Promised Update!

I promised an update if I got any response from Denny's after a very distressing experience there while on-the-road.  Excellent responses from corporate headquarters, followed up by a personal phone call from the owner of the local Denny's.  They obviously care about customer service and retaining customers.  Every company should have such prompt response to customer concerns.  Textbook case of providing superior customer service and prompt response to customer concerns.
Any business can run into a problem.  Everyone makes mistakes from time to time.  We're human.  It's the response when there's a mishap, goof-up, or Big Mess which counts.  Denny's is back on my go-to list.  They really do care about providing customers with decent meals at a modest price and good service.  They showed that with prompt response and actions to follow up with that misbegotten manager.

Traveling is stressful.  No doubt about that.  Good customer service you can count on matters a great deal to travelers.  And I'm pleased that Denny's from the very highest levels down through the local restaurant understand and act on customer concerns.  An aberrant employee does not reflect the organization in this case.

So despite the dust-up, I'll be happy to patronize Denny's once again.

May your road rise up to meet you!

Ann

When Major Chains Are Not the 'Safe' Choice

Chain restaurants are not necessarily the 'safe' or 'known' choice when you are on the road.  When traveling constantly through strange surroundings, certainly there are times when we've simply 'had enough strangeness' and seek out familiar turf - like popular restaurant chains.  We expect a known quantity in menu, surroundings, service.

Today I've had a distressing reminder that major chains are not necessarily a comforting choice when on-the-go.  I stopped at Denny's for my favorite kind of omelet and a stream of coffee. Total disaster, with the most incompetent and rude restaurant manager I've encountered anywhere on my travels around the world.

After starting my omelet, barely a sip of coffee, I had to dash to the ladies.  Left the paperwork I was working on - notes for an article, in fact - pen, etc, on the table beside my plate.  Returned within two minutes to find a barren table.  My notes were soaked, sitting in the water covering a sopping wet table.  The waitress immediately left the people she'd just served to explain the busboy cleared the table while she was getting the other party's order.  She offered to have them remake the meal (of course, that's the best a waitress could do without authority).  Not acceptable for various reasons.  She offered - and brought - the manager.

The manager, Desa, kept repeating "I apologize, I apologize," said they were remaking the order - a smaller, one-egg omelet since I had started eating my meal.  But that was clearly inadequate as I explained my circumstances.  Well, you cannot take eggs on the road when there's no fridge, and no way to reheat them!  She had the gall to argue with me.  Finally, she asked what I expected her to do.

Any decent restaurant manager promptly offers to comp the meal if it is not possible to remake it & remain to eat it.  A really top-notch manager also gives a coupon for some freebie, if only to ensure that customer is retained (and does not fuss in front of other customers in a busy restaurant!)  Desa objected to my suggestion that she comp the meal and continued arguing that the kitchen staff had already started making a replacement meal in the form of a mini-omelet.

If kitchen staff had actually started making a replacement order, it would have been ready before Desa finished arguing.  Desa finally agreed to comp the meal, brought me a cup of coffee, and the BILL for a cup of coffee!  I won't call her the B-word, just a rude and incompetent idiot.

I have additional evidence of her failures to competently manage and oversee staff, maintenance of ladies' room, etc.  I had to ask her for a napkin - she failed to bring one with the coffee, and the mug sloshed.  Let's move on.

Now we'll see if Denny's website responds to my email complaint form and does anything about it.  Kentucky Fried Chicken blew it entirely.  Never responded to me.  I did return to that outlet about 2 weeks later to see if they had made any changes in response, but nothing changed there - if anything, the situation continued to deteriorate.  KFC worldwide has been crossed off my list of possible places to grab a bite to eat, at home or on the road.  Phooey, the KFC in Bangkok was a rather nice reprieve from fiery Thai food.  But I won't risk it - KFC is going downhill.

So now we see if Denny's pays any more attention to their website and email than KFC does.  Meanwhile, trips to Denny's are on hold.  You cannot count on them to deliver.  If they respond, I'll keep you posted. 

So which restaurant chains have you crossed off your list of formerly 'safe' and familiar homes away from home?

My your road rise to meet you!
Ann