Imo's, Good Pizza and Good Business

About a month ago I complained about getting "Ripped Off by J.C. Penney" after an incident at a local Penney's store. Since then I've received several coupons in the mail --- one if I spend $10 they will take $10 off my bill. Although that $10 coupon was very tempting, I haven't budged. Instead I've been shopping at Kohl's.

Today I want to share a story of a situation where Imo's, a local chain restaurant, took an opposite approach when one of its employees made a mistake.

A couple weeks ago, after one of my granddaughter's soccer games, my family stopped to grab lunch at a local pizzeria. Imo's pizza is a local brand known for its thin crust as a "square beyond compare."  For lunch, the grandkiddos (and granddaughter's boyfriend) ordered pizzas, 20 hot wings, and sodas. I opted for pasta and salad.  The tab came to $44 plus change.

I put the order on my credit card and we all headed for a table. While I ate my salad, the cashier came out and told me he had charged me for 30 wings rather than 20 and asked me to sign a new credit slip, which came to about $38. As I signed the second charge slip, he insured me the first charge would be voided.

A couple days later when my husband was checking my credit card charges on line he noticed both charges appeared on my card. My pizza/chicken wing/pasta/salad lunch bill was now over $80. Yikes!

"Get me that receipt," he said, "and I'll take care of it."

After I dug the receipt out of my cavernous purse, hubby called the restaurant and explained the situation. The manager apologized and promised to take care of it right away.

Two days later hubby checked again and both charges were still there. He called the restaurant again. By that time it was too late for the restaurant to adjust the charge and he suggested hubby call the main office, which he did. Because it was too late for even the main office to remove the charge, the supervisor there gave the option of getting a credit at the restaurant that made the mistake or receiving a check for the $44 plus change. Hubby opted for the check.

A few days later a check arrived in the mail, along with a written apology and a gift card for $20.

So, while the Imo's restaurant made a mistake, they corrected it right away. They not only refunded our overcharge, but also sent a gift card and an apology.

Now, that's the way to do business and keep customers coming back--and their pizza really is a "square beyond compare."