The Nonconfrontational Approach

Yesterday I treated my parents to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory as their Valentine's Day gift.  I was excited to do this because I knew we always enjoyed our lunch there.  I was also excited because I was very much in the mood for my favorite dish, Evelyn's Favorite Pasta. I order this dish everytime I go here, and I order it in exactly the same way...with no oil sauce (so the pasta itself is dry, but the vegetables are sauteed in oil, so it's not completely bland).  I never had an issue before...this time, the dish came to the table soaked in oil not once, but twice.  Both times, the manager came to the table and asked how he could change the dish, and both times I calmly explained that I just wanted the pasta dry, not to be tossed in oil. The third time, it was dry, but the eggplant in the dish was horribly undercooked, to the point of being like rubber, completely inedible. It was bad enough that my food was not prepared correctly, but my Mom's food was not as it should be either...her salmon (which she usually gets, as well), was drier and thinner then usual.  Not their best showing. We were offered nothing in the restaurant for my botched dish...nor did I make a fuss...

When I came home, I went to the Cheesecake Factory website and left a comment.  I thought that, at most, I would get an email saying they were sorry for the inconvience and maybe a coupon for a cheesecake slice. I got much more then that today. I was shocked when this afternoon the GM of the Cheesecake Factory called me to apologize for the problems that occured and vowed to have a meeting with his staff to ensure this would not happen again.  He also told me to ask for him personally so this problem does not happen again for me.  He said that he will send me a gift certificate for free cheesecake and coffee in the mail to entice me back to the store.  I was truly impressed!!

I HOPE HOPE HOPE that this shows people that sometimes the nonconfronational way of dealing with things can get things accomplished without anyone getting hurt.