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Here's a good story for you... I witnessed this first hand at a McDonald's location in Las Vegas this past weekend. Here's the story:

While standing in line behind a man buying breakfast for a bunch of kids, I watched in absolute astonishment how McDonald's lost a customer over 27 cents. The man had just purchased $32 and change worth of pancakes for the hungry kids... in receiving his order, the man politely asked the counter person if he could have two extra syrups with his order. The clerk handed him the extra syrup and said that will be "27 cents".  Everyone in line behind him (including myself) could not believe their eyes as the disgusted man handed over the change as he grappled with his bagged pancakes. Interestingly enough, a nearby customer said to the clerk "you would think for an order that size you could part with a couple of free syrups. The clerk, not at all phased by the fuss, said "we're supposed to charge for it".

I don't think anybody in line was "lovin it".

<strong>Here's the moral of the story:</strong>

<strong>Never let money stand in the way of serving a customer! For 27¢, McDonald's destroyed a valuable relationship with a customer. Not only the customer who paid the money, but the customers waiting in line to receive the same treatment!  When a brand is not loyal to its customers (even one) it is just a matter of time before customer's are not loyal to the brand. There is no amount of money worth creating an unfavorable experience for a customer. </strong><strong>And no amount of money spent on advertising can fix a brand who treats customers like they don't matter.</strong>

This whole event<strong> </strong>served to remind me that a promise is a promise. You may think this is no big deal, and this incident could not, in any real way, impact the future of McDonalds. It is such a little thing... an isolated incident. In this economy, and in our technology driven age, one bad experience is too many!

With all the complex and sophisticated operating systems that makes McDonald's, well... McDonald's, it is interesting to ponder how all of that could come crashing down over 27¢ of add-on sales.

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