Complaint Review: IHOP - San Antonio Texas

Boy did you ever NAIL IHOP in THAT report! I've been away from that horrible company for over 2 years but the mistreatment I suffered ( and watched others suffer) is still fresh in my mind, as if it only hapened yesterday. Something you failed to mention ( and I did also in my original rebuttal) is that the cooks are ENCOURAGED to mistreat the servers with rude remarks when ther ask them for any little thing or ( GOD FORBID!!! ) mess up an order. IHOP employees are struggling to stay afloat and servers make 2.13... no wait... LESS THAN THAT after the mandatory 20 cents and hour deduction... WHILE RAMSEY HAKIM DRIVES AROUND IN A M-FIN BENTLEY!!!! Talk about SHADY... and Jason Felton was still allowed to work for the company after he was proved to be SEXUALLY HARASSING FEMALE EMPLOYEES. In short... people TAKE NOTES!! DON'T WOR FOR THIS SHADY COMPANY RUN MY A MIDDLE EASTERNER!

Having been a member of the management team in several area stores for San Antonio, I am fully aware of some of the questionable business practices in the San Antonio IHOP Franchise. For starters, when interviewing a prospective new hire, we are required to tell them that they are entitled to a $5.00 employee meal allowance... We are by no means allowed to make them aware that Mr. Hakim takes his generous 'allowance' back at the rate of twenty cents per hour that is worked. Second, breaks are deducted from every employee who is working a given shift, even if a break was not taken... in the interest of 'managing labor cost'. Third, any check that is 'walked out on' by a customer is the responsibility of that tables server to pay, or face termination, suspension or write up. Fourth, the 'first aid' kits are anything but (they are usually empty). Cost of supplying these comes directly out of food cost bubget, which managers get a bonus for if they have 'managed' this cost effectively. Finally, proper cleanliness practices are only enforced when the Corporate Representantive for the area is in town to do the quartelry inspections, which are prepared for always at the last minute because regular deep cleaning assignments are neglected in the interest of managing labor cost. Anything that involves a cost represents a higher bonus for the managers of the store provided they have 'managed' these costs effectively. The general rule we were expected to follow was "Bonus First" nothing else second, because only Mr Hakim's 'bottom line' is relevant and important. We are only the slaves that line his pockets with our hard work. The basic unspoken policy to management teams is "If you do not do your job (according to Mr. Hakim's rules as well as his Director of Operations Michael Pullen), I will replace you with someone who will". If you play by these rules, not only are you equally as guilty, but also you can advance within the franchise... if you do not, you are not only 'let go', but also 'blacklisted' throughout San Antonio. They claim this blacklist does not exist, but I myself cannot get a salaried position to save my family, let alone save myself. In closing, yes it is true... if you fail to work any holiday you are terminated immediately (and no, you do not get holiday pay or a thank you). The notices for this are posted in every break room, in every store, two weeks before every holiday. Employee handbooks describing proper policy are never issued as these also come out of food cost.

Having been a member of the management team in several area stores for San Antonio, I am fully aware of some of the questionable business practices in the San Antonio IHOP Franchise. For starters, when interviewing a prospective new hire, we are required to tell them that they are entitled to a $5.00 employee meal allowance... We are by no means allowed to make them aware that Mr. Hakim takes his generous 'allowance' back at the rate of twenty cents per hour that is worked. Second, breaks are deducted from every employee who is working a given shift, even if a break was not taken... in the interest of 'managing labor cost'. Third, any check that is 'walked out on' by a customer is the responsibility of that tables server to pay, or face termination, suspension or write up. Fourth, the 'first aid' kits are anything but (they are usually empty). Cost of supplying these comes directly out of food cost bubget, which managers get a bonus for if they have 'managed' this cost effectively. Finally, proper cleanliness practices are only enforced when the Corporate Representantive for the area is in town to do the quartelry inspections, which are prepared for always at the last minute because regular deep cleaning assignments are neglected in the interest of managing labor cost. Anything that involves a cost represents a higher bonus for the managers of the store provided they have 'managed' these costs effectively. The general rule we were expected to follow was "Bonus First" nothing else second, because only Mr Hakim's 'bottom line' is relevant and important. We are only the slaves that line his pockets with our hard work. The basic unspoken policy to management teams is "If you do not do your job (according to Mr. Hakim's rules as well as his Director of Operations Michael Pullen), I will replace you with someone who will". If you play by these rules, not only are you equally as guilty, but also you can advance within the franchise... if you do not, you are not only 'let go', but also 'blacklisted' throughout San Antonio. They claim this blacklist does not exist, but I myself cannot get a salaried position to save my family, let alone save myself. In closing, yes it is true... if you fail to work any holiday you are terminated immediately (and no, you do not get holiday pay or a thank you). The notices for this are posted in every break room, in every store, two weeks before every holiday. Employee handbooks describing proper policy are never issued as these also come out of food cost.

Having been a member of the management team in several area stores for San Antonio, I am fully aware of some of the questionable business practices in the San Antonio IHOP Franchise. For starters, when interviewing a prospective new hire, we are required to tell them that they are entitled to a $5.00 employee meal allowance... We are by no means allowed to make them aware that Mr. Hakim takes his generous 'allowance' back at the rate of twenty cents per hour that is worked. Second, breaks are deducted from every employee who is working a given shift, even if a break was not taken... in the interest of 'managing labor cost'. Third, any check that is 'walked out on' by a customer is the responsibility of that tables server to pay, or face termination, suspension or write up. Fourth, the 'first aid' kits are anything but (they are usually empty). Cost of supplying these comes directly out of food cost bubget, which managers get a bonus for if they have 'managed' this cost effectively. Finally, proper cleanliness practices are only enforced when the Corporate Representantive for the area is in town to do the quartelry inspections, which are prepared for always at the last minute because regular deep cleaning assignments are neglected in the interest of managing labor cost. Anything that involves a cost represents a higher bonus for the managers of the store provided they have 'managed' these costs effectively. The general rule we were expected to follow was "Bonus First" nothing else second, because only Mr Hakim's 'bottom line' is relevant and important. We are only the slaves that line his pockets with our hard work. The basic unspoken policy to management teams is "If you do not do your job (according to Mr. Hakim's rules as well as his Director of Operations Michael Pullen), I will replace you with someone who will". If you play by these rules, not only are you equally as guilty, but also you can advance within the franchise... if you do not, you are not only 'let go', but also 'blacklisted' throughout San Antonio. They claim this blacklist does not exist, but I myself cannot get a salaried position to save my family, let alone save myself. In closing, yes it is true... if you fail to work any holiday you are terminated immediately (and no, you do not get holiday pay or a thank you). The notices for this are posted in every break room, in every store, two weeks before every holiday. Employee handbooks describing proper policy are never issued as these also come out of food cost.

Having been a member of the management team in several area stores for San Antonio, I am fully aware of some of the questionable business practices in the San Antonio IHOP Franchise. For starters, when interviewing a prospective new hire, we are required to tell them that they are entitled to a $5.00 employee meal allowance... We are by no means allowed to make them aware that Mr. Hakim takes his generous 'allowance' back at the rate of twenty cents per hour that is worked. Second, breaks are deducted from every employee who is working a given shift, even if a break was not taken... in the interest of 'managing labor cost'. Third, any check that is 'walked out on' by a customer is the responsibility of that tables server to pay, or face termination, suspension or write up. Fourth, the 'first aid' kits are anything but (they are usually empty). Cost of supplying these comes directly out of food cost bubget, which managers get a bonus for if they have 'managed' this cost effectively. Finally, proper cleanliness practices are only enforced when the Corporate Representantive for the area is in town to do the quartelry inspections, which are prepared for always at the last minute because regular deep cleaning assignments are neglected in the interest of managing labor cost. Anything that involves a cost represents a higher bonus for the managers of the store provided they have 'managed' these costs effectively. The general rule we were expected to follow was "Bonus First" nothing else second, because only Mr Hakim's 'bottom line' is relevant and important. We are only the slaves that line his pockets with our hard work. The basic unspoken policy to management teams is "If you do not do your job (according to Mr. Hakim's rules as well as his Director of Operations Michael Pullen), I will replace you with someone who will". If you play by these rules, not only are you equally as guilty, but also you can advance within the franchise... if you do not, you are not only 'let go', but also 'blacklisted' throughout San Antonio. They claim this blacklist does not exist, but I myself cannot get a salaried position to save my family, let alone save myself. In closing, yes it is true... if you fail to work any holiday you are terminated immediately (and no, you do not get holiday pay or a thank you). The notices for this are posted in every break room, in every store, two weeks before every holiday. Employee handbooks describing proper policy are never issued as these also come out of food cost.