add it all together, the total weight of meat and bun of two small hot dogs was equal if not more that that the total weight of the foot long. So I should quit whining, right? It’s entirely possible I came out ahead.

When I thought about it, I guess what bugged me, wasn’t the fact that they made the substitution, was that they made the substitution without telling me. I think it made me wonder what else they were willing to substitute with the knowledge that most people wouldn’t notice. What if the manager could save a few bucks by using lower quality hotdogs imported from Romania where the standards are a bit more relaxed? Or perhaps he had another connection that ground and made his own hot dogs with meat from a dubious source.

I know that’s a huge leap… but is it?  I mean most chain restaurants have standards, that’s why we go to them because we know what we are getting.

I called the corporate office. I was told that the restaurant was a franchise and there was nothing they could do. They did offer to send me a certificate to go back and try it again. I didn’t eat the hot dogs that day and I doubt I will ever go back. So from my perspective all of that advertising money is wasted on me.

What would you have done?