When a fast food chain’s apology tweet made things worse

I saw that burger place in Chicago try to fix their undercooked patty mess with a statement last Tuesday, but they blamed the customer for “not specifying doneness.” Real classy move, Bill from marketing... Has anyone else noticed brands digging themselves deeper with these halfhearted apologies?

3 comments

3 Comments

daniel_walker2d ago

Man I've been burned so many times by those apology tweets they might as well be serving me the undercooked patties themselves. Burger Baron tried to apologize for serving raw chicken last spring and their statement said something about "consumer preparation expectations" like dude just say you messed up the fryer settings. My own apologies are probably worse though, I once told my wife I was sorry for forgetting our anniversary by saying "whoops my bad" over text while eating a gas station burrito. Maybe these fast food chains and I are just in the same boat of terrible apology skills. Bet they'd blame the customer for not specifying they wanted their chicken fully cooked too.

elizabethhayes1d ago

Three years of retail management taught me that the best apology is "we messed up, here's your refund and a gift card." No excuses, no explaining what went wrong in the back. That burger chain should have just said "our bad, we'll fix it" instead of that jargon. For personal stuff, I learned to apologize in person or on the phone with specific details about what I did wrong and how I'll change. That "whoops my bad" text you sent your wife probably stung way worse than if you'd just called her and said "I forgot, I'm sorry, let me make it up to you with dinner on Friday." Companies need to drop the defensive lawyer speak and just own it. Your wife probably would have appreciated a sincere call way more than that burrito text.

blairtaylor1d ago

Oh for crying out loud, that is just about the worst thing a company can do. When you mess up and then point fingers back at the customer, you might as well just close up shop and go home. I remember when a local diner here in town burned someone's burger to a crisp and then blamed the customer for "wanting it well done too late in the cooking process." It was ridiculous. People just want a simple, honest apology. No fancy words, no blame shifting, just "we're sorry, here's a fresh meal on us." That burger place in Chicago really dropped the ball on this one.