As of the writing of this review - this Arby's has a 2.5 rating. I have to say, I completely understand why.
I used to wonder why Arby's restaurants aren't more popular. I used to love the chicken salad. And they have more than just roast beef sandwiched. But then I remembered, EVERY time I ever went to Arby's they were -
a) out of something (and this was WAY before the pandemic) and
b) the employees act as though they are angry and ready to invite you inside to brawl or
c) the employees act like they are dejected and miserable and you are interrupting their personal time.
Last week, I had a craving for crinkle french fries and didn't feel like driving to Cobb Pkwy. My buddy said, "I think Arby's has crinkle fries." I was in a pretty great mood, had a super productive day and had one last appointment at 2:30pm. As I pulled in, I realized that I'd forgotten that they have one of those tight blocked drive-thrus. Meaning you can't pull off once you're in line - my hubby calls it a hostage-drive-thru. (Burger King's love to do this too - but I digress). There was only one car in front of me and I had 20 minutes. The person in front of me was done within moments and I pulled up and waited to be prompted for my order.
Once prompted, I told the associate I wanted the turkey gyro with the fries, sandwich and fries only - no drink.
"MA'AM, WE CAN'T HEAR YOU! I'M GONNA NEED YOU TO SPEAK UP!" The associate shouts this at me. Here's the thing. The way drive-thru is configured, when I pulled forward, the intercom speaker is was practically inside the car with me. And I was already speaking pretty loudly. So - without changing the volume of my voice at all, I repeated myself. And somehow, magically, she heard me this time.
But while I'm speaking, she shouts, "WE'RE OUT OF TURKEY! IT SAYS THAT OUT ON THE SIGN." And she's yelling at me like we're two aunties that that have some long-standing beef and just met up at the family reunion for the first time in 10 years.
Now, I had a good bit of time to view the menu, and they were out of 5 things. This things are all denoted with red labels with white text. The gyro does not say that. Nor is there any sign that says they are out of turkey. SEE PHOTO. So I said, "Sorry, there's no label that says you're out of turkey, so do you have . . ." now I'm interrupted by a man with an African accent, "Ma'am, it says that on the sign." If I hadn't been interrupted, I was going to say '. . . so do you have beef?'
Once the man is done speaking, I respond, "It does not say it on the sign. Do y'all have beef?"
The original angry lady replies, "We have BEEF and we have GREEK. We don't have turkey!" (I'm guessing Greek is made with lamb, since that's traditional.)
So I reply, "Ma'am - why are you giving me such a huge attitude when all I'm trying to do is order food from your restaurant?"
She replies, "Because you keep telling me you want turkey and I told you we don't have turkey."
I reply, "Ma'am. I asked you for turkey one time. You went on to make a big deal about how you were out and it was posted on the sign. SO I told you it wasn't on the sign because I thought you or someone else in there might want to come out to update the sign . . . so you don't have to keep telling people you're out." I went on to place my order. I refrained from telling her that I can read and my vision is perfect (just saw my eye doc last week - lol).
When I arrived at the window, she was pretty stoic and unfriendly. Didn't get her name, but she was medium, complexioned with long, gray locs. I actually think this was the same lady who snapped at me the first time I stopped by to try to crinkle fries (over a year ago). They were out and she relayed this info with the same type of energy you'd expect if I'd asked her if I could have custody of her first born grandchild.
She did ask if needed ketchup or sauce and I said, "Ketchup, please." But they still forgot it. They took quite a bit of time to complete the order. Once I'd driven off, took a bite of my food, I realized they'd given me lamb. Which was probably intentional to punish me for 'arguing' with her. So I ate my fries and the gyro's tomatoes, but that was it. Unfortunately, I don't eat lamb.
So here's my overall verdict. I like the food at Arby's - but the employees need to stop with the animosity. Not everyone is out to ruin your day or steal your joy. If you don't like public-facing jobs or interacting with the public, please seek out a job where you don't have to interact with the public.
Wrap-up: I keep telling people this - and it's an unpopular opinion - but Chick-Fil-A food is pretty basic / ordinary. If you really dissect it, I believe you'll find that the real reason people LOVE Chick-Fil-A is because of the extraordinary customer service. All fast-food restaurants, but this Arby's in particular, need to take a page out of the CFA handbook. Being pleasant instead of combative = repeat customer! read more
