Doug M.
Yelp
It was the wife's birthday. Hooray! Ribs and brisket. So I order online at 11:00 am for 6:00 pickup.
I arrive - but no ribs. They sold out. I ordered them 7 hours ago, paid for them, tipped the staff for their friendly and courteous service and expert grilling.
But no ribs.
The manager explains that they had a printer malfunction and did not get our order until just recently. She asks what I want instead. I explain that I am unhappy and expect them to do something about failing to fulfill an order I made seven hours in advance. Meanwhile, a steady flow of people are coming and picking up their ribs that they ordered hours later than we did. But I understand. I would not demand that she take somebody's 7:30 ribs.
She asks what I want instead of the ribs. I tell her that I expect her to refund the ribs and replace them with something and that I did not expect to pay for that replacement entree. I select pulled pork and then wait ten minutes as a half a dozen more racks of ribs get picked up.
Finally a young lady gives me the bag. I ask her if I may have an amended bill. She says no, but that the other woman will "take care of it". I leave there thinking I won't be getting any bill at all.
Nope. She took $10 off the $75 bill.
So I called them today. Asked for the manager - explained the situation - asked her if she felt that the manager did the right thing. At no point does she identify that SHE IS THE SAME WOMAN and then she refers to herself in the third person "No, she did the right thing. That was the difference between the ribs and the pulled pork."
But how would I know, they refused to give me an amended bill? I ask to speak to her manager. I am starting to realize that they are the same person. And I am feeling lied to now, as well.
Kevin arrives. Kevin's is the GM and his superpower is creating unforced errors.
I have to explain to it all again. I ask, was that the same woman who adjusted my bill last Saturday? "Yes, it is." Kevin says.
Unforced Kevin error #1: You should have apologized for her actions of not identifying herself. That's bad. She wasted my time and made me explain the whole thing and then pretended to back herself up. That's BS.
Then Kevin asks if I got a receipt. I tell him I had the ORIGINAL receipt stapled to the bag. "Do you still have it?" He asks.
I'm kind of incredulous now. The whole transaction is online. I have emails etc.
Kevin says, "I have no way of determining who is telling the truth without knowing when it happened and seeing a receipt."
Unforced Kevin Error #2: You are questioning my integrity over a story that is NOT IN DISPUTE. She agrees she gave me a ten dollar refund for the difference in price between what we ordered. Also, you are insulting my intelligence if you think I will believe that you can't find this transaction.
I look at my email and I tell Kevin the exact time of the order, the pickup time and the receipt number. Kevin fumbles around for 5 minutes. During the interval, I ask Kevin what he plans on doing when he verifies the not disputed facts of the case.
He won't say. But he continues to complain that the printer malfunctioned and why do I expect something when it wasn't their fault? Several times.
Unforced Kevin Error #3: You should never mention your petty IT problems to a customer. You represent a business. You can explain what happened and apologize for the error. Then make it right. The customer does not care. Your organization failed to fulfill a contract. Make it right!
Finally, Kevin finds the record. He explains that he is comping the meal. But he whines about the printer some more. Not our fault! The printer!
Unforced Kevin Error #4: You should have said that you were sorry it happened, comped it, apologized for the way it was initially handled - apologized that the "front of the house" manager handled it wrong. You could have hung up with me and then told your manager whatever you wanted to in private. But instead you made me hang on the phone for 15 minutes after I batted away your pathetic "gee, I wish I could do something but if you don't have the receipt" nonsense.
Kevin, if you had not comped it, I would have reversed the CC charge. It is unethical to refuse an amended bill. Your manager fobbed me off and hoped to never hear of it again. Kevin's defense did not save the Woodpile any money. Kevin tried to hide behind his printer.
So Kevin's unforced errors led to: a customer that will never return. A customer so angry that they would take the time to write this. A customer so motivated that they spent even MORE time discussing Kevin and his team with other members of the Woodpile's managerial team. Everyone above Kevin has been very professional, btw.
The brisket, as ever was excellent. The pulled pork was ok but very disappointing. When you order ribs... well, they weren't ribs.
I hope you all have a better experience.