Utah resident Anna Kaye MacLean posted this encounter she had at a Chili's on Sunday:
"I want to share the experience that my husband, 7 year old autistic sister and I had today at the Chili's location in Midvale, UT. Arianna, my little sister, didn't waste any time when our waitress, Lauren, greeted us at our table. Arianna promptly ordered her cheeseburger with pickles, french fries, and chocolate milk before Lauren could even take our drink order. Lauren smiled and told Arianna, "Okay! I'll be right back with your chocolate milk!".
When we got our food I was wondering why Arianna wouldn't touch her cheeseburger...I asked her, "Arianna are you going to eat your cheeseburger?" She calmly said, "No, I don't want it." Cheeseburgers, or 'Krabby Patties' as we sometimes call them, are her FAVORITE! So this behavior was VERY strange. So I asked her, "Why don't you want it?". She replied, "It's broken. I need another one thats fixed." Then it dawned on me why she wasn't eating it. It's because it was cut in half. Being a child with autism, she has to have certain things in a particular order at all times. One slight change in her routine can change the course of the day instantly.
When Lauren came back to check on us, I asked if we could order another cheeseburger and just add it to our check. She had a concerned look on her face so I explained that Arianna has autism, and that in her mind, because the cheeseburger was cut in half, she thinks its broken and can't eat it...Lauren was so sweet and just smiled and went along with Arianna, telling her "I brought you a broken cheeseburger?! You know what, I'll have them cook you a new one!"...
A couple of minutes later, Lauren arrived back at our table with cheeseburger #2. Arianna said, "OH FANK YOU! You fixded my cheeseburger!" When Lauren walked away, Arianna just sat there for a second and looked at her new burger. She looked like so deep in thought....just staring at it....then she let out a big "OH I missed you!!" and started kissing the burger over and over again..."
The update, as of this writing, has 740,000+ Likes and 172,000+ Shares.
Just a reminder to all companies that, in the digital age, some good customer service could end up being much more valuable than your precious marketing plans.