Wendy's of Statesboro - Bad News

The first Wendy's was opened on November 15^th, 1969 by Dave Thomas, the founder. Dave Thomas was a restaurant expert by the age of nine; by the time he made his dream come true of owning his own restaurant, he knew exactly how to treat customers in a restaurant environment. He earned several awards for his natural talent in the restaurant industry and was recognized throughout America, and eventually all over the world when Wendy's went global in 1988. Today there are over 6,000 Wendy's across the world.

Wendy's is a fast food restaurant, with most of the facilities being franchises. Since 2002, when Dave Thomas passed away, there seems to have been a drop in the service provided by Wendy's. In particular, the Statesboro Wendy's does not meet anywhere close to the standards Dave held for his restaurants.

I went to secret shop the Wendy's here in town (but also to grab some lunch!) and it was actually the first time I'd been in this Wendy's, I usually just go through the drive through. Not this time though, I decided to go inside and check things out and really see what sort of business they were running.

They have quite a large menu selection. From deli-type Frescata sandwiches, to their traditional burgers, to chicken and fish sandwiches and a somewhat impressive array of side items; including French fries, baked potatoes, salads, chips, cookies, yogurt, chili, and fruit.

The atmosphere of the store is actually quite grungy. I didn't see any of the people preparing food using any gloves for sanitation. When I walked around I could feel my shoes crunching on the dirty floor, quite unpleasant. I took a peek inside the men's restroom and it seemed like a health hazard, smelled of waste, and seemed very unclean (I didn't stay in there too long). It smelled bad inside, and the employees were nothing less than distasteful. Many just looked dirty, and really gave one the feeling that the food they were making wasn't made under the cleanliest of environments. There were a lot of displays about their food too, which I assume they use to try to urge people to order impulsively.

One thing I noticed is, on the signs outside they offer a lot of their value items for $0.99. They don't advertise these much on the inside however, which I can only assume is a form of advertising they use to draw people in with good deals and then try to sell them their more expensive meals once they get in the door. They had quite a few items priced low on the menu however it took some time for me to find them, where the expensive items were in plain view with a lot of flair. I, however, didn't fall for it, having been taught so well by my Principles of Marketing professor.

The location of this particular Wendy's in Statesboro is the worst part about it. It's on the corner of one of the most congested intersections in town, and during times of any amount of traffic it makes trying to get in and out a nightmare. On top of their horrible location, they also are neighbors with several of their competitors. Places like Burger King, Zaxby's, Popeye's, and Arby's. They are all on the same street, but only Wendy's is positioned on the horrible intersection.

When I went in and ordered I knew what I wanted; one of their latest chicken club sandwiches with no tomatoes. I was greeted half-heartedly by a woman lacking several of her teeth and carried a foul aroma about her. It took about six minutes for them to finally get my sandwich to me because they were out of chicken, which means someone back there was lazy and forgot to throw more in the fryer. I went to sit down and eat it, and to my dismay the thing still had tomatoes on it. I just took them off myself because I didn't feel like another encounter with the woman who took my order before hand. I can definitely say I was struck with cognitive dissonance, I knew I should have gone to Burger King, it is a much nicer atmosphere, great service, and I used to work there so I can say the food is prepared safely with high standards. I can honestly say I'll never go in that Wendy's again to dine, the service was fairly horrible.

This was of course, before I became a vegan, and quite possibly an influence to my change in lifestyle!