Wendy's Manager's Apology Email To Customer Goes Quickly Awry

What's worse than disappointing a customer with bad service? Insulting that customer's hometown in your apology email.

Such was the story for a Wareham, Massachusetts man named Matthew Rose, who per WCVB Boston, ate at a Wendy's on two separate occasions this month—and both times received poor customer service. After conveying his feedback via email to Wendy's corporate, he soon received an email reply from the Wendy's district manager in his area.

The apology soon went off track.

In his email, the manager writes:

Not an excuse but the town of Wareham has little to no talent pool to hire from. This is an ongoing issue in that area. We are constantly interviewing and hiring any and all qualified candidates. Unfortunately, those candidates are hard to come by, as most are recovering addicts, and we cannot hire them.

Yikes.

Rose tells WCVB the email was "completely cruel."

Regardless of whether the manager's characterization of Wareham, Massachusetts is true, this may be a case in which honesty is not the best policy.

Allow us, The Takeout, to issue this handy, less-is-more template for responding to fast-food restaurant complaints. Restaurant managers, feel free to copy and paste:

Dear Sir or Madam,

We at [restaurant] are sorry to hear of your recent experience. It is always our goal to strive for excellence in our food and customer service, and we look forward to the opportunity to make this right.

As a token of our thanks for your business, please accept this voucher for a free [medium Frosty/small McNuggets/roast beef sandwich/6-inch sub].

We look forward to exceeding your expectations in the future.

See? That wasn't so hard. Just don't forget to attach the Frosty coupon.