Tonight I went out with a couple of awesome friends for dinner, we went to Chili's and I must say that the service was horrible. My one friend ordered a country steak, we couldn't believe it, the steak was battered and deep fried and it was smothered in gravy. I was in the hospitality industry for approximately 25 years and I have NEVER seen anything like this. The steak was sent back, it took approximately half an hour before we realized the waitress wasn't going to come back with a real steak as she had said she would, finally a manager came over. The steak was ordered and arrived with some overcooked veggies and the steak couldn't have been more than 4ozs., it was pathetic. In the meantime me and the other friend were long finished our dinners. We waited forever to get refills on our beverages and it was just a bad experience.
I must add here that it did end well. When we received the bill I asked to speak to the manager, he came over and I expressed how I felt (in a polite manner) and told him that I felt that my friend with the steak issue shouldn't have to pay for his meal and I told him that the service was appalling. The manager apologized and crumpled up the entire bill, he told us that they were short staffed and how sorry he was for our negative experience.
Will I go back to Chili's? Yes, in a heartbeat. The manager didn't have to cover the entire bill, it was nice of him and I appreciate that he did this for us, so for sure I'll give it another try. To me this is an awesome manager, he wants repeat business.
The guys were amazed, now they've come up with a plan...whenever the three of us go out one of them will complain about something, they said that I can do the talking and we can eat for free all over the city, NOT! lol
I hate when I get bad service in a restaurant, but the manager did right by you!
ReplyDeletePam, I used to just pay and never go back but not anymore. Mid life sure has changed me! :-)
ReplyDeleteWell done you, I bet you fluttered your eye too ;-}
ReplyDeleteSi
I stumbled across your blog through a comment you left on JudyOhio's blog. My mom went to a new restaurant in our area with a couple of friends. After waiting far longer than necessary for their food the waitress came out to tell them their order had been lost and she would have to take it again! They were enjoying their time together so the added wait didn't upset them. They were very happy when the manager came out and gave them all a coupon for a complete free dinner at any future visit. A couple months went by and they finally got the chance to use it. After again waiting too long, the waitress came out and shamefacedly confessed to having dropped their entire order and they would have to wait for it to be cooked again. As they were laughing among themselves at the coincidence, the manager came out to tell them their meal would be free. My mom, still laughing, showed him the coupon and told him the story. Mortified, he told them to keep the coupon for later. Finally on their third visit they had a normal experience. They still like to eat there thanks to the consideration of the management. It's all about customer service, but too many places don't understand that.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I'm Andy, nice to meet you! :)
Si, I have brains, no need for eye fluttering! ;-) Cheers my friend, from across the pond.
ReplyDeleteHi Andy, welcome to my small corner of the world where things get a tad bit wacky at times but it's all in good fun. Thank you for sharing the restaurant story, that's awesome the manager looked after your mom and her friends, now that's what a part of being in "HOSPITALITY" industry is all about, keep the customers happy and they're sure to come back.
I'll venture over to check out your blog later on this evening, I'm sidetracking an right now... ooops! ;-) Have a fantastic rest of the day.
I agree - THAT's customer service, something not understood in a lot of places anymore. I'm like you - I just don't take it anymore either, and if I still don't get some satisfaction, I boycott the place and make sure friends and family know about it.
ReplyDeleteI hope you're staying warm this weekend !
I've given up on Chilis. My recent experience with them is the same as yours with the exception that the management did insist that I pay. I'll let others go to that epicurean disaster zone.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't gone to Chilis for a long time and then I did on a whim, in Montrose, Colorado earlier this year. The meal was quite good. Since then I've been back to Chilis at several locations and the food was uniformly bad. There are other choices and I have no problem exercising choice.
Rick, that's the way to go I think. There's too many restaurants out there barely surviving and if the level of satisfaction isn't there NEXT! I am staying warm thank you, it's -7 currently, I'm indoors playing catch up on some homework and off to sit with my granddaughter while mommy and daddy go to the Grey Cup game. A fun filled afternoon with plenty of love to share!
ReplyDeleteLL, the meal I had wasn't all that great neither, I might go back one day if a group or others want to go there but it's not going to be my first choice. I will go back however because I feel the manager did the best he could to rectify a horrible evening, company was awesome mind you. For some reason I can see you not having an issue exercising choice, nor an issue with expressing your opinion, two qualities which I admire in a persons character. (Now off to google the definition of epicurean... new word for me. I like when you use words I have never heard of, it broadens my vocabulary.)
Mmmmmmm I love deep fried, battered foods. Can't say I've ever had a deep fried, battered steak though. :-) Years ago Marilyn and I went out for Chinese food to some place on 97th Street (north side). The food was delicious and we chose to end our meal with deep fried ice-cream from the menu. It wasn't quite what we were expecting. They deep fried the ice cream in the same type of batter as they do shrimp (as opposed to how Chili's does it in a crumb) and the ice cream inside was melted into a puddle. lol That isn't one of my best deep fried, battered memories. lol
ReplyDeleteIt's been a long time since we've gone out for dim sum Darlene. We should plan to do that again soon.
Jewel, that's too funny, screwed up deep fried ice cream puddle!
ReplyDeleteWe should go out again for dim sum for sure, once this semester is done we can set up something k?