Not even a Playboy centerfold can boost Olive Garden's profits in this economy, so the restaurant is taking matters into its own hands and raising its menu prices to offset skyrocketing costs. Parent company Darden Restaurants will be raising menu prices at its Olive Garden and Red Lobster restaurants by about 3% to start its 2009 fiscal year.



The price increase is not huge, but it is on the higher end of standard for the company, which generally raises prices between 2% and 3% each year. Several economic factors have hurt Darden's profits recently, including record high meat and grain prices, minimum wage increases, and slower sales, as many customers are feeling financially pinched as well. They are either staying home or opting instead for cheaper dining options, like fast food restaurants.

Darden's first quarter profit sank 23%, and same store sales were down 1%. Like so many other businesses, these restaurants simply cannot cope with rising operational costs unless they pass some of those costs onto the consumer.

The question remains, though, as to whether customers will be willing to take on these costs. Most people are getting tighter with their money each day, and these small price hikes could be the breaking point for some. Darden recognizes the need for incentives, and plans to offer more coupons at its higher end LongHorn Steakhouse chain. The company will also offer more lobster-based promotional bargains at the Red Lobster chain, since lobster prices have declined, and will continue to look for more ways to reach out to its "price sensitive" customers -- a group that is rapidly expanding. With challenges coming from all angles, the restaurant industry is going to have to get creative if they want to meet their financial goals in 2009.

If you have interacted with a company at any time over the past year, the results of a recent Harris poll may be of no surprise to you. The survey found that 87% of adults who had taken part in an online transaction were disappointed with the experience, furthermore the survey indicated that 41% of those who had issues went to a competitor rather than deal with a substandard experience.

This is bad news for companies but good news for consumers, since one of the best ways to tell a company to improve is to take your dollars elsewhere.

Normally surveys and numbers don't excite me too much, but the trend I am seeing from this survey has me elated even as companies around me are declaring bankruptcy. The survey showed me that consumers are feeling more empowered and starting to stand up to shoddy behavior from the companies they interact with. Harris found that 4 out of 5 customers shared their negative experiences with others to protect them from a poor experience.

This information sharing wasn't limited to blogs and complaints in Facebook statuses which took up just 7% of the online portion of complaints, but through interactions in the real world, which is where 82% of adults took their complaints. While the offline modes they chose aren't as extreme as putting up a billboard to warn other consumers, the reality is that consumers are standing up for themselves.

I hope that this survey is an indicator that consumers as a whole won't put up with bad customer service and poor online transactions. If more people start calling companies on their actions and taking their dollars elsewhere the marketplace as a whole will improve as these poor performers are pushed to the bottom quicker.