Nearly $4 Cokes Help Pay for $4 Million CEO

[Purplehaze]

[Guest IceCream329]

Umm who says that....whenever a guest is un-happy when in my stand or served at my stand I try to do everything in my power to make them happy...if a guest complains about the food...then I get them fresh food....if they want a refund I give it to them with the refunded item freshly made..whatever they need/want I try to produce...they say direct them to guest relations I say, lets comfort them on the spot and see if I can make it better and ease them the trip to guest relations and do everything I can...if that fails...well go to guest relations...

[The Interpreter]

and that's the way it should be...

[BoddaH1994]

We have been told, in this thread, that associates CANNOT DO anything to address most guest complaints but must send people to guest relations.

In addition, at Carowinds, I watched helplessly as manager after manager was called in to try to get me admitted with my Platinum Pass when I had been there the day before, and the system was insistent that I had already been there that day (at 9:15 a.m.). Not one of them was empowered to just let me in. After 20 minutes of this nonsense, I quietly left. That would not have happened at most parks...someone would have been able to override the system and just let me in (as apparently did happen to other KIC'rs later in the season at Cedar Point...finally).

Let's assume for a second that your situation was unique.

All that we've really heard here is how associates can't do anything about prices, which they can't - and perhaps even rightfully so. If someone comes in complaining about prices, Kings Island isn't going to help them out with that.. then again, neither will Wal-Mart.

I've heard stories of guests complaining about rides being down and things of that sort and they were taken care of. Has anyone had any experience with this?

I'm not one to complain about things. If something isn't up to my standards, it just looses my business. I do, however, give respect where it's earned. An example was Rivertown Junction. Ate there around opening day of '09 and hated it. Didn't go to GR to complain, as I didn't really want my money back. I was just done with the place. Several months later, a foods department area manager named Mike Loy approached me asking me to give it another chance. He had taken it over and claimed to have made a lot of improvements. Out of respect for Mike, I tried it again and was very impressed. Granted, this was a unique situation (with the foods manager approaching me) but otherwise, to this day, I probably wouldn't have ever eaten there again.

[Guest IceCream329]

Y'll seem to complain alot about a company that, well lets see provided Diamondback, Firehawk....snoopy starlight experience...Planet Snoopy....ect...and it happened how, by the way the company runs now.....and last time I checked this was a fan page not a complain like little baby's site!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[The Interpreter]

And a company that is in dire straits, tried to sell itself to a private equity firm but couldn't get the unit holders to agree, and that just aborted its most recent attempt at refinancing and is being sued for financial disclosure of the aspects of that refinancing...by its largest unit holder, to whom it just capitulated by adding two board members to its Board of Directors without any vote of the unit holders to add them.

[Purplehaze]

Yak! Sorry I choked on My $4.25 Coke while I was reading this/. Pardon me

Nobody is forcing you to buy food and drink at the park. If you're going to complain to employees, guests, your cat, and everyone else within hearing distance about the prices, please don't. Some of us have to put up with this crap all day long.

For your info I do buy product in the park, actually I buy a lot of product. And as for the prices I am complaining and to be honest I really do not care if you put up with them all day in and out. Besides I am just playing. But if I have something to say I will say it. maybe if you have to put up with that "crap" all day long you would be happier in another job elsewhere. Public service is not an easy thing.

and icecream: I do not care if Taft , CBS or jack the ripper owned the park it would and always will advance in the rides and attractions, other wise it would not be in business. I think the rides are awesome, the shows RAWK but there is more to it then the things you mention. So Yes I have issues with pricing in the park and rightly so I spend enough there. Listening to irate guests over this and that is kinda the nature of The Beast" no pun intended". "check out some of your own posts before you comment on others.

I have been attending KI since the day it opened not to mention more years of employment there than a lot of the members of this forum have been alive. It's not the same till you live it.

[Purplehaze]

Umm who says that....whenever a guest is un-happy when in my stand or served at my stand I try to do everything in my power to make them happy...if a guest complains about the food...then I get them fresh food....if they want a refund I give it to them with the refunded item freshly made..whatever they need/want I try to produce...they say direct them to guest relations I say, lets comfort them on the spot and see if I can make it better and ease them the trip to guest relations and do everything I can...if that fails...well go to guest relations...

I have met you at your stand and you are a wonderful nice person, not many treat the guests with such respect.

[KIfan1980]

I agree....to be honest I feel that the prices are fair.....not to get everyone mad but if you knew what we have to go through just to get the Coke to the guest you would be shocked...

As I haven't worked at Kings Island (or any amusement park), I'm sure I would be shocked at everything you have to go through just to get the Coke to the guest.

I'd also be shocked if the the entire cost of getting the Coke to the guest added up to more than 50 cents - meaning there is still one heck of a profit margin on each Coke, even the $1.99 refills.

Is this fair? The answer to that isn't easy - as people have pointed out, there is a choice that can be made and Cedar Fair is a business. If they can charge that price and make more money than by charging less (law of supply and demand is a good thing in my book), then so be it. My concerns, however, are:

1. I'm not sure they haven't impacted their total profit by continually raising food prices - pricing models are extremely difficult to create however.
2. I'm not sure that the corporation leadership is acting in the best interest of their "owners" (unitholders) - again, however, this is also opinion versus fact

[The Interpreter]

I agree....to be honest I feel that the prices are fair.....not to get everyone mad but if you knew what we have to go through just to get the Coke to the guest you would be shocked...

And I am quite sure that The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, a Cedar Fair corporate sponsor, would appreciate it if park associates would at least capitalize the name of its brand of cola beverages..one it has zealously defended in trademark action after trademark action. It is not Coke...it is Coke or Coca-Cola. And a Pepsi is not a 'Coke.'

[Guest IceCream329]

Umm who says that....whenever a guest is un-happy when in my stand or served at my stand I try to do everything in my power to make them happy...if a guest complains about the food...then I get them fresh food....if they want a refund I give it to them with the refunded item freshly made..whatever they need/want I try to produce...they say direct them to guest relations I say, lets comfort them on the spot and see if I can make it better and ease them the trip to guest relations and do everything I can...if that fails...well go to guest relations...

I have met you at your stand and you are a wonderful nice person, not many treat the guests with such respect.

Well thank you so much....I think of it like this....for many of the guests, this visit to KI is their biggest day of the summer, so I try to do everything I can to make it a wonderful memory they'll never forget. Guests are everything to me, my greatest joy is to see a guest smile!!!

[CedarPointer]

And I am quite sure that The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, a Cedar Fair corporate sponsor, would appreciate it if park associates would at least capitalize the name of its brand of cola beverages..one it has zealously defended in trademark action after trademark action. It is not Coke...it is Coke or Coca-Cola. And a Pepsi is not a 'Coke.'

I have heard a guest argue that Pepsi was, in fact, a Coca-Cola product. I have never had such a hard time hiding laughter.

[Guest IceCream329]

I had something like that happen to me, someone tried to explain to me that the blue ice cream really wasn't ice cream, not gonna mention names but I proved The Interpreter wrong....oh wait I did mention a name...lol...

[The Interpreter]

You did, indeed. What was once right no longer is...it's not even imitation...I have now seen the light!

And it wasn't even about a big blue B & M at Cedar Point, either...

[CedarPointer]

Except that isn't a downright obvious thing. But Coca-Cola and Pepsi... REALLY?

[The Interpreter]

In the south, many call every fizzy, carbonated beverage a 'Coke.' Even if it is a Fanta Orange Soda.

Where, oh where, is WooferBearATL when you need him?

[Guest IceCream329]

True....you know I have had a guest ask me "Where is the Eiffel Tower?"

[The Interpreter]

I hope you did not say Paris, France.

Terpy, who might get in trouble saying just such a thing

[Guest IceCream329]

Of course not, I simply turned around and said their it is m'am!

[Purplehaze]

In the south, many call every fizzy, carbonated beverage a 'Coke.' Even if it is a Fanta Orange Soda.

Where, oh where, is WooferBearATL when you need him?

I have not seen him in ages where he be?

Trailing soda and pop in popularity is Coke, which has influence in the south likely due to the location of the Coca-Cola plant in Georgia. "I'll have a Coke," "What kind of Coke?", "Root beer please". Soda is more popular in the southwest, northeast, and St. Louis area; pop is used more in the northwest and midwest; Coke is used in the south.Other terms for soft drinks from other counties (via wikipedia):

• Canadians and the British say "pop"
• Some Brits even say "fizzy drink"
• In Western Scotland, they use "ginger"
• Aussies and New Zealanders say "soft drink"
• Some Australians call it "lolly water"

[BoddaH1994]

In the south, many call every fizzy, carbonated beverage a 'Coke.' Even if it is a Fanta Orange Soda.

Where, oh where, is WooferBearATL when you need him?

I have not seen him in ages where he be?

Trailing soda and pop in popularity is Coke, which has influence in the south likely due to the location of the Coca-Cola plant in Georgia. "I'll have a Coke," "What kind of Coke?", "Root beer please". Soda is more popular in the southwest, northeast, and St. Louis area; pop is used more in the northwest and midwest; Coke is used in the south.Other terms for soft drinks from other counties (via wikipedia):

• Canadians and the British say "pop"
• Some Brits even say "fizzy drink"
• In Western Scotland, they use "ginger"
• Aussies and New Zealanders say "soft drink"
• Some Australians call it "lolly water"

I'm from Northern Kentucky, the kinda-but-not-really south.

I'd say the most popular terms are:

1. Coke (If you ask for a Coke at a Pepsi restaurant, there are times when they don't even correct you)

2. Soft drink (although a lot less common than just calling it a Coke)

3. Pop (you sometimes, but almost never, hear that)

[Purplehaze]

I pretty much say pop, my relatives way down south always say Coke. I have got to the place where I (or try too) usually say soda now.

[Guest PizzaBaby027]

Hello everyone, FYI its IceCream329, I changed my name...as you can tell.....okay aside from that statement.....I usually call it soda pop...LOL

[RingMaster]

Remember when people used to call sodas fountain drinks?

.....yeah, neither do I.

[Purplehaze]

Um I remember.

[The Interpreter]

Remember when people used to call sodas fountain drinks?

.....yeah, neither do I.

They are fountain drinks when they come from a fountain, as opposed to cans, bottles, etc.

A lot of people get very upset in restaurants if they pay $1.50 (or more) for a soft drink and then get a retail package like a can or bottle. The taste is not the same. Many prefer one over another--fountain or bottle or can...

When I was a little kids, the words 'fountain drinks' always made me think of someone drinking from a decorative fountain in front of a building (not a water fountain!).

[windshawne]

Um I remember.

So do I. The real cherry Coke from the fountain...yum!!

[Purplehaze]

YES, "REAL" Cherry Coke, not the stuff in cans and bottles.

[Oldiesmann]

Fortunately, Steak 'n' Shake and Johnny Rockets both offer the true Cherry Coke - not the pre-flavored variety that you get at many other restaurants.

[The Interpreter]

So does....Waffle House...at least some of them do.