How do customers feel about fountain drinks at take out places

I say you honor the price, it's all about customer service an returning customers.

It seems like it's a reoccurring problem and that is your fault not the customers. If giving them a bottle for the price of a fountain drink is losing you money then you need to find a new vendor!

 

If this is the case, you should eat the cost. Its only temporary. And you get a happy customer. But let them know that if fountain is available then that is what they are getting. You just have to be very clear about it. Or if you know you will run low of something, just go to the store and buy some cans and offer those instead of Bottle when the fountain drink is out.

I used to LOVE Coca-Cola (i dont really drink soft drink anymore) my fall back is Dr.pepper or Pibb. So if a place sold pepsi, i would ask for Dr. Pepper. if they did not have dr. Pepper i would be very upset. But that is a restaurant. I dont think i would care too much for take-out soft drinks. I could just pick one up on my way home.

 

You could always BS customers, telling them it's a New York soda tax.

 

If it's a regular occurrence then, yes, you should. Not because you have to but because people will just stop buying from you if they don't know what they're going to get each time. Inconsistent product/service is fatal.

If it's not a regular occurrence, yes, you should because it barely affects your income and generally a proportionally greater level of customer satisfaction. Ten times out of ten, you would pay those few dollars to make a few customers very happy. The key here is not to do it begrudgingly, but to say to the customer if you sense disappointment: "you know what? we'll throw in a bottled drink for the price of a fountain drink so don't worry about it at all!"... More than likely you get a better tip, giving you happier staff and customers, which is always good for business.

 

"You're out of chips, give me french fries for the same price."

 

Except here, it's "You're out of root beer, give me root beer for the same price."

 

Keep in mind also that bottles are generally smaller than fountain drink cups (and can't be refilled, if he's staying to eat), so the customer is actually asking "you're out of root beer, can you give me less root beer for the same price?"

 

Sorry, we're out of root beer

 

Well, they're higher price for a reason. It's not like they cost the store the same to stock.

 

You're ignoring the cost of goods sold difference between the two. The restaurant owner has to eat that. Maybe it's good business sense for the owner to do so to keep a long term customer, but the customer is forcing the business owner to take less of a profit.

 

Annoying customers like that would cause the price of fountain drinks to rise to the price of bottled drinks if they got their way.

 

Be firm. Tell them no drink for you! And GTFO. Or tell them to go back where they came from. Usually it's the Upper East Side.

 

No, I'm not - I was posting the customer's request. COGS is not a consideration of the customer. For him, he's just asking for less of the exact same product at the same price. COGS is only relevant to the business owner's response.

 

Actually, just deduct 1-2 USD from the cost of their meal. Then they can decide whether they want to buy a bottle drink separately.

 

What if the customer says keep giving me all the bottled soda I can drink until I'm ready to leave? Essentially that's what happens with a fountain drink.

 

Give them a dollar and tell them you don't give a crap how they spend it.

 

It's not the exact same product. In one transaction, the customer receives a cup with a fountain drink. In another, they receive a bottle with a drink inside it.

 

Just comp the customers some extra fabric softeners for the inconvenience.

 

At any point that you decide the customer is being unreasonable, you say "no". That could be at the initial request, if they ask your question, or never at all. It again just depends on where the business stands on short term expenses vs long-term PR.

From the customer's perspective, unless he really cares about the specific container type, he's asking to buy root beer (or whatever) either way. From the OP, it appears in this case, the specific type of drink was far more important to him than the delivery method.