Marc J. Zeitlin
P.O. Box 1103
Mojave, CA 93502
July 3, 2006
Mr. Jon Luther
Chairman & CEO
Dunkin Brands Inc.
130 Royall Street
Canton,
MA 02021
Re: Dunkin Donuts at Logan Airport Terminal “B”, US Airways area performance on July 2nd, 2006
Dear Mr. Luther:
I have been a customer of Dunkin Donut stores more times than I can count over the past 31 years, but this is the first time that I have been moved to lodge a complaint regarding service. Usually, I walk in, order something (donuts, for the most part), pay, and leave. No sweat.
This time, my wife and I had been given a meal voucher from AWA due to a delayed flight, and were told that it would be good at Dunkin Donuts. The voucher clearly stated that it was for “TWO” people, and that it was good for “$5/person”. It was also clearly dated July 1st, 2006, and clearly stated that it was good for 24 hours from issue.
At approximately 7:30 – 8:00 AM on the morning of July 2nd, we approached the counter of the Dunkin Donuts between the US Airways and AWA ticket counters in Terminal “B” at Logan Airport in Boston and ordered a whole wheat bagel with cream cheese, a breakfast sandwich on a croissant, a coffee, light cream, and an orange juice. The food was prepared and placed in a bag on the counter. When I presented the voucher for payment (the total was more than $5 but less than $10), the woman behind the counter insisted that it was only good for $5, even though it clearly stated that it was $5/person, with two people. A discussion ensued, in which she involved another employee at the counter (all the while a long line was building up behind us). She then decided that she needed to contact the manager via cellphone, and spent at least three minutes talking to him, ignoring both us and the rest of the customers in the line.
She came back and said that they while the “two person” amount issue wasn’t a problem, they couldn’t take the voucher at all because the date on it was July 1st, and today was July 2nd. I pointed out that the voucher clearly stated that it was good for 24 hours, and since we had received the voucher the evening before, it was still valid. Another discussion ensued, during which she handed me her cellphone to talk to her manager. The manager proceeded to argue with me about the validity of the voucher, claiming that he had gotten stiffed by AWA the past three days on vouchers that he claimed had been issued out of date, and that we would have to get a replacement voucher from AWA and then come back to Dunkin Donuts. Somehow a purported problem between DD and AWA had become MY problem to solve.
Customer service, this was not. The food was already prepared, I had a valid voucher, and yet the counter help and the manager would not fulfill their responsibilities to their customer. I was extremely annoyed (as were the 20 people in line behind us that had been waiting 5 minutes for non-existent service), closed the cellphone and walked away – too agitated to even ask for the meal voucher back.
Needless to say we did not get our breakfast at Dunkin Donuts that morning.
This is NOT acceptable behavior from an organization that derives all of it’s revenue from customer service.
Sincerely,
Marc J. Zeitlin
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Last Updated: July 03, 2006