Written by Samantha
I have been craving a Chicken Club wrap from what was one of my favorite restaurants for weeks. I finally made it there last night and the experience was horrible. The wrap comes with marinated chicken, bacon, lettuce, cheese, salsa, avocado, and green chile sauce. I don’t like the last three items……. I have never had a problem ordering this item sans avocado, salsa, or the green sauce. Never. Apparently, there really is a first time for everything.
We placed our orders and I specified clearly what I didn’t want. It came. It was covered in all of the offending ingredients. I always feel bad sending food back, always. The waitress came over and I explained the problem and apologized. She said she didn’t realize I didn’t want those ingredients- perhaps writing something down would help. She took it away and then the manager came over. I use the term manager extremely loosely after last night. First off he *might* be 19 (and acts it). Second, he looked offended that I would send something back to the kitchen and demanded to know if I told our waitress the way I wanted my order. No, I assumed she was psychic and wanted to play a rousing guessing game before dinner. It came back a few moments later (the food, not the manager) and this time it was covered in sour cream. Never mind the fact that sour cream isn’t even supposed to be involved. Never mind the fact that I have now explained three times- that I onlywant chicken, lettuce, bacon and cheese. I was so frustrated I just wanted to leave. My husband insisted that this was their issue and they needed to correct it. He called the manager over because our waitress was no where in sight. This time Mr. Manager looked plain irritated. I apologized again and told him that the wrap was covered in sour cream. He said “You didn’t say you didn’t want sour cream.” I sighed. I didn’t specify that I didn’t want little green army men either but since neither are a part of the lengthy description and I’ve never received a wrap with sour cream or little green army men before- I didn’t think it was an issue. I didn’t say any of that. I calmly mentioned that it wasn’t supposed to have sour cream in the first place and I clearly said I ONLY WANTED CHICKEN, LETTUCE, BACON AND CHEESE. He stormed off. When he returned he sat the new plate in front of me without saying a word, and huffed away. It was almost half the original size and my side item was missing.
Some advice for the “manager”:
1) Guess what? You are in the customer service field- if you don’t remotely want to please customers- perhaps you should go into telemarketing.
2) When a customer places an order and their food comes out ALL wrong- through no fault of their own, you have no right to act annoyed, put out, or frustrated with said paying customer.
3) If a meal is screwed up twice- you should apologize and adjust the bill, especially when the customer is being polite even though you are not.
4) You should be respectful and friendly to everyone- it doesn’t hurt to assume that everyone who enters the restaurant is tight with the owner. Sometimes you are serving the granddaughter of the man who owns the freakin’ building and just happens to be close, personal friends with your boss.
Now that I’ve shared my story- I wanna hear yours. What was your worst restaurant experience?
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Comments
6 Responses to A Simple Order
No, I assumed she was psychic and wanted to play a rousing guessing game before dinner.
Oh, I know I shouldn’t laugh, but you are too funny. There’s nothing like really wanting a specific food and being stymied. I think I might have cried by the end if I were you.
If this is a chain, I’d write a letter to the corporate office. If not, I might still write a letter, and direct it to someone over twit-manager’s head. His behavior was beyond rude.
I’m not sure I’ve had any experiences that compare…I’ll have to give it some thought.
The thing that really ticked me off was the fact that I stayed polite and apologized for sending it back- even though it was their fault. If I had been rude it would be one thing. I’m still mad about it and its been over a week!
I know I have one but I can’t remember it, LOL. Guess it could not have been that bad. Yours sounds pretty bad though. Did they give you a free dessert or a voucher for a free meal the next time? I would write a letter to the owner.
I need to ask my husband because I know we have had a few bad experiences in restaurants.
Wow, I am steaming just hearing about your experience.
You are my mayo-hating “twin” and I am sure you have had the same experience as I have – roughly 33% of the time when you ask that it not be included, they do it anyway. Unfortunately, this happens to me more in take-outs and I often don’t discover it until I am home. I have actually had Jen assist me with scraping the icky white glop off the bread. Yuck.
The conduct of the wait staff and manager was horrendous. I actually don’t feel that bad sending things back if they truly have gotten the order wrong. When I have sent items back, I have never had the staff be outright rude. Sometimes they act clueless and fail to apologize, but impolite, thankfully no.
I think you should share the name of the establishment. The internet is actually a pretty good place to share useful information.
Wouldn’t you just love their boss to come across this account???
Jack Nicholson said it best in Five Easy Pieces:
Dupea: I’d like a plain omelette, no potatoes, tomatoes instead, a cup of coffee, and wheat toast.
Waitress: (She points to the menu) No substitutions.
Dupea: What do you mean? You don’t have any tomatoes?
Waitress: Only what’s on the menu. You can have a number two – a plain omelette. It comes with cottage fries and rolls.
Dupea: Yeah, I know what it comes with. But it’s not what I want.
Waitress: Well, I’ll come back when you make up your mind.
Dupea: Wait a minute. I have made up my mind. I’d like a plain omelette, no potatoes on the plate, a cup of coffee, and a side order of wheat toast.
Waitress: I’m sorry, we don’t have any side orders of toast…an English muffin or a coffee roll.
Dupea: What do you mean you don’t make side orders of toast? You make sandwiches, don’t you?
Waitress: Would you like to talk to the manager?
Dupea: …You’ve got bread and a toaster of some kind?
Waitress: I don’t make the rules.
Dupea: OK, I’ll make it as easy for you as I can. I’d like an omelette, plain, and a chicken salad sandwich on wheat toast, no mayonnaise, no butter, no lettuce. And a cup of coffee.
Waitress: A number two, chicken salad, hold the butter, the lettuce and the mayonnaise. And a cup of coffee. Anything else?
Dupea: Yeah. Now all you have to do is hold the chicken, bring me the toast, give me a check for the chicken salad sandwich, and you haven’t broken any rules.
Waitress (spitefully): You want me to hold the chicken, huh?
Dupea: I want you to hold it between your knees.
Waitress (turning and telling him to look at the sign that says, “No Substitutions”) Do you see that sign, sir? Yes, you’ll all have to leave. I’m not taking any more of your smartness and sarcasm.
Dupea: You see this sign? (He sweeps all the water glasses and menus off the table.)
The best!!
1) Guess what? You are in the customer service field- if you don’t remotely want to please customers- perhaps you should go into telemarketing.~Samantha
Sam, that’s such a good point (and very funny). What an idiot kid. A little respect goes such a long way. I don’t expect them to get every order right. I’m not going to throw a fit when they get mine wrong (although I know there are bad customers too) I just want them to make it right. The young mgr has a lot to learn.
Jeff, I love that scene and I love the line: “I want you to hold it between your knees.”
I can’t think of one right now. Usually when something has been wrong w/an order, I have had good experiences w/getting it corrected.