We frequent Wild Eggs at least a couple of times a month and generally have had a good experience. Today, however, was completely frustrating and a big disappointment in terms of attention to customer service.
We had decided to take both grandmothers, both mothers, and grandbabies out for breakfast on Mother's Day. For one of the couples in our party it would be their first time at Wild Eggs and they were looking forward to it based on our recommendation.
The total party was seven adults plus two children needing high chairs. I used the Yelp app shortly after 8 to check wait times and could not use it to put ourselves on the waitlist because there was no wait at that moment. Realizing it was Mother's Day and that we had a large party, I then called the restaurant and asked for their advice about getting a table for a party of seven adults and two children in high chairs. I was told by Lisa to use the app to get on the waitlist about 30 minutes prior to our expected arrival. When I tried to do that I couldn't do it in the app, because our party was 7+. It said I needed to contact the host. I called and spoke again to Lisa and put our name on the list for seven adults and two children in high chairs. (I was very clear about the count.)
We arrived about 25 minutes later and were told that we were on the list and they would seat us "as soon as we can." As we waited, I checked the Yelp app which showed that one party was ahead of us. Over the next several minutes quite a few parties, admittedly smaller, were seated. During the first 20 minutes of our wait at the restaurant we saw at least one group of tables large enough to seat our party sitting empty. The staff then broke up the larger tables to seat more small parties ahead of us. When we checked in again to find out if they could give us at least some idea of our additional wait, they said only that they would seat us "as soon as we can." As we continued to wait we saw two other empty tables for four that could have been pushed together to seat us, but they seated two parties of two at those tables. After we had been waiting at the restaurant for close to 40 minutes with two children under age 2 (more than an hour since we went on the wait list and more than 90 minutes after I first called), we decided to give up and headed across the way to Starbucks.
Before leaving we asked the hostess who was actually seating people why we couldn't have been seated earlier. She said that we would need three tables for a party of nine. We explained that we had only seven adults and that the two highchairs could've been seated on corners. She said "Oh, I didn't know that there were only seven adults. They didn't tell me that." As we walked out, I asked the hostess at the desk to remove us from the list. She smiled and said she would. No attempt at apologizing, however.
I realize they had limited control for how quickly people would eat and understand they couldn't have given us a precise time frame, but they seemed to have been lacking in both communication among themselves and in their understanding of our frustration.
If they had told me during either of my phone calls or once we checked in that it was going to be a bit longer than they anticipated, we would've made alternative plans. That lack of customer care made the whole situation even more frustrating and terribly disappointing and taints my previous good feelings about Wild Eggs based on our many other experiences. I can only imagine that the couple whose first time at Wild Eggs was today, will not go back. read more