Reader Stephanie’s brother recently started a blog dedicated to reviewing French Dip sandwiches. To that end, he ordered, and reviewed, a French Dip at a Perkins in Madison, WI. Unfortunately, his sandwich came on regular bread, instead of typical French Dip bread.

Stephanie says:

Mark (my brother) reviewed the sandwich at a Perkins in Madison Wisconsin. He was sorely disappointed when the sandwich looked completely different than the picture on the menu (they used regular grilled bread instead of the French baguette). He posted the negative review of the Perkins French Dip on his blog on November 1st. The next day, someone claiming to be a Perkins regional manager left a comment on the blog urging Mark to call him and let him fix the situation. He called the number and was quickly put in touch with Jon Sanborn, the Perkins regional manager. Jon investigated the bread situation, offered Mark a gift certificate, and invited him to come back and re-review the sandwich the next time he was in Madison. Equally impressive was that there was no mention of taking the review down or altering its contents.

I find it amazing that Perkins would seek out my brother and try to ascertain what went wrong with his dining experience, especially considering the blog currently has only 15 followers and I doubt a negative review would stop any of us from going to Perkins in the future.

Anyway, it turns out that the Perkins was out of the correct bread at the time and someone should have asked if regular bread was OK.

Here’s how our French Dip expert describes Perkins’ response:

Mr. Sanborn was apologetic for what had happened and wanted to make it up to me. So he told me that he would mail me a Perkins gift certificate! Please realize, Perkins found me out to make this situation right, I did not complain to them. If this indicative of how their franchise is run, all I can say is, “Thank you, Perkins, for putting the customer first.” About how to use my compensation, fret not faithful readers, this gift certificate will only go back into purchasing more French dips for ingestion and judging, as I wish not to profit from the deeds I undertake selflessly reviewing everyone’s favorite sandwiches of perfect harmony.

I informed Mr. Sanborn that in late January I would be in Madison again, and that I would love to review the same Perkins’ French dip again. He told me that he doesn’t really care what I do with my blog, just that he wants me to be happy.

Perkins Restaurant and Bakery at 5237 University Ave Madison, WI 53705 [The French Dip Review]
Update: The Perkins French Dip Review of November 1, 2009 and Jon Sanborn [The French Dip Review]

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