Missing Items, Poor App Design, and Inadequate Resolution
I placed a Sonic order through the app for the first time in over 15 years it's my cheat day, why not.
My order included:
Double Sonic Smasher
Sausage Breakfast Toaster Combo
Two Corn Dogs (with mustard packets)
Medium half & half
The order total was
$25.46 with a $3.00 app discount.
Delivery Fee $2.75
Service Fee $2.99
Tax $1.53
Tip $5.00
TOTAL-$34.73. 1 hour and 30 minutes ETA.
The food arrived warm, which wasn’t a problem; I reheated it. Everything was in the bag except the corn dogs though the mustard packets made it just fine.
This is where the frustration began. I opened the app to report the missing items and had to search all over just to find the right link. That link then kicked me out of the app and forced me to log in again through a browser. I had to repeat the same steps I had already taken in the app. Eventually, I found a place to report the issue/missing items, and was connected to an AI bot. The bot asked for my phone number, then texted me to describe the issue again. After that, I was transferred to a human representative named Karli.
Karli reviewed the transcript and asked for my transaction receipt. I sent an image of that via text. Then she asked for the full address of the Sonic location, something I had to Google myself. After reviewing everything, she apologized and informed me that Sonic “cannot process a partial refund,” but would “make it up to me” by adding a free small snack or side to my Sonic app rewards.
I kindly declined the offer, uninstalled the app and wrote the whole ordeal off as a lesson learned. Let me be clear:
What was offered was not free. I paid for the items your employees failed to include, and I spent additional time navigating an unnecessarily complicated reporting process. That is not compensation that is the bare minimum attempt at damage control.
The amount of switching, logging in, and repeating information just to report two missing items is unacceptable. A well-designed app would have this process integrated seamlessly, which is what you seem to have without the seamless & integration part, heavy on "integration". Instead, the burden was placed entirely on me.
Only in America can a customer be this inconvenienced because a company doesn’t understand the concept of seamless service. Only here can a business make a mistake and then offer the smallest possible “compensation” as if they’re doing the customer a favor. Corporations have lost touch, too much wordplay, too much fluff and not enough action or quality.
The ironic part? Once I finally sat down to eat, the burger was really good which made the whole ordeal even more frustrating.
Do better. I am won't ever order from SONIC ever again.
I should have order Checkers, the email blast I received while viewing the Sonic app was a sign and I ignored it, foolish me.