Saturday, June 9, 2007
1:22 PM
IHop Hops Into My Bad Side
At what point in a restaurant's life does customer service stop being important?
Carlos and I took Seth to Ihop for some brunch on the 7th. We had excellent service and the food was good.
I got the bill of $27.56 and since I didn't have cash on me, I decided to give the tip via CC.
At the register an older woman, who was VERY friendly and kind, had a lot of trouble reading the receipts. She would ask the customers to read off the Table # found on the piece of paper so that she could put it into the computer. She explained to me that the computer was easy to read since it was in florescent colors and the font was large.
That was the biggest red flag ever flown in front of my eyes, but alas, I ignore it as people tend to do.
She gave me my receipt and I wrote in $5.00 on the tip line and $32.56 in the Total line.
Okay let me stop the story here for a minute. Let's close our eyes and pretend it is June 7, 2007. We are standing in Ihop and we have just completed the receipt form for our credit card payment.
Me: Here ya go. *hands old lady the receipt*
Old Lady: Thank you dear!
Me: Did you process that $5 tip I wrote in?
Old Lady: Oh! I didn't see that. *nervous laugh* I warned ya I can't read these things. *waves receipt in the air*
Me: *laughs politely* It's okay! That's why I wanted to make sure you got it.
That's what shoulda "went down" that day, but again....that red flag was more invisible than Paris Hilton's three citations were to her. Poor Paris.
This is what ACTUALLY went down....
I left the restaurant after NOT verifying she entered the correct amount. That same day, I checked my bank balance online and noticed Ihop only charged me $27.56. I knew at this point, the tip was not taken care of.
I called Ihop immediately. The person answering tells me the manager is out and to call back the next day.
I call the next day (June 8th) and the person answering tells me the manager is out sick, "or something". So she advised me to call again the NEXT day.
I call today. Manager tells person on the phone to tell me to call her back in an hour.
I call back an hour and a half and no one answers the line....it's the MIDDLE OF THE FREAKIN' DAY!!
I call back again a few minutes later. Now their line gives me the annoying busy signal.
So here is my solution.....
I will get $5 in cash, drive to IHop, hand them my receipt and point me in the direction of the waitress that served us.
I will hand the waitress our tip, walk out of the place, then email their HQ to complain about the lack of customer service this franchise's manager has.
To Be Continued.....
Said By Nicole
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