We had dinner one night at a pretty unique restaurant called Ted's Montana Grill near Old Town in Virginia. One of the multiple unique menu features that they serve is bison.
During dinner, we had a problem with Ted's Montana Grill restaurant in Alexandria, while visiting family out of town. My father's bison burger was supposed to be cooked rare and it was well done. There is nothing worse than over cooking food because it has to be completely redone, whereas undercooked food can be easily thrown back on the grill for a couple more minutes.
I did the right thing and filed a complaint through their online website form. Ted's Montana Grill (TMG) responded by emailing me back. The email apology seemed to me like a form letter that they send out to everyone who complains, which is fine, but it called me the wrong name. The apology letter was from Stephanie Scandrol with their Guest Relations department, and it asked me if I had my receipt and to provide Ted's Montana Grill with the information on the receipt. (I suppose a lot of people may try to complain about places that they did not really dine at, especially in this economy.) A few days passed, but I still had a copy of the Ted's Montana Grill receipt, and I provided Stephanie Scandrol with the information.
“A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all.” -Michael Leboeuf
More than two weeks passed and I emailed Stephanie Scandrol again asking, "Is that how you get people back into your restaurant, by apologizing and not doing anything to correct the problem?"
Stephanie Scandrol responded again saying she worked in the Ted's Montana Grill corporate office and would forward the information to the manager at the local Alexandria Ted's Montana Grill that we had dined at, a second time.
Finally, a MONTH had passed since we dined at Ted's Montana Grill, and we still had no response from the Alexandria restaurant's manager.
I was beginning to think that they did not care about correcting negative experiences with their restaurants. I even followed my own advice and attempted to resolved this with the restaurant before I resorted to writing a negative public relations review about my experience and their customer service. I told Stephanie Scandrol that I find few things more disrespectful than being ignored but that I would give them a little more time. I held off on posting a negative CitySearch review, filing a Better Business Bureau complaint, and going on a public relations rampage.
Before I relocated this webpage, this article originally had a PageRank of 4. I figured it would take 2-4 weeks before it would reach the Top 10 Google results. I wasn't sure if Ted's Montana Grill was going to respond by then. If Ted's Montana Grill hadn't responded, this article on public relations would have had quite a different ending.
The manager of the Ted's in Alexandria finally emailed me, to apologize profusely for his failure to address the matter in a timely fashion. The Ted's Montana Grill manager also called me and apologized deeply for failing to respond to my concerns in an appropriate manner. He asked us to come back to their restaurant to give them another chance to correct their missed opportunity. They have a restaurant in Raleigh, though we arranged to give them another chance at the same one in Alexandria.
Ted's Montana Grill knows that bad public relations would probably hurt their reputation and most companies (especially restaurants), understand that their reputation or their "brand name" is the most valuable thing their company has.
Ted's Montana Grill had no idea that I run this marketing company or that I was using this experience as a public relations example for my website. I kept this article on the down-low (D/L), while working out my issues with them, for better or worse. I did not need to involve the Better Business Bureau, CItySearch, or any other third parties. I brought my concerns to their attention, and after a little persistence, my concerns were eventually acknowledged and resolved to exceed my expectations.
Redemption Equals Good Public Relations, Positive Image, and best of all... FREE MARKETING!
Tonight, I just finished having our 'make up' dinner at Ted's Montana Grill. The dinner was NOT "Free", nor did I expect it to be. However, they definitely took care of us. After we dined there again, I considered the matter resolved and would definitely return again at some point.
In 2010 in America, one of the bigger problems that I see is that people are constantly focusing on the negative aspects of life and businesses. Very few people focus on the positive or let people know about a job well done. I want perspective Ted's Montana Grill customers to know that there are actually a lot of positive things about their business, despite the rough road that they and I started on.
Ted's Montana Grill has a table top card that explains a few things about their restaurant. Their restaurants are actually very environmentally friendly. The card read like this:
Take-Away
Take-away that goes away. Our to-go cups are made of natural and renewable resources. So instead of sitting in a landfill forever, they go away in just 50 days.
99% Plastic Free
Let's draw straws. We use paper drinking straws instead of plastic because we think you should be around in 50 years--not the straw you used for your drink.
Consuming Energy
We're saving some electricity and water for you. All of our restaurants have lights that use less electricity and toilets that use less water. The more we can save now, the more you'll have.
Recycling
I spy something recycled. We use recycled brown butcher paper on our tables and our menu is printed on recycled paper.
At Ted's Montana Grill, we think it takes more than great food to make the world a better place. Learn more on our website: tedsmontanagrill.com.
The Final Review.... A++
This company stands out from other restaurants because of its environmentally friendly steps they have taken. The food is phenomenal. The atmosphere and decor reminded me a lot of The Melting Pot, where I got engaged to my wife. The Melting Pot had balloons and champagne on our table that said "Congratulations" before I had even proposed to my wife. Luckily, I saw them and had them removed before she noticed, otherwise I might have gone on a public relations rampage for ruining my engagement surprise.
Ted's Montana Grill and The Melting Pot are by far two of the most extravagant places to eat in North Carolina and Virginia. I would highly recommend BOTH restaurants to anyone looking to have a great meal in a great atmosphere. Thanks again to Ted's Montana Grill for reminding me that not all companies are big corporations that do not care about their customers. Yes, I would return to Ted's Montana Grill again.
O'Charley's... Another Long Story
Because we always have enormous amounts of barter money, eating out is something that we used do constantly. I probably eat out at restaurants several hundred times a year. Don't get the idea that I am a complainer, because I complain less than 1/10th of 1% of the time. Ted's Montana Grill and O'Charley's just happened to create two public relations situations that could have easily been avoided.
O'Charley's was one of the few places that we used to eat at often before we had tons of barter cash. O'Charley's was one of the first restaurants that we discovered upon our move to Raleigh. The first thing anyone experiences at O'Charley's are their heroin laced dinner rolls. They don't actually have heroin in them, but I can imagine they are about as addictive. The dinner rolls are a really smart way to make a lasting first impression. Kudos to O'Charley's. I honestly have nothing bad to say about the restaurant's food. Now that I have started with a compliment, lets move on to review their service, sigh.
As with Ted's Montana Grill, I had a very simple and fixable problem. The problem is that these minor problems become enormous problems when a business fails to address the issue in a timely and appropriate manner, and then a minor incident becomes a public relations nightmare. Unlike Ted's Montana Grill, I have filed a Better Business Bureau complaint against O'Charley's. Why? Because, I received a response from O'Charley's in regards to my restaurant experience, then several weeks passed and I tried to follow up with them and the emails were returned to sender.
I think that I am usually very fortunate when I go out to eat dinner. For the most part, I experience great service and quality food. In O'Charley's case, it was not the food, it was the service, I stated that I understood that the service was likely poor because it was a holiday on which we dined. I believe I even stated I wasn't seeking anything for free, but possibly a buy one get one deal to make up for it. It was something that could have been resolved quickly and easily...
I have had unhappy customers, everyone has, the key is NOT to make them more unhappy. I called O'Charley's and spoke with a manager who resolved the situation.
O'Charley's succeeded on this simple business strategy of redemption. Kitchen Nightmares is one of my favorite Television shows because the business owners featured on it usually don't know a thing about customer service or keeping their customers happy.
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