Firestone replies

The usual inadequate response to an unhappy customer. And businesses wonder why people go off and talk to friends or the entire internet when they have an experience like this, rather than trying to tell the business and getting a defensive, unpleasant response.

We saw the photos, remember. It was BAD.

A week or so back, I emailed the Cerebos foods mob to check if they used the same machinery to make their range of Fountain sauces as they used for their peanut satay sauce. I got a reply immediately, and then was put onto the food mob, and got some exact, helpful information (tomato sauce is on separate stuff, but the sweet chilli and mint sauce are made on teh same machinery as the satay). Now THAT’S what you expect from a business that provides you with a method to ask for info or give feedback. It’s rare though.

Who wants to bet that Danman will cop an earful if he calls that number?

I’d be giving her the benefit of the doubt. Reconcile these comments:

This is the first I’ve heard of your experience. I do recall your emails now, they came through with a spam warning so I didn’t open them.

A positive recollection of receiving an email, but not opening them.

Very threadbare beginning.

communications, phone, communications, phone, Daniel, please give me a call on my mobile on 0410 643 800

When we bring this back to Danmans original post, we will find that he offered his own phone number and contact details. At any time Ms Stupid could have contacted Danman directly, but instead chose to engage an alternative means.

Frankly, I’ve never been to firestone, but as a result of their actions, I’ll never go now.

We’ve seen others handle these things far worse.

Sadly I can’t talk about it here but come along wednesday night and ask me.

Deep fried mars bars @ G-spot – carpark of Gunghalin Lakes golf club… well reccomended

…….or better yet meet Duke for a coupla ales and some deep-fried lard!

@peterh – the Torrens takeway used to do a battered Mars bar many years ago but not any more and i’ve never been able to find another place that would cook me one since.
(Torrens also used to do a battered Snickers!)

If you do know somewhere that sells deep-fried battered Mars bars you need to start an entire thread on the subject!

P.ssweak, Firestone. Just like your pizzas.

I think they still handled it badly. First blame e-mail then blame Danman for not calling them. No doubt they will then blame the oven, the supplier, the kitchen hand etc etc.

How about a simple “We are so sorry you had a negative experience at our restaurant. Please contact us on the number below etc etc” ?

And if you own a business and want to run it properly, I would think you ARE under an obligation to check your e-mail properly. If an e-mail doesn’t contain profanities and you don’t totally bugger up the address it should arrive.

As for the post office …”pfft” !! That’s a whole new thread.

If you get a reply to an email, it should be considered a bonus. If you do you have saved a stamp or a phone call.

People are under no obligation to check their email. You also have no idea whether your email got lost in the ether, blocked by a firewall, intercepted by echelon (like most of mine) or whatever. So people should not angry if emails remain unanswered (whether personal or business). That is what the post office and telephone are for.

I not get upset if people do not answer my smoke signals or pyschic transmissions.

i’m with overheard – i’ll gladly hold ’em down while you insert whole pineapple where it is a better fit… 😉

as for dessert pizza, had a scintillating banana pizza in adelaide at the height of the banana shortage a couple years back; cinnamon, banana, served with lots of cream and a few juicy strawberries, on a fantastic slightly chewy base at a place that does great wood-fired pizzas. turned me on to the concept, lemme say…

but pineapple, never!

you people are all sick.

dessert pizza?

I want my deep fried mars bars.

Quick, someone negotiate a deal that benefits riotact readers! I’ve had a hankering for a dessert pizza since I got back from Japan (bless Shakeys and their all-you-can-eat menu). There’s something so wrong about dessert pizzas that makes them so right…

jakez said :

Overheard said :

And I have a contract out on the guy that went near a pizza with a pineapple chunk.

BLASPHEMER!

Jehovah! Jehovah! Jehovah!

(Almost rhymes with ‘anchovy’…)

@ Overheard

Overheard said :

Sounds a bit drier, and therefore possibly more savoury.

I was lead to believe (having spent 4 years of secondary schooling at an English school in Rome) that its origins were that of stale bread. The poorer inhabitants of the Naples region used to top the bread with a paste made from over ripe tomatoes and add other foods stuffs they could find to make it more palatable before baking in an oven.

The Wikipedia seems to have a different slant on the whole story: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_pizza

Overheard said :

And I have a contract out on the guy that went near a pizza with a pineapple chunk.

BLASPHEMER!

If Danman prefers to communicate a complaint by e-mail, and especially if he has a reason, he has a right to expect an e-mail response. (I have the same preference). It’s damnable arrogance for the restaurant to demand a telephone call.

I will probably give Firestone a go at some stage – but they (and most other establishments) only get one chance. There are too many places to eat/drink in this city to go back twice for a crap experience.

*first* went near a pizza with a pineapple chunk.

Purely a personal choice, JR. I was born without a sweet tooth and don’t do dessert. And I have a contract out on the guy that went near a pizza with a pineapple chunk.

Whoever it was who mentioned ‘desert’ pizza in the other thread might have been on to something. Sounds a bit drier, and therefore possibly more savoury.

@Overheard

Overheard said :

Personally, I believe the person that decided to marry the concepts ‘dessert’ and ‘pizza’ will be the first one up against the wall when the revolution comes…

Done when properly its quite nice. Woodstock in Civic had a dessert pizza as one of their signature dishes for years.

I agree with Tyler. Unless you can guarantee some semblance of customer service via email then don’t suggest it as a means of contact. If it were my business I can honestly say I’d never let a single email go unanswered. Its completely unprofessional. The spam excuse ceased to be a valid one about 3 years ago. In my opinion Danman used the best possible means to lodge his “feedback” and it was ignored, not missed. They’ve brought this upon themselves but I’m sure they’ll learn from it.

That’s my Friday chuckle Overheard!

PS: Been a long time since Gmail inadvertantly spammed an authentic email for me. A few weeks of ‘training’ and now no longer necessary to even check the 2000 a week that get binned by it.

It’s a fair point, JR (about the contact form).

Personally, I believe the person that decided to marry the concepts ‘dessert’ and ‘pizza’ will be the first one up against the wall when the revolution comes…

I’m with Overheard – give ’em the benfit of the doubt.

@Firestone:

Some more free advice: If you are having so much trouble with spam email then get your web developer to put a proper contact form on your website. eg: http://www.dominos.com.au/great_company/feedback.asp
That way you know that messages sent to you by your own web site really need to be carefully scrutinised.

However, given what it took for Danman to get even a lacklustre response from your establishment: “Firestone pizzeria | bar” in Dickson is on my list of places to definitely avoid.

Don’t list email as a form of contact then?!

I’d be giving her the benefit of the doubt. I’ve fished some very kosher stuff out of spam mail or junk mail that I could have emptied had I not taken a much closer look. Conversely, I’ve got a business email address on a public performers’ register and ever since they changed the way that data can be searched, I’m swimming in enough Nigerian get-rich-quick schemes to make me a trillionaire by next Tuesday.

I agree with hk0reduck. Danman was not out for something free. He approached the company by officially complaining in writing – his choice being email. I wonder what the response would have been if it was posted. “Australia Post never delivered it” or “we thought it was junk mail and threw it out”.

If a company chooses to have email as a form of contact, monitor it accordingly. Thats more free feedback to the restaurant!

I get angry when a company calls themselves something like “JustJeans” and then they sell t-shirts as well, wtf is with that.

If you want your food replaced a phone-call is definately the way to go, however, if you are writing a complaint/offering criticism I think the ‘old-fashioned’ way is to write a letter. It can help to keeps the emotions out, allows people time to calm down and gives the complainee the time to get their whole point across in the best way possible.

Good on Firestone for responding. I hope that they will act on some of Danman’s reccomendations because to be completely honest the vegetables tossed in butter looks absolutely disgusting.

The dessert pizza (all 2 good slices of it) on the other hand looks like it could be quite tasty.

I get angry with any company that has an email contact facility & doesn’t monitor it properly & in a timely manner. If you don’t want emails, then don’t advertise email contact details.

Please accept my apologies for this. I’m disappointed that when you didn’t receive a reply to your email that you didn’t try to call us, I thought this would have been the most direct way of communication? Call me old school but I find that a quick phone call usually works.

From my perspective, it would have been much easier if you had called us as soon as you got your takeaway home. I find it’s easier to discuss something that has just happened rather than try to recall details at a later date. I assure you that if I had successfully received (opened) your email I would have contacted you straight away.

GAHHHH! Don’t do that!

It’s fair enough to say something about phone calls being easier but in this situation when you are responding to a complaint, just respond to the complaint. Don’t bang on for two paragraphs complaining about the persons choice of communication.

Option A: I do apologise for the mix up with the emails. I think in this instance a phone call will allow me to quickly address your valid concerns. I have provided my mobile number for your convenience.

Option B: Well dickhead, if you had have called instead of emailing you wouldn’t have had to wait.

AussieGal83 said :

Spam. Pfft. A likely story. Dan, you were ignored plain and simple.

Yup.

Spam. Pfft. A likely story. Dan, you were ignored plain and simple.

People, it wasn’t emailled in to me, it was submitted for publication as is. (added para breaks aside).

I’m respecting a decision.

Thank you for your reply Jenny, it seems the power of RiotACT prevails.

Having worked in hospitality for several years I know how the majority of issues raised via the telephone work.

I complain to employee # X.
Telephone Call is amicably terminated.
Employee # X then either forgets my complaint, has a whinge to his colleagues, or ignores my concerns.

I am not saying that this was the case, but merely expressing that my experiences when I worked as a chef model my method of response.

For this reason I decided that email was the preferred method of communication.

Additionally, I find your management of electronic correspondence odd.

How many emails will you get from unknown sources, keeping in mind that you have the address on your business cards.

Why then did it end up in the spam box?

Dont you have a responsibility as a proprieter to filter genuine spam from actual letters lest this happen again ?

Getting 2 emails from teh same supposed spam address, I would have thought the penny would have dropped that it was a genuine email.

All in all, I am glad that you have taken time out of your day to address me here, and I look forward to discussing this further with you outside the bounds of riotACT.

Like I said, not after anything for free – just wanted an explanation of why our experience in your restaurant was as it was on that certain night, as it seems just as many people have had good experiences there as bad.

Editorial styles differ it seems.
Mr Jazzhands had a tendency to blot out mobile phone numbers in comments for user’s ongoing peace of mind.

Addressed to Daniel, not to everyone who reads Riotact!!!!

Katie said :

A bit rough to include this womans mobile number in the post though!!!

She wanted to talk over the phone and she put it in the message!

!!!

Its a civil opening to a response.
(and congratulations to Firestone on engaging an unimpressed vocal customer)

But I will wait for a civil outcome, before coming to a conclusion.

A bit rough to include this womans mobile number in the post though!!!

play nice people, it’s a civil response.