I am giving One Star as a Rating for the 'Double Chili Burger' Only... not for Farmer Boys; I would, however, give this location 3 Stars for its regular service...
When in Los Angeles, the basis and benchmark of measure for chili burger is 'Tommy's.' Here you get a Pile of chili, and if you ask for extra, they don't hesitate to do so... this is not the case for Farmer Boys; not by long shot.
I was hankering for a Tommy's Chili burger one night and discovered Farmer Boys was offering a new Double Chili Cheese Burger... boy what a mistake I made in this order.
The burger arrived late, and immediately when delivered I told the server, "there's a mistake; I ordered the Double Chili Burger." She said this is it, and left it on the table. I opened the burger to see if there was any chili and to my UTTER disappointment, there was a teaspoon full of 'Chili-like' spread on the top of my burger patty and none on the second patty; at least none that I could detect.
Keeping in mind the Fluff 'Advertisement' shown on the poster hanging on the wall; where displayed, is a Double Patty & Cheese Burger with Mounds of Chili Dripping down from side of the burger & bun... What a False & Misleading Advertising 'Bait-and-Switch' deal -- an utter misrepresentation of the real deal -- Almost Criminal I would even say... jokingly, of course -- I don't joke about chili though.
Anyway, I asked if this was right (the chili serving size) and the female server said, they (the cooks) are required to use a 'specified' measure on each burger. In an attempt to appeal her sense of courtesy, I suggested that this was not at all what I had in mind; since the poster clearly shows chili pouring out of the side of the burger, it is clear that my burger does not represent what is being advertised. However, and nearly indifferent to my appeal, she did not budge nor offer to provide (as a courtesy) any apology or any extra chili... she was obviously not in a position to make an 'executive decision;' thereby delivering a terrible blow to the integrity of service I would expect from Farmer Boys... so, I returned my entire order and asked for full refund -- sadly, this is their loss and not mine... I do not make excuses for the problem - I just ask they fix them, or I can easily tak my business elsewhere, where I am appreciated as a Valued-Repeat Customer... sometime, messages like this one (like a brick to the head) is what it takes to send a message.
Well, after my wife finished her salad; by the way, the salads are Awesome... still, I cannot say the same for the Chili Burger... we both left and went to Tommy's.
This could easily have been a good deal at first; I know that Farmer Boys corporation has to spend a lot to advertise and promotional's on items to appeal to customers that generates and create business and cash revenue for their franchise owners... in this case, this may be a local issue where a Franchisee/Owner may be more at fault for poor management and a lack of empowerment and productive decision making to it's crew to make client-friendly decisions, rather than allowing staff to make decisions that create PR problems that place the corporate office and headquarters of Farmer Boys in a negative light. Failing to provide valued service and courtesy by cutting corners and cheating customer is no way to retain once loyal customers from coming back; this is a lose-lose... (since 3-13-18) I have only been back once to this location since this incident.
BTW; as to the sentiment that I have read from other's posts, this location does suffer Miserably at Friendliness, Greetings, and real Customer Service; too much talking and joking among the staff and little attention on the customers.
At times, from a lack of consistent Friendly Greetings & Service, as well as having a Well Equipped Staff knowledgeable in Interpersonal Skills; a lack of Recruiting, Staffing, and proper training (and re-training/re-enforcement training) may be a serious part of the problem resulting in poor staffing and scheduling, all related to Operational Management Skills and an emphasis on Communication Skills... in my experience, this store's location is in dire need of re-training on all levels of its operations; from operations management down to the front-line customer service.
Yes, this was a long post, but someone had to point out the problems here; just consider it my personal and free constructive criticism for improvement sake. read more