Bennigan's

I have recently had two food service experiences that left me shaken and angry. The latest was at the Bennigan's in Greenbelt, MD. The service was mediocre throughout the meal, but nothing to post here about. But then the check came, and problems ensued. The server made a mistake, and when I pointed it out, he became belligerent. I was so upset by his reaction that my hands were shaking, and I had to have my mother speak to the manager. Below is the message that I sent to the folks at Bennigan's corporate. Please forgive the lack of formatting, I'm pasting it exactly as I sent it.

The visit started out well enough. We ordered food for my daughter
along with our drinks. Hector took the food order for the adults at
the table on his next visit. I asked for a salad with my entree, and
my guest asked for just an entree. When my daughter's food arrived I
asked for a small plate. After about 15 minutes, no Hector, and no
plate. Our entrees then came out. I pointed out to Hector I hadn't
received my salad, and I still needed a plate for my daughter. He
brought the plate out several minutes later. The rest of the meal was
pretty uneventful; Hector checked on us a couple of times and we had
no issues. He asked if we needed anything, and I told him, "Nope,
everything's great." When he returned again we asked for the check,
two boxes, and the cookie for my daughter's meal. Another server
brought us a single box. I asked for a second one, and it was quickly
brought to us. Hector dropped off the check (but no cookie), and when
I looked at it I noticed we had been charged for a my daughter's drink
(apple juice) despite the menu saying that juice was included with her
meal. We waited about 10 minutes for Hector to return, and when I
asked about the drink, he said only soda was included. I told him that
the menu stated that a "soft drink, juice, or milk" was included (I
checked the menu prior to his return to be sure), and he continued to
deny that he made a mistake. He became very argumentative and rude. He
kept saying, "no, only a soda is included." I asked him to look at the
menu, and he refused, shook his head, and said, "I'm too busy for
this, I'll take it off" as he walked away. He returned with the
revised check, and I politely requested to see the manager. The
manager came to the table, and we told her what happened. She
apologized and she would speak with him. Another table near us called
her over, and told her that they were getting "excellent" service.
From what we observed, the other table had at least one employee of
the restaurant there. The manager "high-fived" one of the people at
that table, so I really doubt anything will be done about this lapse
of customer service. One of the people at the other table also told
the manager we had been a "pain" the whole time. All I asked for
"extra" was a plate. Everything else should have been brought to us
without asking, and our bill should have accurately reflected what we
ordered. I'll be a "pain" at a different restaurant next time, and
I'll make sure my friends and family do the same.

Seriously folks, when did it become OK to treat customers this way? It's now two days later, and I'm still angry about the way I was treated at this restaurant. As was apparent by my experience at this particular Bennigan's, the incopmentence starts at the top and works its way down.

Before I get nastgrams from servers and former servers, let me tell you a not-so-secret... I was a server for many years through college and for a while after. I know from my own experience that the way "Hector" treated me was unacceptable. Any one of my former managers would have fired me on the spot for such behavior. And really, shouldn't the server know the menu better than I do? He works there, and I don't!

Apple Support

I've been a Mac user for about 8 years now, and as with all technology, sometimes things go wrong. It happens, I know. I am the proud owner of a 15" MacBook Pro that I purchased in May 2006. Up until recently is served me well. But then it started shutting down without warning anytime I ran it off the battery. It's rather annoying when I'm trying to show a client my latest work, and suddenly the computer dies. That's just bad for business. So I called their support line.

I bet you thought this was going to be a complaint! Any of you that have dealt with the folks at Apple should know better ;-) I am always impressed when it comes to Apple's support!

I called support at about 7pm. The technician that answered was pleasant and helpful. He lead me through the steps for resetting the battery, checking the firmware, and a few other things. When none of those produced the desired results, he asked for my address so he could send me a new battery.

Guess what arrived at 9am the next day?!

That's right folks, my brand new battery, which as of this writing is working perfectly fine, arrived via DHL the morning after I called support. I was amazed, again, by the competence of the folks at Apple. Then again, these are the same folks that fixed a faulty screen in a previous laptop in a matter of three (3) days. That included the time that it took for me to ship the laptop to them, and for them to send it back to me. I swear, they must keep a few time machines in their labs or something.

One other item of note, I think the phone support folks are based overseas. Makes me wonder...

Hi, my name is Chrissy, and I'm a consumer!

I used to be of the "grin and bear it" school of consumerism. I rarely complained at restaurants, and I hardly ever asked to speak with anybody's manager. I'd just take what I was given, and work with it. Recent experiences with not only unprofessional, but just downright mean customer "service" professionals has prompted me to become more of an advocate for myself and others. And that's why I started this blog. I think it's important that we share our experiences with others, so they don't have to endure the same mistreatment. I also think it's important that we share our great experiences, to encourage others to purchase their goods and services from companies that promote good customer service.

Whenever I have a memorable experience with a company (good or bad), I'll be sure to post something about it here.