Nick orders the same lunch every Wednesday from the Cosi nearest his office: turkey and corn chili. That sounds really tasty, but Nick was unhappy because he wasn’t getting all of the soup he paid for. When his soup cup wasn’t full a few weeks in a row, he sent a complaint through the chain’s website. The area manager sent a nice letter back offering a free meal at any location. Then things got weird. And awesome. The manager tracked him down using LinkedIn and had more soup delivered to his office.

I wanted to share a story today of a company going above and beyond the call of duty.

Across the street from my office in [redacted] is a Cosi Restaurant. Every Wednesday I order the Southwest Corn and Turkey Chili, absolutely delicious on a cold day. The past three weeks for whatever reason I have not been receiving a full cup of soup. I’m picky, but when I order the largest size I expect to get what I pay for, not paying for a large but only getting what would come in a medium size cup. I’ve never written a complaint before but today I had enough and decided to go onto the Cosi website and send an email to their corporate. I didn’t expect much from a big company but I was pleasantly surprised.

Here is the email I sent today…

Hi,

I am writing today because I am tired of not getting what I pay for. I come in every Wednesday to order a Large Southwest Corn and Turkey Chili and the past 3 times I have been my large cup has barely been filled more than half way. What’s the point of ordering a large if I am only going to receive a medium portion? I’m getting to the point where I am going to have to find a new place to get soup. I am a loyal customer and enjoy your items a lot, but I may have to go elsewhere if this continues.

Thanks,
Nick

Granted I am complaining about something so small but for whatever reason I felt I needed to let them know I was unsatisfied. 15 minutes later I received a letter from the regional manager for Cosi..

Dear Nick,

My name is [redacted] and I am the Area Director for the Cosi located at [redacted] I am very sorry for the experience that you had today in our restaurant. There is no excuse for not receiving what you paid for. I will be sure to address this with the managers and the partners of this location to make sure this does not happen to you or any of our guests in the future.

Nick, I would love to have the opportunity to make this up to you. If you would like to come in to have lunch or soup on us, I would be happy to send you out a free entree card to use at any of the Cosi locations. If you would be willing to give us that opportunity, please send me your mailing address and I will send it right out.
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us. I will use the information to make sure your next visit is a positive one.

This was more than nice enough, but here is the kicker. About an hour after I received the email I got a call from security in the lobby of the building telling me someone from Cosi is here to see me. At first I was confused because I never shared where I work but I went downstairs anyway to see what was going on. Waiting for me was someone from the restaurant with a big bag, apologizing over and over and said please call [redacted] if I had any questions. In her hand was my LinkedIn profile she printed out to find me( still kind of weird). Inside the bag was a new soup (very full) but also a big tray of cookies, brownies, and fresh fruit which I shared with all my coworkers.

In this instance instead of telling only one person about my good experience and telling 10 people about the bad, I told as many as I could how awesome of an experience I had with Cosi. I will definitely be back next Wednesday for more soup!

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