See also: “You can’t make this up”
, and now this:
A few weeks ago a group of us went out for my birthday (by the way, if your present hasn’t arrived, you still have time) to a local chain restaurant.
There were about 7 of us, including 2 kids. We had appetizers, soft drinks, and lunch.
We had brought a coupon for a free dessert with the purchase of an entrée which they had sent for my birthday.
5 adults had 5 meals.
No entrées.
According to the restaurant, only certain items were entrées.
Yeah, I thought that entrée meant “The thing that goes between the appetizer and dessert” too, but apparently it means “More than a sandwich or hamburger, roughly speaking about $4 more.”
Now you might think that five adult meals plus appetizers might let you give you a little leeway, but if you think that, you’re unfamiliar with corporate America. Local owners are most likely required to submit these coupons and the corresponding receipts before they get reimbursed. (I’m guessing here.)
This is not the first time this has happened.
So I wrote a letter. Yeah, I know, but I did anyway.
The thrust of my letter was:
1) “Entrée” to most people means the part of the meal between the appetizer and dessert.
2) None of the items marked “entrée” were all that interesting to me or anyone since not one of us ordered one.
3) If they wanted to keep people from exploiting the system, why not make it “Free if you spend at least $15” or something like that since I’ll often go and get an appetizer plus sandwich/hamburger (see #2).
I didn’t really expect anything except maybe a form letter response.
Then I mostly forgot about it.
Today I was sorting through the mail and found a letter from the manager of the local branch, apologizing for it and explaining that they did have some people who “worked the system” and she included 4 coupons for free…. entrées.