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You know, I wonder what the heck's been going on at my local IHOP for a while. I go about once a week, and it seems every time I'm in there, I see a bunch of new faces. One employee confessed to me and my roommate one night that they hire a bunch of people, only to get NCNS and people refusing to work. But tonight... tonight took the (pan)cake. Sit, and listen to my tale of horrible service.
When we arrived, we were shown to a table by our server, who didn't even bother to ask if we wanted a table or booth. He started to show us a table, and we asked if a booth was available, as there were several empty ones, since there were only about 8 other tables seated. He lead us to a booth, and when he saw that there were small crumbs of bacon or something brown on the table, he simply used the menu to brush it off. There were also water rings left on the table from glassware that had not been wiped away. He took our drink order, I asked for a Coke, my roommate for a Diet Coke with no ice. He brought us the drinks, but gave me the Diet (which had ice in it) and my roommate the regular. We figured it was just a mixup, so we switched glasses, and went about perusing the menu.
My roommate ordered a pancake combo, and I had an omlette. While we waited for our food, we had time to look around the dining area, and noticed several things. One of the tables near us had trash all over the floor under it, including straw wrappers and an empty gum packet. Not once did we see anyone come near it with a broom. Another table had a stack of napkins wedged under one leg to prop it up. There were about 12-13 employees running around, but we only saw 8 tables with customers, including ourselves. Several employees, including the manager, were seated at a table near the kitchen entrance talking with each other for a good 20-30 minutes. At one table, an employee, with his apron on, was seated and talking to the two customers there for most, if not all of the 45 minutes or so we were in the restaurant.
Before our food had arrived, my drink ran out, and I was looking for our waiter to get a refill. He walked by, picked up the glass without a word to or from me, and went to the back. When he brought the glass back, I noticed that his shirt sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, exposing a rather large tattoo on his right forearm, and he was chewing on a toothpick. Then he came back to the table, asking us how we wanted our eggs. Despite the fact my roommate specifically said "scrambled well" for hers, and I had an omlette which doesn't come with eggs on the side.
When the food arrived, we started eating, and had no real issues with the meal. But during the meal, my drink and my roommate's both ran out. Again, the waiter simply picked up the glasses as he walked by with nary a word to or from either of us, then brought them back refilled. But when I tried mine, it tasted wrong. Like he'd mixed the diet and regular coke, or the coke syrup was running low. I flagged him down, and told him that it tasked wrong. And then - get this - he says "Oh, I might have mixed them up, this must be her diet." And then pushed HER glass over to me, and set mine down in front of her!
To which she said "No, mine's right." because she'd already had a sip and it tasted right to her. So he pushes hers back to her, and takes mine to the back to refill it. And when it came back, it STILL tasted wrong. But I wasn't going to fight anymore, as my roommate and I were getting sick of watching how bad it was in there that night.
While this was going on, two tables in the corner both got up and left to pay. And we watched as their tables sat, unbussed, while nearly a dozen employees ran or sat around doing nothing but talking, for well over 10 minutes. In fact, someone only went over to start bussing them as we were leaving! Makes me wonder how long our dishes sat, unbussed...
After the drink mixup bit, I asked for some to-go boxes since I couldn't finish my omlette or the pancakes (NY Cheesecake pancakes, SO GOOD!). So he brings the boxes, and... vanishes. Now normally, if someone asks for a to-go box, wouldn't you bring the ticket with the boxes, since that usually means they're ready to go? No such luck with this dummy. So we sit, waiting for the ticket. Then I see the waiter coming out of the bathroom, with his apron off. Without stopping, he walks over to us, pulls out his pad to give us our ticket, and proceeds to drop the ticket on the ground. Then he goes and sits down with his apron still off, doing nothing.
Now, as I said, I'm a regular at this place, and I've NEVER had service this horrible before. Usually, I'll tip 15-20% of the ticket (which is usually around $20 or so). But this time, my roommate and I were so disgusted that I simply crossed out the tip part, wrote in the total, and signed it. The manager, who was ringing us up, recognized us as being in their often (and my roommate had applied for a job there, but never heard back), and asked her if she'd heard anything back, since he knew she'd applied to work there. We just said she hadn't heard anything, and left. As soon as we got home, I sat down to write a letter to IHOP on their website. Planned to write a detailed letter, but stupid 2000 character limit in the box precluded that, so I just hit the high points.
So yeah, horrible service, rude (or just incompetent) waiter, manager not paying much attention to the state of his dining room... just an all-around horrible mess of a visit, which really saddened me, since I love the food there, and the fact that they're open 24/7 so I can get a meal with roommate when I get off work at 3am.
tl;dr - Dirty dining room, waiter making large mistakes.
When we arrived, we were shown to a table by our server, who didn't even bother to ask if we wanted a table or booth. He started to show us a table, and we asked if a booth was available, as there were several empty ones, since there were only about 8 other tables seated. He lead us to a booth, and when he saw that there were small crumbs of bacon or something brown on the table, he simply used the menu to brush it off. There were also water rings left on the table from glassware that had not been wiped away. He took our drink order, I asked for a Coke, my roommate for a Diet Coke with no ice. He brought us the drinks, but gave me the Diet (which had ice in it) and my roommate the regular. We figured it was just a mixup, so we switched glasses, and went about perusing the menu.
My roommate ordered a pancake combo, and I had an omlette. While we waited for our food, we had time to look around the dining area, and noticed several things. One of the tables near us had trash all over the floor under it, including straw wrappers and an empty gum packet. Not once did we see anyone come near it with a broom. Another table had a stack of napkins wedged under one leg to prop it up. There were about 12-13 employees running around, but we only saw 8 tables with customers, including ourselves. Several employees, including the manager, were seated at a table near the kitchen entrance talking with each other for a good 20-30 minutes. At one table, an employee, with his apron on, was seated and talking to the two customers there for most, if not all of the 45 minutes or so we were in the restaurant.
Before our food had arrived, my drink ran out, and I was looking for our waiter to get a refill. He walked by, picked up the glass without a word to or from me, and went to the back. When he brought the glass back, I noticed that his shirt sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, exposing a rather large tattoo on his right forearm, and he was chewing on a toothpick. Then he came back to the table, asking us how we wanted our eggs. Despite the fact my roommate specifically said "scrambled well" for hers, and I had an omlette which doesn't come with eggs on the side.
When the food arrived, we started eating, and had no real issues with the meal. But during the meal, my drink and my roommate's both ran out. Again, the waiter simply picked up the glasses as he walked by with nary a word to or from either of us, then brought them back refilled. But when I tried mine, it tasted wrong. Like he'd mixed the diet and regular coke, or the coke syrup was running low. I flagged him down, and told him that it tasked wrong. And then - get this - he says "Oh, I might have mixed them up, this must be her diet." And then pushed HER glass over to me, and set mine down in front of her!
To which she said "No, mine's right." because she'd already had a sip and it tasted right to her. So he pushes hers back to her, and takes mine to the back to refill it. And when it came back, it STILL tasted wrong. But I wasn't going to fight anymore, as my roommate and I were getting sick of watching how bad it was in there that night.While this was going on, two tables in the corner both got up and left to pay. And we watched as their tables sat, unbussed, while nearly a dozen employees ran or sat around doing nothing but talking, for well over 10 minutes. In fact, someone only went over to start bussing them as we were leaving! Makes me wonder how long our dishes sat, unbussed...
After the drink mixup bit, I asked for some to-go boxes since I couldn't finish my omlette or the pancakes (NY Cheesecake pancakes, SO GOOD!). So he brings the boxes, and... vanishes. Now normally, if someone asks for a to-go box, wouldn't you bring the ticket with the boxes, since that usually means they're ready to go? No such luck with this dummy. So we sit, waiting for the ticket. Then I see the waiter coming out of the bathroom, with his apron off. Without stopping, he walks over to us, pulls out his pad to give us our ticket, and proceeds to drop the ticket on the ground. Then he goes and sits down with his apron still off, doing nothing.
Now, as I said, I'm a regular at this place, and I've NEVER had service this horrible before. Usually, I'll tip 15-20% of the ticket (which is usually around $20 or so). But this time, my roommate and I were so disgusted that I simply crossed out the tip part, wrote in the total, and signed it. The manager, who was ringing us up, recognized us as being in their often (and my roommate had applied for a job there, but never heard back), and asked her if she'd heard anything back, since he knew she'd applied to work there. We just said she hadn't heard anything, and left. As soon as we got home, I sat down to write a letter to IHOP on their website. Planned to write a detailed letter, but stupid 2000 character limit in the box precluded that, so I just hit the high points.
So yeah, horrible service, rude (or just incompetent) waiter, manager not paying much attention to the state of his dining room... just an all-around horrible mess of a visit, which really saddened me, since I love the food there, and the fact that they're open 24/7 so I can get a meal with roommate when I get off work at 3am.
tl;dr - Dirty dining room, waiter making large mistakes.
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