Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Che: Not just on t-shirts

Daphne’s Greek Cafes are springing up all over California and Arizona offering fast Greek food. I find the food to be tasty, plentiful, and healthier than other fast-food alternatives. I probably eat at Daphne’s at least once per week. Last Thursday, I was having lunch at the Rancho Cucamonga, CA restaurant, and as I was about to dig into my Greek salad and my business associate into his gyro…I heard it. I heard it, and I heard it again, the music, comandante che guevara. The first thing that I did was to talk to the manager, who explained that the music was from a MP3 digital recording coming from the restaurant’s computer hard drive, and he had no control of the music. There were other diners in the restaurant, but no one seemed to care but me; my Cuban radar was working and it was finely tuned. I endured the entire song…comandante che guevara, no sense in getting bad digestion at utter ignorance. I returned to my office and wrote my letter to George Katakalidis, CEO & Founder of Daphne’s, and the Area Manager responded.
Dear Orlando,

Thank you for taking the time to let us know that your experience at our
restaurant did not meet the high standards of quality we provide to our
guests. We value your comments and continue to improve the dining
experience for all of our guests through evaluation and training.

I have personally addressed your comments regarding the music through a
internet service with the Regional Director of the Company. Your opinion
really matters and won't fall on deaf ears.

Please allow us to send you a gift certificate so that we can show you our
appreciation in allowing us to correct this situation. We listen
carefully to our guest comments and will take immediate actions to rectify
the situation.

John Moreno
Area Manager
909-319-4414


I want to publicly thank the company for responding so quickly to my concerns; they have regained my confidence and my loyalty. I hope never to hear that song again at a Daphne’s restaurant.

4 comments:

machete said...

Oye, that's great. I ate at the Daphne's in Glendale this past weekend and the foods great. Now I'm glad they were receptive to this, otherwise I'd have to blacklist them!

Orlando Furioso said...

I actually went back last week around the same time. I figured that the music is in some kind of loop, and I am please to report that I did not hear it. As a matter of fact the music sounded like it was a new set of recordings. I am glad they listened, because I do like their food.

Anonymous said...

What happened? I haven't seen you post anything. I am sure others like me miss your postings here.

Anonymous said...

Great job Orlando, good looking out man. We have to pay more attention to what is around us, here in America. Especially in California and New York City.