My wife and I consider ourselves fortunate to have grown up with a fastfood retail chain that makes quality a core ingredient: Pal’s Sudden Service, which won the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 2001.  For an interesting perspective, read where business students studied and reported on the business’ success.

Does that explain our expectations of [near] perfection when visiting fastfood stores for quick meals, especially in Rocket City?

Last night, my wife ordered two meals from a local Wendy’s restaurant.

At the drive-thru order screen, she noticed the total cost displayed was $11.09.

However, when she pulled up to the drive-thru pickup window, she was informed the total was $12.16.

My y wife commented about the discrepancy and was informed offhandedly, “Oh, it’s probably just a glitch in the system,” making my wife feel like she wasn’t taken seriously.  At her request, my wife double-checked with the restaurant worker to make sure the food she ordered was the food she was going to receive.

In addition, she asked for ketchup, was told ketchup was already in the bag and discovered, after opening the bag at home, there was no ketchup.

Thank goodness for the Internet.

On the drive-thru receipt, a website was listed, which we visited, easily finding, at the top of the main page, the link to a sub-page where we could leave a complaint, compliment or suggestion.

We chose the first selection, detailing the above incident.

Within an hour or so, we received an email from the store’s general manager, who asked to speak with my wife about the visit, including details such as the time the incident occurred.

Granted, that is an exceptionally fast response and we commend the Wendy’s franchisee, First Sun Management Corporation, for setting up a quick way to address customer complaints.

However, the email began with a misspelling of my wife’s name.

Details, details, details…

Is it “first impressions don’t last” or “you never get a second chance to make a first impression”?

My wife and I have always noticed that the Wendy’s in another part of town (on University Drive, not far from Cummings Research Park) has a much smoother and more efficient operation than the one my wife visited last night.

Boy, do we miss Pal’s here in north Alabama!

Anyway, I scanned the drive-thru receipt into a PDF file so my wife could email it back to the general manager, who gets to address this issue with her staff, including drive-thru workers and IT personnel, we hope.

Maybe the general manager will take this as a lesson in finetuning how she hones or sharpens her attention to details.  Perhaps she or the FSMC owners should visit Pal’s and see what they’re missing.

In our town, missiles and rockets require the highest level of quality, because a misspelling or a disconnect between the console display and the actual reading onboard usually means the difference between life and death.

My wife is inclined not to visit this particular Wendy’s store again.  We hold nothing against the corporation or its stores in general.  But something about this particular store has always bothered us – slow or lackadaisical service, frequently, as if management is off playing golf or bass fishing, and the workers know it.

We challenge the general manager to prove us wrong, should my wife and/or I visit the store again.

UPDATE: After this story was relayed to my father, he reminded me he was the executive director of the National Center for Quality when he introduced the quality management info about Eastman to the Pal’s ownership/management, including Pal Barger, at Skoby’s Restaurant years ago.