A thank you to Flying J truck stops after bad service and a response

[The Straight Story]

After a recent visit to a flying J truck stop I felt the need to write the company. This is the second time in a row that I went there and have gotten terrible service at this location (Kirkersville, Ohio - The one in Albuquerque, NM is one of my favorites personally). The first incident was over an hour wait on food. The second one was 45 minutes for a sandwhich and fries, and at the time of day I went there was barely anyone there (waiters/waitress ratio to customers was about 1:4, not sure how many cooks were on duty). I did not use the names of any employees and noted that I do understand when things are busy and you get short handed that delays are expected. I did not want to blame any one person (though our waitress forgot to bring something three times. I still left a tip, maybe she had something bad going on at home and it had her rattled - I dunno, but it does not hurt to be a little nice. If I wanted to be a prick I would be a rethug)

While I was ticked off I was gratified at the response I got back from them and will go back to the resteraunt.

I post this here because so often one seems to get form letter responses from companies. This guy took the time to write me and discuss.

Thanks again to Flying J for the response. My first encounter with them was when I picked up a waitress who was broken down on the highway and dropped her off there many years ago. I did not go in at the time and never stopped at one until years later while driving across country. I now look forward to them on the long drives I take (I usually drive 24-30 hour stretches when going to visit folks, so good food and a place to kick back means a lot to me on my travels)

------------------------------------

Hello XXXXXX, thank you for taking the time to write to us concerning our
Kirkersville, Ohio location. While I was disappointed to hear of your
visits I am very grateful that you let us know.

I have discussed your comments at length with Ray Fitzpatrick, our General
Manager there and I assure you we are taking them seriously. We have been
on a mission so to speak over the past year at this location to upgrade our
management team and thereby the operation so that our guests such as you
never have to deal with situations such as the one you describe. Obviously
we haven't quite made it yet or we wouldn't be communicating like this.

That said we are making huge strides. I have personally visited this plaza
several times in the past few weeks and I am seeing much progress being
made. We truly have the most talented management team in place now that we
have ever had at this location. I feel confident that issues such as the
long service time you mentioned will be corrected with this team.

Unfortunately none of this makes up for your poor experiences of late. I
would be happy to send you certificates for complimentary meals on your
next visit as a t least some incentive not to give up on us. I would need
an address to send them too.

Again xxxxxx, thank you for your past patronage of our plazas and for taking
the time to write. I do hope you will consider trying our restaurants
again.

Sincerely,

Steve Bishop
Restaurant District Manager
Flying J Inc.
[email protected]

[Fridays Child]

1. That's a great response! Customer satisfaction is evidently...

... alive and well at Flying J. I'll stop in for a soda, the next time I drive to Phoenix. :)

[mconvente]

2. Cool

My dad is a trucker and Flying Js are unfortunately on the way out. All the mega truckstops are being swallowed up by TA. They are all mostly really clean and with great service, but they swallow up business from Flying J. Flying Js were one of the original truckstops so it's fun to see them around every once in a while. I've been on trips with my dad across our great nation all across I-80 from NYC to San Fran and Flying Js are definitely good truckstops, they just don't have the revenue to keep with the mega corp TA truckstops. Anyways, I'm just writing my little anecdote - it always makes me feel happy when people talk about truckers and truckstops in a good way (as you do with your letter after critiquing) because I think many people take truckers for granted. Without them, how do you think you would get fresh produce, clothes, drinks, computers, EVERYTHING. It saddens me that people think truckers are 2nd class citizens, but I'm glad you appreciate them.

[The Straight Story]

4. Truckers

They are my friend on the road. My first trip across country I was alone, it was dark for a big portion of it (From St. Louis down to Okie City) and I was a little intimidated. I followed the truckers when I could. Dark roads? Their tail lights helped me get around from curves to construction.

One night I was driving home to Ohio from California. I had went through a car wash in Ridgecrest and got the works, including wax. When I hit New Mexico the rain was just insane. I saw lightning hit about a half mile from my car, throwing dirt in the air, right after that it started a down pour that follwed me through the state. My windows were hard to see through. I got behind a semi and followed him all the way to Albuquerque. Stopped at the J's and buffed my windows clean and hit the road again. Hit Texas panhandle and the fog was terrible. Followed more trucks' tail lights. Finally that night of hell ended.

And as to why I just did not stop and wait it out - I wanted to get home for personal reasons, and I could not sit still. Made it all the way to Tulsa before I finally stopped at a motel.

Truckers know the roads, we may all have horror stories about bad drivers, and I have some, but overall I have found late at night on the road they were my best friends. I will be doing the drive again in December (and no, I don't fly, and I love to stop cool little places like the owl cafe and big texan) and I will keep the taillights in sight.

[antigone382]

10. I've noticed truckers around here seem more courteous

to drivers with Kerry stickers than B*sh stickers (not that they're rude to either one). I don't know if I'm just projecting or what, but it seems like a lot of Bush's policies would hurt truckers, particularly since he's caused the price of gas to rise so much. Didn't he also sign some legislation about a year or so ago that really stuck it to truckers?

I've always had a lot of respect for those guys. Part of me thinks it would be a kind of cool job too, travelling around the country like that...but I don't think I'd be very well suited to the job, since I hate driving.

[brainshrub]

3. I don't usually go to Flying J's

But after this letter, I'll make an effort to stop there to see if things have changed in the last 5 years.

Nice letter.

[SmileyBoy]

5. There's one of them in my city, though I've never been to it...

But 15 years ago, it was in the middle of nowhere outside of the edge of town, now it's in the middle of all this sprawl.

[The Straight Story]

6. Albuquerque is like that now

I first went there when I was 30 (39 today). Seemed like it was out in the middle of BFE. Now it seems to be part of the city proper. I still go there, but man things have grown in that neck of the woods over the years.

[RoyGBiv]

7. As a person once in this business ...

I'll just say that Flying J's were the one competitor I respected. They actually seem to understand the concept of customer service during an era of less emphasis on service and more on sales. Intuitively, one would think the two go hand in hand, but many modern business models don't reflect it. CS is often merely code for a sales technique.

That said, I would guess from this letter that this particular location has had management and/or employee troubles for some time, and they are trying to sort it out. Your letter probably helped them quite a bit since it is often hard for companies to accurately understand what is going on in their locations. They try to "spy" on the operation, but employees and managers often get wise to this very quickly, meaning unsolicited customer response is necessary.

Good on ya and on them.

[LynneSin]

8. I did the same thing with the Bad Kitty Litter I got from Arm & Hammer

I use their regular scoopable litter but once I tried their multi-cat formula. That stuff had the worst smell to it that lingered through my whole apartment and stained my cat's paws BLUE (Abbott has white paws).

I wrote a letter and complained but I had mentioned that I did like their regular litter. Two weeks letter I got an apology and a $12 coupon towards Kitty Litter (which is the big box from PetSmart).

Pays to complain!

[camero]

9. Fundie Truck Stop

Owned by the Mormon Church. :puke:

[The Straight Story]

11. Does not really matter much to me

I like being treated well and having a good product, outside of that I leave the other things aside. My brother is a mormon, and a democrat. My grandfather was a republican mayor and a police chief. My uncle was a dem mayor. My father-in-law heads up a union (2nd in charge in a CA union), mother-in-law is an elected dem for local school district in CA.

I leave politics at the political/elected level. When it comes to shopping, fun, etc I leave it at the door - I don't want to be too fundie and base my life around who owns what where. Religion stays in my life and church, politics at the elected level, and business at the business level.

But that is just me, I do understand it - but it seems every week there is a christian/religious group/political group/et al telling me not to do business with x/y/z. I like the diversity I see on the road, from the indian areas in Arizona/NM to the fundie areas in Oklahoma. It is what makes this country an interesting and wonderful place.

But that is just me. I respect your ideals and committment to only do business with those that share your ideals and views. You are different than me, and that is a good thing in my eyes :)