Sonic Not-so-Special 5 for $5.95

Funny thing how advertising works for this company. Most days I pass through Sonic (which avgs 3 times a week) they have signs posted on

their marquee and around the drive-thru and the drive up window with their “5 for $5.95 Tuesday special”. Of course, today is Tuesday so I head

over to get their advertised special. Upon arrival, I look for the signage to confirm I’ve come on the correct day. Not a single sign in sight

anywhere on the premise.

With the employee coming over the intercom asking for my order I stated “ Is today the 5 for $5.95 special ??” the reply was “What would

you like on your burgers?”. Again I asked, “is this the day for the 5 for $5.95 special”. The reply this time was ”yes, would you like cheese

on your burgers?”. My reply followed as ”I’d like whatever comes on them with the $5.95 special”. Their reply was “you can get them any way you

want”. I replied “Ok, however them come. I’d also like .. (drinks and tots)”. They told me the total cost and said to pull to the window.

I paid the amount told to me $17.56 Took my food and headed home. Once home, I decided to look over the receipt to confirm the $5.95

special. The receipt reads as follows:
5 ALL CB $14.95 (burgers)
1 LG TT 1.99
1 XL SLUSH 1.99
1 XL SLUSH 1.99
1 XL SLUSH 1.99
5 5 FOR 5.95 -6.50
-----------
ST 16.41
TX 1.15
-----------
TOTAL 17.56


So.. Doing a little math $14.95 – 6.50 = $8.45 funny, that’s NOT $5.95

Next step… called the store asked for the manager. The gentleman on the phone says “speaking”… I asked “Is this the manager?” The reply

“Yes”. I aksed “what is your name?” His reply “Scotty”.
I proceeded to explain: “I just went through the drive-thru, and asked for the $5.95 special. The receipt says they charged $14.95 then

gave a credit of $6.50… that means they charged me $8.95 for my $5.95 special.” His reply “It’s extra for the cheese”. My response “I asked for

the $5.95 special, they asked if I wanted cheese, I said I’ll take whatever comes on them for the $5.95 special. I never did say I wanted

cheese”. His response “Well, we make the burgers individually to whatever you want”. I responded “ I told the order taker 3 times, whatever

comes on the $5.95 special”.

He finally said “I’m sorry for YOUR confusion. The cheese is 40 cents extra per burger. I can put your name in our book for a credit for

the cheese on your next visit. If you give me your name, I’ll credit you with a $2 coupon”. I accepted his offer at face value and gave my

name…. conversation ended.

But then after hanging up.. it hit me.. $8.45 - $2.00 = $6.45 Still NOT $5.95… I’m still screwed.

So, I call back the store. Scotty answers. I stated “I just called a minute ago about the $5.95 special issue… are you the location manager

or shift manager?” His reply “I’m the assistant manager” I then asked for the store location number (5756 Spout Springs Road) and the general

managers name (Mia Parks). Told him I’d be contacting the general manager, the district manager, corporate headquarters… and that I’d be

posting this anywhere & everywhere I can on the internet.

One other thing I’ve been pondering… is their special for slush drinks. Seems they have afternoon half price specials. I’ve noticed they

seem to charge a “surcharge” of 20 cents for the flavor on these drinks. If I get this right, with the price and surcharge, that comes to more

than half price.

Does anyone besides me see deceptive advertising and practices here ??? Any legal eagles want to file a class action suit to get their

attention ??

Maybe the greed for profits has skewed the focus of management, but considering a similar issue has occurred in my past with this company,

it seems to be a business plan in place to accomplish this deception.

Advertising, discounts and specials…. Used to bring in new customers, used to give a value to existing loyal customers, used to bring in

revenue and interest in otherwise slow time periods for the business. So much for good rapport with your customer base Sonic !!

So, if you’re tired of being taken advantage of… or if you’ve had the same discourteous schemes played out against you, feel free to write

me with your stories, and I’ll gladly post them on every board I come across that I can post on.

[email protected]

Dave
Buford, GA

My husband and I used the drive through to order two drinks (1 large vanilla coke & 1 small slushy drink). We ordered and drove around; there was one car in front of us so we were sitting with a plain view through the glass door entrance/exit into the drive-up area of the building.

I watched as a lady inside put our two drinks down on the counter top then she set another large drink in front of our drinks. Well, the fellow that was manning the drive-up window was waiting for food to come up and he picked up both the large cups right as the lady came back and was holding them up as if asking who the drinks goes to.

Well, needless to say he had picked up our large drink and another large drink and now the cups/contents were mixed up so the lady took the lid off of one to smell it than handed it over to the fellow to take a swallow in order to figure out which was which.

Now, I'm no lip reader but it was very clear what their conversation was and what they did to figure out their mistake of mixing the cups/drinks up. I sat there and watched this take place, frozen in horror that they would actually do a taste test on a customers drink.

I got out of the car ( I am not afraid to speak my mind), opened that glass door and told them I saw what they did with the drink and that I didn't want it or the other one and I would be reporting them. The guy's mouth just hung and the woman was looking at me with a frown but they knew they were busted.

I will never eat at or be a patron of this restaurant again and this experience has made me think twice about eating out at all. Our 4 year old daughter would have been drinking out of that cup and we all know some of the diseases we can catch from others through saliva. This is truly frightening!

Sonics has a value menu where the items on it are only $1. I went during Happy Hour (2-4) and ordered lunch. The girl at the drive thru speaker was rude. I couldn't understand what she said so when I asked her to repeat, she all but yelled me "Order when you're ready!" So I ordered a medium cherry slushie, small tots (which are supposed to be $1) and a small popcorn chicken. The total was a little bit higher than I would have expected it to be. When I got to the window, she handed me the slushie, then my bag and rudely told me to "have a nice day". She made a face when I asked her for ketchup and barbeque sauce since there were none in the bag. When I checked the receipt, she had overcharged me for the tots.

I went to pick up lunch (ON MY BREAK) for myself and another girls at work! I got there and waited in the drivethrough forever, there were only 2 cars in front of me and 4 cars at stalls...NOT TOO BUSY FOR LUNCH TIME!!!I even waited at the speaker in the drive thru for 6 min before someone answered me. Then they got the drink wrong I gave it back to them and they handed me the right one (NO APOLOGY) then I get all the way back to work and figure out they left out one of the burgers had to go all the way back there get it get and gave them the old food so I could have hot food. All in all it took me 45 min and the drive is only 5 min.. less than 2 miles. To top it off when the carhop gave me all the food after they corrected it... she said "sorry but honestly it is the cooks fault". OK anyone in customer service know that was the stupidest thing to say. Learn how to take responsibility and not BLAME others!!! I WILL NEVER EAT THERE AGAIN!

We went 2 Sonic in Locust Grove, Oklahoma. Phone # is 918-479-3347 / Date: 19 Dec. 08 at 15:57/ Stall:17 /
operator 2 /TKT: 0291.0 / Shift: C ? Carhop: Korey L Ref/Seq # 170498// When we received our 0rder, every bit of it was burnt. We were so upset that we threw the food away!!! I want a refund back from that order; which is $9.86. Thank u 4 ur time Please respond with a solution...