Our Power To Influence

[jenvan]

Hey there! Had to share this victory with you all, and hope it encourages you to keep up the letters, feedback too. I recently sent out several letters to restaurants on my experiences with their gluten-free menus. One I sent was Ted's Montana Grill--because I had two frustrating experiences. Both times I went to their restaurant, the staff was unaware of the gluten-free menu info on their website and a huge ordeal insued both times... Long story... I basically wrote, complemented them on their food (their buffalo burgers are AMAZING !), and said that if the gluten-free info is on the website, they need to train their employees to know about it, and also stated some celiac disease stats, and that by choosing to have a menu celiacs can eat, they create a loyal customer base.

Well, today I received a fedex package from them. In it-- a $50 gift certificate, and a letter from the head of marketing, stating that he discussed my experience and concerns with the owner of the restaurant and that now they have laminated copies of the gluten-free menu in the store for people upon request and that they are working to train their employees even better.

Power of the people! Needless to say, because of their great response , I will definitely return. Remember your power to influence !

(And remember--their buffalo burgers are awesome !)

[mytummyhurts]

Yay Jen! That's so cool! It makes me feel guilty because I was planning on writing a restaurant I went to about how good they did even though they had never even heard of celiac disease and how impressed I was with how they helped me. But I never got around to it. I could still write it now though, it's been a couple months.

That's really exciting that you received such a response! Good job!

[Jnkmnky]

Awesome job. Let's have more of these posts!!

[KaitiUSA]

That's great! One person can sometimes be louder then a crowd. This is definitely a good thing for us and hopefully the more we get the word out to these restaurants, the easier it will get for us.

[angel-jd1]

Nice job creating awareness!! Enjoy your $50 cert!!!

-Jessica

[VegasCeliacBuckeye]

Great Job!

I e-mailed them to ask about why they put their fries on the gluten free list.

I had heard they did not use dedicated fryers....

[Carriefaith]

Wow! Good work Jen! That's some great customer service

[Guest nini]

I know it's not exactly the same thing, but just today I wrote a letter to the Corporate office of the company that owns my daughter's daycare center. I raved about the director and the assistant director and their entire staff and how they have bent over backwards to accommodate my daughter's special dietary needs. I didn't truly realize just how lucky I have been to have their support until I started preparing to send my child to PUBLIC SCHOOL for the very first time in August! They have worked with me in providing me copies of the menu for each week so that I could provide a gluten free equivalent for my daughter, AND they made a space in the pantry and in the freezer JUST for her food so that I don't have to pack her lunch everyday. I just replenish the supply when they start to get low. AND they take the time to actually prepare her food carefully to avoid any cross contamination issues! They didn't have to do this, but they did.

[Guest imsohungry]

Hey Jen-

That is awesome! You must have written a very articulate letter...wow...good job! -Julie

[cdford]

I make it a point to contact restaurant companies when I have a positive experience as well. I knew I was getting somewhere when one of the VP's I spoke with let me know that a group of restaurants in our area were meeting together to discuss ways to meet or special needs. Apparently they were getting a lot of calls. Not too long after that, I went to one of those hot spots and was quite surprised when my waiter recognized my card and began talking about gluten free meals before I could explain.