Bad Retail Slaves Keep Forgetting KitKat Is In The Restaurant, And A Newbie struggles To Keep Up

I forgot about this story until recently. Five weeks ago, I was hit by a deer which wound up totaling my car. Ten days later an auto show was in my hometown so Daddy, and I wandered off to go look at cars because I needed a new one immediately.

Found a bunch I liked sitting in, made a list and off we went Saturday to car shop. Found a car, called my mother down to the dealership (for some sense and reasoning), and after all was said and done, went out to eat.

The place was fairly empty (maybe two other tables) and we were swiftly sat. That was the only swift thing that happened. We decide on food (a 3 course meal for $10), order that and our drinks and our server disappears. Soup and bread appear 15 minutes after we ordered. We have to flag down the server 10-15 minutes after we finish our soups to find our food.

Food still doesn't appear and our server informs us she is headed home for the night so the manager is taking over. Food finally appears another 15 minutes later when we've seen our server a total of four times until then.

Food was fine but my mum asks for the manager because she's livid. She calmly explains what was going on but basically indicates she's furious that it took 45 minutes to receive our food in an empty restaurant. He offers to comp $10 off our meals. Mum's still furious but eats her food.

The hostess had bopped over at a few times to check on us and did once again when my parents were done eating (I was a little stressed and overwhelmed at that point). The hostess informs us that the manager asks her to do whatever to keep us happy. We finally receive our dessert from a kitchen prep person who came out to talk to us as well.

We were offered a loaf of banana nut bread and the hostess asked if I lived with my parents and then she commented that I looked like I just wanted out of there. Bread is rounded up and Mum tracks down the hostess and kitchen prep girl to tip both of them. Kitchen prep girl had no idea what to make of it and asked if she could give us a hug. Hugs were exchanged and we finally got out of there 75 minutes after we had sat down. I was a little mad as well that in a mostly empty restaurant we were basically ignored by our server and the manager.

-------------------------

I also seem to have the luck of the draw in getting the "new" servers.

Weekend after the car show I was in my hometown again and took a day to hang out with my college roomie Panda. Panda and I meet up, goof around like a bunch of little kids and then head out to eat at a restaurant/brewery in a church (church shut down, was renovated and restaurant/brewery moved in).

Panda and I were swiftly sat and got a guy we decided later HAD to be fairly new. We tried the beers we were debating and asked about an appetizer (pierogies with different filling every day), and after finding out what today's filling was, decided the pierogies were a must have.

Our server forgets Panda's beer when he went to ask the question but brings it over with the pierogies. We have decided on our food at that point and order and then enjoy our pierogies. Food's out swiftly and server checks on us a few times. We're debating dessert and ask for the dessert menu.

We both immediately spot the ice cream which also had three set flavors and a rotating flavor. We ask about the rotating flavor, and our server says he doesn't know but he goes and checks. He comes back, Panda and I order our ice cream, and he heads off to get it.

He comes back and says they're out of the one flavor, but they do have a different flavor. I say go for it and he comes back and sets the ice cream in the center because he says "I sensed some sharing going on."

Panda and I split our dessert and pay the bill. I do the mental math and decide 15% (I'll admit to being the kind of person who tips based on service; horrible service equals no tip, bad service equals 10%, good service equals 15%, and excellent service receives at least 20%.).

Panda and I head back to catch a few shows where we were and pick up Panda's car. As we're waiting for the show to open, we're discussing our server and the length of time the entire process took. We decided that he had to be fairly new since he had a little tablet on him that he kept referring to and kept going to the kitchen when the tablet didn't have the answers.

--KitKat

Comments

[Dan]

That first one is terrible serve, except on the part of the hostess and kitchen prep, but the second one sounds like great service considering how tough the job is when you're not yet familiar with it.

[Obvious]

It could also be that if the menu rotates daily (and everything you were ordering seems to) and he had recently started his shift he may not have known.

But i can't tell if you were complaining about this guy who sounds like he gave you good service and checked if he didn't have the answer and let you know if there was an issue promptly.

[Not Perfect]

What's the deal with that comment "I sensed some sharing going on"? I'm struggling to understand the tone of voice that goes with that, but it sounds like a combination of presumptuous and creepy.

[NC Tony]

It sounds like the newbie (if that's what he was) at least was trying to give you good service, instead of being totally incompetent, and screwing things up left and right.

[KitKat]

He was definitely trying and we came late enough that he would have been there several hours. And as we had split the pierogies, he remembered and was able to figure out that we intended to eat each other's ice cream. Like I said, I figured he had to be fairly new at the job given the constant references to his tablet (he was fine with the beers and even recommended one that wasn't too hoppy to me)