Matthew U.
Yelp
Piece of advice for any business, don't ignore your customer. No matter the situation, whether it be at initial contact or when following up with them afterwards. It just doesn't look good on you and you probably should just not do it. With that, strap in and listen up about this location.
After arriving in AC I decided to get some food. I knew there was going to be a Hard Rock here so I made it a point to make a stop. I also had a coupon to use and figured this would be a great place to stop in to use it. I made the long walk down the boardwalk to here and inside.
I went to the host stand and was greeted immediately. The hostess looked a little frazzled, but started the process to get me to a seat. After confirming I was dining alone she asked if I wanted to sit at the bar or the rail. After my last experience with this company, I immediately chose the option that was not the bar. However, I immediately regretted this decision.
See as I said the rail was fine a server was telling the hostess that it wouldn't be a good idea. Almost as if they didn't care that I was standing there the server told the hostess that no one was scheduled to take that section. The hostess still sat me there. Menu in hand, I was left to it.
I bet you are wondering why I believe I was ignored. Well, as I was sat at the rail, by myself, a couple approached the rail and sat down as well. They literally came in from the casino floor, sat themselves, and were immediately approached and served. With the amount of time it took for that to happen, I was able to already have my selection done. But still, no one approached. The server that approached the couple had already returned with drinks and took their food order.
While that was happening I kept sweeping the floor to find any other employee to address the fact that no one had come to me yet. I had seen the hostess scurrying about and every time I attempted to get her attention she was gone, or at one of the many stations throughout the floor. Between ten to fifteen minutes in, I had enough of waiting. I made my way back over to the host stand and was about to ask to be sat at a table.
When I approached the stand, it was another employee manning it. He scurried away, as I turned around to see where he had gone to the server that ignored me was right behind me in the elevated section. Almost like to ambush me to tell me that she was coming to me next. With some skepticism I looked at her, because she was not in fact coming to me, I said, "I'd rather not dine at a place where I'm going to be ignored." Handed her the menus and walked out.
I immediately called their customer service line. Was bounced around, put on wait, and hung up on. I call back and before they can bounce me I let them know what happened.
Two days later the follow up. After I have left the area. I kid you not, the manager asked me if I was still in the area, when I told him no, he said the following. "Well if you were in the area I was going to invite you back to the location and offer you a comped meal. But if you are not in the area, all I can offer you is an apology." Like they didn't care about the fact that they messed up, completely ignoring a customer seems to be the norm to them. This is the second time this has happened to me at two different locations.
A little stunned at his nonchalant response I almost laughed. When I told him I was not going to be making a special trip back to AC, he tried to make a plea that he would find a remedy for another location elsewhere. Never called back after that, like he thought the apology was enough to remedy the situation.
Maybe the lesson I should learn from all this is to ask for a table. Or maybe just stick to the gift shop area. Get it together Hard Rock, maybe this is why locations are shutting down.