Recently, Chipotle opened up at a new location on UPenn’s campus. Qdoba has been at Penn for as long as most people here can remember and there’s never been a real serious challenge to Qdoba’s Mexican Grill store. Until now. Chipotle has been a smash hit by all empirical evidence and they’re showing what true customer service is all about. I’m not surprised that I got an e-mail from Qdoba the other day telling me I can “buy 1 get 1 free” for any burrito at their on-campus location. In fact, just the other night two of my friends were discussing this coupon and decided they’d rather pay full price at Chipotle than split the cost of one burrito at Qdoba. Go figure.
But I wanted to bring forth an empirical example of why I think Chipotle is going to crush and destroy Qdoba. Beyond the fact that their burritos taste better and that their menu is more simply designed. I want to talk customer service. What makes it easy to compare is that I know of the same exact situation, which was handled differently at both places.
Customer Service at Qdoba
Two of my friends went to Qdoba while a third went to the nearby Greek Lady. The third friend joined the first two at Qdoba after they had all received their respective meals. He was quickly told that he couldn’t eat there because only Qdoba customers were allowed. That makes sense in theory, but fails in practice because:
1) The Qdoba store was pretty much empty
2) His friends were paying customers at Qdoba and he was joining them
Customer Service at Chipotle
This past week, I went to the new Jimmy John’s which is a few doors down from Chipotle. Two of my buddies were at Chipotle, but I had eaten there for the past 4 days and didn’t want to make it my 5th day. So I decided to mix things up with some Jimmy John’s. I joined them shortly after at Chipotle and sat down with them in the middle of a really crowded store. The manager at the cash register watched me walk in with Jimmy John’s in hand. She smiled and didn’t say a word. Someone even came over to our table and wiped it down before we started it eating. They didn’t say a word about my Jimmy John’s sandwich either. In fact, the manager even gave us free soda cups.
Conclusion
Beyond the obvious incredible taste of Chipotle, they are going to win because they care about the important things — like not annoying loyal customers who may not choose them on a particular day. Qdoba is completely empty everyday I walk by there and I fully expect that trend to continue.
Chipotle is a fine organization and offers great customer service, but they’re also new to the neighborhood and probably on their best behavior. In this fast casual category, you may have noticed over time that sometimes restaurants have good days and sometimes they have bad days – even Chipotle. One thing that I learned about the Qdoba vs Chipotle comparison is that the variety of flavors available at Qdoba far surpasses Chipotle. After a while, you run out of ideas at Chipotle – but that’s not the case with Qdoba. I think you’ll notice that too. Sounds like you’re power sampling them right now!
Boris,
points well made pretty good insight into the hospitality world and things that make it go – or not.
let’s connect and LinkIN
nick.tischler@gmail.com
Yay for Jimmy Johns. Yay for Chipotle
Boris,
This is a good point. Customer service is the WAY to keep a customer base, or grow it. Price point sometimes doesn’t even matter.
Cheers,
Sam Diener (Philadelphia)
I think the difference in taste and quality of the food completely swamps customer service as a factor here.
I work in a restaurant and you are not “allowed” to bring in food from another establishment for insurance purposes. Qdoba was just following the rules.
MexiCali my friend. The superior campus choice.
And who cares if its the rules, its fast food, you gotta get whatever angle you can. If two people ordered burritos, letting a third join them is harmless.
Lousy customer service, raw tacos. When my husband complained that we did not receive a side dish the second cashier yelled at him and said sir you are giving me much attitude, you have had an attitude since you came in here the first time we don’t have any beans. My husband said well you could have told us that before we ordered, the cook came from the back and positioned himself in a just got out of jail stance when we were clearly no threat. All we wanted was some food not a fight. I filed a complaint that night (4-3-11 at 8:40pm) have not heard a word.
My complaint is that the second cashier discussed our situation with a customer behind us when we thought the issue was over. Pittsburgh, pa.
I had terrible customer service at the Qdoba in Greensboro, NC tonight. Folks, confusion over a $1.50 scoop of guacamole is not worth arguing over. They lost my repeat business today.