I needed a Community Manager in my life a few nights ago. After rummaging through the kitchen and coming up short with viable dinner options, my girlfriend was nice enough to bring me something. She walked in with a burrito bowl from Q’doba Mexican Grill and I began to enjoy it’s deliciousness. It wasn’t until about halfway in that I encountered a problem.
A New Kind Of Spice?
Mixed within the rice, beans, and salsas, I found some kind of plastic. I didn’t find it before I took the fateful bite, unfortunately, rendering my meal spoiled.
As you can see above, I took out my phone, snapped a photo of the item in question, then posted it to Twitter and Instagram.
Hey @qdobamexgrill … found this in my burrito bowl. Plastic something or other… instagram.com/p/YRDlO1NPm3/
— Jon Steiert (@jwsteiert) April 19, 2013
This all occurred around quarter to nine – towards the end of Q’doba’s dinner hours and not a time when community managers are guaranteed to be replying to our first world dilemmas. So with that in mind, I sent out the message again the next day during lunch, hoping for a response…
@qdobamexgrill … found this in my burrito bowl last night. A plastic bit or tape instagram.com/p/YRDlO1NPm3/ what is it?
— Jon Steiert (@jwsteiert) April 19, 2013
…and got nothin’.
So What Gives?
I like Q’doba. I eat at their restaurants a fair amount…but this really has impacted my view on their product. Whenever folks use social media to voice their displeasure, ask a question, or even give a company a pat on the back, they do want acknowledgement. I’m no different in this case. I give people the benefit of the doubt but I also had a problem that brought me to ask for an explanation. Things happen and I understand…but give me, and the rest of your customers, the courtesy of giving it the old Starbucks try.
Vote With Your Wallet
There is no reason for me to think that at this point Q’doba will respond to my question. It’s been 5 days since the original message was sent out, which in the Twitterverse is like months ago. It’s a shame that they didn’t want to discuss the issues of my meal. I know that if one of their competitors had an issue they’d be right on top of it, addressing the situation.
@jwsteiert We’d try our best to help you. If we couldn’t, we would work with others to try to fix the issue. -Myra
— Chipotle (@ChipotleTweets) April 22, 2013
In the meantime, I’ll be getting buying where my concerns are valued…even when there wasn’t a real one.
@jwsteiert That was going to be my next question. If there’s ever an issue, always feel free to speak to our manager for a fast fix. -Myra
— Chipotle (@ChipotleTweets) April 22, 2013