by Teresa Buyikian
Source: www.mediapost.com, July 2024
Every restaurant makes a mistake now and then. A wrong order, bad service — anyone and any place can have an off day.
But those mistakes don’t generally go public, and if they do, they usually don’t result in the chain turning the incident into a deal for all customers.
Recently, a customer who uses the TikTok handle @FrumpTruck placed an online California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) delivery order for the chain’s famous Mac & Cheese. The poster described her week from hell, suffering an injury and breaking up with her boyfriend, only to receive her order from California Pizza Kitchen missing a key component: the Mac. Instead, she received a to-go box of melted cheese and a piece of bread.
The customer posted a video of the experience to TikTok, and currently it has amassed over 4.2 million views.
But CPK took the criticism in stride, with a humorous video of their own featuring their executive chef showing the proper way to make the chain’s Mac & Cheese — including the macaroni.
The CPK response video currently has 10.4 million views.
The chain also reached out to the customer directly and sent her another delivery with a certificate for free Mac & Cheese and free pizza for one year. The announcement was cleverly delivered inside an oversized box of macaroni.
But the real winners in the situation are CPK customers across the U.S., who will subsequently receive half off Mac & Cheese from any CPK restaurant for takeout or delivery orders through the end of July by using promo code ‘cheeseANDmac’ at checkout.
Readers can watch the entire saga unfold here.
