*Introduction*
I've gone here a few times and 99 is basically a lesser quality version of Applebees. I knew what to expect what going on and had no problems at first.
I walked in and there was no hostess in sight. I waited a few minutes and a hostess arrived. She was unfriendly and didn't seem like she particularly liked working there. I said to myself, 'okayyyy strange but maybe she's having a bad day...' I asked for a window seat and she barely looked at me as she said follow me. She then proceeded to walk past a few open tables with window seats and then found me a table all the way in the back and said 'if you give me a few minutes I can clean this off for you.' I responded, "actually we passed a few tables. What about this one?' She was surprised and said 'oh okay sure! " Overall, I didn't get the sense she liked her job...not a fan.
*Part I: Warming Up*
I sat down and waited and waited until a waittress came. She didn't say her name and her energy is low maybe even irritated. Long story short, I placed my orders and kept it a friendly tone as she went back and forth. She even helped me charge my phone. Thank You! ...I ask her for her name and smile. We do a little bit of small talk and now she's opened up to me. It's a good vibe.
The food itself was okay. I can't complain. Great portions but mediocre quality. I knew what to expect going into 99 restaurant so I had no complaints.
Fast forward, I am getting ready to pay the bill. I put an order to go for my mother. And then Jocelyn (who I had no real issues with up to this point) hands me the receipt with instructions to PAY ONLINE. I proceed to enter in my mother's card information and it doesn't go thru. I try it again and it doesn't go thru.
**My mother immediately calls me telling me it went thru TWICE.
*Part II: The Issues*
I tell Jocelyn that the charge went through twice can you double check. At this point things got unexpectedly hairy...
First, she comes back saying it didn't go through it all on our side. I said I know but it went through twice on mine. She says "i'll be right back."
At which point I never saw her again...
Instead a random guy I never met comes to my table demanding payment saying that credit cards don't work with their online payment system. He doesn't introduce himself. Doesn't apologize for the issue. He says we have to use a physical machine for credit cards. I say 'okay not a problem.' The man never comes back...
What bothered me though is why in the hell would Jocelyn/the restaurant give me a receipt to pay online and not mention anything about not being able to take a credit card? Because my irate mother is on the phone asking the same damn thing. So here I am waiting for Jocelyn to come back to the table (it's now been 20 minutes) and she is no where to be found. I don't even see her in the restaurant and I can even see the kitchen from where I am standing so she didn't pick up and serve any orders either.
*Part III: The Waiting..*
So here I am waiting and waiting and waiting. Other people are being served. Tables are being sat. The hostess from before is walking past me still a bit unbothered and slightly irritated similar to Jocelyn's immediate energy. At this point I begin to notice that some of the staff that use to work here (at the same time) are not here. I begin to wonder if this place has low retention and bad management.
At this point it's been 40 minutes if not longer. Keep in mind, I've already eaten and I've been ready to go since I ordered the food to go (over an hour ago). So I am sitting there for an hour basically waiting for Jocelyn to come or for management to figure it out.
*Part IV: The Other Guy*
Instead, ANOTHER guy comes to my table. No introduction. No nothing and just starts off going 'so we haven't received payment on our end.' At this point, I am bit baffled by how rude the management is. No one in management seemed to give a f- about the issue nor have a regard for customer service. Added with the mediocre food I was just so disappointed and furious at the disrespect. Meanwhile, Jocelyn had left me almost an hour ago while I was waiting for her to come back. It 110% felt like she was hiding from me...so it made the whole situation unnecessarily awkward and just was a poor show of professionalism.
I never ever bring up a fuss in a restaurant and again the whole thing felt awkward because just before this I was sitting there telling Jocelyn about my mom and smiling back and forth with her but the situation was so apalling, the customer service was so disrespectful, and the management was so poor, that when the SECOND manager came to my table (with my waitress nowhere to be found) with no introduction but simply
'so we haven't received payment on our end'
I go 'well, did the first guy explain the situation?"
'Yes"
'well, then why did you just leave me here?"
and you could tell he felt uncomfortable and said "i'm sorry about that sir."
Terrible Experience... read more