We called ahead to place a takeaway order. Really simple order, just two menu item meals.
We were quoted a 15min wait.
Not living very close, we arrived 20mins later, expecting our food to be waiting for us.
Instead we were told they hadn't made it yet.
So we gritted our teeth and waited for the meals to be made, which granted they put priority on. Then when the time came to pay I asked if we were still expected to pay full price, or at least whether a free bag of fortune cookies or something (you know, those things that non-franchise establishments throw in for free anyway...) or some kind of smooth-over gesture.
The lady cheerfully replied we were getting $x.xx off... but because of the voucher we were using.
I told her we would have used that anyway, but this is now 30mins after we called that our food is ready, what could she do to make it up to us?
She tried to tell me that the deal she was giving me (she wasn't giving me anything, it was a franchise voucher that I was planning to use regardless) was making up for the wait.
She then accused our inconvenience of being our fault because we were late.
I pointed out that this didn't even make sense.
If they had already made our food and it was waiting for us, of course there'd be no problem, but she had told us from the moment we walked in to collect it that the order wasn't made.
Eventually I conceded to just let it go because by now we were starving, and every minute trying to understand each other.
I said ok, we'll just do it. But when my partner held out her card to pay, the woman had had enough of the conversation walked off to the side, and starting poking the food around pretending we weren't there!
I called out that if she wanted us to pay at all she'd better serve us.
The face she gave me was as though I'd just told her I was taking my meals and all the drinks in the cooler, and the tables and chairs too, and her firstborn while I was at it.
Such a simple exchange made so complicated. I wish I could just strike it off as a language barrier problem, but unfortunately we understood each other's words, just not each other's logic.
The food was really nice, but I'll save myself the hassle next time. read more