I walk up to the drivethrough window and ask the guy what time they open the doors (it is posted visible to where I am standing) and he tells me 6:00. I ask him what time it is (it is really 6:20 now) and he says, "oh, it just turned 6:00." Rather than point out to this guy (who is going to work with the crew who will make my food) that he is outright lying to me, I smile and say cool, and he opens the door and lets me in.
I come in and order my food. Dude shorts me $10 on my change. I point it out and he gives me the rest of the money. I get home and all three items I ordered are horrible tasting. The hash browns are stale, oily, and overcooked. The burritos are put together poorly, with ingredients falling out and in improper portions. Very little of the food is edible, but I have to go to work so I can't go back and ask them to fix it.
When I get home that afternoon, I call the Del Taco consumer hotline, and the lady who answers is not equipped to take my complaint! She can only take a message to have someone call me back in the next two hours. It is two DAYS before some guy named Jason from their HQ calls me and leaves a message. I call back the same day and leave a message for the guy at his extension, and tell him how and when he can reach me.
I get no reply.
A week later I call and leave him another message, asking him to call so I can talk to him about my experience in one of his stores. Again no response.
Another week later, I leave him another message. Still no response.
Next I leave him another message, and by now I’m pretty pissed off. I say, “Hey Jason, this is Sean. I’ve left you several messages to call me and discuss my experience in one of your stores. Apparently you’re too busy to listen to the complaints of one of your paying customers. Do me a big favor, please, and forward this message to someone who works there who is not too busy to talk to a customer. If I do not hear a response from someone in your company, I will assume that your company no longer wants my business. Thanks.”
August 18, 2006:Jason from Del Taco leaves a voicemail message on my answering machine.
Despite the fact that every single message I have left Jason in the past has stated that I get home at 4:00pm Pacific Time, this message is at 10:10am. Is he intentionally calling at a time that he knows I will not be in? I've got to wonder.
The phone number he is calling me from is a California phone number, so he is going to be familiar with what 4:00pm Pacific Time means - I dont' know why he's calling at 10:10am. His message says that he's sorry that he couldn't get in touch with me.
Despite the fact that my last voice mail message to him was pretty rude, his voice was very pleasant sounding. He said that he was sick for a couple of days after leaving my initial message, and that after he wsa back in the office, he couldn't reach me because I was out of town. I have not gone out of town. I have been home every day, and he has only left me the one message before this one. I don't know where he got this thing that I am out of town - I have left him a total of four messages. So I call him back immediately (it's right around 4:00pm Pacific Time) and reach his voice mail again (what a surprise), and leave him another message telling him how he can reach me and after what time.
By 8/26/06, it had been 5 full business days since I left him the last message, and still no reply - not a call during the hours I gave him, nor a voicemail. No apparent contact attempts at all. As I said in one of my voicemails to him, if I do not receive any contacts from Del Taco, I must assume that they do not wish my business. The one representative who I am given to contact, who is in charge (I think!) of Customer Satisfaction, is somehow not capable of contacting me to listen to my experience.
Just so you know, their page on contacting them (located here: http://www.deltaco.com/dtcontact/) makes them sound so amazingly available to talk to you about your experience. I've been trying for almost two months to relate my experience to them, and have been unable to do so. I think they need to update their contact us page to more reasonably set customer expectations about this experience.I think I'm going to contact the BBB about how misleading this is.
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Have a suggestion, a question or just want to comment on your visit to one of our almost 470 Del Taco's? Call us at 800.852.7204. Our ULTRA friendly Del Taco phone team is just sitting here, waiting for your call. (Between you and me, they really could use someone to talk to…) We’re here on the phones from 8am - 5pm PST Monday - Friday. If you catch us after hours, then be sure to leave a message so we can call you back on the next weekday. Be sure to tell us: * The store number you visited (located on top of your receipt) * Your name * Telephone number with area code * Your message. Thanks for caring enough to contact us. We really appreciate you! World Headquarters 25521 Commercentre Drive Lake Forest, CA 92630 tel: 800 852-7204 fax: (949) 462- 7444
Upon further investigation, I find that Del Taco's rating with the BBB is this:
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D We have enough concerns about this company (for example, their offer, customer complaints, advertising, etc.) that we recommend caution in doing business with it.
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Interestingly, I find only two complaints against the company (in the last 36 months):
1 Agreeing to perform according to their contract
1 Unanswered
Considering that they have not answered 50% of their complaints, I only get even odds that they will answer my complaint. (That may be why they have a D rating?)
Also interestingly, now that I have filed my complaint with the BBB against Del Taco, I have increased their number of complaints by 50%.
Jason did eventually get back in contact with me on 8/30/2006 at 8:50pm. He asked me for the story, and I gave it to him. He said that recently they fired someone from the store location for misconduct, but since it's been so long since my personal experience (almost three months by this point) that it would be difficult for him to figure out who was at fault.
I agreed.
I offered to let him go, but he stated that he wanted to make it up to me. He said he could offer me VIP passes for two other stores, neither of which were a convenient distance from here (20+ miles each). He also said that those VIP passes would also work at this same store if I wanted to try this same store again. I said OK, I will try it (because I can't envision him having the power to offer any other kind of recompense) and he said he would send me 3 or 4 free menu item passes.
I will update this thread if/when I receive them, and with any further experience I have with that restaurant.
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9/5/2006
I have received four VIP passes. I will try them at the local Del Taco soon and relate my experiences.
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