#BurgerGate Medicine Hat Arby's goes off the grid
A follower on facebook sent in a tip that a local fast-crafted sandwich shop (with a drive-through) was suspicious. The tipster said they went to the drive through and saw that all of the Arby's logo's had been removed, and the drive-thru attendant said they were now called "John's".
In this small market, I though most business owner would know to make an announcement of some kind (especially with those big glowing digital signs on the road). So I honestly figured it might be somone playing a prank... But the more I asked around, the more I got confusing responses. So I called Arby's Corporate HQ, and the local shop:
Arby's customer care was cool AF, and encouraged me to go make a movie!
I even did A live facebook video with the food, to talk about the experience:
My only real criticism was that the boss had a website: www.arbyshat.com (btw, having the word "SHAT" in your domain is not great for your image). This website was obviously set up so that his employees could see their schedule. But it was totally public, no password or login required. This meant ex-employees were sharing the website, and allowing anyone who wanted to, to monitor their schedules. (Pretty creepy, and likely a violation of a privacy policy with Arby's, and possibly even a legal issue between employees and owner / management)
This website was removed about 30 minutes after I posted the story, and the website address, which included a clear screenshot of the schedule).
You can use DomainTools to look at the archived versions of the web page.
I found out the owner's name from this search, and found him on facebook to ask him about the location. He accused me of harassing the employees, saying "they have already been through enough". He accused me of breaking some kind of law for recording the Arby's Phone call, and the one with his staff (I believe it was his wife on the phone when I called, who told me it was now John's).
He even told me I can never go back!
Well, that's odd... My only intention was to find out if it was a new, locally owned restaurant, and in finding that out, and enjoying some great fast food, I seem to have spooked the owner.
I'm still pretty suspicious that he's got a whole bunch of actual Arby's stuff in the freezer, and he's selling it was white label. But who cares? Not me!
Arby's lawyers are probably litigious as hell considering how bad the brand has been doing in Canada. I wish John's the best! I love to help out a local business owner if I can. It's really too bad he responded by accusing me. It just makes me more suspicious...
But this is how some of the fans saw things:
(as they drove through this busy drive-thru for the first time in years...
