Customer: My KFC ran out of rain checks
It sounds like now KFC might have to give out rain checks for its rain checks to get a free grilled chicken meal. As you recall KFC and Oprah publicized a massive giveaway of the new sandwich. Millions tried to print out the Web coupon, running into immediate problems. The coupon software wouldn't work. The substitute PDF coupon wasn't honored by the KFC. The KFC ran out of grilled chicken sandwiches etc. Within hours the company said it would no longer take the Web coupons but would exchange them for rain checks that could be mailed in for NEW coupons that would be honored. Now a commenter says:
I went to a KFC and they said they are giving rainchecks but they don't have any rainchecks left! How lame is that?! That's it - that was my final visit to KFC!
Comments
If people aren't going to patronize KFC because they didn't get a promised freebie I don't think the company needs to worry much about losing their business.
Posted by: brstevens | May 20, 2009 1:39 PM
I'm so burned by this coupon business. The rain check was the last straw. I have no plans to ever go there again. I've been eating at el pollo loco lately anyway. They're always good, they're fast, and they're not only quick to correct mistakes they've made but they usually go above and beyond. I never new until this recent fiasco that they were in competition with KFC.
Posted by: bfrazier | May 20, 2009 11:23 PM
Responding to: "If people aren't going to patronize KFC because they didn't get a promised freebie I don't think the company needs to worry much about losing their business."
First of all, KFC was trying to gain business from health conscious consumers who don't eat fried (like me) by promoting the grilled options with a coupon. I printed the coupon and was p[lanning to go give it a try...and could have become a regular customer if it were tasty. With them refusing to honor the coupon, they have about zero chances of inducing trial from me in the future...
...which brings me to my second point: Trust. If I can't trust the chain to act honorably in a promotion, why would I trust them to prepare things I eat?
Third and final point... I had no relationship with KFC as a customer and now have negative feelings toward their brand. When you offer a freebie to induce trial from folks like me, brand loyak KFC customers also get the promotion. Were I already a KFC customer, I would have been even MORE upset by the company's actions in refusing to honor the promotion.
So, the people who are (and should) be upset about the company not honoring it'spromised freebie fit into 2 groups...consumers who the chain wanted to induce trial with...and it's core of brand loyal customers. So, that's pretty much their entire current and potential future customer base that have been alienated... I hope they're worried about losing them.
Posted by: David Flash | May 21, 2009 1:19 AM
My question is why you would want to stand in line for an hour for a 5 dollar meal. You are better off with your time and money going to the local grocery store and making the food yourself.
Posted by: btbdanny | May 21, 2009 12:26 PM
David Flash: So you weren't a customer of KFC, but were willing to give it a go because they offered you something for free, which may or may not have compelled you become a customer. It sounds to me like you wouldn't have shelled out the $3.99 for their grilled chicken meal deal if the coupon was never offered to make the determination of whether or not it deserved your business, so for some reason KFC should lament the fact that it lost you as a potential customer over the coupon fiasco when it was only a 50/50 proposition that you'd stick around after the freebie anyway, at best? Sorry, but I don't see the logic.
Posted by: brstevens | May 23, 2009 11:41 AM