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| - Ahhh Cracker barrel. you know what you might get if you ever get in, so you look online and it says '5-10 minutes' - yeah right, but you put your name in anyway... and wait outside. and wait. and then you approach the outside hostess to inquire about an ETA and the clueless high school kid says 'they've already called for you, go inside and they'll seat you'. So when in the 20+ minutes that we had been sitting there did they call our name? They didnt. the inside hostess, a snide college kid says bluntly that she called us, so we advise her that we've been listening and did not ever hear our groups name, to which she insists that she did and that we will be seated. no clear apology even when both my wife and I couldn't have been more clear that that was all we were really looking for. flat-out refusing to apologize as if she was somehow in-the-right to just not listen to the customer. we left. I may never feel the urge for a country boy breakfast ever again, and I'm oddly OK with that.
I know it is summer and the workforce shifts to kids who probably think they have better things to do, but no matter how popular a restaurant brand is, you can't ever forget customer service and its importance today. brands ebb and flow in popularity and kne day you may just need this customer again.
also, if you have an online system, it should reflect in near real-time what the wait is or like and tell people it is longer. under-promising and then giving yourself the chance to over-deliver is always appreciated from the customer's perspective.
I know that cracker barrel prides themselves on the old-timey country store, but it just creates a cluttered mess you have to wade through and gives you no good inside waiting option, unless you want to be part of the clutter others are trying to get through to do anything (restrooms are also tucked into this mess)...
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