Darin took Taco Bell up on its free Black Jack Taco Halloween promotion.
Before you get jealous because you forgot to take advantage of the ubiquitously advertised giveaway Saturday night, take a look at Darin’s picture and story:
I’m a long time reader of Consumerist and have enjoyed the many years of information posted to enable to consumer to fight back and be heard. So I figured today could be my day to send in a complaint about the wrong-doings of a local business.
After reading / seeing / hearing that Taco Bell would be giving out free Black Jack tacos on Halloween I decided to be the targeted customer and walk right into their media blitz of a promotion to score me a free taco. I went to my local [redacted], Ohio Taco Bell at around 8:00 (after dark as the commercial implied) only to be greeted with a fairly long wait (~30 minutes in drive-thru) but alas I expected a bit of this for free tacos. I make my order of over $20 worth of Taco goodness and was offered my free Black Jack tacos for as many people were in my car (2).
This is what I received. And seriously, I didn’t do anything but unwrap it and stare and what was supposed to be a taco.
Now I understand free is free but this is a shell with a single teaspoons worth of meat on it and scraps for the rest. I called the store back to simply ask if this was the “new normal” size for this promotion or if someone just decided to reduce the contents by 75%. The staff then refused to answer my question and placed me on hold where I waited for 20 minutes and gave up. I repeated the call roughly an hour later to the same treatment.
Hopefully other stores weren’t as bad as mine but I felt that this story was worth sharing to hope that someone may notice how I and surely many others from [redacted], Ohio were “treated” this Halloween.
This makes me all the happier I went with Chipotle’s free burrito promo on Halloween.
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Remind me to steer far, far away from Redacted, Ohio for my next vacation.
@AlphaLackey: Since Redacted is out, I hear Bumphuck Idaho is beautiful this time of year.
@AlphaLackey:
I live in Redacted Ohio.
They are famous.
@AlphaLackey: I live in Ohio, near Redacted. I’d describe the town, but under the terms of the EULA, I can’t.
oh my god. Your taco bell taco was broken when you got it. I can’t believe that happened. I know for a fact that this has never happened to anyone else, ever. There is no possible way you could fold it back over and eat it as a sandwich. Quick, email consumerist right away.
@redkamel:
That is what he was complaining about, not necessarily that the taco was broken. I think he wants to warn all of us that if Taco Bell gives away free tacos, it’s not worth the trouble.
@redkamel: That’s…totally not what he’s complaining about. He’s wondering why he got so little filler.
It’s a fair question.
I’m of a divided mind on this post. Yes, if you have a promotion, from a business standpoint you should aim to satisfy the customer. But The Consumerist should consider vetting these posts a bit better. If all of us were to complain about our disappointment in what we received from a fast food joint (especially when it is free!) this site will lose credibility fast. Salmonella, being ripped of by BOA, dangerous products – yes. A bad free taco? No. Not an insult to the OP, the taco looked awful. This is more a comment to the Consumerist’s staff to pick their battles wisely.
@etru: It does sort of raise the bar on pathetic fast food reality. It is right up there with the pic of the Big Mac wrap someone sent in when those first came out. It was a gross pathetic excuse for food, well what little food was actually in it.
This kind of quality is why I rarely eat fast food any longer.
@etru: that looks just like every other taco bell taco. was the OP under the impression that the taco would be overflowing with meat? is it ever worth it to wait a half hour for a .89 taco? of course not. for the record though, i had one of these black jack tacos last week and it was fantastic. up there with the volcano taco if you like taco bell.
@etru:
I try not to read Phil’s posts for this exact reason. Sometimes I click on the link only to read the post and I can almost ALWAYS tell if it was Phil’s post.
@etru: yes, I agree. I could have sent you in the lowly piece of chicken i got from KFC the other day but I figured I’d just go back into the restaurant rather than take a pic and send it in to the Consumerist. This is not an issue that couldnt easily have been fixed by going back into the restaurant or calling corporate.
@redkamel: I’m not going to pile on and repeat everything that’s been said about RTFA!!, just wanted to point out that unless you’ve let the taco get soggy, breaking it is the only way to open this. This should not affect the (such as it is) flavor).
Seriously tho, I took ‘advantage’ of this offer at my local Redacted, CT taco bell, and while it wasn’t one of the highlights of my culinary experiences thus far, it seemed of reasonable size for something that sells for under a buck, and tasted about what I’d expect.
I’m not the best judge, having eaten TB only about 3 times before and not in about 5 years.
Eh, what can I say, I was bored..
I been through Redacted, Ohio a few times. It’s a horrible place. It’s a fairly nameless town to go through,.
@CaptZ:
Yea, but Redacted, Ohio isn’t as bad as Redacted, Louisiana or Redacted, Virgina.
I’m also going to call false advertising.
It’s called a BLACK jack taco, but it is very clearly BROWN in color!
@lehrdude:
Try adjusting your monitor settings. I could make the taco look blue, if I adjusted mine enough, lol.
I was at Taco Bell the other day and a friend ordered one…it looked black to me.
@JediJohn82: I think you figured out their next taco promotion. ICE BLUE TACO.
Sure is iPod Taco ’round these parts.
I would try one if they looked anywhere like the tv commercial, all fat and loaded with at least a quarter-pound of whatever they use that is called ‘meat’. What is ‘taco’ spelled backwards? Maybe that’s what it is.
@olderbudwizer: A friend of mine used to work at a Taco Bell, and apparently the box that the “beef” comes in is labeled “Taco Meat Filling.”
When compared with this review at GrubGrade, yeah, total scam.
To be fair, they served so many of those free tacos that they probably didn’t have time to spit in all of them, so the odds bode well.
Not to bash the OP but you’ve got to keep saying “Hit me” when ordering the Blackjack taco until the taco is finished and has 21x your daily sodium intake in place.
Seriously though, screw Taco Bell for using a tainted scallion scare to remove scallions from their menu and never bring them back. Now they only have 4 unique ingredients to combine in ever more stupid ways. I’m looking at YOU CrunchWrap which is really just an octagonal double decker taco.
Also, I know you want to sell $.49 whatchuwhatevers to the masses, but I’ll pay double for something with evenly dispersed ingredients and not just a blob of sour cream that I only discover on the last bite.
wait, what, Chipotle had a free giveaway??
Some of these places don’t seem to understand that the point of a promotion is to, you know, promote your place.
If you try to cheap it out, all you do is piss off the people you’re trying to attract as customers.
@j-o-h-n: I do not find it surprising that minimum wage line workers do not always have the best interests of the company in the forefront of their minds.
Another satisfied customer!
How much did Taco Bell spend on product development and promotion, only to have the results derailed by some disgruntled worker whose purpose in life is to sling goop onto a tortilla?
It’s kind of funny…
i got the free taco and i had no problems like the op.
A slow restaurant commonly staffed by highschoolers on HALLOWEEN? I think the real problem is nothing more than understaffed overworked people who don’t give a shit how much cheese is on your taco.
I was the evening supervisor at a Subway for nearly two years, so I know a thing or two about food advertising.
My manger told us on numerous occasions to keep a few things in mind if anyone complains about the look of the food:
1. The commercials and in-store displays almost always use plastic or rubber veggies and meat. Good luck ever receiving food as good looking as that. Oh, and those Thanksgiving turkeys you see in the Wal-Mart ad? They take a raw turkey and use a blowtorch on the exterior. Seriously.
2. You know those bread displays at the counter of every Subway? We try to use the very best looking bread each day for those. Preparing the bread is a very time-, heat-, and humidity-sensitive process. If any one of those variables is off, the bread could become burnt or look like a blimp.
3. Finally, don’t take crap from a customer who loads up their sandwich with extra meat and veggies, and expects their sandwich to “fold” perfectly. We’re “Sandwich Artists”, not Vangough.
I will say that this borderline false advertising by companies is revolting. However, you try luring people to a business with a burger that looks like Michael Moore sat on it.
@Riff-Raff: Your manager lied. In food advertising, the food represented MUST be real food. Ancillary food may be fake, however. So in a Jell-O commercial, if they show ice cream, it is more than likely Crisco or some funky concotion. The Jell-O, however, is REAL Jell-O. It may be at 10X normal concentration to maintain it’s shape, but it is real Jell-O. In Cereal commercials, they may go through 100+ boxes of cereal to get the perfect flakes to make one bowl. Since the cereal is the food product, the milk shown is usually a glue of some kind, to prevent the flakes from getting soggy.
First mistake : going to Taco Bell.
Second mistake : assuming Taco Bell serves food that doesn’t look and taste disgusting.
Really, you’re complaining about your free taco? They sell for like $0.89 normally, what did you expect!
Wow! That looks exactly like the one in the ad!!!
Uhh, yeah. Free crappy fast food is crappy. What else is new?
I mean, considering that Taco Bell is about the bottom of the bottom of the barrel in terms of what passes for consumable “food products” these days, did anyone really think they were getting something for nothing with this promotion? Especially if the fine print requires you to order $20 worth of food? I guess they could have put in more taco contents, but meh. If you don’t want shitty tacos, don’t eat at Taco Bell.
I have had nothing but problems with Taco Bell for about the last year. I used to go to taco bell all the time, but now their food always tastes old and nasty. Dried up beans, very little for your money, etc.
So I have been Taco Bell free for a few months. I will sometimes get the inkling for Taco Bell, and I will try it again, with the same results.
As much as it sucks to get a free taco that looks like that, I just tried the Blackjack last night and mine looked much the same but I paid for it. But really what should I expect from our local Taco Bell who in the past turned me away once saying they ran out of meat and another time ran out of shells. Who are we to expect them to keep in stock the basic ingredients of any mexican restaurant?
Ahhhh, shit…. i forgot to wrap myself in aluminum foil and go get my free Chipotle burrito….
if you willingly walk into a taco bell with the sole intent of eating that stuff, I feel no pity for you.
You ordered $20 worth of food from taco bell and you’re complaining about the free food being sloppily put together? They were doing you a favor, sir. America is FAT! 2 people eating $20 worth of taco bell? Thats like, everything on the menu!
Taco meat and that gooey sauce sticks well to plate glass. I would have returned it that way.
You should have wrapped some aluminum foil around your arm and gone to Chipotle. They were giving out free burritos is you dressed remotely like a burrito.
I’m curious what the other items he received looked like, since he said he bought $20 worth of food.
If the FREE taco was the only one lacking, I don’t think it is really worth complaining over. Obviously the restaurant was slammed and they probably had a mad assembly line going on inside to keep up.
I’ve noticed when I’ve gone to Taco Bell, I usually get slim toppings, or too many. It seems to even out over time.
Damn, how many calories are in $20 worth of Taco Bell?
Even splitting that between two people, you’re still taunting the cholesterol gods and threatening to be struck down with a heart attack.
@Schildkrote: I just bought dinner for myself and my fiance. We bought too much food and it was $13. I don’t want to think about the damage that extra $7 in food could have caused.
Let me tell you a secret about hard-shelled tacos: They break REALLY easily. Like when you bite into them? Or when they are in a bag or just when the people who work there are sick of handing out free tacos to dicks who complain about free stuff, while they work for minimum wage and have to pay for the food that you got for free. FREE.
How about this: I’ll come to your house to eat and complain about the crappy food and service.
Ug. This just makes me mad. “I got something for free and now I have to complain about it.”
I hope the only response that you get from Taco Bell is a job offer.
I got my free taco at a Downtown Denver Taco Bell, and it was AWESOME.
Still, I understand why this guy is upset. Free IS free, but even free, this is a horrible representation of a Taco Bell taco. Unless they want people to think that this is what $1 will buy you at Taco Bell (I wouldn’t spend $.25 on the pictured taco above), they shouldn’t be handing them out at all.
Obviously, not worth throwing a major fit over, but definitely worth mentioning and being disappointed over.
@redkamel: @redkamel: I think the problem was that it has 5 shreds of cheese and three sad pieces of half assed lettuce? Being broken doesn’t sound like a big deal to the OP.
@redkamel: I think the problem here is that you’re being a troll who didn’t RTFA rather than a somewhat intelligent being that would recognize that he received hardly anything inside that taco shell.
@pecan 3.14159265: That’s pretty much my opinion of Taco Bell food in general.
@VagrantRadio: He tried to contact TB corporate. They put him on indefinite hold. Twice.
@VagrantRadio: Because contacting The Consumerist means he can read all sorts of entertaining comments.
@thereij: Never attribute malice to what can be attributed to mere laziness.
@cmdrsass: I didn’t say it was impossible. Considering my history with employment in fast-foot (as well as that of my friends) this is my opinion. However, laziness is still in the game.
@Smashville_now with Monster Energy: The taco is an insult. If someone offers you a free gift and it turns out to be a regurgitated turd, then you have a right to complain.
@morlo: But other than being broken…it looks pretty much exactly as advertised.
@h3llc4t, breaker of office dress codes: Damn I didn’t know that. I would have made a humdinger of a hat and showed up.
Firstly, he didn’t call TB corporate, the article said he called the restaurant he got the taco from twice with no luck.
I think this Taco is the result of one of two things:
1) shortage of ingredients due to the promotion
2) employee doing a rush job of making a taco because the place was so slammed.
@bohemian: “disposable workers that didn’t require training”
Fun Fact: fast food restaurants receive tax credits for “training” of every new employee via Federal programs that were created to reward companies who give job training to the poor. An employee only has to work for a few months before the company is eligiable for the tax credit which is coincidentally just about how long the average fast food employee lasts before getting fired or quitting, at which point the company hires someone else and gets the tax credit all over again.
@HogwartsAlum: and the Cheesy Potato 1/2 pounder…..yummy.
@Pink Puppet: To be fair, I have moved a lot since graduation, so maybe your psychic stalking homing device is just on a delay.
@Whtthfgg: Oh no, I can’t eat that. Too fatty!!!
I’ve been having gallbladder trouble so I have to be good. And of course, my chat buddies were posting food porn from thisiswhyyou’refat.com last night…. *GROAN*!
@DangerMouth: And they are sooooo good.
Guess what I’m going to have for lunch today!