Anyone who has ever seen their name go from “Mark” to “Mork” on the side of a Starbucks cup, or “Morran” to “Moron” on restaurant reservations knows that names sometimes get lost in translation when scrawled by a foodservice worker in a hurry. So how can you tell when it’s an honest mistake or you’re the victim of a rude prank? [More]
you make the call
McDonald’s “Signs” Commercial: Heartwarming Message Or Crass Cash-In?
By 1.12.15
Over the weekend, McDonald’s extended its latest “lovin'” campaign with a new ad featuring a series of McDonald’s restaurant signs bearing messages about everything from natural disasters to the Boston Marathon killings to birthday greetings. Some viewers had their hearts warmed by the reminders that local fast food franchises can spread messages of more than just Happy Meals, while other viewers were less won-over, viewing the ad as a crass way for McDonald’s to attach itself to national tragedies. [More]
Let’s See How Well You Can Predict What’s Going To Happen In 2015
December 31, 2014
In case you hadn’t checked the calendar, 2014 is over but there’s still a lot of unfinished business oodles of uncertainty in front of us. So let’s see what images your crystal ball is conjuring. [More]
Was McDonald’s Right To Refuse Service To Diabetic Walk-Up Customer At Drive-Thru?
By 12.29.14
While we understand why a fast food place would only serve late-night customers through the drive-thru window, we’ve never quite understood why these eateries refuse to serve customers who pop by on foot or on bikes. Someone else who doesn’t get this policy is the diabetic man who claims that McDonald’s workers shrugged off his concerns of an impending hypoglycemic attack and refused to serve him because he wasn’t driving. [More]
Will You Avoid Data-Breached Retailers This Holiday Season?
By 10.20.14
The massive 2013 holiday data breach of Target, which siphoned off the personal and payment information for more than 100 million shoppers, provided an eye-opening moment for consumers who had previously assumed that this sort of ID theft mostly happened when shopping online. The Target debacle was followed by attacks on big-name businesses like Home Depot, Dairy Queen, P.F. Chang’s, Jimmy John’s, Kmart, and the Albertsons/Jewel-Osco/ACME, Shaw’s chains of supermarkets… twice. But will all these lapses in security actually drive shoppers elsewhere this holiday season? [More]
Google’s Plan To Let Kids Have Accounts: Bad Idea Or Acknowledgement Of Reality?
By 8.19.14
A few years back, Facebook’s sweatshirt-in-chief Mark Zuckerberg caught a lot of heat when he said he’d be willing to fight for the right to peddle his social network to kids under the age of 13. He eventually backed off on this idea, but now Google appears to be taking up the cause. [More]
Jerk Or Genius: Burger King Customer Buys 23 Apple Pies Just So Loudmouthed Kid Can’t Get One
By 8.6.14
We’ve all had to stand in line next to some insufferable brat of a child who won’t stop shouting out his desires for the entire world to hear. But most of us don’t have the gall to do what one Burger King customer claims to have done. [More]
Is It Wrong For A Restaurant To Tell Diners To Remove Google Glass?
By 5.27.14
The culture war (more of a slap-fight) over where and when it’s okay to sport Google Glass continues. A Manhattan restaurant is the latest to get caught up in the fracas after it asked a customer to remove her Glass device while dining, resulting in a burst of negative reviews from those who think the eatery crossed a line… and a backlash from those who aren’t impressed with the headgear and don’t see why anyone would wear one to dinner. [More]
If Someone Left You A $5,000 Tip, Would You Share The Wealth With Co-Workers?
By 5.9.14
The “Tips for Jesus” movement appears to have struck again, with a mystery diner here in Philadelphia giving a $5,000 tip to his waitress and leaving another $2,000 for the restaurant’s bartender. These two can now do what they want with the money, but what about the co-workers who weren’t lucky enough to serve the generous tipper? [More]
Was This Walmart Doing A Bad Thing By Being Closed On Easter But Asking Employees To Work?
By 4.21.14
When a store says it’s closed on Easter so its employees can spend time with their families, does that mean the entire store should be a ghost town? Or is it okay to have a volunteer skeleton crew in to keep things moving behind the scenes? And should the workers who do volunteer to come in be paid extra for giving up their holiday? These questions and more are being debated about a Walmart Supercenter in Maine. [More]
Are You OK With A Restaurant Googling You If It Improves Customer Service?
By 4.14.14
If you apply for a job, you can rest assured that someone will Google your name or look you up on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and elsewhere before hiring you. If you meet someone via an online dating service, he or she has probably (and wisely) made repeated efforts to look you up on publicly available social media sources in order to make sure you’re not a suspected serial killer. But when you make a reservation at a restaurant, you probably don’t expect anyone there to do any research about you. [More]
“Saving” A Shoveled-Out Parking Spot: Your Hard-Earned Right Or A Jerk Move?
By 2.20.14
Readers who’ve only lived in warm climates or areas with ample parking don’t understand the special hell that is going through the effort of digging your car out of a plowed-in curbside parking spot, knowing all the while that said spot will soon be occupied by someone else’s car. That’s where some people employ the controversial practice of using chairs, traffic cones, handmade signs, trash cans, and apparently ironing boards, to “save” their shoveled-out spots for later. [More]
Ethical Or Not-So-Ethical: Using A Secondary User Name To Give Free HBO Go Access To Friends?
By 11.21.13
Whether you approve of it or not, a lot of people out there share usernames and passwords for services like Netflix and HBO Go so that their friends, families and loved ones can share without having to pay for their own subscription. And some say there is a way you can do this for HBO Go (and presumably other services that use your cable login) without having to actually share your info. [More]
Should Everyone Have The Right To A Break During The Work Day?
By 9.4.13
Many of us have the option of taking at least one brief lunch and/or rest break during the work day (whether you take it or not is a different discussion), and lots of people believe they are legally entitled to a break for every few hours worked. But the fact is that it is perfectly legal in most states for employers to not give employees any rest during the time they are on the clock. [More]
Is This Comped Olive Garden Receipt The Real Deal Or Just Viral Marketing?
By 3.27.13
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When a restaurant receipt story gets wildly popular online, it’s usually because a horrible customer leaves a rude message or because a restaurant staffer insults a diner, but occasionally it’s a happy story about an eatery doing something nice. Question is, are restaurants beginning to fake these stories for positive PR? [More]
Is The Coffee-Grounds-In-Milkshake ‘Frozen Mocha’ The Next Secret Menu Item To Take Off?
By 3.22.13
We’ve talked a lot over the years about secret menu items at fast food joints and how they can be both fun for customers and good for business, so we’re always on the lookout for the next Mc10:35. Now the creator of that fast food Frankenstein has a new secret menu item he says is taking off at his local In-N-Out Burger. [More]
Should Your Landlord Be Able To Decide If Your Significant Other Can Stay The Night?
By 9.10.12
Remember the days of Three’s Company, when the only way a man could convince the landlord to let him stay in an apartment with two single women was by pretending to be gay? Even when I first moved to New York in the mid-’90s, more than a few landlords told me I could only have male roommates and that female overnight guests were frowned upon. But times are changing and most people just expect their landlord to butt out, so long as they aren’t knocking down walls or installing hot tubs in the bathroom. But there are still some people out there that don’t want any unwed hanky-panky going on under their roof. [More]
What's The Best Way For A Cashier To Handle Problem Child With Complaining Mom?
By 8.10.12
Learning how to handle problem customers in retail isn’t easy. If you treat them with even a fraction of the lack of respect they show to you, it can balloon into a full-on “situation.” And things can get especially complicated if that bad consumer has a little kid in tow. [More]
