Montfort Grill House Burlington: Restaurant Review

Montfort Restaurant owner in Burlington refuses to honour coupon

Restaurant Review

“We are a franchise and they did this without telling us. That’s why I want to get out of the business.”

Strange words from the owner of the Montfort Restaurant (Millcroft location) on Itabashi Way in Burlington, Ontario.

That’s what he said to me after we presented the coupon for the buy-one-get-one-free offer. He refused to honour the offer. Instead he gave me a flyer with the head office phone number for franchise enquires.

He suggested that I save my receipt and call the Montfort Restaurant head office to complain.

The coupon which we received in our mail box states,

“$10.00 value – Enjoy one complimentary Dinner Entrée when a second Lunch or Dinner Entrée of equal or greater value is purchased.” The coupon listed the two Montfort Restarant locations in Burlington, Brant Street and Millcoroft.

I understood that to mean that if I buy one lunch for $10.00 I would get the second one free. Sounded like a good deal. That’s why we stopped in for lunch on Monday at the Montfort Restaurant in Millcroft, Burlington.

We presented the coupon before we ordered just to be sure that there were no surprises. The waitress baulked at the coupon. I asked for the manager. Then the owner showed up and said, “Can I help you?” Curious that he didn’t smile, greet us, give his name or identify himself. Just that play-dumb line, “Can I help you?” I asked if he was the manager and he answered that he was the owner. He didn’t sound happy about it.


I showed him the coupon and stated that we wanted to use it to get our complimentary lunch.

He said, “No”. He refused to accept the coupon or honour the offer. Instead he suggested that if I ordered a dinner entrée at $15.00 or more that he would give me $10.00 off on the second entrée. I explained that I didn’t want a dinner at lunch time – just a lunch and that I expected to pay $10.00 for one lunch and get the second one complimentary.

At least a few times he suggested that I call the Montrfort head office to complain. I pointed out that any differences he had with his head office was his responsibility to resolve not mine. I just wanted to have lunch.

He had pretended not to know the issue when he approached us yet he had the head office flyer in his hand.

This Montfort Restaurant Franchise owner appeared to be an angry man.

He never apologized.

It was 12 noon on Monday. Only two other parties were in the restaurant. You would think that he would have welcomed the business on a slow day. Our drinks would’ve given him the profit he needed on the sale. He had the opportunity to make friends. Instead he was too angry to care for his customers.

After wasting a lot of time we left without ordering. We spent $30 on lunch at another restaurant in Burlington. That included two drinks. No special deal but at least we weren’t deceived or lied to.

What a shame.

If the restaurant franchise owner treats his customers that way and is that angry at the franchisor then he is not going to be in business for much longer.

We’ve eaten at this Burlington Montfort restaurant several times and we like the food. The service has been good. Imagine our surprise and disappointment at this unfriendly treatment druing this visit.

I don’t know what the problem was. Head office prints and distributes flyers to get more customers in your restaurant and you are angry? We hadn’t been for awhile and the coupon convinced us to go to Montfort instead of elsewhere.

Was there an ongoing dispute between this franchise owner and the franchisor?

Was the flyer deceptive? Perhaps. It offered a complimentary Dinner Entrée yet all Dinner Entrées were priced at a minimum of $15.00. So was this meant to be a $10 coupon or a buy-one-get-one coupon. Don’t pretend to offer a complimentary non-existent Dinner Entrée if your coupon is limited to $10.

Was this simply a sloppy marketing program? Maybe.

Who messed up?

It doesn’t matter. What matters is that this customer left the Montfort and might not be back. I wonder how many other potential customers they have disappointed.

The coupon states that it is valid to December 31, 2010. That suggests that there will be more unhappy customers visiting and departing the Montfort Restaurant in Millcroft, Burlington. When will they learn?

If you want my business don’t lie to me, don’t deceive me, don’t embarrass me, don’t play weasel word games and don’t disrespect me.

When marketing and customer service fight, both lose.

What a shame.

It will be curious to see how quickly this franchise owner gets his wish to be out of the business. Be careful what you wish for - you might get it.

Montfort Restaurant Reviews

George Torok

Marketing Expert & Author

Montfort Restaurant Review

Millcroft, Itabashi Way

Burlington, Ontario

Marketing tips from Craig Garber

2. Value and ethics pay off
Companies that offer quality goods and services, and who actually deliver on their promises, will continue growing, very rapidly. "The world is getting smaller and smaller, and if you want to survive, you simply must provide first-class service. Deals and discounts alone will no longer make your cash register ring. People are very willing to pay top dollar for better quality, as long as you're giving them a valid reason why they should."

Questions about CAN-SPAM

PDF: Dozen Key Questions Answered on Latest CAN-SPAM Provisions

SUMMARY: Three email pros answered 12 questions during a recent webinar on what marketers need to know about the latest provisions for CAN-SPAM. Here is a transcript of that session.

Hope Hopkins, Membership Content Manager, MarketingSherpa, realized that many Sherpa members still had questions about the new CAN-SPAM provisions. She organized an event with a trio of authorities who discussed what the recent changes mean by responding to a dozen questions.The webinar served to put a bow on this issue for many members who were seeking more clarification on new CAN-SPAM provisions.We share a transcript of that session with you.

Click to continue(Open access=permanent)
This will open a pdf document.

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If you want to know what is and isn't SPAM - read this panel interview.

Email Marketing - too many liars

Email Marketing - too many liars

It can be easy to be turned off email marketing. I never realized I had so many rich relatives in Europe and Africa all dieing to give me money. So we adapt and learn to block, ignore and delete the barrage of email liars.

And of course the liars learn to adapt as well. Lately I've been receiving poorly written emails from folks who claim to be Internet marketing experts. They format their email to resemble a legitimate email ezine. They even have an unsubscribe link - which I wonder about. I know that I did not subscribe and they even took the time to "authorize" their email with my SPAM Arrest. So I delete, block and unsubcribe.

Here is one that I have seen a couple times - same person? The unsubscribe page is the most annoying that I have seen. Remember - I did not ask for this email - yet this person threatened me with their language. Oh - and they are lieing.

Here is the text from the unsubscribe page. Read it and decide how you would feel.

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EMail Blacklisting Page

If you want to unsubscribe from my newsletter, your email address is automatically blacklisted, which means you can't subscribe at a later date (that's how the software works)

I thought I'm upfront with it, have a Day full of Love & Wealth!


Love Nat

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So - how would you feel? And no, I don't believe that's how the software works. The word "blacklisted" will intimidate some folks not to unsubscribe.

What's "love" and "blacklisted" got to do with each other?

Not sure what this person was selling. Perhaps this was for their own amusement. There are some twisted people out there.


George Torok
Personal Marketing
Power Marketing

Liar, Liar - Pants on Fire

Liar, Liar - pants on fire.

Do you remember that old child's expression? Have you ever wanted to say that to a marketer that was clearly making false claims? More importantly is any part of your own marketing false and hence making you a liar? Correct it before people start pointing the finger at you and chant, "Liar, liar - pants on fire."

Kelley Robertson, sales trainer and author puts it nicely in his ezine. The tip below is reprinted from his "59 Second Sales Tip"

You can register for the "59 Second Sales Tip" at The Robertson Training Group.

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I received a voice mail the other day from someone who said they were interested in my training programs and products so naturally I returned the call quickly.

However, when I connected with this person, he immediately tried to sell me one of his products and expressed no interest in my services. His approach was simply a ruse to get me to return his call. As you can imagine, I was not impressed.

I know that connecting with decision-makers and getting phone calls returned is a huge sales challenge. However, misrepresenting yourself, your company, or the reason for your call is one of the worst approaches you can use. Not only is it misleading and dishonest, it wastes your prospect's time, and in today's hectic business world, time is a precious commodity.

Plus, it smacks of desperation. And let's face it, who wants to buy from someone who is that hungry and desperate to get a sale? Here's the bottom line. If a salesperson is willing to take this approach BEFORE they get the business, what else will they do once they have it? I trust that YOU don't have to resort to such tactics.
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The above is from Kelley Robertson's "59 Second Sales Tip"


George Torok

Personal Marketing

National Cremation Society - Deception?

National Cremation Society

Who is the National Cremation Society and how can you join? You can’t. It is not a society. It’s a business. Does that shock you?

It appears that the National Cremation Society is no more a society then Bruce Willis has hair. Well yes, Bruce did once have hair but the National Cremation Society was never a society. So in that comparison it is Bruce Willis “one” and National Cremation society “zero”.

The National Cremation Society is not a society. It is a large corporation. It is owned by Service Corporation International (How’s that for a vague and unfriendly sounding name?) Service Corporation International is so big that they proudly claim to be “North America’s largest provider of funeral, cremation and cemetery services”.

They are like a Walmart, Microsoft or General Motors. How would you like your funeral or cremation handled by Walmart, Microsoft or General Motors? Doesn’t sound too intimate and personal when you are considering a very personal event - your death.

I am all for business making a profit and I support creative marketing. But I believe you should not lie. Calling your business a society seems to me jumping way over the line in terms of ethics and just plain deception. Some folks call that lying. Me too.

Is Service Corporation International being deceptive by calling their cremation service the National Cremation Society? I think so. What do you think? When you hear the word society what do you think and feel? Community and trustworthy? Maybe that is what Service Corporation International is counting on. And if you were deceived by that one word don’t feel bad. Now you know.

Imagine your outrage:
Imagine if Microsoft called themselves the “National Software Society”?
Imagine if a bank called itself the “National Savings Society”?
Imagine if the local drug dealer named his business “National Addiction Society”?

Each of those would be clever - and deceptive.

When I think society I imagine one of charity, community group or non-profit-association.

Why does the National Cremation Society need to be so deceptive in their marketing? Maybe what they offer is not such a good deal. Maybe they are trying to justify their products, service and prices on the basis that they are a "society". Maybe they are not nice people at all.

George Torok
Marketing Agitator
Marketing Myths

What does Wikipedia say about society?

Mac's WTF Nun and Goat

Mac’s WTF nun with goat

Mac’s Convenience Stores came out with another bold marketing campaign to promote their new ice-drink WTF, but they blinked.

This time Mac’s Convenience Stores was promoting another ice-drink. Instead of Bloody Zit the new flavour was WTF. What the flavour?

Again Mac’s spoke directly to their target market – teens. And to Internet and text messaging teens WTF is code for What the F**k. Controversy is a powerful branding ingredient.

Good on Mac’s. A strong positioning that reaches their target audiences and ticks off those outside the target market – parents of teens.

Mac’s produced a poster for in-store display. The poster showed an image of the new WTF Froster cup floating in the air and surrounded by an angelic halo. The cup has the letters WTF on it. Below the Froster cup image was a nun on her knees clearly worshiping the magnificence of this angelic vision. Next to the nun was a goat.

I don’t understand the significance of the goat. But, the combination of the nun and the goat both worshipping the floating cup made me laugh.

Again Mac’s Convenience Stores hits a direct bull’s-eye with its target audience!

It this case the target is not just teens in general but more specifically teens at Catholic schools. Because, those teens already make jokes about the nuns at their schools and churches.

Once again Mac’s launched a great branding and viral marketing campaign. They knew their target market. They were bold. But this time something went wrong. Mac’s got cold feet. Within a week of launching this poster Mac’s killed the campaign. They pulled all the posters and any acknowledgement of the campaign period. Mac’s is pretending that their WTF Nun with goat poster never existed.

What happened? The folks at Mac’s already experienced negative feedback to their Bloody Zit promotion. So what part of the negative feedback this time surprised them? They had to know that this poster would offend parents, Catholics and other moral right wingers. Jerry Falwell is dead, thank god, so it was not him and his moral majority.

Kudos to Mac’s and its creative marketing folks. Shame on the Macs management for blinking. You had a good marketing idea. Let’s see how your target market rewards you for wimping out.

WTF

George Torok
Power Marketing
CEO Feedback

What does Marketing do?

What does marketing do?

An interoffice softball game was held every year between the marketing department and the support staff of one company.The support staff whipped the marketing department soundly.

To show just how the marketing department earns its keep, they posted this memo on the bulletin board after the game: "The Marketing Department is pleased to announce that for the 2006 Softball Season, we came in 2nd place, having lost but one game all year. The Support Department, however, had a rather dismal season, as they won only one game."

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I found the above on Rick Spence's Canadian Entreprenuer Blog.

It's a cute anecdote and nicely illustrates the role of marketing. Notice that there are no lies in that memo. Marketing is not about telling lies. It is about demonstrating how your product or service is superior. Highlight the positive of your position while diminishing the competition. Good marketers don't play fair.

Rick Spence, thanks for this gem.


George Torok
Secrets of Power Marketing

Liar, Liar Pants on Fire

Marketing is about sending messages. Marketing is not about lying. Unfortunately, some marketers don’t understand the difference. Lying is not sustainable marketing - nor is it ethical marketing.

Marketing is about telling good and flattering stories. It is not about telling untrue stories. Please don’t lie. For example, it is one thing to report that one of your customers claims that you “walk on water”. It is another thing for you to claim that you walk on water.

Don’t state that you are the nation’s leading, number one or the best – unless you have clear supporting evidence of those claims.

If you received an award, then boast about that award – but don’t pretend that a regional award is a national title.

Tell your marketing story - but please don’t lie.

George Torok
Power Marketing

Santa Claus: Corporate Spokesperson

Have you noticed how many businesses use Santa Claus as their corporate spokesperson at Christmas?

Coke started this in 1931 by presenting a new image of Santa – the roly-poly jolly fella we recognize as Santa in North America today. Before this Coke advertising campaign Santa was not fat, did not wear a red suit and did not have reindeer.

What can you learn from that as marketers?

1. A successful marketing campaign can radically change the perception of the public.

2. Mythical figures are free resources for your marketing.

3. You are responsible for the images you create.

George Torok
Power Marketing
Corporate Spokesperson

How the travel industry disguises the real price

Let’s assume the price of your product is so high that it frightens your customers off.
Maybe because of the rising costs in your industry or maybe you are just not price competitive.

So if the price is scary – don’t scare them – don’t tell them.

Instead you might disguise the price.

How do you do that?

The car retailers have been doing this for decades. Instead of telling you the price of the car – they advertise the monthly payment. “Wow - you think - all that luxury for only $400. I can afford that.” Of course the reality is that it is $400 per month for four years and at the end you own nothing. But $400 is a lot less frightening then $30,000.

The travel industry is disguising the price quite imaginatively.

First they list prices without taxes. Yet the taxes seem to add another 20 % or more to the final price. They have been doing this for quite some time so most of us automatically look at the price and add taxes. Yes – deception creates cynicism and reduces trust.

Of course this approach might impress some, fool some, and annoy others. I was mostly annoyed. You decide.


As I skimmed the vacation ads in the newspaper, the ad from Sears Travel caught my eye

Cuba from $85 /month

Of course Cuba for $85 is what registered in my mind. Closer examination revealed that the real price was $1,020 plus taxes for a package that was offered elsewhere for $578 (plus taxes of course). (Sunbeach Hotel – flight from Toronto)

Suddenly $85 did not look so good.

I’m not judging whether it is right or wrong to finance your winter vacation. That is up to you. But I think that it would be nice and more than fair to know the real price – without bringing out the calculator and net present value formulas.


Then I noticed a different approach from Sunwing vacations.

Mexico
$526 off per couple

And in smaller print - $264 per person

I could not find what the real price was. Maybe it was there but I got tired of searching.

But hey, Mexico for $526 certainly caught my eye.



At least TripCentral.ca had an honest approach.

Their ad headline was

Sunshine in six easy payments

Then they listed the packages along with real prices – or at least real prices before taxes. Sigh.

So how much is it really going to cost for a winter vacation?

And yes – there is a point where clever marketing crosses the line to pure deception.


(Sources for these examples - Hamilton Spectator and Toronto Star - Saturday Jan 21, 2006)


George Torok
http://www.torok.com/

PS: I have recently learned that “All Inclusive” doesn’t mean “All Inclusive.” Apparently there are different interpretations of that term. Some might surprise you.

PPS: Hope you enjoy your winter vacation.

PPPS: Hope you understand the real price before you book it.