Saturday, 26 November 2011
-
Bad Service in a Restaurant
My last restaurant post was about a psycho guest who came into the Applebee's that I work at. I figured rather than ranting about the annoying guests, I'd rant about crappy service.
At Applebee's, servers must greet their table within thirty seconds and have drinks on the table within two minutes of greeting them. Drinks must always be full. When they're halfway full, you're supposed to bring another out if the refills are free or ask if they'd like another round/water if not. Appetizers come out in seven minutes, entrees in fourteen, and dessert in five.
One bad experience I had was at an Applebee's in a different town. Our server took almost five minutes to get to us and my boyfriend's drink (a pepsi) came out in almost five minutes. I ordered a smoothie which is made at the bar, and I literally watched my drink die standing on the counter. All the servers, not just mine, are responsible for running drinks to tables and I watched servers pick up drinks that were JUST made and take them to their own tables.
My server was no where to be found. I finally received my smoothie, which I had to mix up with a straw six minutes after my boyfriend received his (and yes, at this point I was actually timing LOL). I drink very slowly and my boyfriend downs his beverages, so he had to keep drinking mine because the server never came out to check on us. Our server wasn't exactly rude, but he wasn't even nice. He didn't even look at us and he seemed to hate his life. I understand we all have problems and I don't know what he's going through, but my life isn't the best either and I can manage to suck it up and be polite!
Anyway, we finally ordered our appetizer and entrees after waiting eight minutes with the menus closed on the table for him to come back. The appetizer came out just as fast as it should as did our entrees. One problem; our entrees were dead. My boyfriend ordered the three cheese penne and I ordered the brushetta chicken, our favorite meals. I couldn't even eat mine. It was disgusting. He managed to eat half of his. I'm assuming our server rang in the appetizer at the same time as the entrees, so our entrees were sitting in the back while we ate our appetizer. That or he rang them in later but no one bothered to run the food to the table.
The thing that makes me the most angry is that we get treated like this most of the time because people think we're "just kids." People who look to be about our age usually tip badly if they even tip at all, so it's understandable why people are quick to judge. But really? At our store, servers complain about the "kids" in their sections all the time, but they NEVER treat them badly (except for a select few people who have been punished :P).
When I eat out, I always leave at least a 20% tip. I love being that one table to make a server's night. If I'm at an Applebee's, I get 30% off anyway, so I leave whatever I was discounted as the tip. But, if I receive poor service, I'll leave the standard 15%/double tax. That's what our server received and you could tell he was pissed about it. I'm sorry, but if you give me poor service and don't even apologize or treat me nicely, why am I going to give you more money than you should have earned?
So, who's had awful service that they'd like to rant about? I'd love to hear your storie!
RecommendRelated Posts
Post a Comment
- Back to ireallylikefood's IReallyLikeFood Site!
- Note: your comment will appear in ireallylikefood's local time zone: GMT -05:00 (Eastern Standard - US, Canada)
About the Author
-
- From: ohaider@xanga
Stats: This Week All Time Posts: 0 2 Views: 0 7410 Comments: 0 69 View all posts by ohaider@xanga
Comments (42)
I hate Applebee's. I have ALWAYS had bad experiences with them.
I went to Applebee's once and the waitress never brought us our drinks and never took our order after 40 minutes. We were already seated and there was no one else in the establishment.
I went to Applebees the one time with my family and another family. My friend's sister ordered chicken fingers and fries which was the easiest meal that anyone at the table ordered. I mean she's picky and everyone else ordered some of the more complex meals from the menu. Her food was cold and she took one bite of her chicken but then said something to the waitress. The waitress took it back and came back five minutes later with the same chicken, still missing a bite and dripping in oil. I work in food service and we would remake food that was cold, not just stick in back in a fryer missing a bite. She eventually got a new meal but honestly, how freaking hard is chicken fingers and fried?
A few friends and I were at a place a few years ago where the service sucked. I normally tip about 10% for crappy service but my friends left just the change from their bills, about .37 cents between them.
A few friends and I were at a place a few years ago where the service sucked. I normally tip about 10% for crappy service but my friends left just the change from their bills, about .37 cents between them.
Applebee's has to be at the top of my list of places to NOT have a meal. That's really too bad because I love their Maple Betty dessert. I'll go there just for that. The reason is bad service all the time, with one exception & I know the reason behind it. I was with my hottie boyfriend & this little blond bimbo barely acknowledged me, but she was ALL over him like white on rice. Not a good impression was left on that visit either. The only other place would be Denny's. It doesn't happen often, but their night servers leave a lot to be desired.
me and my friends were literally the only people in a denny's one night, with one girl working. it took her forever to take our drink orders and then to even come back to ask for our orders. we were watching patiently the whole time to come over and we just watched as she sat around doing nothing. and then a guy came in and she got him his drinks and took his food order before she even came back for our order. needless to say, i left her a penny. and that was being generous.
I don't recall having any problems at Applebee's, but I don't eat there very often. I like the won ton tacos. But bad service really ticks me off, too. It's too bad for the server, though. I like to leave a nice big tip if the server is really good and pleasant. Not one of those people who sits down with you and acts like your best friend, but smiles and is a little witty. Doesn't the blame for some of the bad service fall back onto the manager? They should be paying attention.
I have worked in customer service for over 6 years. If I get treated poorly, I will make sure they know about it. Even if I have to go to their store manager, and make a huge scene. If I don't produce good customer service, I don't get sales, which means I don't get paid. So if a server treats me poorly, I make it a mission to make their day a living hell.
I went to La Parilla one time with my brother and friends on a Monday night. There was literally no one there. We were seated and brought chips and salsa right away....and waited and waited and waited for someone to take our drink order. We knew what we wanted to order before we went in, so we had our menus closed and were very obviously waiting for our waitress. The chip dude brought us six refills of our chip basket and we watched at least five young looking waiters and waitresses all stand around and joke and flirt before an older lady with one of the young girls came over and took our drink order and seriously said to us, "Oh, it's not my fault you've been sitting here so long. This isn't my table and I'm training her." I had no words for this woman. So we got our orders taken and the food came out at a normal time and stuff but then she got our tickets all screwed up. It was the most ridiculous experience I've ever had.
@seriously_meredith@xanga - Sounds like what I did at one place before as well. I love the food at this one place but the service was SO bad. It was a bar as well, but we were literally the only people in the entire place and I have no idea what our waitress was doing but she wasnt doing her job thats for sure.. It took literally a half hour just to get us boxes for our food (one time we didnt even bother and just left) so we tipped her about 20 cents. Also, she sat at our table for a minute or so with us... Um..... It was pretty awkward and I thought she was cracked out or something... :|
If the service is terrible, people shouldnt have to tip them. Thats just what I think. If I become a waitress (again) and I am not being courtious (sp) I dont expect a tip, thats why I was always nice to everyone when I was doing it
"At Applebee's, servers must greet their table within thirty seconds and have drinks on the table within two minutes of greeting them. Drinks must always be full. When they're halfway full, you're supposed to bring another out if the refills are free or ask if they'd like another round/water if not. Appetizers come out in seven minutes, entrees in fourteen, and dessert in five."
Just went to Applebee's in Plattsburg. Initially the service was very nice, we were seated almost immediately when we entered the door. The hostess was very friendly. very nice. Our server DID came immediately to take our order for drinks. My boyfriend took a coffee and I took an Ice tea. The drink took around 5-10 minutes to arrive. The restaurant was a quarter full let say? We arrived at 10h30 and the restaurant closed at midnight.
We ordered the nachos and it took that around 15 minutes to arrive. By then we were already done with our drinks because we were too famished. My boyfriend asked for refill and they totally forgot.
Our plates took another 10 minutes to arrive. I had the fish filet & my boyfriend had the steak. When our server came with the plates, then she offered for refills which she came back 10 minutes later with only ice tea no coffee "it was boiling"
My boyfriend ended up sent back the steak because it was too salty. They replied all the steaks were preseasoned and they cannot do anything. So my boyfriend ended up eating nothing else but the nachos. My fish filet was also very salty & burnt but i was too famished to send it back. (i mean it will take them another 30minutes? No thank you!)
At the end, my boyfriend was famished with no refill of coffee. Our bill came to 21$ something and we left them with 25$ in total.
Story. Not storie...
I don't generally go to chain restaurants, I prefer community/local restaurants. The service is always better at local restaurants, maybe because the wait staff doesn't get as busy and the atmosphere is a lot more chill. I understand the server sucked but you only exacerbated your bad experience by forcing yourself to notice and be miserable...
my horrible experience was at a Cheesecake Factory. my entree, despite being the simplest one out of all the entrees ordered by my party, took 20mins longer to get to me. by the time i got it, i didn't want it. the WORST part, though, was when the server took a plate from one of my friends while he was still eating!!! he was literally mid-bite, and she just took the plate and walked away. we complained, and the server was really rude about it. we went to the manager... who was ALSO really rude. long story short, no one left a tip. my friend, who was a server for years, e-mailed the regional manager about it and got a $25 gift card, i'm pretty sure she sold it, because she didn't want to ever go back there again.
@prettykay04@xanga - I can't believe you even left a tip. I sure wouldn't have.
I've noticed a real pattern here. Applebee's seems to be the worst. My own Applebee's story - Hubby bought me a gift certificate last year for Christmas. I rarely get to go out, but just before school started in August I took my oldest out to Applebees thinking I could use my gift card. When the bill came I put the gift card on it and was told a couple minutes later that it has EXPIRED. Seems Applebee gift cards are only good for a few short months. I was not a happy person after that and have done all I can to tell people to NOT buy Applebee gift cards.
A bit of clarification, please: What does it mean when you say "our entrees were dead"?
I went to Ihop with some friends after a night out, there were like 6 of us, 21-34 years old. It wasn't busy at all. Our server took 30 minutes to bring us our drinks of some water and a coffee, which he didn't bring creamer for. It took another 20 to get creamer. We didn't get our food for two more hours. That is NOT an exaggeration. When he FINALLY brought the food, which we had ordered hours ago, he didn't bring any silverware. The manager was hiding in the back, trust me, we looked for him. The food was wrong. The pancakes were gummy, etc. etc. Usually, I'm really calm and kind with servers, but this dude was honestly the worst ever. We were so mad that we honestly took all the pennies we had, and scattered them all over the table and under the plates as his tip. We are NEVER going back. We would have gone somewhere else, but everything was closed by then. Worst experience ever.
Yeah, Applebees in an awful restaurant with an awful reputation where I am anyway, for both service and the food.
I think the worst service is from IHOP, but that's to be expected. They slam things around and roll their eyes so I have no choice but to tip 15%...lower, even, a few times.
Even if someone messes up my order or spills water on me I'm usually nice if they genuinely apologize/are sorry.
AMEN to that!!!! I do nails and I know what it's like to work for tips. So I think it's good karma to tip others the same way you would like to be tipped. 20% is my standard. If I really like you and I felt that you went out of your way to make my dining experience pleasant, I'll up it to 30%.
I know when I do a rushed job I don't expect a good tip, so if you do a shitty job, you damn well better expect to get a shitty tip.
The other day I went to applebee's with a friend to just talk and we ordered one appetizer, which was half off, and two waters. I know it sucked for the waitress cause she's losing out on a bigger table but she was super nice, came back plenty of times to check on us; so the bill was $5 and I put a 10 in and told her to keep the change.
I'm so surprised to hear about all of these bad experiences at Applebee's. As traveling photographers, my partner and I eat at Applebee's restaurants all over the country because we like the food and it's consistant. I can only think of one time we've had a problem, and it was when my partner's steak came out a little more rare than he would've liked it, but the problem was quickly solved.
As for a real bad experience, only one pops into my head immediately. We were eating at a Denny's late one night and I ordered green beans as one of my sides. I took a bite of one and immediately spit it out into a napkin because of this strange vinegar taste. I thought to myself, either they used vinegar on these beans or they've soured. I got the waiter's attention and told him the beans were soured. He asked if I wanted a new serving of beans, or if I'd like more of something else I'd ordered (fries, or whatever my other side was). I told him no, and that I just wanted the beans to be gone. Take the plate and scrape them off, or move the rest of my food onto a new plate, just get the beans away. While the beans were being taken off of my plate the manager came over and asked if I wanted anything to make up for the beans, and I politely told him no. You'd think this would be enough, but the manager continued to ask if there was anything he could do, so much so that I actually started getting annoyed that he wouldn't leave me alone. He finally did give up, but not before me and my friend at the table were both annoyed. Plus, I haven't been able to order green beans in a restaurant yet (and this incident was nearly six months ago).
@xFgtxRainbowx@xanga - I had a bad experience at an Ihop once, too. Some friends and I went for breakfast and this lady was the absolute worst. Then you know what, they automatically took the tip out of our bill. Basically, this lady didn't serve us because she knew she was getting a tip either way. We asked them to take the tip off of the bill because she was absolutely terrible. They fought it but they eventually did it. The restaurant was pretty much empty so there was just no excuse.
Once I went to an IHOP with a group of friends around 8 or 9 ish. We were the only people in the restaurant. A woman came over and seated us, saying she would be our waitress. She then disappeared for 10 minutes and we ended up flagging down a boy who took our drink orders. I made some joke like "Can you check the kitchen for our waitress? I think she died." He then ran out our drinks for us and we waited another 5 minutes or so, only to see our waitress breeze by and say in a really chipper tone, "Hey, just wanted to let you guys know I'm not dead!" She didn't even stop to take our order, so we waited some more.
She finally took our orders and when the food came out, a girl who had ordered blueberry pancakes found a spinach leaf under the whipped cream. We sent them back with the waitress, who forgot all about replacement pancakes. The cook came out to apologize for not cooking the eggs the way my friend had ordered them and to ask if he wanted them cooked differently. My friend said they were fine, it wasn't a big deal at all, but the waitress came over and wanted to know what was going on. She kept saying things like "Yeah, I wouldn't eat those eggs at all, I would definitely send them back" and "That's pretty gross" in front of the cook and my now-embarrassed friend. She would NOT stop going on about it. Eventually she left. Another waitress brought the blueberry pancake replacement and we asked her if our waitress was new. "Not new, just retarded," the other girl replied "She's been here for six months and everyone hates her".
When we finally flagged our waitress down to get our tickets she looked confused and said that she'd forgotten our pancake replacement. When she found out that someone else had already brought it she was even more confused but we were just like "Okay, don't hurt yourself. It's fine." Not once did we get a drink refill. Needless to say, none of us tipped her anything. I think most people paid in change and we ended up talking to the manager. We didn't yell and him and I realize I don't go to IHOP for outstanding service, but still. It was so weird.
To every one that would wait for more then 30 mins to get a meal, you know you don 't just have to to sit there and wait, you can ask your server where your food is. And if it doesn't look like they will be serving you , you know you have the option of leaving and going to another restaurant , you don't have to wait around to get aggravated or receive more crappy service.
i used to eat at applebees all the time...i have ALWAYS had AWFUL service from them!!!!!