It has been several months since I last wrote one of my rant/comment postings.
But I have been left with an unpleasant taste in my mouth(pun intended)
by the treatment I have received from one of the franchises belonging to...
THIS company...
actually giving you less and less.
It occurred at the Mugg & Bean in Victory Park in Johannesburg.
And a situation that could have been handled promptly
and efficiently within minutes,
turned in to a Facebook and Twitter exchange
that went on for several days.
I have frequented many of the Mugg & Bean branches over the years
and this is not the first time that the same problem has occurred.
It first happened in Rosebank, and I was young and naive
and accepted the way that my complaint was dealt with.
I have had this happen to me at the Cresta branch.
There, when the manager hearing my complaint,
he dealt with the situation immediately.
Not only was the issue resolved, but he and I became friendly and
I continued to support that branch.
So what was my complaint?
It was simple.
There were no dates in my date and nut muffin.
Admittedly a small issue when planes are being shot out of the sky,
and women and children are being used as human shields in a fight over land.
I cannot do anything about either of these situations...
I could do something about this...or so I thought!
Upon opening the offending muffin at Victory Park,I asked my waiter to call the manager...
While waiting for the manager to arrive, the customer sitting behind me told me that she too had a problem with her order.
I offered her the opportunity to interact with said manager after I had resolved my issue
Very politely, and with a smile,I asked the manager/owner(?) about the lack of the aforementioned dates,
and her response "My staff don't believe me when I tell them I have had complaints. Let me call my baker"
and the baker was summoned to hear my complaint
Generic M&B image from Google
When I questioned the baker,
she said "People complain when there are too many dates"!
The manager/owner just stood and nodded sagely...
As if to agree with her staff member.
Too MANY dates?
How can that be?
I had had the same muffin the day before in Durban and it was virtually BURSTING with the fruit.
How was the situation dealt with:
Was I offered another muffin? NO
And my issue was left unresolved and I finished my dateless muffin
The customer behind me had a similar outcome...
When our bills arrived, we were hoping that the offending items would have been removed.
NO SUCH LUCK..
We both paid...and left.
I posted my complaint on Facebook and Twitter,
only to be met with "We are sorry that you feel this way, and we will be in touch"
I supplied my cell number and it took several days before I received a call from "THE HEAD OFFICE"
It was a Saturday afternoon, and their complaints systems were explained to me at length.
"Thank you for your input" and "without complaints we don't know what we are doing wrong"
BLAH, BLAH BLAH.
Again it could have been easily handled.
The "offending" owner/manager could have called me to say sorry and to offer to make it right.
Did that happen...NO, of course not.
Neither did "THE HEAD OFFICE" offer to make restitution..
Sunday morning I get a call from "CUSTOMER CARE"...
"Has my query been dealt with"?
Sort of...
"Can we close the case"...what is this, CSI?
"Yes, close it" was my response.
I have not been back to see if the recipe has been fixed,
neither will I return to that branch.
I know from my postings that other Mugg and Bean customers are as peeved as me.
Come on "HEAD OFFICE", without customers, you don't have a business...
(Cell number supplied)
I stupidly thought that I would give them
another opportunity this morning (08/08/2015)
"Stupidly" is the key word!
All I wanted was a coffee while I waited for the pet shop to open.
What I got was the WORST coffee ever!
It tasted burned and the service was appalling.
I was sitting outside so that I could keep my eye on the shop,
but I was ignored until it came time to pay.
I usually have a couple of cups,
but one was MORE than enough!
I am not going to tar all the branches with the same brush,
but the Victory Park shopping center branch sucked
when I wrote the first posting and, as far as I am concerned,
IT STILL SUCKS...
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