No one expects four-star service at a fast-food joint, but at the same time you expect service to be, well, fast. And somewhat competent. McDonald’s currently faces falling sales, and 20% of the complaints they receive are about customer service. Customers complain about “chaotic” service and “unprofessional” employees. Logical conclusion: time to work on their customer service. The chain is overhauling their ordering system in an attempt to make fewer mistakes and speed things along. Will it work? Maybe. [More]
What It’s Like To Work At A Subway Franchise, Get Blamed For Everything Customers Don’t Like
By December 14, 2012
Reader M. is currently (under-) employed at a Subway franchise. M. has a college degree, and is bright enough to be able to see the economic indicators that show they’ll still be working at Subway for a while yet. Fortunately, we like to give employees a soapbox to educate the public about the things we might not understand about their jobs. That way, Consumerist readers are less likely to act like entitled jerks, treat front-line employees better, and the world is a happier place. In theory. [More]
No Coupons, No Games At Our Super Sad Neighborhood Burger King
By September 4, 2012
Fast-food restaurant promotions exist to get customers in the door and to keep them coming back. When Steve and his wife showed up at their regular Burger King for a tasty dinner of Whoppers, they brought along a coupon they had printed from Burger King’s website. It turned out that their local franchise couldn’t accept that coupon. Okay. They could deal with that. It was when the cashier talked up a different promotion, then explained that the restaurant was actually out of game pieces for that promotion, that Steve became annoyed enough to write to Burger King corporate. [More]
Quiznos Risks Defaulting
By July 21, 2011
“Torpedoing.” “Toasted.” The food that Quiznos is having trouble selling is full of metaphors for how its business is going. Crunched by the recession, its own policies towards franchise owners, competitors adding toasters, and an “everyday value” strategy that ran counter to its position as a purveyor of premium sandwiches, Quiznos is on the edge of violating its loan terms and could go into default. [More]
Soup Nazi Back In Business, But Not Actually Around To Yell At You
By July 22, 2010
Al Yeganeh, the man who inspired Seinfeld’s Soup Nazi character, closed up shop six years ago, but this week he re-opened his business at the same location on 55th Street in NYC under the name “The Original Soup Man.” The company is now a franchise with locations in nine states and Washington, D.C., and unfortunately (for us, but probably not for him) Yeganeh doesn’t actually do any counterwork–he’s just the brand at this point. [More]
Burger King Restaurants Angry Over $1 Burger Promo, File Lawsuit
By November 13, 2009
I’ve been wondering how some fast food chains can sell $1 cheeseburgers and still make a profit. Apparently they can’t, which is why a group that represents about 80% of the restaurant’s franchisees have sued the company over the promotion.
Not All Camaro Owners Got Free Pizza From Papa John's
By August 27, 2009
Like Quizno’s and KFC before them, Papa John’s went and set up a cute promotion without making sure that all of their franchisees have signed on. Papa John’s founder John Schnatter was reunited with his long-lost 1971 Camaro, and to celebrate, promised free pizza to anyone who drove up to a Papa John’s restaurant in a Camaro. Except, you guessed it, not at all Papa John’s locations.
Memphis Burger Kings: Global Warming Is Baloney
By May 30, 2009
At least three Burger Kings in Memphis have recently displayed “GLOBAL WARMING IS BALONEY” on their letter boards, according to the Memphis Flyer and a reader.
Forced Arbitration: You Lose, Now Pay For Our Lunch
By April 28, 2009
Mandatory binding arbitration, which corporations use to dodge accountability for their discrimination, negligence, or harassment, is a caricature of justice that offers no protection to consumers or employees. It’s also terrible for small business owners, as one couple found out.
People Who Complained About Quiznos Million Sub Giveaway Imbroglio Get $5 Gift Cards
By March 31, 2009
Readers who had problems with the Quiznos million free sub campaign and wrote in to the email address the sandwichery supplied to Consumerist report they’re receiving $5 gift card in the mail along with a letter of apology from the marketing director. One reader reports that on the back of the card it says that a $1 service charge gets applied to it each month you don’t use it. To see what some franchisees are saying are the *real* reasons for the problems, check out the comments section on this post at UnhappyFranchisee. Quiznos’ letter is posted inside.
Why The Quiznos Free Sandwich Promo Burnt Some Customers
By February 27, 2009
According to tipster Rich Piotrowski, a former Quiznos franchise owner who won a counter-suit against the company, the big reason why some Quiznos were being jerks about taking the free sandwich coupon is that at first corporate was making the franchises pay for all the sandwiches. (Quiznos mandates franchises buy all their ingredients from HQ, often at above-market rates…). Then it looks like they decided to reimburse up to 400 coupons, then bumped that up to 700 to meet the demand, and now they’re going to reimburse all coupons. Don’t give away free stuff in these times unless you’re ready for an onslaught of interest, at the outset. Corporate seems to have realized this and contacted us to say that if you have any problems redeeming coupons you can email millionsubs@quiznos.com. Tipster’s comment, and an internal Quiznos memo, inside…
Mandatory Binding Arbitration Isn't Just Bad For Consumers, It's Bad For Small Businesses
By February 26, 2009
Mother Jones has an excellent writeup of Deborah Williams and Richard Welshans, the Maryland couple whose horrific experience with franchising a Coffee Beanery we’ve covered before. Inside, MoJo breaks down the arbitration award to show just how much more expensive arbitration is than litigation.
Petland Uses Puppy Mills
By November 21, 2008
After an eight-month investigation, the Humane Society of the United States accused Petland, the national pet store chain, of selling dogs bred under appalling conditions at puppy mills around the country.
Meet The Coupon-Throwing Papa John's Owner From Hell
By June 8, 2008
Papa John’s wouldn’t let reader Adi redeem her coupon for a $9.99 extra-large pizza online, so she trekked over to the nearest store in Weymouth, Massachusetts, where she met the franchise owner from hell. The owner insisted that the coupon didn’t apply to online orders, so Adi asked to cancel her online order and re-order her pizza in person to get the discount. This prompted the owner to angrily throw the coupon at Adi, before throwing away her ready-made pizza. And was just the start of the fun…
We Are Not Impressed By New York City's Proposed Cable Consumer Bill Of Rights
By April 26, 2008
New York City Comptroller Bill Thompson has proposed tying a Cable Consumer Bill of Rights into the 10-year franchise renewals Time Warner and Cablevision are expected to sign later this year. The proposal would force cable operators to disclose information about their expenses and service goals—which sounds nice and important on paper—but wastes an unrivaled opportunity to end the cable operators’ most hated practices.
Coffee Shop Installs Fake Security Camera In Bathroom
By February 5, 2008
A coffee shop in Montreal has removed a “dud” security camera from its bathroom after news of it hit the local papers. Corporate headquarters asked the franchise owner to take it down, and apologized/avoided blame in a press release that said they were “not consulted in advance.” The franchise owner had installed it as a sort of junkie scarecrow, to frighten away heroin users who were leaving dirty needles in the bathroom stall.
