Apparently Dream Dinner's Doesn't Value My Business...
They just about admitted it, since I bothered to point out that none of the newer employees have ever taken the time to introduce themselves, and since I admitted to my quirks...
Wendy,
I stand by my staff and I am very proud of the excellent customer service they provide to every guest that walks through our doors.
I can only conclude from your emails that you are not happy at our store and no longer wish to continue as a guest. I will go ahead and cancel your October order.
Respectfully,
Dorothy Kolmer
Manager
I stand by my staff and I am very proud of the excellent customer service they provide to every guest that walks through our doors.
I can only conclude from your emails that you are not happy at our store and no longer wish to continue as a guest. I will go ahead and cancel your October order.
Respectfully,
Dorothy Kolmer
Manager
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Dream Dinners Lancaster
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From: Wendy Lunko
Sent: Sunday, October 2, 2016 10:23 AM
To: Lancaster Dream Dinners
Subject: Re: cancel my order
Sent: Sunday, October 2, 2016 10:23 AM
To: Lancaster Dream Dinners
Subject: Re: cancel my order
Dorothy,
Sorry for not replying sooner, but as I explained, my schedule was crazy other than Wednesday. I've been across the state and back twice, and in Maryland, since Thursday morning.
What would be best is honoring all of the publicly available sessions that people schedule. If that isn't an option, then you need to offer other options. First, give people more than a few hours notice about it. Give them a chance to be proactive. But giving me a few hours notice, when I'm at work? That gives me no time to try to do anything other than react.
When they call people, they need to not make it sound like it is because they want to leave early, or my business isn't worth staying open. Rather than saying, "You're the only one in this session, can you come in early?" whoever calls should say, "You are the only one in your session. As a courtesy, if you'd like, we can make your meals for you, and have them ready when your session would start." Again, a little more notice, and you'll have time to have the meals ready, or you'll get people who will say, "I can reschedule my session," because maybe another day does work better. Or even call and offer to switch it to made for you at no cost, for picking up at another session time. Had someone called on Monday morning and offered the made for you option, I'd have jumped at it for Monday or would've sent Mac there for Tuesday.
As far as customer service, I honestly cannot even tell you who was working on Wednesday night. When you asked to speak to Lisa, I had to ask a general question of, "Where is Lisa?" because I don't know who Lisa is. I don't know anyone's name who was there on Wednesday. They've never introduced themselves to me. Mac pointed out that he's been coming with me to sessions for most of a year. He has no idea who anyone is, because none of them ever bothered to introduce themselves to him. When I started at Dream Dinners, employees introduced themselves, got to know me, etc. Now, I walk in and am greeted with a generic "Hi," and no one takes the time to even ask how I'm doing. What sticks with me about how customer service should be, and the substantial drop off in it there is what happened about 2 years ago in December. I arrived early to my made for you session because I'd lost my job that afternoon, and knew if I went home in between, I wasn't going to want to leave the house. Becki was there, and saw that I was upset. I started crying, and told her what happened, and she gave me a hug, told me to take my time, and stay there as long as I needed. It was like she cared about me. Now, it's like, "Oh, another customer."
I wish you'd elaborate on the persuasive behavior. I've chimed in to sing the praises of Dream Dinners to other guests, or have answered questions when I can, but if those are a problem, I'll happily keep my mouth shut.
I can be very set in my ways when it comes to certain things, like which cooler shelf, which drawer for my purse, and even how things are packed in the cooler. I like the top left cooler shelf, because I'm tall, so I don't need to bend down as much, my stuff can only fall on one side, and it's easy to find if I use that one every month. I like one of the top drawers, because being tall, I don't need to bend over as much to set anything in it. Packing things in my coolers? I know that if pans go on the bottom, they get crushed, but likewise, if they are stuffed in to the top, they get crushed. It's why I bring 2 coolers. That way, there should be enough room for everything, without things getting crushed.
I can also be very vocal in my opinions, and in asking about foods that may have nuts. I think that the layout for some of the meals could be improved, and I would hope that corporate would want feedback like that. I think that some of the Mexican meals can be improved too, and have shared those opinions. For example, to me, the creamy salsa ranch or sour cream topping on the chicken enchiladas reminds me of vomit and makes it look unappetizing. I've probably shared that opinion at a session, and explained that because of that, I don't take the bag of the salsa topping. Rather, we use green sauce at home. Again, I'd think feedback like that would be welcomed by corporate. I thought that was part of the point of us rating and reviewing meals. I am very vocal about nuts, because that can kill me. If asking about allergens, and making a big deal out of it is a bad thing, then I will happily be wrong, because it's my life that can end if I eat them.
As far as the meals having hot spices, I know they do, and wouldn't order them if I didn't want the hot spices. A quick look at my order history can show that I don't avoid the meals with hot spices. I get foods that are often spicy. The note about nuts can be confusing, because I do sometimes order a 3-serving of a meal that has nuts. I do that for Mac, for when I know I won't be home for dinner (out of town, work event, etc.). If it's a 6-serving, and it has nuts, then it shouldn't get them. If it's a 3-serving that has nuts, it's for Mac, and nuts are great. This goes back to the employees don't know the guests now.
As far as charging me for the made for you, I have no problem paying that if I'm going to be late and ask them to make my meals. I do have a problem paying for that if I'm being asked to do that because I'm the only one in the session. For example, I'd have no problem paying it had I arrived on Wednesday to find all of my meals assembled, since I was 30 minutes late. If the solution to me being the only one in the session is, "We'll make your meals for you," and I arrive on time to find out I'm being charged, I have a problem with that.
If I'm not going to go to Lancaster, I'm not going to drive past Lancaster to go to West Chester, nor am I going to drive to Frederick or Colmar. Lancaster is far, all of those are farther.
Wendy
Sorry for not replying sooner, but as I explained, my schedule was crazy other than Wednesday. I've been across the state and back twice, and in Maryland, since Thursday morning.
What would be best is honoring all of the publicly available sessions that people schedule. If that isn't an option, then you need to offer other options. First, give people more than a few hours notice about it. Give them a chance to be proactive. But giving me a few hours notice, when I'm at work? That gives me no time to try to do anything other than react.
When they call people, they need to not make it sound like it is because they want to leave early, or my business isn't worth staying open. Rather than saying, "You're the only one in this session, can you come in early?" whoever calls should say, "You are the only one in your session. As a courtesy, if you'd like, we can make your meals for you, and have them ready when your session would start." Again, a little more notice, and you'll have time to have the meals ready, or you'll get people who will say, "I can reschedule my session," because maybe another day does work better. Or even call and offer to switch it to made for you at no cost, for picking up at another session time. Had someone called on Monday morning and offered the made for you option, I'd have jumped at it for Monday or would've sent Mac there for Tuesday.
As far as customer service, I honestly cannot even tell you who was working on Wednesday night. When you asked to speak to Lisa, I had to ask a general question of, "Where is Lisa?" because I don't know who Lisa is. I don't know anyone's name who was there on Wednesday. They've never introduced themselves to me. Mac pointed out that he's been coming with me to sessions for most of a year. He has no idea who anyone is, because none of them ever bothered to introduce themselves to him. When I started at Dream Dinners, employees introduced themselves, got to know me, etc. Now, I walk in and am greeted with a generic "Hi," and no one takes the time to even ask how I'm doing. What sticks with me about how customer service should be, and the substantial drop off in it there is what happened about 2 years ago in December. I arrived early to my made for you session because I'd lost my job that afternoon, and knew if I went home in between, I wasn't going to want to leave the house. Becki was there, and saw that I was upset. I started crying, and told her what happened, and she gave me a hug, told me to take my time, and stay there as long as I needed. It was like she cared about me. Now, it's like, "Oh, another customer."
I wish you'd elaborate on the persuasive behavior. I've chimed in to sing the praises of Dream Dinners to other guests, or have answered questions when I can, but if those are a problem, I'll happily keep my mouth shut.
I can be very set in my ways when it comes to certain things, like which cooler shelf, which drawer for my purse, and even how things are packed in the cooler. I like the top left cooler shelf, because I'm tall, so I don't need to bend down as much, my stuff can only fall on one side, and it's easy to find if I use that one every month. I like one of the top drawers, because being tall, I don't need to bend over as much to set anything in it. Packing things in my coolers? I know that if pans go on the bottom, they get crushed, but likewise, if they are stuffed in to the top, they get crushed. It's why I bring 2 coolers. That way, there should be enough room for everything, without things getting crushed.
I can also be very vocal in my opinions, and in asking about foods that may have nuts. I think that the layout for some of the meals could be improved, and I would hope that corporate would want feedback like that. I think that some of the Mexican meals can be improved too, and have shared those opinions. For example, to me, the creamy salsa ranch or sour cream topping on the chicken enchiladas reminds me of vomit and makes it look unappetizing. I've probably shared that opinion at a session, and explained that because of that, I don't take the bag of the salsa topping. Rather, we use green sauce at home. Again, I'd think feedback like that would be welcomed by corporate. I thought that was part of the point of us rating and reviewing meals. I am very vocal about nuts, because that can kill me. If asking about allergens, and making a big deal out of it is a bad thing, then I will happily be wrong, because it's my life that can end if I eat them.
As far as the meals having hot spices, I know they do, and wouldn't order them if I didn't want the hot spices. A quick look at my order history can show that I don't avoid the meals with hot spices. I get foods that are often spicy. The note about nuts can be confusing, because I do sometimes order a 3-serving of a meal that has nuts. I do that for Mac, for when I know I won't be home for dinner (out of town, work event, etc.). If it's a 6-serving, and it has nuts, then it shouldn't get them. If it's a 3-serving that has nuts, it's for Mac, and nuts are great. This goes back to the employees don't know the guests now.
As far as charging me for the made for you, I have no problem paying that if I'm going to be late and ask them to make my meals. I do have a problem paying for that if I'm being asked to do that because I'm the only one in the session. For example, I'd have no problem paying it had I arrived on Wednesday to find all of my meals assembled, since I was 30 minutes late. If the solution to me being the only one in the session is, "We'll make your meals for you," and I arrive on time to find out I'm being charged, I have a problem with that.
If I'm not going to go to Lancaster, I'm not going to drive past Lancaster to go to West Chester, nor am I going to drive to Frederick or Colmar. Lancaster is far, all of those are farther.
Wendy
From: Lancaster Dream Dinners
Sent: Friday, September 30, 2016 4:26 PM
To: Wendy Lunko
Subject: Re: cancel my order
Sent: Friday, September 30, 2016 4:26 PM
To: Wendy Lunko
Subject: Re: cancel my order
Wendy,
I too do not wish to argue and I feel this all went to far. In hindsight I should have left a message. I was home and I don't know why I thought that mattered.
I appreciate your feedback on how it feels to be asked to come in early, but isn't that better than cancelling a session? I'd really like to know. I don't want any guest to feel we are lacking in customer service. I pride myself on the excellent customer service we provide. But we can all improve!
I have always had pleasant exchanges with you, but some of my staff have not. They have witnessed some persuasive behavior from you in the past, which caused some nervousness.
We would like for you to continue to come to our store. All we ask is that you show up on time for your sessions or call if you will be late and respect the staff. Going forward if we do have to make your meals because you are going to be so late then we will have to charge you the made for you fee. We can add notes to your account with your special requests, like you did with the nuts. This will be a great reference. They were honestly unsure about making your meals because many of the meals have hot spices.
Dorothy
Your order has been cancelled. I am sorry to hear you do not want to take us up on the offer to assemble your meals for free.
I too do not wish to argue and I feel this all went to far. In hindsight I should have left a message. I was home and I don't know why I thought that mattered.
I appreciate your feedback on how it feels to be asked to come in early, but isn't that better than cancelling a session? I'd really like to know. I don't want any guest to feel we are lacking in customer service. I pride myself on the excellent customer service we provide. But we can all improve!
I have always had pleasant exchanges with you, but some of my staff have not. They have witnessed some persuasive behavior from you in the past, which caused some nervousness.
There are different recollections of the callback they received
from you. They were very busy when you called, which is why I said they
were busy. The lead should have called you back when things slowed down
so they could have made your meals.
We would like for you to continue to come to our store. All we ask is that you show up on time for your sessions or call if you will be late and respect the staff. Going forward if we do have to make your meals because you are going to be so late then we will have to charge you the made for you fee. We can add notes to your account with your special requests, like you did with the nuts. This will be a great reference. They were honestly unsure about making your meals because many of the meals have hot spices.
If you decide to not return to our store there are stores in West
Chester, Colmar and Frederick Maryland, but we hope that doesn't happen.
Dorothy
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Dream Dinners Lancaster
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From: Wendy Lunko
Sent: Friday, September 30, 2016 2:46 PM
To: Lancaster Dream Dinners
Subject: Re: cancel my order
Sent: Friday, September 30, 2016 2:46 PM
To: Lancaster Dream Dinners
Subject: Re: cancel my order
Dorothy,
I
am very busy, moreso with my new job, than I had been previously. I
made time in my schedule to be there Wednesday night, and knew that with
Mac being out of town much of October, we'd use the meals for the rest
of this week and weekend, I'd have one three-serving for while he was
gone, and then we'd need to get there right after he returned. The offer
to assemble my meals for free, at this late date, when I cannot pick
them up until after he leaves, means I have a freezer's worth of food
that I won't eat.
As far as another store, where is there one within reasonable driving distance?
I
do not appreciate being asked to reschedule, or being made to feel as
if I am keeping people who obviously do not want to be there,
there. Asking me to reschedule, because I'm the only one in that
session, sends the message that my business is not valued. It's not the
first time I've been asked to come early or reschedule.
I've
not asked to come in when you don't have a publicly available schedule.
However, you have at least twice asked me to reschedule or arrive
early. Once, I was able to accommodate the request, although it meant
rearranging my plans for a morning. On Wednesday, I was simply not able
to accommodate that request. When I indicated that, it was made to seem
as if that was an inconvenience. It struck me that I should not be made
to feel like my business is an inconvenience to your employees.
If
employees do not want to stay to their scheduled time, then that's an
employee issue, and should not affect customers. Something that stuck
with me about Wednesday night was that when I spoke to someone, I told
them that if it was easier, they could start making my meals. You and
the employees both indicated that they were too busy to make them, and I
know sessions can be busy. However, when you and I spoke, you also
indicated that they were standing around, waiting for me to arrive.
If
they were standing around, waiting for me to arrive, why didn't they
start making my meals? I'd have been thrilled to find out they'd
assembled all of them. I'd have even paid the $20 made for you
charge. If they were standing around waiting for me, like was claimed,
then perhaps employee retraining concerning how to best provide customer
service is in order.
I
don’t want to argue about this. In hindsight, I should’ve called to say
I would be late, but I honestly had no idea how late I’d be. Some days,
I can practically fly to Lancaster, other days, 30 is a disaster. It
was raining, and we all know how that can affect traffic around here. I
also wish you had left voice mail, as I’d have called you, or the store,
whichever you’d have preferred, to tell them where we were.
Going
forward, assuming Mac decides he wants to keep the October and future
sessions, I will call if I’m going to be even 5 minutes late, just so no
one has to wonder if I’ll show up.
Wendy
From: Lancaster Dream Dinners
Sent: Friday, September 30, 2016 11:46 AM
To: Wendy Lunko
Subject: Re: cancel my order
Sent: Friday, September 30, 2016 11:46 AM
To: Wendy Lunko
Subject: Re: cancel my order
Wendy,
Jackie
and Cindi are aware of Wednesday night. The 3 of us discussed how to
move forward. We value your business and understand that circumstances
come up when making appointments a month in advance, on both ends.
We
truly want you to have a wonderful experience when you are at Dream
Dinners, but it seems we cannot provide that for you. We do not want to
turn you away, but maybe you would be happier at another Dream Dinners location?
If you decide to stay at our store then we will have to come to an understanding, which we can discuss.
I will leave this up to you. Please let me know how you would like to move forward.
Respectfully,
Dorothy Kolmer
Manager
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Dream Dinners Lancaster
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From: Wendy Lunko
Sent: Friday, September 30, 2016 9:06 AM
To: Lancaster Dream Dinners
Subject: cancel my order
Sent: Friday, September 30, 2016 9:06 AM
To: Lancaster Dream Dinners
Subject: cancel my order
Dorothy,
Please cancel my order and refund my $20 deposit for September. Mac and I discussed, and as we would not have the meals for this weekend (Thursday-Tuesday), and he is going to be out of town much of October, there is no need for our September order.
Wendy
Please cancel my order and refund my $20 deposit for September. Mac and I discussed, and as we would not have the meals for this weekend (Thursday-Tuesday), and he is going to be out of town much of October, there is no need for our September order.
Wendy
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