6-7-18 Doughnut House in Bayview Corner shows that “fixing a problem” is good marketing

Every Friday I have breakfast with six to eight people who have been doing this little gathering for several years.  We usually go to the same restaurant, but many of my friends had read my story about the Doughnut House and wanted to go there for a change.

At 8:30 last Friday, 10 of us showed up to try breakfast at Whidbey Doughnuts.  We first noticed that our orders were taking a long time to be filled.  Then we noticed that there were several mix-ups with the orders. By 9:30, when we all had to leave, some orders had not been delivered and there were mistakes in some of the orders that weren’t corrected.

I came home and immediately sent an email to Scott Parks, one of the owners, describing our experience.  In less than 10 minutes, he sent back a response:

“I’m so glad you took the time to write.  I was told immediately by both servers all the problems we created for your table.  Of course, I’m incredibly sorry and will do what I can to make it right. I have at least 4 excuses I could make for some of the issues you encountered, but let’s be honest, “who cares what happened, just fix it.”

Scott showed up at my house the next day with 10 gift cards, one for each of the people at my table (I would have been happy just stopping by his restaurant and picking up the cards). I, of course, immediately told all of my breakfast friends. Since then, I have shared this story with many people.

Our breakfast group is already planning to go back and give the Doughnut House another try. I’m guessing that many who have heard this story are also interested in paying a visit for breakfast, lunch or….doughnuts.