Nature of the Offense
Allow me to set the stage:
The Letter
Dear Sonic,
This started out as an email to customer relations about a recent visit, but a quick look around your website made me immediately realize that the problem is much bigger than that. First off, I see that customer letters are limited to 2500 characters, while investors have unlimited space. By my calculations, that means you believe--as most American corporations seem to these days--your investors are infinitely more valuable than your customers. Such a stance is problematic, at best, from a business standpoint. In fact, your entire business standpoint is suspect in my opinion. When I go to your customer feedback page I see the following quote at the top of the page:
"This page is all about business. Serious business. Well, as serious as you can get about Sonic, anyway."
Because I wouldn't believe it if I didn't see it for myself.
You think aggravated customers want to see that? Because if you don't take your business seriously, I'm sure as hell not going to. Let's discuss the experience I had at your 4929 Burnet Rd (Austin, TX) location last night, keeping the above quote in mind.
At approximately 6:30 last night, my wife and I decided we wanted ice cream. We had been to Sonic a few weeks before, and enjoyed your new ice cream, so we decided we would go back. However, I remembered that the last time we went, the whole restaurant was plastered with ads for half-price shakes and malts after 8PM. So we waited a full hour and a half before we came over. Do you know what it's like to decide you're getting ice cream, and then have to sit and wait a full 90 minutes before you can claim your reward? The only appropriate comparison I can come up with is the time between the age when a boy decides girls don't have cooties anymore and the time when he can do anything about it. It's agony. But we waited patiently, knowing the extra gallon of gas we'd be able to afford for waiting would be worth it.
So I pull into the parking lot just as the hour rolls over, and I say our order into the speaker. I ordered a caramel milkshake, and my wife got one of your new mini-sized Blasts, since she doesn't like large portions. Unfortunately, your speaker system--which is how customers are encouraged to order, I believe--is in such terrible shape that I couldn't understand your employee confirming my order. I decided to assume it was better on her end, since again, THIS IS HOW YOU FACILITATE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN SERVERS AND CUSTOMERS, and didn't waste any more time yelling at a plastic menu. Bad decision...
A few minutes go by, and a carhop comes out with my order. Well, she came out with AN order, just not mine. Apparently the speaker quality on the server's end isn't any better than it was on mine, and "Mini" came out "Medium." And according to Sonic, "medium" means "just small enough you can't swim in it." Because when it comes to obesity, Sonic is "as serious as you can get." We decided not to send it back, though, because as I mentioned before, we had already waited 100 minutes for ice cream at this point, and sending it back then would have likely caused us to eat each other's eyes out. Upon receiving our ice cream, the carhop asked for an amount of money approximately quadruple what I had expected to pay during half price shake hour, but I paid anyway, assuming the Blasts were sold by weight.
Looking at my receipt, I saw that this was not the case. Not only had I not been given the half price discount for my caramel shake (even though the receipt had a timestamp of 8:09), I had actually been charged an ADDITIONAL 10 cents for the caramel flavoring, which was mentioned NOWHERE on the menu. I guess I took the menu more seriously than I was supposed to. Also, what are your milkshakes supposed to taste like WITHOUT the flavoring? If forced at gunpoint to describe the taste of my shake as anything other than "nothing," I think the best I could have come up with would have been "chilled bull semen."
I pointed out the error to the carhop, who took the issue to her manager. She came back a few minutes later and told me she could not rectify the transaction because I paid with a credit card. That's interesting, because I guarantee if I call Visa and tell them you defrauded me they won't have any issue making things right. But hey, let's don't get too serious about credit card fraud, right? Anyway, the girl shoves a coupon in my face and scampers off, never to be seen again. Looking at the coupon, I see it's good for one free Sonic burger, but that cheese, chili, bacon, or jalepenos will cost extra. Great, so between the wrong size Blast and the double-price spooge shake, you've screwed me out of approximately six dollars, which you make up for by offering me a plain slab of ground beef between two dry buns that probably costs you about a nickel. I guess in this exchange you only value your investors 120 times as much as your customers, which is certainly a better ratio than the infinity I arrived at above.
Do you "seriously" think any of this makes me want to go back to Sonic? Because the only "serious business" I want to do at Sonic right now is the kind I normally reserve for the toilet.
Sincerely,
The Angry Customer
The Response
Some three weeks after sending the above letter, I got this from Sonic's Investor Relations Department:
Hello, Angry.
We would like to thank you for taking the time to bring this matter to our attention and to apologize for your inconvenience. We always strive to provide great food and drinks with quality customer service. With this being said, we wanted to reach out to let you know we care! I have forwarded your concerns to our customer service department (telephone number (866) 657-6642) as well so we may resolve this issue for you.
Wishing you a super SONIC "Tot" Day!
thx - Rj
Renée J****** Investor Relations Sonic America's Drive-In
No, thx you, Renée! So she's passed things on to customer service, and a couple more weeks later, I get another email:
Dear Angry Customer:
We are very sorry that your 06/07/2012 visit to the Sonic Drive-In in Austin, Texas did not live up to expectations and are grateful to you for telling us about it. If people like you did not bring these matters to our attention, we would never be able to fix them. We have forwarded your comments to the appropriate drive-in supervisor for the location that you visited. If you have any further concerns in the future, please share them with us. Our goal is to continuously improve the Sonic Drive-In experience and to keep you as regular guest.
Sincerely,
Sonic Drive-In
Customer Service Manager
Replies to this email address are not monitored. Should you need to contact us again, please call 1-866-OK-SONIC and provide the report number in the subject line above.
I tried a different approach with this letter, actually asking for remuneration. Unfortunately, this was the end of my communication with Sonic, as the "drive-in supervisor" didn't get back to me. Guess it's time for a recap.
The Verdict
Severity of the Offense: 7/10
Let's see...overcharging, bad food, and terrible customer service? Pretty much nailed the "bad customer experience" hat trick there.
Corporate Care Level: 3/10
This is a letter that didn't need to happen. I voiced my displeasure at the time of the incident, giving Sonic an opportunity to make things right. They got a second chance with my letter. Think I'm feeling valued as a customer?
Adequacy of Response: 4/10
Ordinarily, I'd be ecstatic that I actually got two responses from real human beings. However, as I mentioned before, I was fairly specific about what I wanted from this letter; if you rip me off, I expect my money back, at least. A "thanks for sharing" email isn't going to cut it.
Overall: 3/10
It's sad that this is an example of one of the more satisfactory exchanges I've had with a company. And still, it falls way short of what I expect as a paying customer. I won't be doing any more business with Sonic.
