Reversal of ROI - Kudos to Dunkin Donuts

This summer I went to visit my Father-in-Law at the Canadian border where there is one Dunkin Donuts within a huge radius. On our way out of town, our order was bungled - horribly - to say the least. I usually take mishaps with a grain of salt and I'm especially forgiving when someone owns up to the situation. However, this fine day we were met with complete and total apathy. The story does not end here.... I was totally annoyed. So I filled out the consumer survey and checked off that I did want to be contacted. Then I waited...and waited...and waited.

Then I sent Dunks this tweet:

We sent DMs (Direct Messages: private messaging between people following each other on Twitter) to exchange contact details and I sent an email to them at the end of the day. The next morning I had an email in my inbox from both Dunkin's corporate customer service and the owner of that location. I talked to the owner of the location and when I make the 6 hour trek back to almost-Canada, he's going to buy us breakfast.

Within 5 days of that tweet I had a care package from the corporate office - 1 lb of their wonderful coffee and a $5 gift card. Estimated total value - $12....also the approximate expense of our bungled misadventure.

Since then, I've spent $50 re-upping my gift card....and counting. (That would be about a 416% ROI on just the gifts sent to me. I'm not sure what the hourly rate of the employees is, but I'd estimate they spent roughly 1 hour working on my 'case'. Estimate an annual salary of $40k, that breaks down to an hourly salary of roughly $19.23.)

So total expenses on Dunkin Donut's case: $31.23 (divided by $50 (money I've spent with Dunkin Donuts since) gives a ROI of roughly 160%.)

(The last time I reloaded my gift card was several months prior to this interaction.)

I'm back in love with Dunkin Donuts and it feels so good! This is just the start of my ROI value to them. I never 'quit' Dunkin Donuts to begin our story, but that little element of showing me they care quickly brought them more revenue out of my pocket, good will from all the people I told and I'm also plotting some Dunkin' love Christmas gifting to the family!

Moral of the story:

Social Media ROI does exist.