Consumer Disappointments

I was very saddened to read a story today about a gentleman in Surrey, BC who had a bad experience with Skip The Dishes.  It was on the Global website under National News.  The man ordered a meal from a restaurant using Skip.  His order included a piece of cheesecake.  When he arrived, it looked like someone had taken a bite out of the cheesecake.  He took a picture and sent it to the restaurant and Skip.  The restaurant responded that it looked like it had been damaged in deliver but doubt the driver took a bite out of it.  They gave the man a $20 gift certificate and they dropped a piece of cheese cake in a package to demonstrate that it looked remarkably similar.  Skip then gave the man a $20 credit.  The media got involved as the man thought he was harmed by this. 

This is not a news story.  To review, a news story is where something actually happened. 

This is a petty consumer disappointment to which the man was over compensated.  The only aspect of this story that is potentially news for me is that a piece of cheesecake was wasted in order to demonstrate that no one likely took a bite out of it.  Of course, the Skip driver did not take a bite out of it.  They don't eat and drive and if the guy wanted a cheesecake, he would have eaten the whole thing and claimed he never got it. 

In this case, the man got more than appropriate compensation.  Also, he isn't a hard core cheese cake fan.  If he was, he would have eaten the whole thing even if a bit had been taken out. 

What bothers me most about this story is the expectations we have.  The entitlement that we have when ordering take out food.  And the running to the media when something doesn't live up to our expectations.  And, it wasn't surprising to me that the person who placed the order was a middle aged white man.  White privilege.  It was a piece of cheesecake.  You weren't robbed.  Stop making out like this was the worse thing that could happen.  People who order food to their home are taking some risks.  One of the risks is that the order isn't right.  Other possible risks are that the food arrives cold.  Or that the food moves around while the driver is driving.  This happens to everyone.  This man wasn't singled out. 

This man will go on and has the potential to live a full life and survive this fake trauma.  The problem is that our expectations are out of whack.  When he approached the media, the media should have responded with "grow up'". 

Ordering food is not mandatory.  You don't have to do it.  You can choose to make your own food at home.  It is cheaper and when you drop it on the floor, you can use the five second rule at your own discretion.  And, no one is perfect.  So, if you accidentally burn your food, you have no one to complain to. 

We need to focus on abundance.  There are thousands of people who come to Canada for a better life.  The talk of separation is beyond them.  They think Canada is so great.  I talked to many first time voters in the Canadian election.  They were so proud.  For some, they came to Canada because it was a democracy.  They couldn't imagine anyone not exercising their right to vote. 

We have so many rights that we take this for granted.  However, having our food arrive exactly as expected is not a right.  It is a benefit of living in a great country and having enough money to order food. 

Someone always has to ruin it.  Back in the day, they used to serve a complimentary meal on airplanes.  I used to love early morning flights because the breakfasts were awesome.  People used to complain about "airplane food".  I never did.  I was amazed that I could get a hot meal at whatever elevation I was flying at.  People would always be complaining.  Guess what?  We no longer have meal service. 

This summer, the Air Passenger Bill of Rights came out.  I was disappointed.  Another bureaucracy created that will only drive up ticket prices. 

All because people don't know how to treat people and our expectations are out of whack.  Why do we think we are so important? 

I don't order much delivery food.  When I do, I am grateful that I didn't have to cook and don't have dishes to wash.  I deliberately don't order delivery because I am trying to have a greener footprint. 

That is not to say that I haven't had some petty complaints.  One time I ordered food on Grey Cup Sunday.  It is a long story, of course, but I had had an awful week and my frustrations continued on the weekend.  By Sunday, I was very depleted.  My partner and I had major plans which fell through at the last minute.  I was disappointed.  Then, at the last minute, my partner got an offer to go out and left me alone.  Ok, I was invited, too, but I preferred to stay home and feel sorry for myself.  I ordered comfort food.  I was told they were really busy and it may be up to two hours for delivery.  At exactly the two hour mark, I started calling.  My order ended up sliding off the warming tray and fell behind.  I never got my food.  The delivery driver never received my order.  This was discovered very late in the evening.  They offered to make it again for me, but, I declined.  While I was on the phone declining, I started crying.  I indicated this was my issue because I was having a pity party and this fit in nicely.  In reality, I saved money and calories.  Two days later, a gift certificate came in the mail.  I was thrilled.  It was like winning a small lottery.  Focus on abundance. 

Next time you have a petty consumer complaint, lead with kindness.  People who sell you things want you to be happy with what you have bought.  This is how they make their living.  If you treat them with compassionate kindness, you can likely get your issued resolved.  Also, think of the billions of people around the world who would gladly change places with you and be happy for food, let alone delivery food. 

Get over yourself.  Mistakes do happen and no one is taking it out on you.  You likely have made a mistake or two yourself.  Y'll need to calm down.  This includes the media.