| rev:text
| - Two days ago on Tuesday (5/23/17), I took my family to the Cheesecake Factory to celebrate my brother's birthday. Regretfully, we didn't have a celebration--instead, we had a disaster. It was the most dreadful dining experience we've ever had and I am so upset that it had to happen on a loved one's birthday. We're a very patient and forgiving family with a combined 32 years in the hospitality industry, but your staff sucked every ounce of patience in us.
We arrived at 7:30 pm. It took 15 minutes for a server to acknowledge us after we were seated by the hostess. A server named Jessica S. finally appeared and took our drink orders (we were a party of 3). Our drinks arrived 5 minutes later. As we browsed the menu, she said she'd be back shortly to take our food orders. We decided no appetizers because the restaurant wasn't busy (it was a Tuesday night) and we didn't want to be too full for our main dishes. A basket of bread would've definitely sufficed for the meantime. She vanished without offering any bread, which is customary at Cheesecake Factory. All the tables surrounding ours were receiving fresh baskets of bread. A short while later, I heard Jessica ask the table DIRECTLY beside ours which was seated after us, "Would you like some bread while your appetizers are being made?" Sure enough, she served them bread.
Five minutes became 20 and still no bread and no Jessica, at least not at our table. She was busy providing undivided attention to her other tables. We eventually stopped her and asked for bread; she said a fresh batch was being made. She took our dinner orders and left;with empty glasses in front of her and no question if we wanted refills. I thought to myself, "Will I have to be asking for every little thing the entire night? But she doesn't look like she's training or overwhelmed. She seems to be on top of things with everyone else." I couldn't decipher what was going on. Carelessness? Selective service? At this point, it's 8:30. People who came after us were already eating their entrees, and some were even getting their checks. Jessica would skip our table and ask the others if there was anything they needed. I had to ask a different server walking by if we could get some bread and she happily obliged; yet again, we never got any. We sat there sipping what was left of our drinks, watching Jessica serve everyone else.
If it wasn't for my family, I wanted to leave. They kept saying, "What's going to be open around this time?" Honestly, bar service elsewhere would've been more merciful for a birthday than this. I'm forgiving of wait times and honest forgetfulness from staff, but that night was straight up unforgivable.
It's past 9 pm and still no entrees and no explanation. At least show some consideration and let us know what's happening in the kitchen. Short staffed? Backed up? I got up and went to the hostess stand and told her that I'd like to pay for the drinks and leave. She said she'd need to get the manager Sarah to honor my request. I explained to the Manager how negligent and horrible the service was, to which she was initially/seemingly apologetic. Sarah was shocked at what was happening and said verbatim, "It's not even that busy tonight." She asked if I'd be willing to have a seat and get some food in me while she tried her best to make the situation right. As soon as I walked back, our food mysteriously appeared on our table with a basket of bread.
Sarah returned 5 minutes later as we were eating and asked if we wanted a couple slices of cheesecake to-go on the house. I was offended that that was her solution to the problem, and for a family who didn't want dessert. An entire table of cheesecake could not sweeten this awful experience. We paid the original bill of $70 and that's around the time Jessica would come to our table to ask about refills and such. It was too late. If that was your form of an apology, apology not accepted. You're sorry because you were told on.
I've been a loyal patron of this Cheesecake Factory in Westlake for years. For God's sake, my family even hosts parties of 20-30 people during the holidays. But I was shown two nights ago that we are no longer wanted there. We were always kind and generous, but now I regret the time and money we wasted in the past. And the fact that the Manager never offered any resolution for a family who didn't want dessert made it worse.
I'm sure that when this happens to other guests, better resolutions are made. However, I'm not quite sure what filter your location uses to gauge what kind of treatment a certain people gets over others. You may never share that information, because you can't, but the public will always know the difference and never feel welcomed again. From Michaud's in Strongsville to parties we've catered in Cleveland, I have never seen such poor service with blatant audacity. And no matter what kind of training your staff needs, I suggest you add kindness and fairness to your employee handbook.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)