Thanks to your invitation, my family of 5 attended the Saturn Drive-In Reunion in Ottawa on Saturday, 1995-09-09 with our 2 Saturns (1992 SL1, 1993 SL1).
It was packed with enthusiastic Saturn fans. The weather was good, and the choice of film "Apollo 13" was excellent. There were interesting activities for both adults and kids. The 1996 Saturns were nice, and the fireworks were spectacular, too.
It was also a very unforgettable event because the distribution of food was a fiasco. I had to wait from 19:00 till 21:30 (2 hours and 30 minutes) to get food at the concession stand, so I caught less than 1 hour of the film. There were only 2 cashiers for the hundreds of people on the line, and each order was taking up to 3 minutes. At about 10 people before me, they ran out of pizza! Their mediocre cardboard box resulted in the soft drink splashing on me and the people behind me. Despite the advertisement, they didn't honour the "Combo" discount, so what I thought was a $26 CAD order became $32 CAD. I was too exhausted to protest...
A few people left the theatre when they got the food. After waiting over 2 hours, some people left the line-up in disgust when the movie started. It was surprising that there was no riot, but I heard comments like "I will never attend any event organised by Saturn again." from the frustrated crowd.
Throughout this ordeal, the dedicated Saturn organisers remained sympathetic and were handing out freebies such as sticky pads and crayons. Even though there was a second showing, I couldn't drag my tired kids at 22:30.
In short, the concession stand didn't share your view of customer satisfaction. Here are my suggestions, if you are ever to hold this kind of event again.
Don't offer FREE food. I would be happy to picnic.
If you do offer FREE food, skip the concession stand and hire Kentucky Fried Chicken or Pizza Hut or somebody who have experience in handling a large crowd. The drinks should be in cans to avoid accidents.
I bet that if you ask the Saturn owners (when they call your 1-800 number for confirmation of attendance) to volunteer to distribute food at a drive-in theatre, a surprising percentage of people would say "Yes".
I am still a dedicated Saturn fan. Saturn is indeed a different kind of company and a different kind of car. The car itself is of much higher quality than the cars I had owned before, mostly Japanese imports which quickly rusted away. I even like the automatic seat-belt which you dropped for 1996.
In conclusion, I was deeply touched by the Saturn team, even at the dealer level, for its passion for excellence. I was disgusted by the management of the drive-in theatre for the handling of food at the concession stand. It is none of Saturn's fault, but Saturn could do things better next time.
P.S. I like your World-Wide Web site <http://www.saturncars.com/>, and look forward to a direct feedback communication channel through E-mail. The Web site could become a "Saturn Centre of Excellence" if you publish both positive and negative comments for future improvements. In the mean time, I would appreciate your forwarding my proposal to the proper authority at Saturn corporate headquarters.
To whom it may concern
After the Saturn Drive-In Reunion last year, I wrote to you because despite great efforts by the Saturn organisers, the distribution of food was a fiasco, so much so that I missed half the movie. I am pleased to let you know that this year's event was excellent even though it rained at the end of the movie.
This year, I went to the different location (Gatineau) from last year (Ottawa). Saturn offered only popcorn, so there was no line up to worry about. Before the event, Aylmer Saturn hosted a fantastic barbeque. It was somewhat long drive from Aylmer to Gatineau, but thanks to the police escort, I was able to pass through many red lights!
Thanks again for hosting such a wonderful Saturn Drive-In Reunion. Please note that my offer to test-drive the Impact electric car in the harsh cold weather still stands.
