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| We get so many amazing letters about CiCi's employees going the extra mile for our
guests that we just had to share some of them with you. One stand-out story seemed to
be the perfect example of what WOW Stories are all about, so we've chosen it as our winner,
but all the nominees are pretty incredible. We're proud to have all of these amazing people
as part of the CiCi's family! |
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Life Changing Experience - Nick Ogima - Hammond, LA
Hi my name is Sherrie and I am writing this WOW story on behalf of my family and most importantly my 13 year old quadriplegic son Christopher. He’s helping me type this letter, therefore if some of the words come out wrong it’s because he’s using a pencil. He’s says it’s quite tasty but not like your pizza's!
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Apple of My Eye
Not everyday do I feel as though I have to comment on my visits to any restaurant! However, today my mother and I visited CiCi's Pizza in Hammond, La. Upon arrival Nick, the manager, opened the door to let us inside! Once inside all the ladies that were working shocked me with a greeting! Hi, Welcome to CiCi's! I have never visited a CiCi's before, but my mother persisted that I should go!
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Encounter with a Child
It's always a good Friday night when you have a line out the door and go home with a good feeling that you and your staff made an impact in someone's life that shift!!! I am a firm believer that we are in the right place at the right time for a reason.
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Delivering Pizzas via Kayak
The image of CiCi's operator James Morgan in his flooded parking lot typifies the extraordinary effort that the operators in Florida gave to their communities, to their guests, to each other and to CiCi's. James' story started when the rains from the first hurricanes filled the retention pond behind his shopping center. After the pond was filled there was nowhere for the water to go. During the hurricane James found the water approaching the front door and put up sandbags to keep as much water as possible from entering the restaurant. The next morning he found the parking lot had not receded.
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A Helping Hand
One day in August, I realized that one of my favorite guests, Louis, was having a rough day. Until this time, I had never seen Louis when he wasn't smiling. Louis suffers from cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheelchair, with very limited upper body mobility as well, but that has never kept him from greeting everyone he meets with a warm smile, and most often, a face full of BBQ sauce from his favorite pizza. Naturally, my curiosity got to me and I started to investigate what was bothering him. I asked him what was wrong. He replied, "They're taking my chair from me!"
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CiCi's Pizza partners with local Fire Department
This story has a bit of twist. While most of the WOW stories we've been exposed to in the past deal with heroic or quick-thinking reactions to amazing situations, this is a story of forward thinking and prevention.
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A Big WOW for Des Moines!
My wife found a coupon in our local paper and wanted to try it and away we went. I had prejudged the place thinking it couldn't be much for the price but have to admit I was wrong. We enjoyed everything we had and, believe me, we tried our best to try it all. The service was great with new pizza on the buffet several times while we were there.
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Overjoyed
I recently filled out an online comment card, but there wasn't room for extra comments. You have got to know this: I usually have lunch once a week at the Hurst location in Texas on Airport Freeway. I never go on the same day of the week, but no matter when I go I leave with a smile, and the warm fuzzy feeling that doesn't just come from being full.
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“The Power of Making Their Day” - Tony Dodd, CiCi's in Tampa, Florida
I got a phone call from a guest yesterday and I wanted to take a moment to share her comments with you. I am almost certain that her name was "Linda", but I was so choked up just moments into the conversation, that I was unable to remember her name when the phone call was finished, so I will call her Linda for the purpose of having a name to attach to the guest.
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“Elves and More” - Les Lemmons, CiCi's in Houston, Texas
Two years ago I had a tremendous desire to get involved in the Houston community, especially with our most valued guests, the children. I had searched for different programs to find something that really tugged on my heart strings and made me feel like I made a difference in a childs life.
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“Whatever It Takes” - Devin McCardle, CiCi's in Marion, Ohio
Dear Mr. Moore, Although writing letters to big corporations is something I normally wouldn’t do, I feel compelled to let you know about my family’s extraordinary visit to one of your restaurants. We were amazed!
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Pizza Family
Hannah, an eight year old CiCi’s Pizza guest, wrote a story that was entered in the Reading Rainbow Young Writers & Illustrators contest. She recently was awarded first place in her grade level for the state of Oklahoma. Her story “Pizza Family” is about a family who lives in CiCi’s Pizza. Please visit the attached URL to enjoy her story in full. Thank you Hannah and best of luck in your continued writing success!
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Perfect Storm
Yesterday my children and I were coming back from a dental appointment, We were going to go to a store located at the same strip mall as CiCi's #453, and then we were going to go to McDonald's. My son has to take medication at a set time and then has about 30 minutes to eat or he will get sick.
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Commending Excellent Service
My wife and I and two more friends, were in to your Humble, Texas restaurant this week and were amazingly surprised and delighted at the service we received. We especially wanted to commend you on Raphael. He greeted us with enthusiasm and gusto as one would a friend dropping in for a visit! He was very attentive, not only to us, but to all the patrons. I don't know if he is one of your managers or not, but he certainly should be! It was truly refreshing to find someone who appreciated our business and let us know that he was happy to serve us. The food was fresh, hot, and a good variety. The salads were crisp and delightful. We will certainly be patronizing this restaurant every time we go to Humble. Our friends who were with us, patronize this CiCi's frequently, and stated they had always had a pleasant experience. They said that Raphael was always pleasant, and took the responsibility of serving his customers with a smile.
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Chef by Trade
My name is Michael and I am a chef by trade. I have cooked around the world for people such as the Presidents, the Queen of England, movie stars and politicians. My wife Donna has owned numerous restaurants, knowing her way around a dining room blindfolded and how to handle people. The hardest part of going out to dine is the deep seeded critics inside of us both. Recently we traveled to Little Rock and decided to try CiCi’s Pizza after seeing a lot of new commercials on television. When we walked into the Lakewood Village location, the place was packed with two school groups of kids. We almost turned around if it were not for someone saying “Hi” to us with a hardy welcome. The greeting was not a monotone Pavlov response, but we believe they were actually glad we were there amongst the crowd. This type of treatment got my attention.
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Good Experience
I just wanted to let you know of our experience at the CiCi's Pizza in Brandon, Florida. On Tuesday night, May 1, my husband and I drove about 25 minutes so that we could have dinner at your restaurant. We eat at this restaurant at least once a week and sometimes twice a week. On Tuesday night we were getting our food and found out that the diet coke machine did not work. My husband is a diabetic and cannot drink anything with sugar in it. The only drink available at the drink machine was water as the diet coke part broke down on that Sunday. When Eric heard about our problem he told us not to worry that he would go next door and get a pitcher of diet coke from that restaurant. We sat down and started to eat our salads and within maybe five minutes Eric came to our table with a pitcher of diet coke. Instead of having a disappointing meal we had the kind of meal that we were looking forward to enjoying. We feel Eric really went beyond his duty in order to satisfy our needs. We just thought that you might be interested in our positive experience at our local CiCi's Pizza. Thank you for taking the time to read our e-mail.
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Great First Experience
I wanted to let you know about the experience I had this week while I was on a trip to Jonesboro, AR. I have been traveling for business and dining out for every meal. Over the course of the past week, I ate an expensive steakhouse and other fine dining establishments. However, this past Wednesday I wanted to try something different. We do not have CiCi's Pizza back home (in Milwaukee, WI) so I thought I would give your chain a try.
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Golden Pizza Award
My wife and I live in Copperas Cove, approximately 15 miles west of Killeen, and whenever we are in Killeen, we like to eat at CiCis as my wife really likes pizza. We started going to CiCis on a regular basis about two years ago, on Monday nights to enjoy the Senior buffet. The first time we went on a Monday night, Richy met us in line and welcomed us to his restaurant and stated that if there was anything we needed or anything special, to please let him know. We were quite impressed with this and immediately felt this was a great place with such a warm atmosphere and felt welcomed. We noticed that he did this to everyone that came in the door, but possibly more so for the seniors. We noticed that evening that Richy was going from table to table throughout the restaurant to insure that everything was above par and that all of his guest were well taken care of.
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Motivating Manager
Hi my name is Christopher L. I am 13 years old! I am a quadriplegic. My Mom is sitting next to me helping me type this letter. If some of the words come out wrong it’s because I am using a pencil. It’s quite tasty but not like your pizzas! I am writing you this because my family was driving through Hammond and we saw the CiCi's Pizza sign and decided to eat! I wanted to go eat some pizza and thought CiCi's Pizza is the best! When I first rolled in I was told Hi, welcome to CiCi's Pizza! The cashier was a guy named Nick. He asked me if I ever have ever dinned at a CiC's before. I told him yes. Well we paid for the food and my Mom pushed me to our table. Mr. Nick was walking around looking at tables and dancing to some music. As he passed me he asked me if I knew who was playing. I told him no. He slapped me gently on my arm, you know like boys ruff-house a little, and told me it was the king. I said a king? He told me Elvis, baby! I told him that I wished I could play music. At that moment my Mother came back and sat down. Nick introduced himself to her! Nick then pulled up a chair next to me and told me that we as people have something that is stronger than any force in the world and that is the human spirit! Nothing is stronger than our will to accomplish something! I told him that I can not move my legs, and that I can barley move one of my arms. When I told him that it felt really good to look into his eyes and him show no pity, he just kept talking! Usually that is all I get from people, just a sad look! He told me that he was color blind. He told me that he can not see green or red. He told me to imagine seeing a world and not being able to enjoy every color that creates it! I started laughing at him and told him he was lying. He told me that he gets into car accidents all the time. He also told me he has a big disadvantage when he chooses his chili peppers. Nick told me when he was younger that he colored Clifford the Big Red Dog purple! I asked him if he could not read the labels on the colors. He told me that when he got them the paper was torn off! He also told me that most of the pizzas he can not see them for their true colors. He told me that the regular pepperoni looks grey and white to him. He told me to imagine all the red and green you see turn to grey! I told him what about me! What he told me next made me cry. He said what’s wrong with you! I told him that I was a quadriplegic! He told me so that's your excuse? Then he asked me if I would like some more pepperoni! I said yes. He told me what do I look like ah pizza gatherer? You ought to have seen the faces Nick made and the motions with his hands when he talks! He makes me laugh so much! I asked him if he would push me. He told me no, but I will walk with you and that I would have to show him where the red sauce pepperoni is because he can not see red. I told him deal! Then we get up to the bar and he made me pick up the slices and put them on the trey he was carrying! I told him I do not go up to lines because I take to long. He told me that he would Hulk Smash any guest who complains. That was really funny! So, he made me drive back to my table! Then he looked at me and told me you will become something and someone in your life. He said if I fall, get up, shake off the dust and ride them for another 8 seconds! Then he told me that I reminded him of Christopher Reeve. You are Superman! I felt like Superman! As he asked for a high-five I told him that I could not lift my hand that high, so he grabbed my hand and did it for me! He said sometimes we get by with a little help from our friends! That was so cool! I told him thank you for helping me. He thanked me for letting him see again. Not sure what that meant but my mom says it means a lot! Well this is my story! Thank you Mr. Nick.
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Arcadia, FL
Ashland, VA
Chattanooga, TN
Colorado Springs, CO
Columbia, SC
Estero, FL
Friendswood, TX
Ft. Collins, CO
Garland, TX
Green , OH
Hialeah, FL
Houma, LA
Kemah, FL
Kissimmee, FL
Lakeland, FL
Lancaster, PA
Lockport, IL
Mesa, AZ
Mesa, AZ
North Charleston, SC
Panama City Beach, FL
Plymouth, MN
Riverview, FL
Sulphur Springs, TX
Topeka, KS
Whitehall, PA
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Clarksville, TN
Clarksville, TN
Cumming, GA
Denver, CO
Jacksonville, FL
Panama City Beach, FL
Phoenix - 75th & Encanto, AZ
Stuart, FL
The Colony, TX
The Villages, FL
Toledo, OH
Watertown, SD
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Clarksville, TN