Who else has been cursed by the restaurant gods? Kinda long. (1 Viewer)

[Eve T]

As the days of my life tick away I find myself less and less tolerant of poor service from restaurants both fine restaurants and fast food joints alike.
It never fails that whenever I order something from the mundane burger to something nicer such as a steak or whatever the dish may be it's always wrong.
Nobody else in my family has the same problem even if they order the same meal as myself!
I'm also tired of getting screwed by fast food joints and finally decided to be a consumer advocate for myself.
Just last night I went into taco bell to get a chicken taco salad with extra salsa, no onions, extra sour cream. The cost of this item is $3.89.
I look at my receipt as I'm standing there listening to them ask "so....she wants salsa and ranch dressing?"
Grrrrrrrr. I take a glance at the receipt and notice I was charged $3.29 for the taco salad plus .90 cents for the chicken. Hmmmmmmm I think to myself thats a .30 cent difference. Not a big deal but I call the guy who took my order over to the counter whilst I wait on the taco salad to be completed. I said you over charged me, your sign says 3.89 for the chicken taco salad because 3.29 plus .90 cents doesn't add up to 3.89.
He then calls another employee over some chick with a tude. She looks at the receipt and says "thats how much it cost"
I said no, thats not how much it cost. Your sign says 3.89 she says "look if the receipt says thats what it is, then thats what it is, there is tax ya know"
Yes, I say I know there is tax and I was charged for tax at the bottom of the receipt, that has nothing to do with the .90 cents you charged me for the chicken. It should be more like 60 cents extra. Another employee behind the counter says "whats wrong?" to the other two dorks who question my math skills. The guy says "this lady is complaining about the cost of the taco salad" I correct him and say no, I'm not complaining, I'm questioning the price. She says well we have had a tax increase by 1 penny. I look at her like she's from another planet and say maam, your taco salad is 3.89 I was charged 3.29 plus .90 cents which makes it over 3.89. Finally someone got it right. The manager came out and said yes, you were overcharged.
Now, my question is......how many times does this happen? 30 cents isn't a lot of coinage but if it happens everytime and you never question it they are making a nice chunk of change.
I went to the Baskin Robins to get 3 scoops of ice cream in a waffle cone. The guy behind the counter asked me what I wanted I said "2 scoops of jamocha almond fudge and one scoop of winter white Christmas in a waffle cone"
I turn around to talk to my husband to see what he wants and the clerk hands me a cup with 2 scoops of jamoacha almond fudge. I explain to him that I wanted 2 scoops of that and one scoop of the white chocolate one in a "waffle cone"
He then looked at me....no lie and says "so you want a sundae?"
NO I explain, I want those two scoops you have in that cup inside a "waffle cone" and then I want a scoop of the winter white chocolate on top of those two scoops making it a total of three scoops of ice cream inside the "waffle cone"
He then says I have to get someone to help me. He sits the cone inside the cone holder and I have to wait on the "manager" to finish helping other customers so she can put a scoop of winter white chocolate on top of the two scoops of J.A.fudge that are already melting inside the waffle cone.
What is wrong with people these days? I wanted to scream. How can you be so dim that you need assistance in making an ice cream cone? I always keep my calm and smile but today at Burger King was a different story. I went through the drive thru and ordered 4 of their whoppers with cheese, mustard, ketchup and heavy pickles only. I pay for my order and am told to pull around to the front of the parking lot and park and wait for my food. Okay I thought, no biggie I'll do that, even though there was nobody behind me in the drive thru line. So I'm there waiting....and waiting.....and waiting....4 NIN songs played and went while I waited on someone to come out with my food. I finally get tired of waiting and go inside. Then eventually I get my food and get to the car. Of course the burgers are not made right. They have everything on them. I go back in and the lady at the cash register apologizes and is very cool. The manager says "I'll make them personally what does she want on them?" the lady says, cheese, ketchup, mustard, and heavy pickles. She then tells her boss "she's been waiting out there forever too" then looks at me and says "no wonder people get Pi##@d off at this place"
So I get my burgers and go out to the car and open one up. After all that wait there is no pickles on there let alone heavy pickles. Big deal? I guess not to most people but when you have to go in THREE times to get something straight it's annoying. I get my bag and proceed into Burger King for the third time. The lady who was running the cash register was leaving and said "Oh no, I'm glad I'm leaving. They're a bunch of fools in there and good luck!"
I go inside and tell the manager I asked for heavy pickles, she said "I didn't hear you ask for them" I said I didn't ask for them but the lady at the cash register did as I heard her tell you so. The manager gives me a "cup" with no lie 4 pickles in it. I said Miss, there aren't pickles on my sandwiches to begin with I want "heavy" pickles (thats a burger king termonology for extra extra pickles)so she puts a few more in there making it a total of 9 pickles. I just looked at her and took the cup and walked out. THEN something came over me I snapped like a dry twig as this 5 minute drive through ordeal turned into what seemed like an all day affair and I still didn't get what I wanted. I took the cup and flung the pickles through the air. They landed on the Burger Kings side windows where customers were eating and stuck there like those wacky wall walkers of years gone by. As I watched one of the pickles slide it's way half way down the glass in a smear of mustard I laughed like a psycho, got in my car and peeled out of the parking lot all the while thinking....
I don't care what they say, at BK you obviously CAN'T have it "your way."
So is there anyone else that has these same type experiences over and over again no matter what, no matter how clear you are on what you want?
Thanks for letting me vent, I'm sick and tired of this.

 

[Clinton McClure]

I am never charged the same thing twice at Taco Bell. Tonight I can order 6 crunchy tacos and a large Mountain Dew and it will cost X. Tomorrow I can go back and order the exact same thing and the total will be different by a few pennies. I always just figured the kids working the register just didn't have the skills needed to push a button and dismissed it instantly.

 

[Brandon_T]

Taco Bell over charged me for over 3 months before I finally said something, then like your case they couldn't figure it out.

I have finally given up on ordering steak at places because apparantly it is way to hard to cook a steak Medium Rare these days.

 

[Bill Cowmeadow]

Several years ago my wife and I ordered a pizza. After an hour goes by I called them back to ask when the pizza would arrive. I was assured that my pizza would be there in about ten minutes. 30 minutes later a guy on motorcycle pulls up with my pizza. we were Ok with the fact that it was a busy night and he had trouble finding us, but when he un-snapped the bungy cord holding the pizza case to the seat... you can imagine what a large pizza looks like when it's been folded in half in the box it's delivered in. Naturally we refused the pizza and sent him on his way. Being a glutton for punishment, we called a different place and ordered another pizza. This time the pizza got to the door in less than thirty minutes. Only one minor problem, there was a slice missing. I called the joint to complain, and the manager was very apologetic, and said he was aware that a pie had indeed gone out with a slice missing. 10 mins later he personally delivered a new pie. a short time after that, the manager from the first place I ordered from knocked on the door with another pizza. he also apologised for the motorcycle incident.

 

[Dave Smith]

I'm always the unlucky one in restaurants too. I like my steak medium rare - warm red center, very juicy. I have been to exactly three restaurants worldwide which are able to get it right
The last time I went to Florida, we ate at Artist's Point at the Wilderness Lodge inside Disney, which is a very nice, pricy joint. The steak is one of their specials and has been for years. I ordered medium rare, I got what could charitably be called medium-well. Cooked through, grey throughout. That's what happens 9 times out of 10.
The good places, in case you're interested, are Dan McKlusky's here in Austin; any Ruth's Chris; and an Italian restaurant in Bradford, England whose name escapes me

 

[Dave Smith]

Wow Brandon, I was writing my post as you were making yours. We're brothers

 

[Eve T]

he was aware that a pie had indeed gone out with a slice missing.

Did he give you any explaination as to where the missing piece of pizza went? And how could he let the pizza go out with a piece missing? Some people have nerve. Also, I am leary sometimes of being vocal about my orders being wrong because I'm afraid they will spit in my food or do some other nasty thing to my order.
I used to work in a restaurant and have seen some gross things happen from angry and disgruntal co-workers.

 

[Bill Cowmeadow]

I can only assume he knew a slice was missing because he was the one who ate it!

We still laugh at the whole episode when we talk about it.

 

[Eve T]

I can't believe he admitted to knowing the slice was missing. As Bugs Bunny would say..... "what a maroon"

 

[John Welch]

Eve, that sig picture of yours is a killer for those of us still on dial-up. It needs to be about a 1/3 of the size it is now (20k max). Wasn't till I got in here that I figured out why the thread took so long to load. Thanks

 

[Eve T]

Can someone resize it for me? I'm not that good at photoshop or whatever it is people use.

 

[Max Leung]

I can relate, Eve. I always ask for steak medium rare, and 25 percent of the time (Alberta is a beef-friendly province, so the restaurants here are better than others for getting the order right) I get medium-well. I don't mind as much, because I don't mind medium steak, but I always ask one step lower so I don't get an overly done slab of chewy meat.
Sushi restaurants are a nightmare though...as a rule I avoid the restaurants where the sushi chefs do not speak Japanese fluently. Far too many restaurants serve cut-lip sushi..frozen sushi so cold that the ice crystals will slice your mouth to ribbons!
And limp, chewy sushi is just gross.
For those of you who live in Calgary, the sushi restaurant called Was, near the Brick warehouse north of downtown is the best in the city.

 

[Jack Briggs]

What sorts of vengeance maneuvers in restaurant kitchens, Eve?

 

[Bruce Hedtke]

I always live by the rule: never send it back. If you don't want to eat it, have the waitress take it off the bill. I can't "verify" what might be happening, but I've heard enough stories.

Bruce

 

[Eve T]

Jack, when I used to work in the food business I've seen disgruntal employees spit in drink and food. Blow snot and phlem in food and mix it in. I've seen them drop food on a dirty nasty floor and pick it up and mix it in with the other food. Thats about the most I've ever seen and that was enough.

 

[AllanN]

I once got a cheeseburger with no burger in it, just a bun and condiments. It was 1 of 5 burgers and I had already driven home so I just ate the four. Next time I went to that McD's I complained and they gave me a free burger.
This thread is makeing my hungry though. :frowning:

 

[Brett_H]

Eve,
For my wife and I it's not so much the "getting the food wrong" aspect of things that bugs us, it's the fact that we usually get seated in the worst spot in the place... and then we get a bad server. Our usual locations include

• The table right by the waiting area. Sure to gather lots of ugly stares from those customers still waiting, as if we're the cause of the ungodly wait time.
• The table right next to the kitchen, from which we can see all the hairy guys and gals cooking our food, along with the brilliant beams of fluorescent light and delightful conversation that really sets the mood for a romantic dinner.
• The seat right on the edge of the smoking section... you know, the one by the person with the mile long smoke who loves to hold it up all throughout dinner...

To assist with the food part of dinner, I've learned through trial and (mostly) error that the only way to get things close to what you want is to just order it the way it comes and pick off anything you don't want. Thankfully I like my steaks medium-well these days, so the slightly overcooked variety doesn't mess me up too much. I completely agree with the others: if something doesn't look right, I simply ask for it to be removed from the bill. I *never* send something back, for all the reasons outlined above...
Oh, and regarding fast food places: I don't go that often anymore, but when I do I always make sure to check the order before leaving because invariably there's something missing or the wrong size. I don't sweat the price too much, as long as they can get the order to vaguely resemble what I asked for I'm happy. When I'm paying $5 for the meal, I'm a lot less critical than when I'm at a nice place.
Thanks for bringing this one up, I was beginning to think I might be the lightning rod for everyone!
-Brett.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

have finally given up on ordering steak at places because apparantly it is way to hard to cook a steak Medium Rare these days

Actually, many insurance companies are requiring Medium Well or over

 

[Leila Dougan]

I like condiments and the like so I generally have no problem ordering items as they appear in the menu. My husband, on the otherhand, prefers things plain so it usually does get messed up. He's learned that he needs to spell things out to the waiter and it works most of the time, "bun, meat, cheese, bun. . nothing else". Occasionally, and this happens more often at fast food, is that it comes "regular" and cold, presumably one had already been made and they didn't bother making a special one.

My annoyance is with waitstaff who, by very liberal standards, are plain mediocre. I love salad and always get one. Occasionally we'll get an appetizer. 9 times out of 10 they'll take FOREVER bringing the appetizer or salad that by the time they do, your entree is ready. Argh! It's obnoxious to have eaten 2 bites of the salad then have your food come out, only for it to sit there getting cold while you finish the salad. Appetizers are worse because here you've just spend at least $5-6 and a minute later your entree arrives. You've essentially wasted your money.

The other night my husband and I go out to eat. . . I get a salad, he does not. My salad never arrives. My entree comes out and I ask the waitress about my salad and she says "you're supposed to remind me". Excuse me?? Since when is it MY JOB, as the customer and person paying your tip, to remind you to bring the food I had already asked for?

I really don't want to come across as a cheapskate because I have no problem leaving a generous tip for decent service. That's a rare exception, unfortunately, because the service is usually so bad it's painful for me to leave a tip at all.

 

[Julie K]

I've heard of worse things that disgruntled fast food workers do, but those were on a call-in radio show, so the truthfulness of the claims is doubtful. In any case, most of these 'additions' are more gross than harmful.

However, one addition is quite potentially harmful and is spread not by disgruntled employees but by careless ones. Those signs of "Employees must wash hands before returning to work" in the bathrooms are there for a very good reason.

Employees probably shouldn't wash dirty toilet seats in the dishwasher either, but that happened recently in a fast food restaurant in, IIRC, Switzerland.

But back to burger places, I hate it when they get my order wrong. No matter how many times I say "NO PICKLE" my burger is covered with pickles. There must be some sort of pickle-conservation law going on here and I'm getting all of Eve's pickles that she doesn't get. Yes, I can pick pickles off, but they leave behind pickle juice and I just can't stand even the slightest taint of pickles.