From: Penny_Sanchez@WENDYS.COM
Dear Mr. Schneider,
I am sorry to hear that you feel we are deceiving customers by the way we take orders at our restaurants. That is definitely not our intent. All of our menu boards only display the prices of our small size combos. The words "small combo" appear right underneath each price listed. We also have a picture right below or next to our combo pictures (depending on the board itself) that shows the medium and large sizes and lists the additional price of each. This is true of our inside as well as drive-thru boards. Many of our competitors who also ask "medium or large" do not have a small size available. We do, and are happy to sell it to whoever wants it.
When a guest orders a combo, the employees are trained to ask "medium or large?" That is done for two reasons. First, we are trying to quicken the time in which it takes to take a guest's order. We are a fast food restaurant and are always trying different "verbage" to get guests through the line quicker-slow service is a common complaint that we are trying to reduce. Second, we are trying to upsell. Like all companies, we are in business to increase sales and profit, but our company has been built on strong ethics and would never do anything to cheat a guest. That is why all of our marketing materials state the price of the small combo with additional pictures of the larger sizes and what the additional price would be for those sizes.
Again, I am sorry that you are not pleased with how your order has been taken. I would like to send you a couple of free combo coupons that you can use at any of our locations. Please respond back with an address where I can send them to you.
Penny Sanchez-District Manager
My response back:
Wendy's intent is definitely to deceive customers to increase sales. You know as well as I that most people do NOT read the "fine print" on the menu board. Wendy's deceives customers by NOT asking them if they want "small, medium or large" but rather just "medium or large". That business practice is unethical and deceiving. Since your competitors do not have a small size as you state below, then they are not deceiving customers since they are stating all their available sizes to customers. Wendy's "picks and chooses" which sizes to state to the customer, basically the larger ones only.Train your employees to ask "small,medium or large" and the deception would end but Wendy's purposely won't do that. Upselling to increase sales by verbally deceiving customers is unethical and plain fraud. Lastly, you can't insult my intelligence by trying to make me go away by offering me free combo coupons. I would never accept any bribe like that so Wendy's could turn around and use that as part of their defense in a court of law.I've already filed an online complaint with the BBB and the Attorney General of NY. I will also be forwarding this email as well to the above agencies. Hopefully in the near future Wendy's will be instructed to alter their business practices
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