Sunday, October 21, 2012

Better feed Kay before she goes all T-Rex on the place.

There's a new girl in Fort Smith. Well, there are probably plenty of new girls in Fort Smith, but there is one in particular I know. Her name is Kay. She moved here from Missippi for a job as a perfusionist.  What a town to move to huh? Fort Smith, Arkansas. Hey! I did it too. It's not so bad.

Kay is a runner. Actually Kay is a triathlete. She's a pretty cool girl.

So, why does Kay get her special blog post? Well, really she doesn't, but she's part of the story, so she needed to be introduced.

Last night, I went to some historical thing with Kay. She's kind of nerdy and likes things like that. It was interesting. Well, we were going to grab dinner afterwards, and I suggested going to the German restaurant that is in town. After all, she is new in town, and it would be neat for her to see some of the things Fort Smith has to offer. I have always had a good experience at this restaurant.  That's obviously why I suggested it. I wouldn't suggest crap!

So, we get there.  Kay is hungry. She keeps saying she is about to get all T-Rex on the kitchen.  There was about a 25 minute wait for a table. That in itself is not a big deal.  They needed to hurry though because Kay was getting cranky! She kept saying she was, but I couldn't tell. I asked the hostess if I could go ahead and order a beer from the bar, and she tells me the bar is closed down because it is set up for Sunday Brunch. ??? It's a Saturday night a 7:30.  I don't think a restaurant should shut down things during prime dinner time for something that happens on Sunday, but that's beside the point.

Finally, we get a table.  We were surprised to see once they sat us at our table that nearly the whole restaurant was empty. When our hostess came over to us we mentioned that.  She said "well the people at this table just got up, sorry about your wait." What? We don't care about that! We care that it's not busy and we had to wait...and we are HUNGRY!!!

So I order a beer, and we order an appetizer and our meal.  They come back and tell us that they were out of the entree we both had ordered.  We then had to make a second choice. We were less than enthused, but it is what it is. 

They bring us some egg rolls on the house to apologize, and after we finish that we ask about the fried cheese we had ordered. She had neglected to ring that in!

I was ready for my second beer, and I was excited to try the next of three different Octoberfests that they had.  Well, they were out of the next one I ordered, so I ordered the next one, they were out of that too!!!  Grrrr...

So we get our food, we eat it...then...then...this is where it gets interesting...

Our waitress comes over and asks how everything was. Kay says "well, it was pretty underwhelming."

 
Want to know what the waitress says next???

She says "Well you did order the hamburger steak?" 

What?? You are blaming her underwhelming experience on what she ordered off YOUR menu? 

Here's the thing...it ISN'T what she ordered...they were out of what she wanted!

So I pipe in and say...no no it's not her food...it's the whole experience. I tell them I she's new in town, and I suggested this place because I like it, but the whole experience since the time we walked in the door has been unpleasant.

She then proceeds to tell us how it isn't her fault that we had to wait or that they were out of food. She tells us that the hostess is new, and apologizes for how the hostess had us wait.

I'm sorry, I know she's a waitress and some things are out of her control.  However, the blame game isn't good, and I like to see a waitress be apologetic. This girl was not.

It did have me laughing though. "Well you did order the hamburger steak." How hilarious!!!!  Duh Kay, order something better if you don't want to be underwhelmed!

Now Kay isn't going to let me pick where to eat again. My credibility has been shot down. Thanks German restaurant that I will not name.  Thank you much.

Our waitress ends up comping one of my beers...she then tells Kay that she hopes Kay will give them another shot. I tell her the only way Kay is coming again is if someone offers to pay for her food. I'm not sure I ever want to go back either.

See how disappointed Kay is?



One more thing is to be said...it is soo sad but true that bad customer service will get written about and spread around more than good customer service. 

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