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Archive for the ‘Frivolity’ Category

Small Potatoes Are a Big Deal at Carl’s Jr.

December 24, 2008

I have three requirements for fast food:

Be fast: This truth is self-evident, but apparently Jack In the Box thinks I want to wait for their “gourmet” meals. “We don’t make it until you order it?” Don’t you mean “we don’t reheat it until you order it?” Don’t make me wait for something not worth waiting for.
Be gross: This might sound strange, but I can’t stand it when fast food restaurants pretend to be healthy. “We have salad now!” Yes, you serve green leafs in a room saturated with years of grease and salt. My “salad” tastes like a hamburger wrapper with runny mayonaise. Thank you. Give me a nutritionally-void McDonald’s cheeseburger any day over something they call a salad.
Be cheap: Again, this is a logical result of the prior two criteria. If something is fast and gross, why would I want to pay a lot of money for it? This is the dealbreaker here and, lately, I’ve noticed that some fast food restaurants are pressing their luck with it. Not that long ago I had sticker shock when a Happy Meal (with Chicken Strips) at a McDonald’s in Santa Clarita rung in at close to $6!

If any one of these criteria is not met there could be trouble in Fryville. I recently had an experience at a Carl’s Jr. that violated the third of these three rules: it wasn’t cheap. To be fair, it wasn’t outrageously expensive either.

I went to the drive thru, intending to get my older son, Jacob, a kid’s meal with chicken stars and crisscut fries. Jacob is a picky eater (due in part to his having a diagnosis of autism and/or just because he is a picky eater — sometimes it is hard to know which it might be). That being the case, whenever Jacob likes any kind of food we very willingly give it to him. Since he likes crisscut fries, that’s what I was going to get them for him.

I ordered the meal and mentally noted that the price was $3.19 plus tax (roughly $3.45). However, when the cashier confirmed the order, I heard her announce the total as $4.32. I figured I misheard her or maybe she double-charged me for something. I would resolve the issue at the window.

When I got to the window I asked to clarify the bill. These are tight times economically so every penny literally does count. Besides, the difference of $1 represents a nearly 25% increase in cost (not small potatoes). Sure enough: $4.32. At least I wasn’t losing my hearing!

Carl's Jr. Receipt: Evidence of a "Consumer Crime?"

I asked why the bill was roughly $1 more than I had anticipated and was told it was due to my having substituted the standard french fries with crisscut fries. I realize crisscut fries are a novelty, but was unaware that there was space-aged technology involved in their production that necessitated such a dramatic differential in cost.

Maybe I am slow, but I can’t understand why the crisscut fries aren’t just an equal substitution for the fries? Does it really cost $1 more per serving to make crisscut fries than regular ones? I suppose someone calculated it and it does, unless the cashier is simply running a scam or the franchise is operating a secret fundraiser.

The cashier offered to swap the crisscut fries back to the standard ones, but by that point I did not want to disappoint my son. But if I had been alone I would have swapped the crisscut fries for regular old fries — it’s not like it’s a steak at Morton’s!

Was this a huge problem? No, but it is something to be aware of — and it is something I will remember the next time I go to Carl’s Jr. (if I do go back to Carl’s Jr.). Certainly, an extra dollar for crisscut fries is not as questionable as $259,500 for fire pits on a beach, but it should make you stop and think.

I wonder what an order of “freedom fries” would cost me?

Update: Within a week of this post I connected with Beth Mansfield, the Public Relations Manager at CKE Restaurants, Inc. (parent company of Carl’s Jr. and Hardees) via the Carls Jr. Twitter account. The end result was that Beth visted my “buying behavior” course at UC Santa Barbara Extension and spent two hours sharing the social media marketing secrets of Carl’s Jr. For more details read my blog post about it here (where you will find the back story and seven video clips of her presentation). Now THAT”s how to turn a negative customer experience into a positive one!

Posted in Business, Frivolity, Marketing, Personal | Tagged carl's jr., cheap, cheeseburger, consumer confidence, Consumer Rights, cost of living, crisscut fries, economy, fast food, food, franchises, freedom fries, french fries, hamburgers, happy meal, happy meals, Jack In the Box, McDonalds, Mortons, prices, pricing, santa clarita, scams, steak, value | 5 Comments »

Donor Plays Fiddle While San Diego Burns? Well, Sort Of…

December 19, 2008

According to a December 15, 2008 article on the NBC San Diego website, an anonymous donor has agreed to give $259,500 to the City of San Diego in order to save 186 public fire pits. Prior to the donation, the fire pits were scheduled to be removed to save the city $173,000 in annual maintenance fees.

The San Diego Foundation will manage the money which will cover maintenance costs of the fire pits through June 2010. Apparently the city has two full-time employees cleaning the pits weekly in the summer and biweekly in the winter.

Huh? $259,500 to pay for bonfires? On a beach? Are you serious?

Besides, isn’t San Diego in a financial mess right now and teetering on the verge of bankruptcy? Someone call Cheech and Chong, because this money is going “Up in Smoke!“

Seems to me there are any number of worthwhile causes for which $259,500 could have made a huge difference.

What about creating a fund to help families pay for expenses associated with providing services to individuals with Autism? With statistics indicating 1 in 150 children (1 in 94 boys) are diagnosed with Autism, I would think there is a significant percentage of the population in San Diego that could benefit from such generosity.

I realize that when you have money, part of the benefit of having it (aside from being able to call yourself “eccentric” instead of just plain “weird”) is that you can do whatever you want with it. I believe in the idea of a free marketplace, so who am I to tell someone with money what to do with it?

At the same time, this still seems very frivolous and wasteful — especially given the current state of the world economy. In reviewing the reader comments on the page, there is an interesting mix of local sentiment and what is clearly outsider opinion.

Local readers think the donation is a wonderful way to save a beloved local tradition. Outside readers seem to think the folks in San Diego have the wrong priorities.

However, if you strip away the emotion of some of the posts what is evident is that these fire pits seem to be a fundamental aspect to the culture in San Diego. Perhaps there is something worthwhile about saving them?

I think I need to consult my copy of Edgar Schein’s book “Organizational Culture and Leadership” again!

Maybe I am wrong — who am I to pass judgment?

But then again…

Posted in Autism, Frivolity, Personal | Tagged 1 in 150 children, 1 in 94 boys, 1978, bankruptcy, beaches, bon fires, bonfire, Cheech and Chong, City of San Diego, donations, donor, donors, edgar schein, ethics, fire put, government waste, money, NBC, philanthropy, priorities, San Diego, San Diego Foundation, society, Up in Smoke | 3 Comments »

Junk in Your Trunk: Car Engine in a Honda Civic Trunk on Highway 99 North Near Bakersfield, CA

November 6, 2008

Frequently being on the road driving to and from the classes I teach gives me the opportunity to occasionally see some fairly odd things. Most often I observe people with strange items in their trunks, on their cars or otherwise in-tow. I’ve learned to never underestimate the creativity (or, in some cases, stupidity) of people when it comes to their cars!

I decided to start documenting as many of these “moments” as possible and aptly (and, I hope, humorously) title them under the heading of “Junk in Your Trunk.” I will randomly post images as I take them or discover images I took earlier that seem to fit the bill. I am also willing to post photos anyone else takes and sends my way — so feel free to “shoot and send!”

The photo below was taken on Wednesday, August 6, 2008 while I was driving north on highway 99 en route to Bakersfield (where I was teaching at DeVry University later that afternoon). It is a bit hard to see, but there is a car engine in the trunk of the silver Honda Civic in the foreground! I am unsure why there is a car engine in the trunk, though I was certain it was not the engine powering the car, but there it is!

Note: Unfortunately, the camera in my Palm Centro is adequate, but not always ideal. However, you can click on the photo to see a larger, and slightly clearer, version of the photo.