Recently, a downtown Minneapolite purchased a pre-packaged salad from the Au Bon Pain in the skyway system. After two bites, she noticed something that definitely wasn't listed on the ingrediants label- a dead mouse. Disgusted, she walked the salad back to the store and showed the manager. The manager apologized, took her contact information, and refunded her money. But was this enough? She didn't think so.
The woman promptly emailed Au Bon Pain, explaining the situation and demanding compensation for the ordeal. In addition, the email was forwarded on to colleagues and friends, complete with photographs of the mouse. Finally, the Twitpic of the salad reached Twitter and has been retweeted among the Twin Cities Twitter community with a warning against the restaurant.
This all may have been avoided with additional care for the situation by the manager. As stated in the email "This is not a 'placate her with coupons' situation." From a public relations stand point, the benefit well outweighs the cost of going the extra mile with a (hopefully) rare situation such as this. Taking extra care can avoid a social media crisis that can seriously damage this brand's reputation.
At the moment when searching Twitter search simply on "Au Bon Pain," the majority of posts are about the dead mouse incident. With Twitter now being used as a search engine to find opinions and advice on brands, a search like this can do serious damage.
I sincerely hope Au Bon Pain corporate rectifies the situation, perhaps ala Dominos.
P.S. Apologies if the photo ruins your appetite... be assured that mine has taken a vacation for the next 3 days or so.
1 comment:
I spoke to the Au Bon Pain general manager today and he pretty much blew it off and all but stated he thought the woman put the mouse there herself. I asked if he had removed the remaining salads or other items from the shelves that day and he said no. I cannot believe that he would not take any accountability and that he would keep the food on the shelves because he assumed the allegation was a fraud. WHERE IS THE HEALTH INSPECTOR? Unless it was proven to be a fake, he should have taken appropriate measures. He put us all at risk.
Post a Comment