Shan and I had a mall lunch the other day and I found myself inspired to write a little letter to Taco Time Canada.
Taco Time,
I am not exactly sure why I am so motivated to write, I wasn’t really wronged in any way. I think I just felt like saying a lot more and was really put off by the person I was dealing with that day. I enjoy your food when I am in the mall and this is the only time I have ever come away feeling like I hated the place.
I was at the mall with my wife and daughter. My daughter and I were off getting a Booster Juice while my wife picked up your Chicken Burrito. When she got back it was my turn to get some food so I got back in line at your counter. I knew it was my turn when the lady (short hair, older lady) behind the cash register looked up at me and raised her eyebrows, as if to say – you gonna order something or just stand there – perhaps I expected something more like…”Hi there, can I take your order” or something even a little less courteous like “what can I get you?”. The eyebrow raise isn’t all that put me off.
ME: “Hi there, could I get a Large Super Beef Burrito with no Tomato’s and lot’s of sour cream?”
HER: “You want extra sour cream?”
ME: “Does it cost more for extra sour cream?”
HER: “Yup”
ME: “Maybe just a little extra seeing as I am not getting any tomatoes?”
HER: “We can’t sub things like that.”
ME: “Really? Even though you are saving on the tomatoes?”
HER: “Do you want the extra sour cream or not?”
ME: “No, but I will take the tomatoes now. I would rather just pick them off out of principle.”
Now I know this seems really immature on my part, and it is out of character, but I left the counter feeling slighted. Maybe I expected some kind of empathy from the person working there like – “I am really sorry but we just aren’t able to do that” and when I didn’t get it I got the impression that Taco Time Canada has really strict standards when it comes to food costs. Like there was a camera in place counting how many pumps the sour cream gun makes in correlation to how many times “Extra Sour Cream….$0.50″ was entered on the till. It seems like a long way to go to save a little money on sour cream. How much sour cream is a customer worth? I just spent $10 on a Large Super Beef Burrito (minus tomatoes) and a small fountain drink and I can’t get a little token sour cream to help it down? When I spend $10 on a sub from Subway they don’t charge me for extra mayo. The guy doesn’t roll his eyes at me when I ask for a few extra pickles. In fact the last time I was there with my daughter I bought a 6″ ham sub with no veggies or sauces (she is 2 and doesn’t like all that stuff yet) and because it was the manager making it he gave me a discount. I don’t ever expect that to happen again, or for regular staff to take liberties like that but I was super impressed.
Can someone enlighten me if this is a food cost issue, or just poor customer service…or both?
I know this seems silly that someone would take the time to complain about something like this but as a proud supporter of your product it really left a bad taste in my mouth. I don’t think my will power will keep me away from your food, maybe just that location.
Tom Peever
Foodie
