Serrano's Mexican Resturant Openly overcharges customers Mesa, Arizona
July 16, 2012
My Fellow Consumers,
It seems like today as consumers we are being nickeled and dimed to our death. A few dollars and
cents here and there doesnt seem like much, however for the struggling consumer trying to support local businesses, it is draining our bank accounts and our patience. I am taking a stand.
It is time for it to stop.
I have been a teacher for the past 17 years. I love what I do and I am passionate about ensuring my students get a quality education. I am so passionate about teaching that I am willing to work for less money than I did six years ago. This loss in pay as required me to attain a second job. I work approximately 65 75 hours a week. I have a new appreciation for free time and a few extra bucks in my pocket.
I care for my 86 year old grandmother. While she has aged, she has developed some quirks. She wants to buy only one battery at a time and she cant remember the names of the movies and shows she watches and she is
no longer able to drive. Another loving quirk is that is she becomes overwhelmed when so sees a large portion of food
on her plate. Weekly, I take her to lunch and grocery shopping. I am giving my time and love back to the woman who took me swimming, bought me Happy Meals, and tickled my back as a child.
Grandma and I decided to dine at Serranos Mexican Food Restaurant last Sunday. To ensure that she didnt
over-react to the large food portions, I ordered her three chicken flautas. I wasnt able to find this item
on the menu. In fact, there were no ala carte items listed on the menu. I relied on my 20 years of patronage for ordering. The server graciously took my order and made no comments.
After a lovely meal, the check came. When I saw $26.95 it literally took my breath away. I ordered a combo plate, drank
water and refused the extras such a guacamole. Grandmas flautas were $14.95! I was aghast! There was no magic gold dust on the flautas. Yes, the flautas were tasty, but by no means were they worth $14.95.
I asked to see the manager. Adam was very quick to respond. The message he gave about the high costs was.Serranos knows that we are over charging for ala carte items. It is something the corporate office is working on. That is why there is no mention of the alacarte items. I guess if you can pull out your AAA card, I would be willing to take 10% off. This was like to punch to the gut. All of the years of patronage didnt matter. My nephew even worked for this
location for 3 years!
First thing Monday morning, I still felt robbed. I called Serranos corporate office. I left a message and was ensured that Bill Serrano would return my call. Within a few hours Mr. Serrano did return my class. After explaining my concern, he stated, Yes, your server should have communicated better about the cost and possibly switching your order. It is unfortunate that Adam the manager didnt handle this better. Let me do this for you.I can give you a gift card for $10.
Once again, I felt robbed. With so many dining options in my area, this offer was quite weak. I let Mr. Serrano know that this was not acceptable. In all honesty.I couldnt think of one item at this restaurant I could order that would cost $10!
So, as promised Mr. Serrano, I am writing this letter. I am not backing down on this one. You are not considerate of your customers, and willing and opening admit to overcharging. Mr. Serrano you took my $26.95, but youre not taking any more. My loyalty and trust are gone.
When given the choice.I will keep on driving to Txx Rxxx (((REDACTED)))s. There salsa is better anyway!
Moral: Serranos openly overcharges, dont let them nickel and dime you!
A Dishearten Customer,
Jodi T
sorry, allowing you to give a competitors name would instigate others to just file against their competition, to only come back later to suggest their company your comments on this policy are welcome! CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
Consumer Advocate fighting Merchant scams
USAI love Serranos
#4UPDATE EX-employee responds
Sun, July 22, 2012
I worked for the company for 3 years and Bill Serrano managed the store that I worked at on Val Vista for a while back then. I have to say that this is the best company that I had ever worked for in my life and i am in my late 40's now. The whole Serrano family is fair and they are great people in my opinion. I will always speak highly of the Serranos. They are wonderful and the food is good, clean and more healthy than many other Mexican restaurants. I left the company because I had personal problems and could not maintain my job there. I wish I had stayed. Best family owned company that I have ever worked for. I wish them nothing but success and more happy customers in the future.. I still dine there because from experience, I know the food is good, their health standards of cleanliness is superb and I've always had a good experience. I suggest that anyone who wants to order something ala cart next time, ask the server what the best way to do this would be.. for instance, you might have ordered something that the flautas came with and split the plate with your mother. There is always a solution if you communicate with your server!
ex bartender, Val Vista store- Chris C. :)
Robert
Irvine,California,
U.S.A.
Wait a Minute
#4Consumer Comment
Tue, July 17, 2012
First you spend 1/2 of your "RipOff" giving us your life story which has nothing to do with the rest of the report. You then admit that they don't have ala carte items on their menu, yet since you have been going there for 20 years you just ordered them but decided to not ask about the price.
You had a lovely meal and in your words they were quite tasty but not worth the $14.95, so how much were they worth?. You complain and they basically said that is the way it is. So you then call the corporate headquarters and you had one of the owners personally call you, apologize, and offer you a $10 gift card(to a place you have been going to for 20 years). Effectively turning the $14.95 Flautas into $4.95 Flautas. Yet you still feel robbed and still wrote a RipOff report on them.
Why the heck did you even call the Corporate Office, what could he have done to make you happy? Did you want a years worth of meals for free, how about the manager of the resturant strung up and hung, what about having him thrown in jail for 100 years, how about the server being forced to write "I will repeat the cost of any ala carte items" on the blackboard 100 times?
You really have to wonder sometimes why businesses even try to make things right.
Striderq
Columbia,South Carolina,
U.S.A.
What solution would you have been happy with?
#4General Comment
Tue, July 17, 2012
Since you were ordering something that wasn't priced on the menu, you should have asked for a price before ordering. The waiter could have mentioned it, but when you order something you're basically saying bring it to me.
As far as resolving your complaint. What exactly were you looking for? Mr Serrano offered you a $10 gift card. Since you stated that Grandma's flautas were $14.95, the acceptance of this card would have brought the price down to $4.95. That's a good price for 3 flautas. And while $10 may not have paid for a single item, it would pay most of it. Since you spent $26.95 and the flautas were $14.95, your combo plate was $12. The $10 gift card would put your price for your next meal at $2. A great deal. But since this wasn't enough for you, what exactly were you asking or expecting the restaurant to do???
By the way teacher, how much trouble was for you to "attain a second job"? I hope it's not English that you teach.