Incident of Vandalism

2 words......PRESSURE WASH

Do you have proof it was them? If not, then I would not say you are
going to get too far with this letter.

why do you believe someone in management sent these young men out to
talk to you? I'm not clear what you base that on? Is it possible
that you didn't see the relationship clearly? You say you have been
going there for a long time and they always treated you like a welcome
guest. Well, they kind of have to do that, it's their job. Maybe,
though, you aren't the jewel of a customer you think you are. I'm not
saying you aren't just that you entertain the idea that they didn't
like you as much as you thought. But even so, there is no excuse for
what they did. I side with you, it's reprehensible. A few years ago
when my son was a freshman in high school at the end of the year a
senior ran up and wrote "Seniors 2002" on the back of my backseat
windshield with that white writing stuff, which i don't know what it's
called. I ran after him but he was 17 and i was...well, not 17. So i
marched up to the principal and told him since he couldn't control his
kids, he needed to wash it off my car. He did. The point is: don't
cower and don't be afraid of bullies. Stand up to them and let them
know you won't put up with this behaviour. Had i been in your
situation, a member of management would have personally washed the
mashed potatoes off my vehicle if he couldn't control his staff. You
have to stand up for yourself.

I say it was the employees only because I would never waste my own
side of KFC mashed potatoes. They are sooo good!

Rodger,

I have carefully reviewed your letter. I found it interesting,
because I am very aware of that location and eat their regularly.

To begin with, that area is very well maintained and kept very clean.
Both the lot and inside the establishment seem well kept. As you
indicated, however, you had not entered the establishment and would
not know this.

I think it is also appropriate to point out that the location we are
speaking of has about two rows of parking set aside for its customers.
Beyond that is a narrow driveway that separates a strip mall and a
much larger parking lot for a Super Walmart. To the south of this
location is an Empire Asian restaurant and to the north is a Burger
King, both have their own area for parking.

What is interesting is that, while driving an RV, you chose to use
this rather small parking area when you admittedly didn't go into the
establishment. When it would have been much more appropriate to park
within the much larger Super Walmart parking lot. Using one of these
small rows of parking on a rather busy Saturday evening, it wouldn't
seem surprising that some customers may complain about your RV being
parked in that area and taking up so much room. Thus the reason why,
I'm sure, you were spoken to by the employees of KFC. It is rather
interesting that you did not expound on the conversation between these
employees and yourself, only that they "gave you the third degree".
If they did, in this case, it would seem appropriate because you were
using their parking space without patronizing the establishment.

Now for the point of your letter. It would seem reasonable that it
could have been any unhappy customer that felt you were blocking the
way, which put their side of mashed potatoes to use. Therefore,
trying to place the fault of this incident on the shoulders of KFC
seems rather ludicrous. I could see this just as likely being anyone
else within the lot that was being blocked.

Luckily, there is a carwash very near by that is larger for RV use.
This seems a good way of getting the mashed potatoes off the RV, as
well as cleaned from your outing.

I think that his wife told him to get the potato wedges, he brought
back mashed potatos and gravy and she threw it at him in disgust and
anger and it hit the RV instead.

I agree with the others... vandalism is very hard to prove without
credible witnesses. Because of this, I wouldn't wait for a response,
apology, or restitution from them, because it could be taken in part
or whole as an admission of guilt.
As far as turnover and help wanted signs, a lot of schools opened
recently and a lot of summer jobs are left vacant so a lot of fast
food places look for new help...it isn't a reflection on the quality
of the people who work there. I wouldn't let this incident stop you
from going there if you happen to like their food. I think you felt
hurt because you somehow connected the interest in your rv and
wanderlust of a few employees with the vandalism incident.
It's alway been a wish of mine to rent an RV and travel... so I'm
guessing they were asking out of innocent curiosity.
At any rate, I wish you well, and hope you harbor no hard feelings
towards KFC because of one act that didn't really make any damage.

This is an excellent letter. However, I have to stand with the others
who say you do not, actually, have any proof that it was the employees
who approached you who threw the food onto your RV. As likely as it
may seem, you really shouldn't be so presumptuous in your claim.

Additionally, I think you should have written this letter to the owner
of the location at which this incident occurred. KFCs are franchised
businesses; writing to corporate just may be a dead end.

As to your request for a "signed letter of apology", I will give you
the PFB mantra on that type of request:

Why? Are you going to frame it? Show it off to relatives at
Christmas time? What, exactly, do you think receiving a signed
apology will accomplish?

Further, you're not going to get one. To sign an apology would be an
admission of guilt on behalf of the management and/or its employees.
I highly doubt any of them are likely to put themselves in a position
wherein you could take this "apology" (which, incidentally, would be
unlikely to be sincere, anyway) to the police.

As another poster pointed out, you also have to assess whether your
vehicle was actually damaged, or was it merely a matter of the
inconvenience and irritation of having to clean mashed potatos from
your vehicle?

You claim that management must have sent the employees out to question
you. Probably. Perhaps they were curious as to why you and your
family were just sitting in a parked RV. It may have looked
suspicious to them.

All that being said, my opinion is that you really cannot prove that
it was anyone affiliated with KFC who threw the food on your vehicle.
Therefore, I sincerely doubt you are going to get any response to your
request (a rather extreme request which I personally find a bit
laughable) to hear from KFC headquarters, the Regional manager and the
District manager. That seems to me a bit much for a tiny bit of
mashed potatos on your RV and does, to me, indicate that you may have
not been as polite as you claim your 52 years have taught you to be.
A request like that screams self-importance. Sorry, but that's my
take on it.

Was your RV damaged or did you just have the inconvenience of having
to clean off the mashed potatoes and gravy? If it was damaged, you
should have filed a police report. As it stands now, you don't have
any proof that it was a KFC employee that did this.

He spoke to people in KFC uniforms; at no time did he witness any KFC
employee throwing food at his vehicle. Therefore, he cannot
unequivocally state that it was those employees who did so.

If you have damage to your RV you should have called the police and
had them write up a report. It may or may not have been KFC employees
but it sounds like a customer who did this outside just as a prank.
From the way you speak highly of the staff, I dont think they would
have reason to spite you. If you have damage and a police report you
would do better contacting any landlords of the plaza there may be.

You don't mention whether or not, on the evening of October 7th, you
were a patron of this particular KFC establishment or were just using
a portion of their parking lot to park your RV. Either way, you have
no proof that it was a KFC employee who threw the mashed potatoes and
gravy at your motor home and keeping that fact in mind, I don't feel
that KFC owes you an apology or any form of restitution. Something
tells me there is much more to this story that is written and I'd love
to hear all the details - - you may have been minding your own
business but you were parked in the KFC parking lot and if you're not
buying food then it is inappropriate to use their parking lot in this
fashion. Unless you are buying food, the employees have every right
to ask why you're parked in their parking lot.

I find it interesting that you comment on the trash, etc. on the
outside of the restaurant and you "wonder just how clean it is on the
inside" - - have you never been inside? Sounds to me like this isn't
the first time you've used their parking lot and that you aren't a
regular patron (i.e., paying customer).