Yesterday, at 1:55pm CST, I posted a letter to Arby’s Restaurants here at ODNT. Following that, I sent it to them electronically via their website, Twitter and Facebook. Only 26 minutes later at 2:21pm CST, I received the following tweet from Arby’s Guest Support:

“Wow,” I remember thinking to myself, impressed with their promptness and concern. “Hello … AMC? Nickelodeon?? Josh Hutcherson??? You people should take a lesson from Arby’s!” Naturally, I retweeted it. I love getting and sharing feedback from my letters. Especially when it’s positive. Immediately afterwards, I noticed that the account was following me and I received this additional tweet.

I responded, happy to comply but not jazzed about the phone number request as I prefer to communicate electronically. (Does that make me weird? Never mind. Ignore that question.) But I did it. I gave them my email address and my phone number.

And at 3:50pm CST, precisely as I was pulling into the driveway from picking up my daughter at school, my phone rang. Seeing an unfamiliar long distance number, I just knew it was Arby’s. So I quickly gestured to my kids that they should fend for themselves for a few minutes while I took the call. The female representative on the other end of the line was friendly and got right to it. She reiterated the same point made in the initial tweet … that my experience was “unacceptable” … and offered her apologies. She then asked what she could do to “make it right.”

I wasn’t prepared for this question.

I hadn’t expected any form of recompense and, frankly, was just happy that I was being answered and taken seriously. Did I want reimbursement for my recent experience or gift cards for a future visit? I felt cheap asking for reimbursement and more like I should offer them a second chance by taking the gift cards. But I wasn’t sure. “I don’t know. You pick,” I offered up, like a total boob trying to choose between pepperoni or sausage at Pizza Hut.

Fortunately, my idiocy paid off when I heard her say, “Why don’t we just do both?” freeing me to reply simply, “Okay. Thanks!”

She then requested that I give them a little time to address the issues at the local Arby’s restaurant before returning for another visit. She also requested that if I ever had another problem with Arby’s that I contact them direct before smearing everything across all of my social media platforms.

Oops.

Oh, well. I can respect her request. But this is what I do. I write letters and I share them. Because I want to make the world a better place for all of us. One gallon of milk, combustible toaster and freestanding, icy landmass at a time.