Kudos to KFC

We're all quick to complain when things don't exactly go our way, but how often do you make a point of acknowledging good service and a positive experience in a store or a fast food place or some other place you visit? So many times it seems that the only comments from customers are negative comments. I admit I don't often go out of my way to report good service. I don't complain all that often either, though I have called about problems with both Kellogg's and Banquet products recently. I tried to do it in a very nice way, and both companies were very gracious and took care of the problem immediately by offering me a coupon for a free replacement product.

I also want to say that I think KFC is handling the whole Oprah free coupon thing admirably.

Image by dgouldin via Flickr

Like practically everyone else in the country, I downloaded and printed my coupons for the free grilled chicken meal at KFC. I followed the rules and only printed the 4 I was allowed - one for each of us. Because the coupon download was a pdf file, there was really no way to stop people from printing as many coupons as they wanted, though, and that may have contributed to the whole problem.

I hadn't visited a KFC to redeem my coupon when a friend told me that they weren't taking the coupons any more, due to the overwhelming response. Of course, that's not exactly true - KFC will still be giving out free meals, just not right now. You can get a raincheck form at your local KFC, fill it out, turn it in or mail it by May 19, and they send you a raincheck to redeem at a later time. We did just that on Sunday - we had plenty of time before out movie, after all.

We went into the KFC, got our forms and filled them out - one for each of us. We were supposed to attach the printed coupons to the form before handing them in, and the KFC employees had a stapler ready for that. They took our forms with a smile and then handed us some chocolate. By doing it this way, KFC can spread out the redemption, making it more manageable, and they ought to be able to weed out a few of the 'extra' coupons people may have printed. Having your name and address means they can better enforce that one coupon per person rule. I appreciate that, even though they were overwhelmed by the response to this offer, they are doing their best to take care of their customers.

I did have the coupon I got in the Sunday paper a couple weeks ago for a free piece of the new grilled chicken, so we went ahead and got that. Mostly Cory ate it, but Jeffrey and I tasted it too, and that is really good chicken! I look forward to getting my raincheck for the 2-piece meal, and a free Pepsi, too.

Another thing? I didn't know the president of KFC had this great accent.

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