MIAMI SUBS, Chapel, Hill, NC (on Franklin St.) - horrific treatment

December 12, 2001:

From: Mia Burwell [Email User]

RE: HORRIFIC TREATMENT - MIAMI SUBS, Chapel, Hill, NC (on Franklin St.) This is the text of the email that I sent to Miami Subs Customer Service regarding an experience that I had on 12/10. Dear Sirs, My name is Wiletra Burwell. I am writing to inform you of the terrible experience that I had with your

Chapel Hill, NC establishment (located on Franklin St.). On 12/10/2001, My husband phoned the restaurant

to place a delivery order. He gave the young lady who answered the phone our order. She then asked him for

the street address which he promptly gave as 511 Cotton St. After a few moments, she said that they do

not deliver to that address. He asked her if she was sure because we were just about 3 blocks from the

restaurant and we have had delivery from there probably 15-20 times in the past year that we've lived

there. She insisted that they don't deliver to that address.

He asked if this was a new policy because, as I said, we have had delivery from that Miami Subs numerous times. She simply said, "We just don't deliver there." He asked her why and again she responded, "We just don't deliver there." My husband is not one for a lot of confrontation, so he just said, "Okay." and hung up. I was completely confused by what had just transpired so I called back. The same young lady answered the phone. I told her that I lived at 511 Cotton St. and was a little bit confused as to what the problem was. I again reminded her that they have delivered to my home at least a couple times a month, every month for the past year.

She again said, "Well we just don't deliver there." I asked her why and her response was still the same. I said, "I understand that that is your policy, but there has to be a reason why you don't deliver here." Again, her response was, "We just don't deliver there." Again, I said, "Well you have delivered here for the past year.

Why are you now saying that you don't?" Again, her response was the same. Now I know this seems

repetetive, but this is really how the conversation went. I asked her no less than 8 or 10 times WHY it

is that they don't deliver to 511 Cotton St. Each time she answered, "We just don't." Finally she said,

"Well the other stores that don't deliver in that area don't because of safety reasons." Now I'm really

confused! I said to her, "I'm not sure what other stores you are referring to, because we REGULARLY get

delivery from every other delivering restaurant in Chapel Hill."

She could not give me the names of any restaurants that she knew of who did not deliver to my street. Then I said to her, "I'm not sure what you mean 'safety reasons'. I have lived here for about a year and never heard of a single criminal act." Now, I respect the right of a business owner to protect their employees and their business, but let me take this moment to tell you about the street I live on. It is a very quiet street. There are only about 10 houses on my street. The majority of them are occupied by elderly people. In the time that I have lived there, I can only remember even seeing a police officer on our street one time. That was only because our neighbor's son was killed in a car accident and they had a lot of family over. An officer had to come ask a person that was parked on the street to move. I hardly consider one parking situation as a threat to a delivery driver's safety.

At any rate, I never even got to say all of this to the employee on the phone because she hung up on me. That's right! Hung right up in my ear. No goodbye, no I'm sorry, nothing. Just the dial tone. Now I was REALLY confused. Of course, I called back. At first, no one answered, but I hung up and called back again. The phone rang several times (maybe 12 or so) and a man answered. I immediately asked for the manager. He said, "I am the owner." He said, "Is this 511 Cotton?" I said yes and immediately knew that he was already prepared to be a jerk to me. Anyway, I asked him for his name which he at first wouldn't give me. Then finally he said it was Arthur. I thought he said something like 'Assa' or 'Atta' so I asked him to spell it. He yelled at me several times but still refused to spell it.

I asked him to spell maybe 5 times and he finally did. He refused to give me his last name (which I

completely understood). He also refused to give me the name of the young lady who I had previously been

speaking with. Anyway, I said to him, "I am calling first of all because one of your employees just hung

up on me." His response? "Yeah, I told her to hang up on you." I about fell out of my chair!!! Now I

have worked in customer service for several years and have learned that there is almost never a reason to

hang up on someone.

You can take a message, transfer them to a manager, ask them to hold on to see how you can solve the problem, but you never hang up on a person. Furthermore, I was not rude or belligerent to

the young lady. Not at one single moment did I belittle her, curse at, or even raise my voice at her.

There was absolutely NO reason for her to hang up on her. I asked 'Arthur' why he would instruct her to do

something like that, but of course, his answer was the same as his employee's: "We just don't deliver there."

I said, "Well, at any rate, I don't understand why you are saying you can't deliver to my address. We

are just about 3 blocks away. You have delivered to us numerous times in the past. And there has been

nothing 'unsafe' about my neighborhood." He says again, "We don't deliver in that area." Then he says,

"Anyway, I'm busy right now. I have a line in front of me and don't have time to talk you.", and then

hung-up. OK, so now I'm pretty much furious. Contacting you is my first course of action. My first issue is with the

fact that Miami Subs will no longer deliver to my home. I don't have the numbers yet, but I have

contacted the Chapel Hill Police Department to get their crime statistics for my particular street, but

as I said, I have only seen one police officer on my street since I've lived there. This leads me to

believe that the owners 'safety' excuse is just a cover for the fact that my neighborhood is

predominately African-American and he prefers to not deliver there. Secondly, I am appalled at the way

that I was treated as a customer. As I stated earlier, I was completely calm, polite and respectful

to both the employee that I spoke with initially and to the owner. My respect was returned with lack of

answers, rudeness, and attitude.

I sincerely hope that you can help me with some resolution to this matter. To be frank, I am not looking for the typical response of coupons or gift certificates. I don't know that I will EVER eat another piece of food from there. However, I would like a formal apology (which, by the way, the employee nor the manager never apologized, not even for the inconvenience) and would like assurancethat something is being done to be sure that ALL paying customers are trated fairly. Thank you for your consideration and prompt attention to this matter! Sincerely,

Wiletra C. Burwell

Chapel Hill, NC 2751