Great Waiter, Poor Food, Rude Manager

Letters like this make me wish the 'PFB seal of approval' award was
still around!

Excellent, Excellent, Excellent!!

This is a great letter but leaves me wondering if the manager does not
care much for this person and a compliment was the last thing he
wanted to hear. Maybe even jealous, for whatever reason. What a shame!
I hope the message gets back to the right person about this and you
hear from them soon.

The best waiter I have ever encountered was at Chili's years ago. On
my way out I stopped and told the manager that while I was accustomed
to very good service at Chili's, this guy really stood out as
especially awesome. I gave reasons.

Whatever else the manager did, he must have told the guy, because one
day the waiter saw me on the street and came over to thank me.
Apparently it had been his first day at that restaurant, so he was
being evaluated.

I used to really like Chili's. It has, in my opinion, been going
downhill for years. (Well, at any rate, the last time I ate there it
had been going downhill; I don't suppose I'd know if they suddenly
got good again.) For me, the moment when it jumped the shark (yes, I
know I'm stretching it with that phrase) was when they quit using
Fiestaware dishes and switched to regular restaurant plates.

I really hope they'll take your letter to heart, but I wouldn't hold
my breath. It's too bad. It used to be a good chain.

Reading between the lines, the manager obviously gets more complaints
than compliments. Sounds like 'what do you want me to do about it' is
a stock response and he probably didn't even register the fact that
you were complimenting the waiter. Which makes me wonder about the
general quality of the food and service at the restuarant. I wouldn't
recommend a return visit.

Let me go with the crowd, Toni, and say this is a good letter.

Excellent letter, Toni!

That manager is a complete moron, and probably a real jerk to work
for. The waiter, by your description, did an excellent job, and gets
even more points for having to work for a manager like that.

Off topic a bit, but to me, all of these chain restaurants are getting
to be pretty much the same. Same kind of food, same kind of service
(your waiter is the exception). There was a time when Chili's was
actually halfway decent, but that was many moons ago. Now I rate them
just one step up above Denny's and IHOP. Probably on the same level
as Applebee's. Your best bet is to seek out the locally owned
restaurants. The food is almost certain to be better, and the service
will more than likely be better. And if you have a problem, and speak
to the manager of one of these places, I can assure you that he/she
will NOT blow you off.

At the restaurant I work at, "medium" is pink all the way through. A
"medium-well" is pink only in the middle.

This might be the reason the burger your friend bit into was still
pink. Next time you go out to eat, ask the server what their "medium"
is, just to be sure. In some places you can't even order a rare or
medium-rare.

I wonder if the manager was (sadly) confused if you both complimented
the waiter and made some critical comments about the food/delivery.
Maybe (again, sadly) he didn't know what to do. As a manager he
should have the smarts to distinguish between the two.

He could have thanked you for your comments, made a note to commend
the server, and said he would look into the kitchen matter.

Good letter.

You did exactly the right thing, and I think it's nice that you took
the time to compliment the waiter for a job well done.You might follow
it up with a little note mentioning hime by name,( even though these
letters go to the company through Planetfeedback)because I know that
the fabric store hung these on a board next to the timeclock, and it
always gave me a lift to see them. Very nice letter, and it's nice you
didn't make any unreasonable demands.

Great letter! It's sad to say but in this day and age when you bestow
a compliment and the manager asks you what do you want him to do about
it, that's pretty pathetic. Tell the waiter that he's great. That's
what you do! I believe his attitude is an indication of the chain.
I've eaten there when driving across the country a couple of times, so
not my first choice, but my only choice on more than one occasion and
your description pretty much fit the experiences that I consistently
had when I did. So, as a last resort as I don't make a habit out of
eating at chain restaurants, I avoid them like the plague.

Thanks for your gracious letter. You are one classy lady!

She tries to let him know how great the waiter was in spite of the
food and he blows her off????

To all the OP's reading this - THIS IS NOT AN EXCUSE TO NOT SPEAK TO A
MANAGER. This is a lone example of a moron manager. MOST managers DO
want your feedback.

Toni, I'm glad you let PFB (and Chilli's) know about this and I
personally feel bad that the manager was too ignorant to listen to you
and appreciate what you were trying to tell him.

So this is what a level-headed fair-minded complaint looks like.
Here's to seeing more of them!

Excellent letter Toni,this is the kind of letter that should get a
response from the company.I hope they fix this situation and give this
waiter a raise,since my guess is this manager is probably no picnic to
work for.

Good job, Toni! I'm glad you rewrote your letter. I really hope you
hear back from them and that you get some satisfaction!

Great letter!! Wow folks, a calmly written letter by a customer who
actually did speak to the manager and recognized the fact that this
was not the servers fault, and left a nice tip to reflect this. She
spoke to the manager who was rude and basically blew her off. Chili's
corporate needs to know about this individual (the manager) and the
experience this customer had.

And are you ready for the best part? She did not ask for any
compensation or free meal coupons, or waffles!! This OP is a touch of
class, what a refreshing change!!