How do customers feel about fountain drinks at take out places

Yep. It's not the customer's fault the vendor didn't bring the syrup. It's a no brainer to accommodate the customer in this case.

 

The customer is always right?

 

The customer is not always right, but the customer's money is.

If you can get some money from them, versus getting no money, you do that.

When you throw in the risk of losing money when they complain to their friends (which they will, because they're the type of people to become indignant when you don't have Dr. Pepper), it's a no-brainer.

If it happens repeatedly with the same customer, you cut them off.

If it happens repeatedly with different customers, you need to rethink things on your end.

But seriously, entitled, spoiled, prick customers are some of the worst scum on the planet.

"What do you mean I can't have exactly what I want? Didn't you know I was going to be here today? This is ridiculous! It's absolutely ridiculous that I can't have exactly what I want! Mama's little baby always gets exactly what he wants! You just lost a customer!"

Stay lost, please. We don't need your type of customer.

Not that the customer who prompted this thread is that type of guy, just venting.

 

I worked my way through Rice at Kahn's Deli in the Village wearing this button on my working hat



It worked, because it made our prime Jewish customers laugh. I started wearing it, because I learned a lot about corned beef and hot pastrami from Mike and his dad Alfred, more than any NY tourist who came in whining about if we were Kosher or asking if we had lean corned beef for their reuben's lols. They didn't know what Kosher means (I'm sorry) nor what made a perfect Reuben (I'm sorry)

hotballa,

Lesson is, you gotta be proactive with your signage.

Dude, all you had to do was take that Root Beer label out of your fountain dispenser to make it blank. "Oh, sorry, we don't serve Root Beer out of the Fountain, but we have bottled Root Beer, which is much better."

 

Why would you change your business practice (it seems for the worse) in order to placate a handful or less of customers? A polite "I'll refund your money for the drink" (if you don't want to substitute the bottle) should suffice.

I can't imagine this situation occurring often enough to make a big change. In the past 3 months, I have been unable to get the drink I specifically wanted at a fountain 3 times at 3 different places. I just chose another flavor. If there was not another flavor I cared for, I would have asked for a refund of the drink price.

 

This is a terrible lesson to learn from all of this. Unless this is happening to a whole lot of customers, why would you change your business practices to account for 1 or 2 people. Either give him the drink at the discounted price or don't. It's a matter of $0.95 one way or another and then is over. It doesn't need to be any more complicated than that.

 

Don't get rid of your highest margin product. Get rid of the brand-matching bottle versions in your cooler. Subway does not have matching bottle products. Why should you?

 

Umm last time I was at Subway I could get Coca Cola as a fountain drink or bottle.

 

On a related note, how do you pronounce soda over there? I've heard many variations throughout my travels in the USA.

 

shhhh. we are trying to help out hotballa. besides, we are talking about Root Beer not Coke

 

I can't remember if I posted in this thread yet, but what kind of business owner chargers more for a bottle drink when the fountain is out? Business owner should charge the same amount for the bottle replacement drink since the fountain is not working. How is this not common sense -- OP is a tard.

 

The fountain's working fine, it just doesn't have the drink that you want.

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, and assume you're just joking.

But in case you're not, I'll repost this:

"What do you mean I can't have exactly what I want? Didn't you know I was going to be here today? This is ridiculous! It's absolutely ridiculous that I can't have exactly what I want! Mama's little baby always gets exactly what he wants! You just lost a customer!"

If the fountain "isn't working" and won't be "fixed" until tomorrow, is the owner supposed to eat the cost all day long for everybody who wants that drink in one form, but doesn't want to pay extra for it in another?

You either want the drink, or you don't.

If your customer is the type of person that will drink one drink and one drink only, and **** you for not having it, they want the more expensive version for cheap, why bother trying to retain them as a customer?

That person is (borrowing from you, here) a "tard."

 

You could solve this issue by ordering an extra box of syrup in your most popular flavors, or keeping a few cases of cans of those flavors and only offer those cans at the same price as the fountain drink when you run out of flavors.

I'm a Diet Coke drinker. I'm not interested in any other soda. Even if you have to lower your profit margin to sell me a canned or bottled drink at a price I'm willing to pay in this circumstance of you being out of cheap, fountain soda, you're still bringing in revenue that you're going to lose if you price me out of the canned or bottled drink. Plus, if you run out of something that I care about, I don't care whose fault it is, I'm blaming you and I'd probably be less likely to return to your restaurant.

TL;DR: Don't be cheap. Soda syrup doesn't go bad for years. Stock extra during the winter.

 

Two things:

1) that would be bad for your car.
2) you don't pay for gas if they're out of it. but if for some dumb reason you did that, I would definitely ask if they had gas in a different container.

 

This is a microcosm of our society and why it's going down the tubes.

 

There's no reason that would hurt the car

 

I know. Businesses don't care about their customers much any more when any request is treated as nitpicky and b****y.

 

OK, well if the gas station doesn't advertise they're out of regular and take your money for regular, they should give you premium for that price. Dumb analogy.