LUDINGTON, MICHIGAN KFC IS HORRIBLE TO CUSTOMERS!!!!

All I will say is that I am born and raised in Ludington and have
eaten at this KFC dozens of times. I have always been treated fairly.
One time when I had wait 20 minutes for some chicken to be cooked, I
was offered free food and a drink while I waited. I know Phil
personally and he is one of the kindest people you will ever meet. I
don't know about the coupon policy, it may be new. They have always
honored coupons myself and my family have taken. I will just stress
that something resembling this incident may have happened but I doubt
this is how it really happened.


Jon S

A lot of replies here are saying that the customer said that the
cashier said this or that. It's all hearsay! We are getting only one
side to this story.

They Would take 10% off the menu price not the coupon i ment. And a
12pc meal doesn't come out to the total 34 something so you bought
other stuff. I can tell you've never had a job working fast food
mistakes happen you'll be fine.

This is a really rdiculous rant. I couldn't even finish reading it. I
actually work in this store and when the cashier took the coupon it
was because we take 10% off the coupon price. You shouldn't even have
asked about your coupon if you knew we wouldn't take them since your
from somewhere else! Were Not Corporately owned so we dont make the
money like the other kfc's. You should get all your facts straight it
was just all a misunderstanding that you went over the top with.

Good for you for being proactive! Right on!

If it's any consolation, I had a similar experience at a KFC in Fort
Lee, New Jersey quite a few years back. I went to a KFC with coupons
and they said they didn't contribute to the ad, and were not
"participating" as it said on the coupons "At participating KFC
franchises only" I got my money and coupons and drove two miles to
save four bucks and get two sides free with two buckets of chicken.

Yes, you can get chicken in other places, but it's not the same as KFC
or Popeye's. It's ok in a pinch, but nothing comes close to the
originals.

I somewhat agree with you, It does seem there was some confusion on
the employees part and the manager sould have honored it to make the
customer happy, but their reaction depends on the approach of the
customer, he may have sensed some anger and reacted that way.

If you consider this trivial incident to be a "horrible ordeal" then
you obviously need to grow up. Your childish dramatics are ridiculous.

Listen up. Being burned over 80% of your body is "horrible." Serving
in Iraq is an "ordeal." Hurricane Hugo sweeping away your hotel may
"ruin your vacation."

Not being able to use a coupon at a KFC? Not so much. Get some
perspective.

I don't think the KFC handled things well, but this letter overall is
too long and complicated and wordy. I had a hard time getting through
it all!

Really, knowing what happens to that chicken before it's cooked &
served to us makes me unable to think about eating the chicken without
being sick to my stomach. It's probably for the best if you avoid KFC
altogether. YUCK!

You wrote, "When we first went into the KFC, I asked them if they
would take the coupons I had. That cashier told me they wouldn't."

Then you added, "I then told the same cashier that I had coupons I
knew they would take."

There's your problem -- you had already been told by the cashier she
wouldn't take your coupons, but YOU decided you knew better.

When you kicked up a fuss, the manager once again told you they didn't
take coupons. Do you really think you're so entitled that they'll have
to take coupons from you if they don't for anyone else?

It is not at all unusual for franchises to not take corporate coupons.
That's why it says on the coupon, "at participating locations only."

If your mother-in-law is confused about why the poor cashier took the
coupon from you, you need to tell her the truth --that you "gave the
cashier our coupon and told her what we wanted." At no time were you
told you could use coupons, so shoving them at the cashier was your
choice, not the cashier's.

You weren't ripped off, you were the one who cheated the KFC out of
the extra coleslaw.

I agree, the OP was told by a cashier that she could use her coupons,
and therefore, the restaurant should have honored it and make sure
that they train their employers better.

However, I also think that the post is dramatic, especially over less
than $6.

I would say its just a customer that was apparently overcharged for
something and would like the difference back that is owed to them.

If they had asked for a full refund (which shouldn't be owed to them)
then people would be all over them for that too. At least this one
isnt asking for all kinds of free stuff.

I worked for many years with customers. We were always told that the
customer is always right, even if we didn't think so.
We were also told to bend over backwards to do everything we could to
keep that customer coming back.


That manager should have offered to make it right with the customer to
make them happy. He already knew her family was not told up front
about their no coupon policy. And I believe the letter mentioned that
one of the cashiers accepted the coupon and kept it.

Since the manager couldn't give the money back, he should have offered
them extra food. The customer had to ask for an extra coleslaw. When
she asked why he couldn't give her the money back, the manager got an
attitude that he already was doing her a favor by giving her an extra
coleslaw.

I'm done with this one. It's getting old already.

Wow - out of all the letters I've been reading on PFB for years, I
think we may have a new candidate for the title of BIGGEST DRAMA
QUEEN.

Any other votes?

While I agree that Karen's attitude, and basically the whole tone of
her letter, sucked, I think she does have a slightly valid point. She
asked the cashiers initially if they'd take a coupon - they looked at
the coupon, and denied them because they were from out of town. Karen
says: "I then told the same cashier that I had coupons I knew they
would take which were from the local Ludington paper. She never said
anything that they wouldn't take those coupons." At this point, the
cashier SHOULD have said something about their policy being NOT to
take ANY coupons.

Perhaps the cashier was poorly trained, HOWEVER, that being said, the
manager needs to eat the loss on that one - especially as it's only
$5.41 - to keep the customer happy, and also because it's his own
fault that none of the front-end cashiers knew that policy. Clearly,
there were a couple of chances for someone to reject the coupon before
the transaction was completed. Karen also said "I gave the cashier
our coupon and told her what we wanted. She didn't know how to do the
coupon so another girl came over to ring it up for her." So there
were at least two employees ignorant or the store coupon policy.

As a former restaurant manager myself, I can say that, if one of my
employees screwed something up with pricing/cash register transaction
due to lack of training, I gave in to the customer. It's the
manager's job to ensure his/her employees know things like that.

That being said...Karen, I don't know how far you are going to get by
threatening to take your business elsewhere, and to encourage others
to do the same. I think you could have had an acceptable letter
except for all the name-calling cna pettiness at the end. It will be
very difficult for KFC to take you seriously when you're whining and
over-dramatizing instead of just presenting the facts.

First of all, I do want to say that, yeah, it does suck when you have
a coupon, and you can't use it. However, you should maybe condense
your letter and leave out all of the unecessary information, like your
in laws and where they live. Also, if the KFC that you went to is not
governed by KFC Corporate, then why did you waste your time sending
them a letter? I would like to also thank you for wasting my time
reading your letter. Since my time is worth about $6.00 a minute,
lets just say you broke even! Bawk Bawk Bawk Bawk!

Special Snowflake alert!

Your vacation was ruined over $5.41? And I thought my husband was
difficult to travel with...

$5.41? Really? All this drama over $5.41??

First of all, Karen, thank you for so beautifully illustrating how
ridiculous some customers can get when they are told NO. Last time I
checked, just being told you can't do or have something how, when and
where you want it does not necessarily equate to bad service.
Customers are important, but if every company bent to every outlandish
whim that their customers had, they would all be bankrupt!

Secondly, you state that, "The Ludington KFC thrives on tourists." and
then 2 sentences down claim that it is not needed. So which is it?
If it is the mecca for weary, famished tourists that you claim, then
obviously it IS needed. Just because YOU have decided you don't need
it, doesn't mean that dozens of other customers every day don't have
perfectly acceptable experiences. The world does not revolve around
you, Karen.

Third, you accepted the price and walked out of the store. Right
there you lost the leverage to have voided the order and gotten your
money back. I for one, ALWAYS read my receipt before I leave the
counter for that very reason. So if you and your husband were to
"fried" from being out in the sun all day to notice the price seemed
high, that's on you.

Finally, if you read at the bottom of your coupons (and it's ALWAYS
printed in itty bity tiny print that most people don't bother to read)
it says "AT PARTICIPATING LOCATIONS ONLY" Which means, if manager
Phil says they aren't participating, they don't have to take your
coupon.

Basically you need to pop a Xanax and step away from the computer.
You're dealing with a franchised restaurant that is not under the
governance of KFC corporate and even if you were entitled to a refund
(which you are not) you have a better chance of seeing God before
you'll see your $5.41.

FOR IMMEDIATE AND PERSONAL ATTENTION!!

You owe me $5.41 for a bottle of Extra Strength Tylenol I now need for
the major headache I have from reading this ridiculous letter!

Thanks for everything you've done.

Have a nice day!

o/~ "I feel like stupid chicken tonight, like stupid chicken
tonight..." o/~

Heck, if I were anywhere near Ludington I would print it out,
highlight my favorite bits (especially the part where you sent it to a
*corporation* 19 days after the incident and then started off with
"FOR IMMEDIATE & PERSONAL ATTENTION!") take it over there myself, and
offer to buy Phil a drink.

Go Ludington Phil!

I have to say I seldom see so much-to-do-about-nothing as this
letter.

It's a coupon for goodness sakes! I would suggest you try to put
things in better perspective in the future. They don't have to take
your coupons and you behaved very childishly over an insignicant
matter.

I doubt this whole incident set a very good example for your child.

Did they physically take your coupons and THEN not honor them? You
say they didn't take the coupon off, but I'm wondering if you handed
it to them did they hand it back, put it in the drawer or throw it
out?

There was obviously a mix up and watching them ring it up with the
coupon during the transaction may be what you need to do and discuss
it as it is happening.

people like you make me praise God that i got out of the restaurant
business!

I think you should have let your child write this letter. It may have
been more mature.

Making this whole damn big deal about less than $6??? Hell I'll give
you 6 bucks if you shut your yapper. You apparently don't have
anything better to do then to demand your pathetic 6 bucks back. This
website isn't for petty complaints like this... and by the way...this
letter is VERY annoying to read.. FYI You thought they were rude
because they didn't take the coupons... boohoo

Beyond echoing what every commenter has said to date, I have to ask
that you please provide the statute where you got "By Law" they have
to accept coupons or post a sign. I tried searching for "Law", but I
get too many results to sort through. Could you please narrow it down
a bit.

You do get one bit of credit though. I had been up in the air over
where to go for dinner tonight. After reading your letter, I will go
to KFC. My only regret is that Ludington, MI is not nearby.

There are many restraunts out there but with many different
owners.Myself being a general manager at Arby's in my town, which is
independently owned, we do not accept coupons at our location. If they
are an independent company they DO NOT have to accept your coupon. As
the others said, if you would have read your coupon more carefully it
would have said on there "at participating locations". I am sorry you
had a bad experience.

A franchise does not have to honor coupons and it says so on the
coupon. I doubt very highly that your ranting is going to keep anyone
from going to this KFC,your inlaws will however make you believe they
won't go there so they don't have to hear this dramatic retelling of
the story.

Most of the time, when a chain restaurant puts out coupons for its
restaurants, they usually say "good at participating locations" or
some such thing.

I am sure KFC workers everywhere are grateful you will not be
inflicting yourself upon them.

My goodness, I think someone missed their nap. And (non-service)
people wonder why those who serve the public are so cranky and
irritable. OP is a case in point.

Okay, where to begin. First of all, YOU ARE WRONG. Stores do not
have to put up a sign stating that they don't accept coupons. From
which posterior did you pull THAT tidbit?

Second, just because the coupons were from that local paper doesn't
mean anything. KFC pays a marketing company X amount of dollars to
print and distribute coupons in newspapers all over the region or
country. Franchises can choose to honor them or not, based on various
criteria.

And the gnashing of teeth is just ridiculous. Stop acting like a big
baby. Your in-laws have been going there for 30 years and now after
one misunderstanding, they're never going back? And I doubt any of
their friends give a rodent's hindquarters what your in-laws have to
say about he coupon deal. You're not that important, so just drop
that ridiculous statement now. Or else.

And if one misunderstanding over FRICKIN' COUPONS ruined your
vacation, then you are one sick puppy in need of serious mental health
intervention.

Please forget that you ever heard of this website. You're ruining any
credibility this site my have. Buh. Bye.

I pity the person who is unlucky enough to deal with you on the
purchase of a car - - and your poor husband who probably never wants
to see another piece of fried chicken again as long as he lives - - oh
- - and poor Phil.

This letter is featured at ShopperCast!

http://planetfeedback.typepad.com/shopping/2007/06/when-customers-.htm
l

$5.41 ruined your vacation, remind not to travel with you. Calling
their chicken stupid, wow, way to get the results you are looking
for.

Many times franchises do not participate in the coupon campaigns.
They do not have to tell you that or post a sign. Most of the KFC
coupons I get say that you must present the coupon before ordering.
That way, when you have coupon in hand and they are not participating,
they can tell you before your order.

If I'm ever in Ludington, MI, I'll be sure to stop in at that KFC.
See how well your word of mouth works.

"When I went back into KFC, I told Phil that my husband wants to keep
your "stupid" chicken!" -- Real mature of you.

"I then thanked Phil for ruining my vacation and we left." -- A
problem with a coupon at KFC ruins your vacation?

"I also know my inlaws will continue to spread the word about the KFC.
My father-in-law is one of these that Will Never go back somewhere
once they have experienced bad service. They will also stay away from
a place if they hear bad reports from others." --When people tell me
to stay away from places and tell me their stories, I can usually see
how their behavior contributed to the bad experience. I have never
stayed away from places based on bad reports from someone else.

Good grief, you had time to write a novel about $5.41? And complain
to the Vistor's Bureau?

I wish my life were so uncomplicated that something like this would
send me into a frenzy.

Good luck with your refund.