Restaurant (?) Review
“Jack in the Box”
Voltaire/Sunset Cliffs
San Diego, CA 92107
619-223-7714
Never, ever, in a million years did I ever think that I would do a review on a “Jack in the Box”. Not that I don’t sometimes eat at Jack in the Box, but a review? Never. Until the other night.
It wasn’t because the food was good, because, at best, it was fair. I could tell you about the Egg Rolls, the French Fries, the Hamburger and hamburger patty I bought. I could tell you about the Strawberry shake that I ordered, but -I won’t. Because this is not about the quality of the food. No, this is about something else.
And to preface this by saying that more establishments should take a lesson from the people running this restaurant would just blow everyone away. But it’s true.
Here’s what happened:
For some reason, my order got royally screwed up. I received items I didn’t order; I didn’t receive something that I did order. And, when I got home I called the number on the receipt asking me to fill out an “opinionnaire” on my experience. I did. And I gave it a “c”-“d” rating.
Although there wasn’t a lot of space, I was able to say why I was so unhappy. I filled it out at 8:15pm.
At 8:45pm I received a call from “Fabiola” – the manager of this Jack in the Box, apologizing for the poor food, and/or lack of it. She was very sweet; asked if there was anything that she could do for me.
There was; there used to be a promotion that if you filled out the questionnaire you would receive two free taco’s the next time you visited Jack in the Box. That promotion is over, and now if you fill out the questionnaire you will receive one free jumbo jack or supreme croissant with the purchase of one or the other. I do not like their new promotion and told her so. She said that the next time I visit to tell them that she has ordered 4 free taco’s for me.
She must have asked me four or five times if there was anything else she could do for me.
No sooner had I hung up the phone when it rang again. I thought that maybe Fabiola had forgotten something, and was surprised when a male’s voice asked for me. And the male voice belonged to Roger the district manager.
He said he had just been notified of my unhappiness with the meal and wanted to know if there was anything that he could do for me. He seemed somewhat surprised that I had just hung up from talking to Faviola, and he, too, asked me several times if there was anything he could do for me!
And if this wasn’t enough: I also received an email from Roger with the following message:
“My apologies on your visit It is unacceptable for us to not serve hot fries and to check all orders carefully I will follow up with my manager Fabiola ASAP to correct these issues. Please accept a couple of free menu item coupons to return on me, just provide your mailing address. Also, feel free to call my manager or myself with any issues for faster resolution. Again my apologies “
Now come on! Is this not amazing or what? The customer service was enough to make me go back again, even though on the questionnaire I stated that I was not sure if I would go back again. I do not think I have EVER had that kind of response, from the best restaurants to those that needed some help.
There is a restaurant in Ocean Beach that is favored by many, and yet, when I found a long hair in my hamburger and asked to see the manager she was too busy to come to my table. She could take a lesson from this Jack and their staff training department.
So although the food was not what I wanted, I will go back. And Shadow will hope that I get a wrong order again, because he really liked his hamburger and separate hamburger patty!
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
It is rare that I stop at a fast food place. On occasion, I will get an ice coffee at the JITB in OB. I emailed them on another issue which I will not get into. I too received a response and was surprised and impressed!
Congrats JITB for customer service and paying attention to your business.
Jack In The Box established a consistent system for dealing with customer complaints after they killed 4 children and permanently injured 178 others with food in the early 90’s.
And the comment of the year award goes to…. Christo.
Info appreciated. Hats off still though to this particular location ….. I am not aware that they have killed anyone. They have responded well to customers inquiries.
I think this comment is unduly rough on Jack in the Box. It received tainted meat from meat suppliers and received a $60 million settlement because of that. Their failing allegedly was in not cooking the burgers 15 degrees higher than the federal standard that they were adhering to. This tragedy was a group effort and it resulted in a lot of changes in how meat is handled and cooked. That said, I think if they had changed their customer service solely because of this, someone might have noticed in the ensuing 23 years.
Who says nobody noticed?
My comment is based on comments made by a good friend who was working for FoodMaker (JITB Owners) at the time. He was involved with what he called “A Deep Cultural Change” there.
JITB took a deep look at how they were conducting business and overhauled a lot of their systems and standards. The Feds did too.
Yes, they overhauled their systems and standards when it came to preparing food, like cooking at a higher temperature but so did restaurants across the country. I just don’t see the connection between that and customer service. Surely they made an effort to overcome the bad publicity but I don’t think what Ms. Curry experienced 23 years later can necessarily be directly linked to that. But, I repeat, I think your comment was pretty rough on JIB, especially after all the efforts they made to improve what they do.
On the plus side, from a then-crass (well, probably still) teenager the horrendous failure on all parts meant really cheap food in high school while the company was trying to rebuild their reputation before the brilliant marketing turn of bringing “Jack back.”
I told Judi she was going to receive a lot of negative comments from our vegetarian readers – altho nary a one yet. To be honest, I’ve stopped eating at most fastfood places.
This particular Jack has been there since I was in junior and senior high school – although the facade has been changed at least 4 times that I can recall.
I also recall getting a burger to go way back during the dinosaur days, you know, the mid-60s, eating it at home ; it tasted terrible – and it turned out that they had left the paper separator on the patty. And I ended up eating it. Well, that was a long time ago, I admit. Jacque in ze box. It was at least a local company.
Well, I have to wonder, Frank, if not noticing the paper was due to an appetite enhancement that you may have partaken in before eating the burger.
The jack in the box on May in OKC
We called and they store # 5301 and we pulled up and they outside goofing off in the parking lot then had to wait even longer to get the food10 minutes