Submitted by Grant In Los Angeles, California.
Grant is the first $5.00 Amazon Gift Card Winner!
I roll over to Carls Jr. at 11pm the other night and encounter an employee who was surprisingly upbeat and pleasant. Being in the service industry, whenever I find surprisingly good service I tend write the higher ups about a job well done. Here’s what follows….
My email:
I went in after my shift at work around 11pm to pick up a burger and fries before heading home. There was an employee named Marc working the register.
"Aw Yeah, Girl. I'm Work. No, I can Talk. All I get are complaints. I have a macro set up for all these emails."
I just figured you should know that after 8 years of waiting tables, I was pretty impressed by this guy’s attitude. Here he is, 11pm on a Saturday night, and this guy is about as bright and positive sounding as any service employee I have ever encountered (including myself).
Not to mention efficient and speedy in order taking.
I always think it’s funny that people will always let somebody know when service is lacking, but never when it is surprisingly pleasant. Marc was flat out just doing his job very well at a time when most people would be dead on their feet, or would rather be anywhere else.
I know that it’s just taking an order, but I wanted to bring it to your attention that this guy was just doing a great job.
Carls Jr.’s response:
Thank you very much for taking the time to inform us of the experience you had at our Carl’s Jr. restaurant.
At Carl’s Jr., we strive not only to provide a delicious meal with great guest service, but we also make every effort to create a safe, clean, and friendly dining experience. It is obvious from your comments that you believe we have failed to meet those expectations.
I assure you that every effort is being made to address this situation. I have contacted the appropriate management regarding your experience at this particular restaurant and have requested that upper management follow up with you.
I appreciate the time you have taken to express your concerns. It gives us the chance to learn where we need improvement. It also allows us to resolve any problems that may arise from time to time. Guests like you, who make us aware of these problems, are our most valued guests and we would hate to lose you.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to call
My response:
Are you kidding?
I was writing to tell you that Marc had done a job well done and I get this email back saying you’re sorry that he “failed to meet expectations”? It’s very clear that while you say you value my feedback, you really didn’t read my message at all.
To repeat, I WASN’T complaining. I was praising the work of this employee in the middle of the night. Marc did his job and did it well. Instead of contacting the store about a phantom complaint, maybe you should work on READING your customer’s feedback before deciding that somebody needs to be reprimanded. Are you only looking for people to be unhappy with your restaurants?
I don’t know how I can say this more clearly: I enjoyed my time at Carls Jr (original message below) and was writing to make sure credit was given. Yet you clearly did NOT read my message. I certainly hope this is not the way you always handle praise.
Moreover, I would certainly hope this kind of lack of attention does not keep good workers from knowing the customer thinks they are doing a fine job.
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Shit like this bugs me. I’m sure at the HR office they complain and complain about people only ever whine and complain about what went wrong and never praise what goes right. Then when somebody tries to relay a good experience, they send this bullshit. Winners.
I always let higher ups know when someone has done an exceptional job. It blows my mind that so many companies make it a breeze to complain, but damned near impossible to praise.
Because they don’t care.
Because of this stupid ‘tipping culture’ waiters are 100% expendable. When you pay them no real money, and everyone is ready to work for WELL under a legal wage if you kick up a fuss, and have no money invested in them in training, why should they care how you feel about them?
A large company gives NO fucks about your experience, it simply doesn’t need you. And the effect of one good or bad staff member will not affect its profitability anymore than a fly could dent a freight train… Why bother taking the time to employ a customer service/HR rep, who they would have to pay a REAL wage, to deal with this kind of thing, when it simply dosn’t matter?? They could hire an entire stores worth of waiters and cooks for the cost of one HR rep when you take into account wage, training, benefits, insurance, vacation…
So in short. It only blows your mind because you have no idea how a business runs.
I’m certain most/all service industry workers know they’re expendable. In my situation, where I can get hired for work like this at the drop of a hat and only provides “extra” money for me, I certainly am not bothered by how “expendable” I am. I’m there for the cash I walk with at the end of the night and the social experience. If I didn’t have this part time gig, I’d be back to the solitude that accompanies working from home.
While servers may be rather expendable, I think a quality front of the house is hard to replace and should be appreciated by management. Where I work now has an amazing staff. I’ve never seen a restaurant run so smoothly. The same can’t be said for so many other dining establishments. I think it’s safe to assume management appreciates us and wouldn’t want to see this staff fall apart. Unfortunately, a lot of the people who contribute on here don’t work where I do.
Don’t be discouraged, I’m sure it was just a fluke. I used to work for Hardee’s in MO (Owned by Carl’s Jr.). I started off @ $7.50 an hour & was hardworking, friendly, & treated the guests like they were in a sit down restaurant (refilling drinks for them, grabbing shakes & bringing to table, etc.) Always had a smile on my face, & voluntarily deck scrubbed floors in the evenings. Anyway, I got so many positive comment cards, that my boss gave me a 50 cent raise within my first month of working there. I actually had a comment from an upset customer that said “..everyone in this shitty restaurant, but Alyssa…” LMFAO! So don’t be discouraged & continue to give good comment cards, also may I suggest calling corporate, I’m sure you’d hate it if someone tried to commend you, only for your boss to misinterpret it & reprimand you
Props to Hardees. Hard workers should receive incentives in the form of wage raises, etc. Good job!
How insulting! I’d love to know what, if any, response you got back. Maybe try calling their 800 number so you can get someone in India who cares even less? Haha.
I think that sucks. I mean, how often does someone take the time to call corporate to give praise for employees of a fast food chain? For the praise to not be taken seriously really stinks.
After a move to a different part of the city, I was closer to 5 fast food joints that I could drive to within a minute or so. The five places are Popeye’s, Church’s, Taco Bell, Mc Donald’s and Rally’s.
You’d probably have to live in New Orleans to understand just how awful an experience it usually is to get your order taken by one of the local ‘hood people. Seriously, it’s bad. I’ve seen a Quiznos open and close within 2 months because of the employees. Again, it’s THAT bad around here.
When weakness gets the best of me, I have gotten fast food from each of these places. Each place, with the exception of Taco Bell, didn’t let me down. Completely ghetto, unprofessional, incompetent staff. Each place, with the exception of the Taco Bell, was a miserable experience. I mean, not only do I feel awful getting fast food, these people working there make me feel even worse by doing things like:
- Greeting me with, “What chu needs?”.
- Asking me to pull around (to get off the timer) and then making me wait 5-10 minutes for an incorrect order.
- Trying to keep my change.
- Scratching/Picking at their hair and making a sucking sound with their teeth when handling my money/food.
- Making no eye contact.
- Not greeting me or saying a word besides the total.
Taco Bell was different. To be honest, I thought it was a fluke. I made my order through the drive-thru. I was greeting pleasantly, given a rundown of my order, offered sauce options and given a correct total. When I pulled up to pay and get my order, I was told hello (again) and asked how I was that evening. When she returned my credit card, I was told, “Thank you, Mr. Ryan.” I left with faith in humanity and a smile on my face.
I’ve since visited this Taco Bell several times. Each visit, maybe 10 over the past year, has been a pleasant experience. After the second visit, I called corporate and told them how impressed I was with the professionalism and courtesy of the staff. I even made it a point to ask for the manager and tell him what a great job he and his staff were doing.
Admin,
I’m a server in New Orleans. I noticed your comment and was wondering if you live here too. Hilarious!
Ha, the strip down loyola? I’ve been to every one of those places exactly once, and my god that taco bell is awful. A chicken quesadilla no sauce came out as a tortilla topped with some beans.
Are you serious? I’ve never really had a problem. I go there more than I should (maybe once or twice each week). The skinny black guy and the older white woman know my voice and don’t even have to ask me what kind of sauce I need. I get random freebies about 25% of the time. They’re usually fast and I would say my order is correct 90% of the time.
If I’m at home, and I want fast food, here are my options:
Popeye’s (drive-thru): Slow. Always wrong food. Usually missing sauce. Employees act very ghetto. SLOOOOOOW!
Mc Donalds (drive-thru): Not a chance in hell. Slow. Ghetto. Inaccurate. Not friendly.
Taco Bell: The only problem here is the lack of variety. Everything here is taco, burrito, beans and rice. They have desserts now, but I don’t like sweets. Service is good.
Circle K: Always someone outside hitting me up for change. I can’t stand that shit.
Chevron (Mexican Central): Overpriced groceries. Strange people loitering out front. Used to have a chubby gay dude working there that would freak me out. +1 if I have a sudden urge to wash my car.
Bo-Bo’s – No thank you.
Convenience Store next to Bo-Bo’s: Has some stuff I like but too many old ghetto dudes chilling out front.
Wendy’s: A little too out the way, especially since they have terrible people skills and can’t get an order right. Oh, and they’re out of everything every time.
Popeyes is the worst service ever. For close to 6 months I sent weekly messages complaining about an incident but never got a response. I wrote the CEO and found out the e-mail system had been down for months. Wonder how many other people did not get complaints through?