imported post
I just got back from a face to face with Applebee's Area Director, Dale Simonton (nice guy!) and it's un-officially official: Applebee's mirrors state law! With the exception of a few 'pockets' of different franchise holders, this holds sway in almost every western state. Although he wouldn't go 'on record' (because he couldn't confirm it) he believed that the question went all the way to Applebee's International (the big kahuna CORPORATE offices) and they hold to the same policy..... though they actually run relatively few stores these days.... the vast majority are franchises.
I say un-officially because they don't have a written policy either way, though I wouldn't be suprised if that changed sometime soon. Dale informed me that he was working on an E-mail to be circulated to all the managers in the area regarding the legality of weapons in the restaurant, I provided him with a copy of the pamphlet, and offered to E-mail him a link to teh PDF. He made it a point to make sure I understood that we were welcome to OC in Applebee's at any time, even went so far as to give me his card and told me that if I ever had any problems again to give him a call!
I spent about 45 min chattting with him, though I'd hazard a guess that only about 10 min was actually devoted to discussing the situation. The rest of the time was more of a casual BS session on topics ranging from the restaurant industry, to flying post 9/11, to how the area has changed in the last 20 years.
He did appologise profusely (several times in fact) and offered to refund the cost of the drink, but I declined, indicating that wasn't my modivation for contacting him (he did manage to browbeat me into accepting some gift certificate thingy's through the mail). Apparently the manager in question was a mere 3 weeks out of training, and (being full of piss-n-vinegar) felt he had to stand his ground. I assured him that I didn't harbor any bad feelings, that mis-percetions are quite common and that it's an education process. I told him that given the steps taken to notify their management teams regarding their policy of "mirroring state law', I was pleased with the outcome.
I have an audio of the meeting, but I need to get a male-male cord to jack it into my soundcard in order to post it.. may be a couple of days.
Happy day, happy day!! I say we do the next SWWA meet at another Applebee's and use up the certificates!:celebrate
I just got back from a face to face with Applebee's Area Director, Dale Simonton (nice guy!) and it's un-officially official: Applebee's mirrors state law! With the exception of a few 'pockets' of different franchise holders, this holds sway in almost every western state. Although he wouldn't go 'on record' (because he couldn't confirm it) he believed that the question went all the way to Applebee's International (the big kahuna CORPORATE offices) and they hold to the same policy..... though they actually run relatively few stores these days.... the vast majority are franchises.
I say un-officially because they don't have a written policy either way, though I wouldn't be suprised if that changed sometime soon. Dale informed me that he was working on an E-mail to be circulated to all the managers in the area regarding the legality of weapons in the restaurant, I provided him with a copy of the pamphlet, and offered to E-mail him a link to teh PDF. He made it a point to make sure I understood that we were welcome to OC in Applebee's at any time, even went so far as to give me his card and told me that if I ever had any problems again to give him a call!
I spent about 45 min chattting with him, though I'd hazard a guess that only about 10 min was actually devoted to discussing the situation. The rest of the time was more of a casual BS session on topics ranging from the restaurant industry, to flying post 9/11, to how the area has changed in the last 20 years.
He did appologise profusely (several times in fact) and offered to refund the cost of the drink, but I declined, indicating that wasn't my modivation for contacting him (he did manage to browbeat me into accepting some gift certificate thingy's through the mail). Apparently the manager in question was a mere 3 weeks out of training, and (being full of piss-n-vinegar) felt he had to stand his ground. I assured him that I didn't harbor any bad feelings, that mis-percetions are quite common and that it's an education process. I told him that given the steps taken to notify their management teams regarding their policy of "mirroring state law', I was pleased with the outcome.
I have an audio of the meeting, but I need to get a male-male cord to jack it into my soundcard in order to post it.. may be a couple of days.
Happy day, happy day!! I say we do the next SWWA meet at another Applebee's and use up the certificates!:celebrate