Dear Editor,
On the August 30 at approximately 3 pm we took our mother and a male friend to eat at Popeye’s restaurant. We spent about twenty minutes at the counter to place an order and when it was finally served and we returned to our table there were no forks. My brother went for the forks. We commenced eating only to discover that only one person had napkins. We had to return to the counter once again.
We understood that this was probably an oversight and commenced eating. Our mother, when biting into the thigh piece of her chicken observed that there was fresh blood flowing from the bones. One of us returned to the counter, chicken in hand, to show the counter staff that the meat was not in a condition that was ready for consumption. It was here that our ordeal began.
The counter attendant/server indicated the next piece of thigh chicken was not going to be ready for seven minutes. I indicated to her that we had all commenced eating and we could not wait for seven minutes. I told her it would be better if she could offer us an alternate piece of chicken since that is what good customer service would dictate. The young lady appeared uncertain and I asked for the manager. The manager did not appear. She then asked, somewhat diffidently, what I would like. I told her that we would take chicken strips. We were handed three chicken strips.
We returned to the table and continued with our meal. A few minutes later this same counter attendant told us that the manager said that we must now pay the difference for the cost of the chicken strips because the chicken strips cost more than the piece of chicken thigh. The five of us sat there, portions of our uneaten meal in front of us, in stunned silence. This young lady was in obvious distress. I asked her to call the manager and she was hesitant. She was obviously uncomfortable and embarrassed. I told her we would not pay the difference and this was part of customer service. We recognized that the manager should be looking into this matter and we conveyed such sentiments. She returned to the counter and again, we were acutely conscious of some sort of disagreement evolving there. By this time, we were all encountering digestion difficulties.
We left that restaurant, did not pay the difference and will never return. I was particularly angry, stressed and once again had cause to reflect on our service industry here in Guyana. In addition to all of these interesting developments, when I entered the restaurant and went to wash my hands in the washroom, the top of the tap was missing. Yes missing. This means that the tap could not be turned to generate a flow. It was dripping, just barely, and I struggled to wash my fingers with this. This is interesting particularly if employees are required to wash their hands.
Directly in the middle of the restaurant the floor was wet because water was dripping from two vents in the ceiling, and I suspect they are probably the air conditioning vents. I pointed out to my mother that the tabletop directly underneath was swollen, obviously from being subjected to damp conditions.
Upon my return home I called Popeye’s and secured the name of the owner. I went online at this address http://www.popeyes.com and under “Contact Us” this site came up http://www.servicecheck.net/forms/irpt_LocSearch.asp. However, it only allows for the reporting of customer experiences by those who live in the United States.
Finally, in the United States, and I have personally observed this, Popeye’s must post the equivalent calories for each piece of their meal. This is not being done at Popeye’s locally.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)
Editor’s note
We sent a copy of this letter to Ms Barbara Rampersaud, Manager of Popeye’s and received the following response from Mr Robert Badal, Managing Director:
“We are in receipt of your letter and wish to thank you for allowing us the opportunity to respond.
“First of all I must apologize to the writer for the unpleasant episode at our Popeye’s restaurant. Our company is disheartened that a valuable customer had such an experience and we will in no way make excuses for our shortcomings. It is however our duty to investigate what transpired and to allow the manager on duty to explain. What I’ve found out varies considerably from what the writer relates in her letter.
“With regards to the long wait, anyone who visits our restaurant on weekends knows that there is always a crowd. It is a priority for our staff to execute each order as quickly as possible so that the waiting time is shortened for everyone, but because of the volume of traffic it is sometimes unavoidable at times that one will have to stand in line. As you can imagine Carifesta created an even greater number of persons to visit our store and this may have led to an unusually long twenty minutes wait.
“On the day in question, the tap in the washroom had indeed broken some time later that day and it was difficult for us to have it fixed immediately. We do not know of any leaks deriving from a vent in the ceiling and none of our staff recalls water being on the floor.
“To address the writer’s main issue of blood flowing from the bones of her piece of chicken, we wish to advise all customers that our cooking process would make it impossible for any piece of chicken to reach a customer in such a state. My staff explained that the customer was dissatisfied with the thigh and requested 5 pieces of chicken strips as replacement. There was never an issue of exchange nor chicken as the customer was given 3 pieces of strips instead of the 5 pieces requested but continued to be loud and abusive to the discomfort of other customers present.
“Popeye’s prides itself in providing exceptional products and service to all our customers and I again sincerely apologize to the complainant on this unfortunate episode.”
