Olive Garden Catering - Mistake Turned Opportunity

Recently, a colleague of mine left our company prompting us to have an in-office catered lunch for a group of around 30 people.  One of his favorite restaurants is Olive Garden, so we contacted our local OG and ordered the food a couple of days in advance.

When our administrative assistant arrived to pick up the food, she was told that they didn't have an order for us.  Rather than leaving it at that, they offered to call around to see if the order had been called into another location by mistake.  After calling four other locations, they determined that it must have been their error and the paperwork had been lost.

The catering manager came out and introduced himself, apologizing for the situation and vowed to take care of it.  He immediately offered drinks while the kitchen began to prepare the meal that they hadn't anticipated.  We had ordered a lasagna which is something they have to cook in advance.  They rearranged another pick up time to allow us to take one that they were in the process of cooking.  The manager had everything ready within 15 minutes, allowing the food to make it back in time for our going away party.

The manager at Olive Garden was quick to rectify a situation that could have been a very bad brand interaction.  Because of the quick thinking and flexibility of this manager, 30 people had a positive experience with the Olive Garden brand.  I can speak for myself when I say that I will be more likely to visit Olive Garden, a restaurant that I hadn't typically visited in the past.

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