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 Forty minute wait and still no lunch at IHOP #5411 - Addison, IL
Posted Tue October 9, 2007 12:00 pm, by Jessica A. written to IHOP
Write a Letter to this Company
I am writing about my first, and possibly last, visit to an IHOP, which unfortunately was extremely unsatisfactory.
We arrived at the restaurant around 1:10 pm, hoping to have lunch before catching the train into Chicago to attend an event. The restaurant was moderately busy, but not packed. We were seated right away, and the server was quick with taking our orders and bringing our beverages. (Although it should be noted that the outside of the coffee carafe on our table was quite dirty, at least the coffee seemed relatively fresh.)
We waited for our meals as it became increasingly apparent that we would not receive our food in time to eat & catch the train. Several other tables that were seated after us were served their meals while we waited.
At about 1:55, I flagged our server down at told her that we would have to leave to make the train. She responded that she had only one of our omlettes up, and asked if she could bring us that. I refused this offer for several reasons; not only did we not have time to eat, but there were two of us and it didn't seem fair for one to eat while the other had no meal. Additionally, I had no idea how long the one omlette had been prepared and waiting.
The server left, and after about 5 minutes she brought our check, which came to $4.39 for just one glass of juice and one coffee. At no time did I see or speak with a manager (none came to the table, and we did not have time to seek one out). No offer of free beverages or any kind of apology was made.
Although I went ahead and paid the bill with my credit card - since we did receive those items, I suppose I felt I ought to pay for them - I felt it important to contact IHOP about the extremely poor, slow service. The staff did not seem concerned about the speed of service or the loss of a customer.
I would like IHOP to ensure that staff & management at this location have been appropriately trained on speed of service, and to follow up with them on how long completed food items are held before serving to customers.
I am not seeking a future discount or free meal, as I very much doubt we will return to IHOP. I would accept a refund, if one were offered to me.
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by Jessica A. Posted Wed October 17, 2007 @ 4:51 PM
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The franchise owner just called me and she was very understanding.
She said that she was not sure what happened, but she would look into
it and get the feedback to her employees. She also stated that a
manager should have spoken with us, and that we should not have been
charged for our drinks.
She is sending us a refund for the drinks, as well as a gift card.
All in all, I have been very impressed with IHOP's response.
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by lj Posted Sat October 13, 2007 @ 12:44 AM
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Well written letter. You have a valid complaint. That is way too long
to wait for IHOP food. I would have taken her up on the Omlette, eat
it in the car on the way! :) If the other person wanted something to
eat, stop at a fast food place. Oh well, good luck!
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They should have said sorry. But they don't have to give free food.
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by Beeracuda Posted Wed October 10, 2007 @ 3:44 PM
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Jessica,
I think you have a valid complaint. If you ordered 2 omelettes for
breakfast, in no way should they have taken that long. After all, an
omelette is one of the fastest items to cook - it can usually be
cooked in 2 minutes or less. Obviously, the kitchen decided to
prepare the items out of order, and your order was obviously
forgotten. Also, I think $4.39 is a lot for a glass of juice and one
coffee, although in the grand scheme of things, $4.39 is really not
much to worry about, and is probably a bargain for a lesson learned.
The reason I say that is because, in my opinion, IHOP sucks. I place
them in the same category as Denny's, and if you were to visit
epinions.com, you could see what I have to say regarding them
(Denny's), which is very unflattering, to say the least!
As for a possible refund: As I stated, I think $4.39 is a lot for
what you received. However, if that is their price, and you did
consume those two items and you were satisfied with them, then it's
just as well to pay for what you received.
Good luck.
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by ColoradoCOP Posted Wed October 10, 2007 @ 2:45 PM
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I gotta go w/ you on this one. 45 minutes is a long time to wait.
Although I prob. would have gotten around to asking for our food
sooner, thats still no excuse. It does not take an hour to cook a
couple omelette's. I hope you get some sort of response back from
IHOP! Good luck
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Thanks.
by Jessica A. Wed October 10, 2007 @ 2:47 PM
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by Jessica A. Posted Wed October 10, 2007 @ 2:43 PM
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I have heard from an IHOP customer representative, and she indicated
that this location is owned by a franchisee. She stated that my
feedback would be passed on to the Franchise Business Consultant for
the North region, who would pass my feedback on to the franchise
owner.
Should I hear from them, I will update further.
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I know you wrote this letter on Oct 9th, but when did you actually
visit IHOP. I have seen on Saturday and Sundays the wait time to go
up to 45 minutes.
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by Jessica A. Posted Wed October 10, 2007 @ 2:39 PM
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I did not inform her when we were seated, as the initial speed of
seating/order taking/beverage service didn't seem to warrant it. I
would have said something sooner, but we did not see our server around
much and she didn't come back to check on us until I sought her out.
Although I might consider visiting IHOP again, first impressions count
for a lot. And there are enough IHOP complaints that are similar to
my own on this site to make me think twice.
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by ~Fiナ-la-ネea~ Posted Thu October 11, 2007 @ 7:19 PM
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just came out with a call button to page the waitresses,, I hope to
see it used in many restaurants. I think it will help the
communication a bit better.
Well good luck, I hope they respond to your letter. Let us know :)
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by SZ Posted Wed October 10, 2007 @ 11:15 AM
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'I am not seeking a future discount or free meal, as I very much doubt
we will return to IHOP. I would accept a refund, if one were offered
to me.'
Aren't you being a bit contradictory here? Although for you it might
not be so, I know many people whose breakfast consists of coffee and
juice.
Never been to an IHOP before but you're basing service at all of them
on this one visit? Don't get out much, do you?
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by p d Posted Wed October 10, 2007 @ 12:31 AM
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You won't go to IHOP again because of one experience?
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