Drop Your Businss Card in the Bowl....[Moved from Chains]

[Moonpie]

Have you ever dropped your business card in the bowl at a restaurant in hopes that they will draw your name for the complimentary office lunch?

I do this periodically and have gotten a platter from Chick-Fil-A and also a nice spread from Baja Fresh for my office.

I recently dropped my card in the bowl at Noodles & Company and was surprises when I received an email advising that I had won some dishes for my office. I just needed to let them know how many people they could expect.

I wrote back with thanks, advising that we were small, with only 7 employees, but I due t the wording of his email, I could not tell exactly how this would be handled. Do they just select some items or do we put together a list of our desired entrees and come pic it up, or what?

Their response was that I could come by and pick up a couple of free dishes that they pick out, but they would actually like to invite the entire office to come to the restaurant.

Now I appreciate the fact that they are trying to promote their operation, which is the whole point of the food giveaway, but do they really think that we can shut down the whole office just to come to Noodles & Company to eat?

Am going to reply to their email and stress my appreciation of their generosity, but a "couple" of dishes may not be enough for everyone to share and unfortunately, we are not able to shut down for a lunch away from premises.

Just thought this was a little different expectation on their part, but perhaps I am looking a gift horse in the mouth.

[ccbweb]

Is this really that difficult? You've been offered free food that you're under no obligation to accept. Either politely decline, go to lunch with however many folks from the office can go or take what they offer as take-out and move on.

I am honestly baffled about why anyone would run a restaurant any more. They've offered lunch for nothing and somehow it's a problem.

[Samalicious]

Yes. You are looking a gift horse in the mouth.

[jfood]

No good deed goes unpunished.

[mcel215]

Yup, a gift horse in the mouth...I totally agree.

[trouttr]

It really does seem like it is impossible to please people. Someone voluntarily submitted a business card in the hope of getting free food, they offered to provide for free food, and it somehow became an irritation. People can be very difficult to please.

[taos]

A follow-up email can probably clear up any questions. if not, try the phone. if you still find the terms of the gift too difficult to handle, you can always decline. I'm sure they'd be happy to offer the gift to the next card in the bowl.

[coney with everything]

I'd make sure that it's the restaurant's promotion, and not some investment company deal. It's very common around here that the free lunch you "won" gets you a sales pitch from Ameriprise or some other company.

[pollymerase]

Yeah, this happened to us recently. My coworker put her card in the bowl and our lab won a free lunch with an investment pitch. It was only a 10 minute thing and worth the free food to broke grad students.

[jhopp217]

Let me add to this. Ameriprise was great. They bought eight of us lunch and did their pitch. They made sure their pitch was over before our food arrived and thanked us and were on their way. Then.....

I had made the mistake of saying i was interested in what they were pitching. After speaking with them directly, I recanted my interested and told them thaks but no thanks. Phone calls at work, phone calls at home, phone calls in the morning, phone calls at night. Finally. I received a phone call at 8:10 in the morning on a Sunday, and basically told the gentleman, if he called again I would show up at his next free lunch and ruin his life. Ameriprise left me alone after that and I received an e-mail aology for their antics.

[alkapal]

"if he called again I would show up at his next free lunch and ruin his life"
~~~~~
if only i could tell that to other telemarketers. there is nothing like personal accountability to change behavior! i love your response, jhopp!

[workinglunches2]

free lunch is free lunch...
As for conditions. If you showed up with 5 out of 30 people from your office, I think Noodles would still see that as a win, and the 5 you bring would eat something for lunch. I doubt the noodles-nazis would come out and read the riot act over you leaving the 25 others (that they don't know about any way) at the office.

Also, pretty much the whole office does shut down during lunch doesn't it, or does your manager have a well planned organizational chart that assigns lunch periods to you and your coworkers to prevent the possibility that the office is empty when people are feeding their gobs?

[julesrules]

I agree with your point that Noodles has no way of knowing whether the whole office is there. But I have been working over 10 years in offices (including Canadian government and unionized offices) and we never shut down at lunch. Sometimes there is a strict schedule - they have software for that these days. More often we are just responsible working adults who look around before leaving to make sure someone is still there, or even have a short conversation to coordinate.

[jhopp217]

I agree with most responders that you have made this an issue when it is not. Did you put your business card in the bowl at Nodles & Company or did you put someone else's. If you put yours in, then you shoudl enjoy your lunch. If they are willing to give you a little more, than either bring a few coworkers or bring the rest home. Why must you receive lunch for your entire company for something you won?

[harold91]

Yeah. I think you're looking a "gift horse in the mouth." But if there's some confusion then email or call them back. They're just trying to connect with you and show you that you matter to them as a customer.