Feeling Neglected in the Neighborhood

“Hello. Welcome to Applebee’s,” said the cheerful host. “Table for one?”

“Yes, it’s just me. Can I get a booth over there?” I asked, pointing to a row of open tables along the side of the half-full restaurant.

The young man walked me over to the open booth, handed me a menu and told me my server would be right with me. I sat and waited…and waited…and waited. After 5 minutes without seeing anyone come near me, except for the waitress who delivered some food to the table next to mine, I decided to take my hunger and business someplace else. As I passed the host on the way out the door, he was greeting the next set of patrons walking in. He looked at me with a confused look on his face.

There were easily no less than 25 different restaurants that the public can choose from within a 1 mile radius. As I drove across the street to another establishment, I laughed to myself thinking “what are the odds that of all the available seats in those stores waiting to serve the next paying customer, I got the one where the server didn’t show up?”

After being seated at a booth in the next location and being promptly greeted by my server, I ordered an iced tea and opened up my Twitter.

Total customer service fail @Applebees. Just sat at a table in Westchester, OH and wasn’t ever greeted in 5 min. Walked out! #BecomeBetter

— Sean Carpenter (@seancarp) February 4, 2016

I worked in the food service business for years before, during and after college so I know the importance of greeting a guest as quickly as possible. Even if it is just a “I’ll be right with you” as you pass by with another table’s food or on the way to the kitchen with dirty dishes, it’s critical to acknowledge a patron’s presence. As a sales trainer, one of the focal points of our lessons is the emphasis on customer service and making sure the consumer experience is a good one from start to finish and beyond. Not only will a great experience lead to repeat business, it could also lead to referral business thanks to positive word of mouth…and word of mouse. My tweet was less about the shaking fist of vengeance, it was just more about letting a corporate behemoth like Applebee’s know they have a teaching moment in one of their stores.

I must say I was pretty impressed when ARA from the Applebees social media team responded to my tweet in less than 10 minutes with the following reply:

@seancarp Sean, we are sorry to hear this. Our Guest Relations team would like to follow up with you. https://t.co/twqXPebdvF ~ARA

— Applebee’s (@Applebees) February 4, 2016

Hmmm, I thought to myself. If only the mystery server at their store would have been so focused on a quick appearance, I probably wouldn’t have sent the tweet in the first place. Of course the “Guest Relations team” would like to follow-up with me…and this is the main reason why I am writing this post. I am one of those people who will almost always fill out the survey, provide feedback when asked or look for ways to help brands, companies and individuals learn what they did right or what they could have done to make my visit, product or experience better. So given the opportunity to follow-up, I was all in.

After getting back to my hotel room, I submitted the feedback about my short but unsatisfactory visit. Upon submission, I received an auto-response from the system stating that Applebee’s had received my feedback.  I did find it amusing that they insisted on adding the line “Please be aware that this is an automated reply” to their template response.  Is there really anyone who would have read that email and thought to themselves, “Wow, those corporate staffers at Applebee’s sure are working late on a Wednesday.”

Please don’t think I am just railing on the Applebee’s chain to secure a few “Free Appetizers on Us” cards for my next visit. I am simply amazed that here we are now, over 48 hours after my complaint about not having someone show up to help me…and yet, the corporate staff hasn’t responded to me either.

Maybe it’s not a problem with the missing server in the actual store? Maybe it’s a Applebee’s thing? I wonder if their training philosophy is “do as we say, not as we do”?

What do you think? Should I have waited a little longer for my server to come by? Was I wrong to walk out? Would you have told anyone about your bad experience?

Let me know. I’ll just be sitting here waiting…