Rude service
By Sissy15
@sissy15 (13026)
United States
July 1, 2026 11:48am CST
A few weeks ago, we decided we wanted to go to Popeye's to get some chicken, but upon getting there, we had a terrible experience. The people weren't mean, but they were rude. When we arrived, a woman came in behind us who happened to be the aunt of one of the workers, which is fine, I understand saying hi to your family member, but we were completely ignored. She immediately started taking her aunt's order while ignoring us. When she finally realized we were standing there, she told us she was actually on break, and she didn't know who was taking orders. No one in the back could seem to figure it out either. Instead of trying to figure it out, she then continued to ignore us and took her aunt's order.
I understand she was on break, but the way she handled the entire situation was unprofessional. She could have at least gotten someone else to come take our order or told us someone would be with us in a minute, but she barely acknowledged us at all. Needless to say, we left, and we tried the other Popeye's, but our experience there wasn't a whole lot better. We could tell it wasn't in a very good part of town (we were in Toledo) because everything was behind plexiglass. The menu was tiny, and we had to lean in to see it, and we could barely hear the person behind the plexiglass. We were hungry and getting frustrated, especially after our last experience, and while the person taking our order wasn't rude, she also wasn't very friendly, they didn't have one of the items we wanted, so we ended up leaving and going to Church's Chicken.
We got to Church's and the AC was broken, so it was hot, and once again, the people working there weren't rude but also not friendly, but at this point we were starving and mediocre service was better than the previous places' service, so we ordered anyway, and thankfully the food was good.
I understand not everyone is going to be friendly all of the time, I understand there are bad days, but when you are working for a business where you are the face of said business, you need to try and put on a smile or something. I understand most people don't want to work at a fast-food restaurant. I don't expect people to always be on it, but when we dealt with it at three different restaurants, it tells me something needs to change. If you don't like it there, look for another job. I know it's not always that simple, but you are seriously going to end up killing a business that way, and if it is that the employer is the problem, then maybe find another job and make it known that it's not a great place to work for. All I know is it's a lot easier to do business with a friendly face than a grumpy gus. I don't always feel like smiling either. I have days when I am just showing up because I have to, but I try to at least be pleasant and polite to people. We all have off days, and those are allowed, but it's not ok to go to work every single day with that kind of attitude when you work in public. I didn't make you take that job; I was being polite and even smiled at them, despite them not smiling at me. If it were one person and one restaurant, I could understand, but it was everyone at all of the restaurants. The only one that was friendly was the rude one that ignored us because she was talking to her aunt; she wasn't friendly to us, but she sure was to her aunt. I understand being happy to see your family, but not to the degree that you forget about everyone else in line, and actually ignore the customers in front of your aunt. My husband has worked in food service for years, and he doesn't ignore other customers when his family comes in; he makes us wait and then will talk to us as he's taking our order AFTER he has taken the orders ahead of us.
8 people like this
8 responses
@AmbiePam (122125)
• United States
1 Jul
I hope you called and talked to the manager of at least the first Popeye’s. There is no excuse for being ignored in favor of the aunt.
People need to look at Chick-Fil-A for tips on how to have good service. They have the nicest, most polite, friendly employees available. Plus, their food is delicious! There is a reason the line to that place is always so long. Luckily, they move fast and you don’t have to wait long.
3 people like this
@sissy15 (13026)
• United States
1 Jul
We didn't, but my husband left a Yelp review, and the owner responded and apologized, and claimed he was going to fix it, but I doubt he will because that particular restaurant had a TON of bad reviews, all saying something similar to what we did, that people were rude or immature and that all of the workers were teenagers who didn't care about customer service.
2 people like this
@MarieCoyle (59970)
•
1 Jul
We used to have four Popeye's chicken restaurants. They went downhill so much, no service, half the time they were out of chicken. I didn't go there, but several friends liked it. We are down to one Popeye's now, and it's always bad according to the reviews. I haven't had their chicken in years now. Our KFC's here underwent a huge remodel, supposedly retraining, etc. and then reopened after over a year of being closed. We had three. One didn't last but a few months and it's closed again, one is still open, but barely--only if they are in the mood to open. The other is open but never has any cars. Something has happened to KFC here in the Midwest. It's beyond terrible, people say they go there at lunch or dinner and are told they are ''out of chicken''....seriously? It's a fried chicken restaurant. Why open the doors if you don't have chicken. I drove by one of them the other day--one car in the parking lot, and 3 workers sitting outside the back door, sharing some tokes and smokes. I think ours are all doomed to fail once again.
2 people like this
@sissy15 (13026)
• United States
1 Jul
I agree, I haven't been to a KFC in a while, as I usually prefer Lee's (they have fried pickles as a side), which was originally started by Colonel Sanders' nephew. The Colonel would be sad to see what his restaurants have become; he was strict about his chicken and expected his workers to get it right. Could you imagine if he saw what they were like now?
2 people like this
@sissy15 (13026)
• United States
21h
@MarieCoyle Ours used to always be busy, but now I rarely see cars in the parking lot. He expected a certain quality from all of his restaurants, and I think it's safe to say they aren't living up to it.
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (59970)
•
2 Jul
@sissy15
When I was in high school, I had a job after school at our new local KFC where I lived. A small town and the place was never empty, we had so much business. The restaurant was run well, very clean, etc. Not anymore, it was one of the first to go out of business in that town. I agree that ol' Colonel Sanders is no doubt rolling in his grave, this is not the kind of restaurant he wanted.
2 people like this
@snowy22315 (209980)
• United States
1 Jul
Popeye's is too expensive for what they offer. I prefer Bojangles these days. The last time I had it I really liked it, you could taste the pepper in the coating. They must have put a ton of it in.
2 people like this
@snowy22315 (209980)
• United States
1 Jul
@sissy15 I haven't ever been to Church's. I have been to Zaxby's though. I was not impressed with that. Chick FIL a is good, but really expensive for fast food.
2 people like this
@sissy15 (13026)
• United States
1 Jul
@snowy22315 We don't have a Zaxby's either. I like Chick-fil-A, but as you said, they are more expensive, so we don't go to them often. I've started buying their sauce and using it on nuggets at home, which aren't as good, but the sauce helps lol.
2 people like this
@celticeagle (190813)
• Boise, Idaho
22h
Nowadays people don't seem to care if they give good service or not. If I experience something like this I jump on Yelp when I get home and tell the world. There is no excuse for it. I wonder what that establishment's quarterly numbers are going to look like.
1 person likes this
@sissy15 (13026)
• United States
21h
Considering their Yelp was basically all bad reviews, I can only imagine. I understand a bad day and try to give people the benefit of the doubt at times, but this was just insane. The fact that every restaurant we went to had less than friendly employees is also kind of crazy. I get not wanting to always put on a smile, but they're in customer service, and people want the people they talk to to be friendly. It's easier to talk to someone who is friendly than someone who is frowning and seems to want to be anywhere but there.
1 person likes this
@sissy15 (13026)
• United States
37m
@celticeagle They honestly should have. If she were on break, she should have had her aunt sit down and go out to join her and put her order in AFTER ours was put in. Just because you're related to someone there doesn't mean your order should get made before the people ahead of you. She could have had someone else take our order and then gotten her aunt's order put in. I didn't expect her to wait on us on her break, but I did expect to not be completely ignored and have to wait as someone behind us got their food order taken. It was such a rude way to go about it, people need to be retrained in manners.
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (190813)
• Boise, Idaho
2h
@sissy15 ........You're right. The situation at Popeyes sounded more like a lack of respect both for the business and you as customers. They might as well all go home.
1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (98667)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
1 Jul
I remember when I lived in NYC I was a big fan of Kentucky Fried and then one day tried Popeye;s and that abecame my favorite,
2 people like this
@sissy15 (13026)
• United States
1 Jul
Unfortunately, I've never tried it; the two we went to were the closest ones to us, and that was going to be our first time trying it, but we had terrible service, so I'm not sure we'll be going back. We did enjoy Church's, though, and we also love Lee's, which is a lot like KFC but better in my opinion, and Lee's was started by Colonel Sanders' nephew.
2 people like this
@Wrexxo (2956)
•
1 Jul
Last year, two presenters at our local radio station were talking about this exact same thing. They talked about there bad experiences at eateries and restaurants..how the waiters treat them like they have come to beg. I understand these guys are not paid well but customer service is key. If they don't like the job, they should just quit instead of messing up some else's business. It sucks
2 people like this
@sissy15 (13026)
• United States
1 Jul
Exactly, I feel food service workers deserve living wages, and I'm sorry they don't get them, but if they are choosing to work there, then they need to act like they want to be there even when they don't. I understand it's not an easy job, dealing with the public can be stressful, but you chose this position, you didn't have to take it, and those who are coming to get food don't deserve your poor attitude. My husband works at a Fast food place as a second job, and it's difficult, but he still puts on a smile and acts like he wants to be there even when he doesn't, because that's his job. He chose to be there. Fast food does have job growth opportunities for those who work hard; they can become managers, who have better pay and benefits, but most places aren't going to hire someone who can't be friendly to be a manager. I say most because I have found some.
2 people like this
@sissy15 (13026)
• United States
21h
I could understand if it were one restaurant and one person, but it was insane that it was every place we went to. People need to start training their employees better or hiring better ones. They'll go out of business if they keep hiring people like that.
1 person likes this
@porwest (113328)
• United States
11h
There was always one simple rule in life I followed. It didn't matter if I liked the job or hated the job, I did my best job while ON the job. It's not the company's fault I work there, and I am never FORCED to work anywhere. If I don't like my job, it's not an excuse to be a turd. It's my incentive to do something that will land me a BETTER job.
1 person likes this
@sissy15 (13026)
• United States
6h
I believe the same thing. I always try not to be grumpy. I have had days where I wasn't in the best mood, and I didn't feel much like smiling, and maybe I didn't, but I still did my job and tried my best to keep going that day. I work with kids, and usually, if I was in a mood, it was directly related to said kids. I work with the most difficult grade in the school, and there are A LOT of behaviors, not just from the kid I'm assigned to. There are days I'm just so mentally exhausted from them that I can't even force a smile, but I still try my best. Some days, my best just isn't as good as other days, depending on energy level, but I still show up and try. I'm not going out where my job is to be the face of a company and expect not to run customers off. Bad days are allowed, but not to the extent that you are ruining someone else's business.
