Chronicle of a Legend

If you remember my earlier post about my trials and tribulations at Jamba Juice, “Affecting Real Change,” you’ll love this recent update.

I thought after my last talk with the District Manager, and then Store Manager at the 13th & 6th Ave location, that things would change. They did for awhile, but then settled back into their old ways. This smoothie was the final straw —>

Clearly not a full 16 ounces, I wrote JJ another raving fan letter.

Like last time, the Customer Service rep copied the Jamba Juice style guide into an email for me:

Hello Michael,

Thank you for taking the time to share your recent experience with us.  We greatly appreciate the chance to make things right for you and for other customers as well.

On behalf of all of us here at Jamba Juice, I would like to offer you our sincerest apologies for the inconsistent smoothies we have been serving you lately. I know that you contacted us back in April on this same issue and I feel awful that it is continuing. A 12 oz chunky straw should have 9 oz smoothie and 3 oz banana. A 16 oz should have 13 oz smoothie and 3 oz banana. As far as the smoothies go, the smoothie should be about an inch from the top and mounded in the middle to just touch the lid. In order to be successful, we must be consistent.

I will forward your feedback the general manager, district manager  and the regional director for the 6th Ave and 13th St. stores for review and follow up with the teams.  We have to be consistent to be successful and we thank you for your help.

We will address these inconsistencies right away. Please don’t hesitate to contact me directly with any additional comments or concerns.

Have a great day!

Sincerely,

Alexandra Rodriguez

This was promplty followed up by the District Manager:

Hello Mr.Bohn,

My name is Larry Marcus; I am the district manager for the Jamba Juice store on 13th and 6th ave. First let me apologize for the troubles you have had with our product, I truly am sorry you have gone through this especially more than one time. I certainly do not want to make excuses because the bottom line is you need to get what you pay for.

I have spoken to the manager in that store and asked him to please make sure we are watching our team members to make these products correctly. I am going to send you a couple of 16oz free smoothie cards in the mail, please contact me directly if this happens again so I can get on it immediately. You now have my direct email address so contact me at any time.

I truly want to thank you for letting us know so we can fix our issues, I always tell my managers how many customers have had the same problems but do not say anything and just do not come back. So again please any future issues let me know and I will get with the teams to fix the problem.

Marcus Larry

Basically, the same response I got last time. While I love JJ, I’m only willing to give the 13th street store a few more chances once my free smoothie cards arrive. If things start to falter again, I’ll might take the advice of Webcoder, and hit up the Brand Marketing manager on Linked in and send her a quick note.

As always, affecting real change,

-Digitalbohn

written by digitalbohn

I’m not an overly patient person, but I can wait 10 swconds for an elevator to arrive. The same cannot be said for 98% of the people in my office building.

I’ve come to call them “Double Tappers.” They’re the people who double tap elevator call buttons, floor buttons and the infamous Doors Close Button to no avail.

If that wasn’t bad enough, they tap buttons that other people have already hit, as if those lights under the buttons have no purpose at all. Take 10 seconds, and check your blackberry instead. It’ll keep me from grinding my teeth, which my dentist would appreciate.

written by digitalbohn

Why are people in such a damn hurry in the morning? It’s understandable when you’re trying to catch the train on the way home, but why in the world are people in such a rush to get to their cubicle?

It feels as though I’m in Spain at the running of the bulls. People ducking, weaving, and sprinting for their lives off trains and through subways. All to slave away at their 9to5.

Maybe I enjoy the journey as much or more than the destination? Who knows. Until people learn to chill and enjoy life, I’m gonna be that guy. That guy who slows down his car when he’s being tailgated. That guy who takes turns a bit too wide so no one can get around him. That guy, who hopefully shows everyone that there are better places to spend 20 minutes than in front of a computer screen typing away at a TPS Report.

On a side note about enjoying travels, Jim and I are embarking on a half-cross country trip in a few weeks. We’re going to drive from Oklahoma to NYC, with exactly zero planned stops along the way. Our goal is to head up north towards Indiana or Cleveland, possibly hit a baseball game or two, and then time permitting, swing by Ithaca on our way East.

We’ll be blogging and Twittering the whole thing I’m sure, so expect some randomness.

written by digitalbohn \\ tags: Add new tag

I love Jamba Juice, and usually hit it up twice a week. As much as I live by their peanut butter and granola smoothies in the morning, I’ve been having major issues with the 13th street location.

The breakfast smoothies are the most expensive per ounce, so when I order a 16oz Chunky Strawberry, I expect to get a full 16oz. The 13th street location would argue, and DID ARGUE that point with me to a fault. I was consistently getting no more than 13 to 14 ounces. I’ve mentioned it to the employees a few times and the only response I got was that it was difficult to manage the breakfast smoothies because of the fresh bananas on top and the granola. They were also quick to point out that it wasn’t store policy to have smoothies filled to the brim, fairly ridiculous if you ask me.

I finally hit a boiling point when I was given half a cup, and they refused to remake it for me. So instead of breaking my opinion off to the manager, I got into the office and ripped off a letter to corporate. I wasn’t expecting much, but the result blew my mind…

Within a few hours of that email I got a response from a customer service agent, apologizing for the issues, and offering me gift cards for a few free smoothies. Not too bad.

By the end of the work day, I got an email from the District Manager of Manhattan asking that I speak with him so he could better educate his Store Manager on proper smoothie production. Pretty good.

By the time I got home that night, I had received an email from the Store Manager asking if I could call him tomorrow to discuss how to resolve the issue. Damn amazing.

In the span of a day, I had turned into a smoothie expert, and was now giving advice to District and Store Managers of Jamba Juice.

In the end, I had a good chat with the Store Manager, who took my advice pretty well. The result? I’ve had 8 or 9 smoothies since then, and have been getting smoothies that are so packed, that they overflow the 16oz cups they’re in.

Affecting Real Change – Legend in the Making…

written by digitalbohn

I’m getting to that terribly unfortunate point in my life where I stand at a monumental fork. It’s the fork that some lucky men never reach, while others, like myself, hit it before they turn 28. Baldness.

My head hair has been slowly thinning since college, which has acted as some kind of catalyst for my facial hair. I shave at 7am, and have 5 o’clock shadow before lunch, which is one of the reasons why I now keep a manly but stylish beard.

I’ve tried to put it off, but I’ve finally hit that tipping point. Which leads to an important decision that I must make this week. Do I continue with my denial, or do I just slap male pattern baldness in the face and shave my head entirely?

I’ll pause for a second to let the heaviness of the decision set in.

My options aren’t amazing. I can  shave it completely, which my wife seems to like, as she’s eager to remind me that Chris Daughtry manages to pull off the shaved head and beard combo. Or I can buzz it military style, to try and hide any weird yet to be found imperfections on my head. Medication and/or surgery aren’t really options for me, as I’d much rather fight this old-school style like an uppercut to the face. Dripping liquid on my skull every night sounds like one of the most terrible things ever.

Within the next week, by next Monday at the latest, I’ll have made my decision as to which route to take.

written by digitalbohn

Why don’t people understand the importance of Zippers?

I don’t mean the ubiquitous YKK distributor (check your jeans, jacket etc. they’re everywhere, even a billboard in Times Square). I mean that tacit yet necessary rule governing all types of merging queues.

I take two forms of transportation to get to work in the morning, the train, and the subway. Both are in dire the zippering, but neither seem to have any idea of the concept.

When there are 2 lanes of traffic merging into 1, in my case 2 lines of commuters merging through 1 exit, the most sensible, logical, and efficient method of consolidation is the Zipper. A simple alternating “tag” between the two lines, allowing both sides of the train to exit at the same rate. When the Zipper doesn’t occur, everything breaks loose

You can usually tell who the zipper-breakers will be. They shuffle their feet, right up on the person in front of them, ready to pounce at the slightest hesitation of their co-zipper partner on the other end. This morning, I was the fateful one to come into full force contact with my co-zipper.

I could see her coming a mile away, watching the way she prepared her umbrella for the rain just outside. I prepared for the worst by resting my finger on the trigger of my umbrella, so that when it was my turn I could simultaneously hop outside and pop my umbrella, ensuring that someone wouldn’t leap in front of me. The next think I know, the woman who should have let me in catches me by surprise, and jumps forward when she gets to the door. The result – her purse snagged on one of the partially opened spires of my umbrella, almost ripped off her shoulder, and I was left with a bent umbrella…

Someone has to take one for the team and stand up for the rules that no one speaks of, and that person will forever be me.

written by digitalbohn