snopes.com: Chipotle Diaper Debacle

Example:   [Collected via Facebook, September 2014] 

I LOVE chipotle and just heard on the news about the couple who changed a diaper on a table... as a customer Id have never gone back to eat there if the manager didn't stop them like he did.

Thank you for keeping the class Chipotle! You rock!

To the couple who refused to take the baby to the car to change him, you have no business even mentioning it to the media. Shame on you! Disgusting!

 

Origins:   On 29 September 2014, consumer issues blog Consumerist published an article that left many readers siding with the company over a customer. A father (identified only as 'Chad') wrote to complain that a local Chipotle had asked his wife to refrain from changing their baby on the restaurant's tables. 

Chad sent a copy of his Chipotle complaint to Consumerist; and although the site did not reproduce it in its entirety due to length, portions of the incident from Chad's perspective are relayed in the blog post. 

Although the angry dad admits that the experience was likely unpleasant for other diners, Consumerist said that Chad believed the family had no choice but to change the baby on the table: 

Yet he defends her decision in his letter, and defended it to the (horrified) Chipotle employees as well. He concluded that they must not have children of their own based on their shock at his wife's actions, and their apparently unacceptable suggestions for alternative diaper-changing spots.

For example: they asked why the family couldn't use their car. In his letter, he complained to Chipotle that the employees showed an 'inability/unwillingness to empathize with parents who find [the car] a less convenient alternative even on a beautiful day like yesterday, much less a subfreezing day as we undoubtedly will have in [this region] this winter.'"

 

The blog further reported that Chad's family was warned not to attempt another dining room diaper change under threat of a Chipotle ban: 

The incident ended with the manager on duty telling Chad's family that if they tried another dining room diaper change, they would immediately be asked to leave. That's fine, Chad noted, because he wouldn't be coming back until a changing table was in place. He pointed out in his letter that competitor Qdoba does have changing tables.

 

In the ensuing brouhaha, Chipotle issued a statement addressing the diaper changing issue. The chain responded to Chad's complaint, indicating that they are currently "retrofitting" restaurants with diaper changing facilities in an effort to accommodate families with younger children: 

Thank you for reaching out to us. I'm sorry to hear that you and your family don't feel as comfortable in our restaurants having a little one that might need changing. I can completely understand that it's a hassle to find a way to change your daughter, and agree, that there are simply no alternatives as convenient as an actual changing table. We are currently in the process of retrofitting locations with changing tables, but I understand that this is not a very timely solution.

I will forward your email to our [city] restaurant team, so they can understand where you come from, to maybe ease some of the tension. As you can understand it might be disconcerting for other customers to see a child getting changed directly on the tables, and we want to provide all of our customers with an exceptional experience.

We hope that we get to see you again soon, and that we find a good resolution that makes everyone happy.

 

Chipotle has not specified when changing tables will begin appearing in their outlets. 

Read more at http://snopes.com/info/news/chipotlediaper.asp#7pQd73viVJ3Gtk0s.99