Applebee's Worst Customer Service Experience Raleigh North Carolina
I was one of a party of sever, on Saturday afternoon at your restaurant. First, I realized our waitress (Ashley Parker) was not friendly when she came over to take our order. I and my sister order the 2 for $20 special. The first item I ordered was the appetizer; spinach and artichoke dip with chips. Then, my sister and I both ordered the three cheese chicken penne. When the waitress, bought out a Caesar salad to one of the other people in our party, I asked to order a Caesar salad. Later, when our entrees had arrived and we were enjoying our food, a person in our party brought to my attention that my appetizer had not arrived. I asked Ashley the whereabouts of the appetizer and she said, I didn't hear you order an appetizer in a very nasty tone. Then she stated, Do you want it now in a tone as if I was her child. I politely asked my sister, Would she like the appetizer? and before my sister could respond, Ashley in a more unpleasant tone stated again Do you want it know? I responded, No. The unpleasant exchanges from Ashley and her negative energy towards me caused the entire parties mood to no longer be happy and joyful. A person in our party observed Ashley telling the manager, Missy about the situation. I then asked another waiter to please get me the manager. Missy the manager came to the table acting as if she was unaware of the situation. I explained the situation to Missy and she asked what she could do to rectify the situation. I asked that Ashley come and apologize for the behavior. Missy informed me that Ashley has refused to come back to the table. First, Ashley should have read back everyone's ordered before she left the table to make sure it was correct before placing the orders in Applebee's computer system. Second, the receipt states I order the 2 for $20 special, if Ashley had checked she would have realized that it comes with an appetizer and the Caesar Salad is not one of the choices.
Third, if I had not asked for the manger, how were we going to continue to be served? Fourth, a manager can make a request to an employee, within the scope of their job duties, and they can refuse and the employee is not relieved of their job duties for insubordination. I would like to thank Applebee's for the worst customer service I have ever experienced. I and the other seven members of my party will not be patronizing you establishments again. For reference, the demographics for the members of my party are all African American women. Professionally, we are Four Teachers, Supervisor of a Bank with her daughter, and myself, a Safety & Health Professional
Truly Outraged,
Lottie K. Barnes
Lottlott
Durham, North Carolina
U.S.A.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Giselle
Any city,Not so educated after all, are you!
#3Consumer Comment
Thu, May 01, 2014
First off, you are bang out of order to post this person's full name. Why do you even have that information? People like you are the reason some restaurant workers go by aliases. Hopefully, Ashley is not her real name! Second, your request for an apology was inapproperiate! To begin with, if you have to ask for an apology, then it is not sincere! So, did you really believe that any apology from Ashley would have come from the heart? NO! You probably realize that but just wanted to make her grovel. I don't blame her for refusing to return to the table and apologizing. I would have quit first before I would have apologized to the likes of you! And to say this was your worst customer service experience shows that you have a flair for drama. I use to live in Raleigh, before returning to the U.K., and I waited tables as a part-time job, in addition to my HR job. You questioned what would have happened with service to your table, if Ashley had not returned. I can tell you. She would have given $5 out of her tip money to another server, after begging them to take your table. A table has to be PRETTY" BAD in order for a server to not only give up that table, but actually pay another server to take it off their hands!
P.S. Your demographics are irrelevant to your complaint
Braggarmywife
Lillington,North Carolina,
U.S.A.
service at applebbes
#3Consumer Suggestion
Sat, June 20, 2009
as a part time waitress for the last several years I have a few comments and suggestions for the lady whose party says that the service at applebees in raleigh, nc was the worst shed ever had. first and foremost, I think your sense of entitlement is way too high. african american women are notoriously difficult to wait on. you expect your server to be absolutely perfect and fail to realize they are human beings. yall always, always, always complain about the food (fires are never hot enough, sweet tea tastes funny,etc) and then complain about the prices that are clearly posted on the menu because you think you deserve to be treated above and beyond anyone else in the restaurant. if that was the worst service you had ever had I could tell you some real horror stories. if ashley actually refused to come back to your table maybe its because you were rude and abusive to her. not vice versa. in short take a good long look at the way you treat your servers and treat them as you want to be treated and maybe you will get the exemplary service you think you are so deserving of. and by the way, a dollar tip on a 50 dollar check even for mediocre service is inexcusable. you should be ashamed of yourself and I think it is you and your "educated" party that owe ashley an apology.