I am so embarrased....What should I do now?

[Kungjo]

I am so embarrassed and p***ed at the same time. Sigh!

I own a food franchise. When my dear dear friend gave birth (900 miles away), I sent her a care package to celebrate the birth of her DS. Included in that care package were gift certificates to the food franchise. We have 1200 stores nationwide so she could redeem them in her city. I figured that she was tired from giving birth and taking care of a newborn so I wanted to make sure that they would have something to eat and not have to worry about cooking.

Well, her husband went to redeem them and the local store stated that they were only accepting gift certifcates bought in their area. WTF?!?!? They are a franchise. I accept certifcates from stores in other states, they need to do the same. Well, my friend sent the gift certificates back along with a note as to what happened. She wanted to make sure that I got my money back.

I was so mad that I immediately sent an e-mail to our district manager (same person for both areas) to tell him what happened and he wrote back that the store was totally wrong and that they should have accepted it. He copied the manager of the store that refused to accept them. The manager of the local store wrote back, agreed, and apologized saying it won't happen again. I was right, but it does me little good since I have the certificates now.

I am still p***ed because she can't enjoy her present and feel bad that it's ruined. Plus I'm embarrassed that our franchise doesn't have their act together and that she had to go through that. I have already apologized to her for what happened. Should I send her back the gift certificates so she can use them, get her something else, or do nothing? What should I do? Any suggestions? I just feel so bad, embarrassed, and awkward about what happened. She's a sweetheart so it's not like she blames me, but I still feel soooooo bad.

Thanks for making it this far.

[Radosti]

That's a toughie and I'm not the greatest at this type of situation. I guess I'd be tempted to just send her a thing of Omaha Steaks, but you OWN a franchise and it's obviously your pride and joy and you want her to enjoy the food. I wonder if you can ask the manager of that franchise (since they screwed up so royally) if YOU can redeem the gift certificates and he DELIVERS the food to her house? That would be the only viable solution to this situation for me.

[geochick]

Give her a call, and explain how embarrassed you are. Tell her you'll send the gift certificates back, and that the problem has been fixed. I'd also send her some flowers and a card explaining how sorry you are for the trouble it has caused her. Tell her you sent the gcs to make her life easier. She's a friend. She won't hold any of this against you. Have a good laugh about it with her. Give her a call. I really doubt that she can't separate you from your franchise.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Aw, you didn't do anything wrong. I find it's always hit or miss with franchises.

I would get her something different though.

Beth

[happymomma]

You didnt do anything wrong. It was the manager's fault. I would almost send her something else, like the Omaha steaks or gift card to another store.

[ha98ed14]

I would send her something else, totally unrelated, like a gift card to Target. While I think your gift was lovely and it sucks that the other store did this, I would not send the gc for your store back because then she might feel like you are forcing her to deal with this all over again. So just send the same amount of money on a Target gc with a note of apology and good wishes and call it done. I am sure she understands it was not your fault, but why make her deal with this other store and the anxiety that it might not take them again. I would be worried about that if I were her.

[Corie]

Aw, you didn't do anything wrong. I find it's always hit or miss with franchises.

I would get her something different though.

Beth



Yes, I agree with Beth. I would ditch the gift certificates and get her something
else.

[maylips]

If you think you're embarrassed, think how she feels! I can see *her* post on this board -- "My friend sent me some certificates that the local franchise won't accept; do I send them back to her, does that make me look like I'm asking for another gift, do I even mention it to her...what should I do?"

That's what I imagine she was thinking prior to you finding out the store did that to her. So send her diapers delivered to her door via diapers.com. That gets you away from food but still offers something convenient that she'll use. Then when you know they arrived, call her and have a good laugh over the whole thing (because she probably does feel bad putting you through all of this) and make a funny about how you made a real "stink" about the local owner so you thought diapers would be appropriate! :)

[TwinFoxes]

If I were her, I wouldn't try again if you sent the GC back. I wouldn't be mad or anything, but I wouldn't want to chance it again, or deal with the franchise that obviously lacks customer service skills. It's too bad that the other manager ruined a nice gift. I think you were smart to cc the district manager.

I think a nice Target/BRU gift card would be appreciated.

[DietCokeLover]

If you think you're embarrassed, think how she feels! I can see *her* post on this board -- "My friend sent me some certificates that the local franchise won't accept; do I send them back to her, does that make me look like I'm asking for another gift, do I even mention it to her...what should I do?"

That's what I imagine she was thinking prior to you finding out the store did that to her. So send her diapers delivered to her door via diapers.com. That gets you away from food but still offers something convenient that she'll use. Then when you know they arrived, call her and have a good laugh over the whole thing (because she probably does feel bad putting you through all of this) and make a funny about how you made a real "stink" about the local owner so you thought diapers would be appropriate! :)

I think this is a great idea. But, I think I'd send the gcs back to her as well and let her decide if she'd like to use them.

She's a friend, and is in no way going to hold this against you. I'm sure she knows your heart was in the right place.

[jgenie]

So sorry this happened - I'm sure she would have loved it if it had worked. I would send a different gift.

[smiles33]

I like several PP's ideas:

1) See if the manager of that franchise would be willing to deliver. Heck, he acknowledges he screwed up and this way he *might* just be getting a new long-term customer.

2) Send diapers or another equivalent gift as she might be too embarrassed/feel awkward trying to use the GC again. I know I would've been embarrassed if I had ordered food/meals and then found out I couldn't use the GC.

[WatchingThemGrow]

I like several PP's ideas:

1) See if the manager of that franchise would be willing to deliver. Heck, he acknowledges he screwed up and this way he *might* just be getting a new long-term customer.


How about the owner? Are they involved at all? If my friends who own food places sent me meals from their shops, I'd be a little miffed by the situation, but still very wiling to use them if things were cleared up. Cooked food is cooked food when you have a newborn.