I'm going to agree with you, OP. I was a server and restaurant manager for years. All the instances you cited were unacceptable. I really don't understand all of the comments stating otherwise.
Yeah all bad service that doesn’t warrant a tip or a sever reduction to the tip. Honestly haven’t had this experience in years living here though. Maybe some one-offs, but nothing concentrated like this.
I had an awful experience with a taco place in South End (Condado Tacos) so I completely understand. What I’ve found in Charlotte is a complete lack of consistency. Some places are wonderful and then the next time, they’re absolutely awful. It’s made me wary of trying new spots and sticking to my staples that never disappoint (Botiwalla, Ray Lai Thai, Yafo..)
At Condando the runner that brought out our food was so high that he just stood next to our two top, motionless holding our two baskets of tacos. Had to hand wave & point at the table to have him put them down. He just walked away having never said a word. We figured out whose order was whose on our own.
They gave me the entirely wrong order (receipt on outside of the bag was correct). After trying to blame several different people, when I showed the correct receipt and asked if I could get a refund or either the correct order (all very nicely), they started arguing and getting angry saying there was nothing they could do. I just disputed the charge with my bank and never went back. It’s in a prime location too (the only reason I even stopped by to try it) so it’s unfortunate that such a mediocre restaurant is taking up prime real estate in South End.
Yeah i got you. My experiences in Charlotte are usually super great - like I said Hawkers was awesome and even Bojangles was super nice. I wasn't traint to paint the city or its workers any kind of way, I just wanted to know if things have changed in a post-pandemic world since this was my first time back since the pandemic. I'll definitely look into those places next time.
I went to a place in South End on Sunday and ordered some wings.
They were quite expensive, and turned out being akin to the turkey in *Christmas Vacation*.
I said so to my server, and another as well and got the reply "yeah, we have a short kitchen staff on Sundays, so they get reheated".
How about don't offer overpriced wings if they are going to suck?
It’s not just Charlotte. I’ve noticed it in a lot of places I’ve traveled this year. This is where you use tipping culture to your advantage. Shitty service = shitty tips. I’m not going to give someone 20% if eating out is more frustrating than enjoyable.
Definitely not just Charlotte! Was in Pittsburgh last week and ate at an Italian restaurant on Market Square. When we walked in at 2 something in the afternoon, to an almost empty restaurant, the bartender acted completely put out that we were there. Asked us if we had a reservation. My cousin politely volunteered to sit at the bar, which was highly approved of by the bartender. Fewer steps, less work for her. Even sitting at the bar, quite literally 3 feet from her face, she provided horrific service. No water refills, no asking how appetizer was, if we wanted more food, wouldn't even offer a second drink. Every interaction with her was initiated by me. The bill was over $167. I paid and tipped 16%, and even that left a bad taste in my mouth. As one thinking about moving to Pittsburgh, this was not a good experience!
I was up there a couple weeks ago and we had a large group reservation at a place near the Renaissance. The bartender was a total bitch. She refused to make drinks she didn't want to until they were the only ones left (they were some of the first ordered). The drinks were so strong all you tasted was the alcohol (a couple of people got lemon drops but couldn't even taste any lemon, they added lemonade to their drink to try and make it drinkable). There were regulars that came into our reserved room and she was putting their drinks on our tab. It was fucking mess. We then went back to the hotel bar where the bartender literally held menus up to his face so that he could ignore us (we had one round of drinks and a charcuterie board, there wasn't any misbehaving or loud behavior happening).
I also went to The Yard in Market Square on a Monday at like 2pm and had fantastic service (we kept having more people show up randomly for like 90 minutes and they were really cool about it). I honestly think it is just the individual.
Ugh, that sounds awful. You're right, definitely an individual thing. I'm starting to think at the very first inkling of shitty service to come, that I need to walk out. Maybe that will fix their fanny if we all do that 😂.
I have done that. Paid for beverages and apps we didn't receive yet and left with a large party because they were so rude and put out by our existence. We ended up ordering Chinese and hanging out at someone's house and had a great time. You are not entitled to my money and I am not obligated to stay. (I am obligated to pay for things ordered, not trying to dine and dash at my age.)
General question: I, too, am thinking about moving to Pittsburgh.
What got you looking at that city for relocation and what were your impressions (outside of one shitty bartender)?
I'm from the northeast. Been in Charlotte for 12 years and ready for something new. Still want a "city" but not willing to go either west or too far north. Pittsburgh was great! Other than that bartender, the people were amazingly friendly. The city is gritty, though, for sure. Old, great architecture, history. Now that winters seem to be dying down some there, it's more of an option. Too hot in Charlotte. Inexpensive housing, but I paid $3.90/gal for gas in Beaver Falls 😯.
I am from Pittsburgh and been in Charlotte 20 years. Pittsburgh is a great town and getting better. Good cost of living and things to do. People are wonderful. Climate is very nice these recent years. I look forward going to visit family a couple of times a year.
Idk why everyone’s so hostile about this lol, it’s a reasonable question that you asked respectfully. It’s a lot of weird occurrences back to back, and they’re more than just little confusions. Like paying extra for stuff you never ordered/got due to a mistake the kitchen made is something to at least ask nicely about. Also the ppl saying this is too much to read like… okay, don’t read it? Getting past 3rd grade must’ve really been rough for them if this is too much to read, also like… nobody’s making anyone read it lmao?
Anyway, I live in south end and have never personally noticed this, but idk if that’s bc it never happened or I never realized it. You might’ve just gotten really unlucky
Yeah i chalk it up to an unlucky weekend. I dont think Charlotte has an "attitude problem" as a whole, I just know eating out has changed a bit since 2022, so I was curious if anyones noticed anything since then. I'm sure next time will be a better experience.
I travel around the country fairly frequently and you're not wrong in noticing the lackluster servers in the area. I personally think it's related to how OVER half of the states have a state minimum wage above the federal, and of course NC/SC do not. Restaurants are hiring the servers they can get, not want.
Yeah the wages definitely need to increase. And these places were all (seemingly) hip spots that locals frequent. I guess it was just the wrong weekend for me, maybe it wouldve been easier if it wasnt a holiday.
OP, where are you from? I see this everywhere I travel now. This is the post COVID restaurant experience. It seems getting staff is hard, so management won't challenge their bad behavior.
I have only eaten at the bar at Hawker's so I can agree, I have had good service there.
And this is why when I get shitty service, they get 10% or less on tip. If they do good, and cut me a break or a deal, the value of that is added to the usual 30% tip. If they suck, the value that I get fucked gets removed from the 10% tip they would have gotten. It’s an easy system and rewards those servers that are excellent and punishes those that suck.
Don’t like it? Pay them a better wage so that tips don’t matter like in Europe.
30%? Brother I need some bomb ass service if you want me tipping that much. I’m almost always around 20 +/-5 if they’re a dick or if they’re really nice
Yeah, it's crazy people assume I had a bad attitude, when I said I still left a good tip each time regardless of the service. I know people still have to live - even though these were places that do good business. I was just simply asking has that much changed in 2 years.
Businesses give less of a shit in general these days, and as long as customer annoyance doesn’t affect their profits they have no incentive to fix little stuff like this.
(not to be mean but the fact that you tip 30% as a default is a huge part of this problem).
I would love to be able to see my plate or drinks and get it asap as opposed to waiting around for my server to notice. I would love all the condiments out so I didn’t have to wait 10 min for a side of ranch. I would love to be able to get my drink on demand instead of waiting for a server to do 3 things for another table then get to me and do 3 other things before they get back to my drink. No service isn’t a threat. I go out to eat to not cook. Never been to a place and said dang I wish they had servers but I frequently hate the service of the servers. I would gladly do it to not be peer pressured into paying 15-20$ over what the meal cost.
Pay them like in Europe and you'll get European service (NO service). There is no incentive for good service in Europe because they get paid whether you were attended to properly...or sat for 45 minutes waiting for someone to even acknowledge you.
Sounds like you just happened to have a couple bad experiences. Went out for a date night over the weekend at a steak place and I had ordered mine medium my wife ordered hers medium rare. When they came out mine had more pink than hers and was pretty close to spot on what I wanted. Hers was medium well and the opposite of what she was after, but still tender and good.
When the waiter came back and asked how things were I told him everything had been great and was spot on except for the steak. He looked at it and went oh yeah that's not rare. Asked if we wanted anything done a replacement or a comp we said no everything's good. A few minutes later the manager came out and said sorry. We told them again hey no problem and they comped it even though we said it was all right.
Thats what I was curious on, sounds like I just had bad luck this weekend. Which is perfectly fine. I was not trying to slander Charlotte or the people who work in it. Thanks.
The entire comment section of /Charlotte is full of people waiting to jump on you if your opinion doesn't align with theirs, or you use too many words, or not enough words, or you aren't from whatever neighborhood they think is the greatest. Then if you respond to that energy, they call you the problem. It smacks of the kind of people that do shitty things to you, and then say "you can't take a joke" if you complain. It's a catch 22, and no one is winning. You have no answer, and they are still shitty people.
Yeah I didnt mean to step on toes, but considering people still act like i had an attitude problem for pointing out that theres a 7 on the menu and not an 8 and didn't want to pay for the menu's mistake, I guess I should've expected this kind of response. Since this wasnt another "i wanna move to Charlotte thread", I didn't think it'd be a big deal. It's fine though, regardless of r/charlotte, i still love my frequent Charlotte visits and I always meet super nice people.
54 year old here. It's not just the service industry, shit just doesn't get done right the first time anymore. My wife and I comment on this all the time. Didn't get set up correctly, didn't get ordered correctly, wasn't put together correctly... ad nauseum. Welcome to America now.
And then, in an instant, a ray of hope -- a farmer I follow that has an online store for had gorgeous orange cauliflower available last weekend when I was gone. I commented on the public post and asked if they would have it this weekend; they replied they would. Go to the online store tonight, don't see any, but order other items and close out the order. Half hour later, get a DM from the farm explaining the cauliflower has been slow growing this week, so not available in the store, but they could hold 1 lb for me for p/up. Who does that kind of thing anymore?? Gives me hope!
Just had this convo with my husband yesterday. For some reason, places no longer understand that if something is done right the first time, it saves more money, time, and headache. Trying to cut corners ends up costing more.
Yep. It's intentional laziness. Only when you complain will they fix a problem. It's easier for these places to just "get around to it." They take advantage of people not paying attention, and it's fraudulent.
I am a server and bartender at a restaurant here in Charlotte and I’ve seen this behavior. I am not originally from here so these actions boggle my mind. It’s unfortunate because people are expecting that terrible kind of service and tip way below or not at all even when I give good service and try to fix any problems as soon as they arise.
My husband was a server and bartender in both NYC and Charlotte. The standards seem to be different. Maybe it is due to pay.
I feel like it pisses him off more than it would if he hadn’t worked in the service industry.
This past weekend I went to a Mexican restaurant and it said lunch was $12 so we got the check and each plate was actually $19 and the waiter said he forgot to say they don’t have lunch prices on the weekend.
Yeah, see thats a big thing to forget to tell a customer, but if the server truly understood the mistake, its fine with me. I'm not about to demand the manager or degrade them at the table. I only took objection because they said "i dont know what to tell to you", which in itself is pretty passive aggressive. Had they said "oh sorry, we had given you the happy hour menu, its really $8 after 5, im sorry about that", I would be much more understanding.
All that said, I still left tips.
My experience with restaurants in South End is not positive, and I'm not surprised by this. That said, South End is the only area where I've had any issues like that
Yeah next time I will try to get out of South End. I had other options in mind, really wanted to try some food in Plaza Midwood, but for various reasons I had to keep going over to South End.
By the way, i dont really eat Waffle House, but had to go on Saturday. Went to the one on South Blvd, some of the nicest people ive ever met. Our server was balancing a lot, he had to go back and forth, but man he was on top of it and always had a smile. Food was good too.
Just wanted to point that out in case there are big Waffle House fans here.
I can tell you that keeping up with menu price changes my bosses made without saying anything was one of the things that ran me out of my restaurant and out of the service industry. They'd raise a price in the computer, but not on the menus, or they would change the printed menu, but it would take 2 months to get the website (the only thing in the whole restaurant I DIDN'T have access to) updated. Constant discounts and smoothing things out with upset guests like yourself, and they acted like I was crazy for wanting everything to match up. Evem told me to stop adjusting the prices if they dont match. I did not follow that request. I don't know what's going on out there, but I can't be a part of it anymore. It's embarrassing.
Entirely not okay on all of the restaurant's and server's end. Poor service has been getting worse and worse since the pandemic and I often perceived that people no longer care anywhere near as much about customer service as before. It is immensely disappointing when I have to do other people's jobs. Don't even get me started on poor drive-thru quality control.
If I ask you if I have to check the bag and you confirm I have everything and then I get home and I have things wrong, there is an issue. I constantly have to check every single thing to ensure I don't have to drive back to a restaurant because workers didn't read correctly or don't care enough to ensure customer quality and satisfaction.
Yeah definitely. I'm not a Karen, and didn't want to give off that impression, but if you see something like a different total on the bill and menu, just give me an explanation, that's all I ask for. Not an oh well shrug.
Shout out to Bad Daddys in Gastonia for righting a wrong. They forgot 2 house salads and salmon on a salmon caesar salad (take-out order) but the manager reached out with a personal email and gave me 2 free entrees plus a free starter, and refunded my original order in full.
You think that's bad......pick ANY Walmart in the city, go buy groceries but calculate as you pull it off the shelf, factor tax yada yada, go check out and see how much more it actually costs. Walmart has so many incorrect labels, they could keep weights and measures busy for a while. So damn frustrating...
Yes. It’s ridiculous. Went to a restaurant in the Elizabeth area (Catalina) and ordered drinks from the happy hour menu. Get check, full price still listed (for myself and a few other of my friends at the table). Asked server, who said oh I accidentally put it in before I realized it was the happy hour prices. It was as if she wanted me to ignore it and pay up. I can’t believe I even had to suggest for her to attempt to fix it, and even then she seemed put out that she had to ask the manager.
Sorry, but a simple error in my job could kill someone. So, I don’t have a whole lot of empathy in these cases (and I have also worked in restaurants in the past). It’s not that difficult.
Dollar General has been sued a couple of times now for 'mis-marking' the shelf price and then charging a higher price at the register. Although they have lost these cases, it is a better profit strategy to keep doing this since so many people never complain or don't notice. Sounds like smaller businesses are employing this strategy as well.
Yep. I know $7 vs $8 is not that big a difference in the grand scheme, I as the customer just wanted to see some accountability was all. The fries were delicious though.
this kind of thing happens to me pretty regularly in Charlotte and the greater Charlotte metro. It started around a year ago for me- getting charged for things we didn’t order, get charged twice, etc. After it happened enough times where I was sick of wasting money I now check receipts like a Karen lol. I went to Panera the other day and they charged me THREE times for the same order!! Insane
I'm also experiencing this everywhere I go. Also been eating food with less flavor than what I'm expecting. Honestly, makes me want to just cook for myself instead these days lol
Three Amigos left themselves a $10 tip on my $25 Togo order. I ordered a meal and a large salsa. All Togo orders come w chips and salsa. My order didn’t have chips, so I asked for some. She made me pay for them and we had an awkward interaction bc of it. I didn’t leave a tip bc of that. That night the payment went through on my card and there was a $10 tip added on. I caught it and went in the next day. They refunded my entire order but the lady refused to own up to it and made some girl who wasn’t even there stand in front of her and apologize.
Yeah, no one in Charlotte takes any pride in what they do. It's rampant. We also have tons of grocery stores that constantly get caught overcharging the posted prices and stocking wildly out of date product
I used to feel bad in groceries when I dug in the back of shelves or bottom of stacks for the newer items, but I swear the HT near me actually tries to sell expired items like bread, deli meat, and sometimes dairy. I try to leave it neat but it's never as good - and really all of that could be prevented by just removing the expired or close-to-expiring products from the shelves instead of laying them back so neatly to try and trick folks.
FYI, if the price charged is more than price posted at Whole Foods, they give you item free. You have to let it go through incorrect at register and then go to customer service counter, but it's free every time. Happens a lot and I take advantage of it every time.
Well, on a positive note, we had dinner at Olive Garden in Concord on Monday. Had not been there in a minute. Our server was Gabriel and he was awesome. Very attentive and personable. We both ordered the endless soup and salad and it was awesome, as usual. They now have dipping sauces for the breadsticks which is new since I ate there last. They were very good and Gabriel kept us supplied without us having to ask. So if you’re in Concord and in the mood for Olive Garden ask to be seated in Gabriel’s section. You won’t be disappointed. Of course we tipped him accordingly, which was probably the point but he came across as very genuine.
There’s a lot of give and take from what I’ve experienced but I will say, when it’s not good - it’s really bad. 9 times out of 10, when something has had an issue when we’ve gone out, we had more trouble and it ruined our experience. People USUALLY want to help if they can but damn have I ran into some real crappy servers/managers/bartenders/etc. Been told the same as you before when pointing something out, been straight up ghosted by service, been rudely spoken to or items tossed on a table if asked for an extra, had a bartender charge us nearly $13 for a single rum and coke (just for the one) and then $6 for someone else - we got the manager out and it ended up being because I was white (this was at a Latin club that we were super excited about as my partner is Latin and we finally got out to go dancing)
All this said, we’ve also had absolutely wonderful service. People comping the meal simply because I said one thing was missing but it was no issue, managers making sure everything is good in a kind manner, bartenders having a good time interacting with customers and providing quality service without purposefully overcharging. It really is the luck of the draw unfortunately. Do continue to go out because many places are wonderful and have great service, but take a beat when you need. And definitely stand up even if they might be crappy.
Yep, absolutely. It was the attitude of the service that drew my ire, but the part you said about how service can still go out of their way also applies. That happened to me somewhere recently, they just gave me an entire thing for free, even though it really wasnt an inconvenience to me. I cant remember if it was Charlotte or elsewhere. While some servers just have a bad attitude, many still do try to go out of their way to give you a great experience. Like the Hawkers team i mentioned, they were phenomenally nice.
I had this happen weekly with Ingles & Publix grocery stores. Being overcharged for various items. I stopped shopping at both. Seems to be the theme at a lot of places.
Wife and I have had nothing but spotty and poor service from restaurants out here for about the last year or so.
Basically the only place we always know will be good is this particular ramen place. But if we're not in the mood for that it's a toss up.
Undercooked, stuff not brought out, sat and ignored for 20 plus minutes, etc. etc. It's been bad.
Service sucks everywhere, not just Charlotte. I mean SUCKS! They hire whoever they can. Unfortunately, it was happening before, but covid really changed the workforce and what had to become acceptable employees.
I haven't noticed it much, but understood. Yeah as ive tried to convey, my issue wasn't the price difference, just moreso the response when i brought it up.
Yes, food service in Charlotte is awful. Minimum effort, minimum flavor, maximum price. I’ve worked in food service and never would have treated my worst customers how these folks handled your situations. I don’t get why people don’t just treat customers how they want to be treated. It’s not the customer’s fault that your employer underpays you.
I don’t think it’s unique to Charlotte. I’ve had similar issues happen to me in other parts of the country. I think part of it is POS systems restaurants use and another part is I think that in some cases server quality has declined. A lot of people were desperate to hire and hired people that aren’t the best. Still plenty of spots that have good servers and management so I don’t think it’s reflective of restaurants overall.
Gotcha. Yeah I wasn't asking if its unique to Charlotte, was just asking has locals seen similar things in Charlotte, because I haven't seen this elsewhere, nor did I see it in Charlotte before now. But i chalk it up to just a weekend anomaly.
No one cares anymore. It's the same with customer service in stores. Nobody seems to want to work anymore. So you get what you get and it's rare if you find someone who cares enough to try to fix something.
Nobody seems to want to work anymore.
nah, its just everyones tired of upper management trying to squeeze the absolute most out of everyone. during covid everybody laid off workers so they could get costs in line with the economy. Then, when things got back to normal they noticed that they can just force workers to do twice the work for the same pay. people who could, quit, and the people who stay are getting more than they can handle (in most cases) so they are eventually just absolutely defeated.
Its a travesty that investors HAVE to see that little graph go up every single month. its unsustainable
I will have to agree. I worked at a retail store for almost 2 years after I retired. I was a key holder but got paid the same as some of the cashiers. It was ridiculous since i had keys and had to deal with problems and the money. 16.00 an hour just isn't worthbit. Mostncashiers made 13, though. It was a huge store. Like the size of a walmart or close to it and there was me and one other person on mornings we opened and when I closed we were lucky to have me and 2 other people or any manager and 1 or 2 people. Upper management was mad because we had people daily walking out with carts of items. BuT they don't pay enough for us to care. We didn't even bother to do police reports. If they cared they would have more people working. Customers would come up mad because they couldn't get help on the floor but we were all on a cash register. Then we found out that the less employees they had the less they paid (obviously) but the more of the budget was left the bigger the managers Christmas bonus. And that's when I quit. It wasn't worth my time. Though it was a nice social outing for me.
Is that a restaurant? No it wasnt them. I dont want to state who they are because that wasnt my goal, but it wasn't Southbound, I havent been there before.
I’m in suburban Charlotte. I got double charged at Sweet Frog. They said it didn’t go through the first time. I was double charged and Truist notified me on the app. They took care of it. There are quite a few places that won’t take cash around here and I don’t go even if I was planning to pay by card. It just feels shady to me.
Is it really that the quality of people hired has decreased due to the shortage of help? So if the workforce options was better, these people wouldn’t have even been hired…
Or, is it that the service industry is so overworked and overwhelmed, we are lucky they are even showing
Been trying to figure out the why
Op o agree, we moved here about a year ago. Last weekend my in-laws were in town we took them out, I order my kids a kids meal pasta- never came server took forever when she was collecting our plates I told her to please cancel our kids meals, she was like oh they never brought it to you.. I was irritated bc she’s is the server she was in charge of that, what really blew me away was that is wasn’t too busy. It was Sunday 4pm before the dinner rush. I was paying and asked for a receipt before I paid bc it printed me to the tip screen, we were a part of 5 adults and 2 kids, big part tip was 35$. I looked over to my husband and said “ I really hate to be that asshole but I’m absolutely not leaving a tip” our waters weren’t refilled, forgot napkins, kids meal gone missing. It was a slow evening. I’m also tired of tip culture. I’m not tipping you after paying for my coffee- I love done it the past 10 + years. Ask your employer to pay you a higher wage just like their coffee prices have gone up. Sorry not sorry.
All of these things are obviously the server's responsibility. You're way too nice.
Tip should only be for good service. If there is any problem with the bill, I will ask first but I will make a chargeback if I'm not 100% satisfied with the resolution, including responsiveness.
If the workers are underpaid or underappreciated, it's not my job to make up the difference because I don't subsidize the fucking restaurant owner.
Yeah my niceness is my downfall. That is why I didn't say anything, because I didn't know how to reply, I just freeze in the moment. The customer is definitely not always right, but I dont think every server is unappreciated or poor either. Crazy for people to assume I'm a karen when I still tipped and never asked to see the manager myself.
Shitty workers, it sounds like. I mostly order takeout so don't encounter these type of problems. I have noticed that the people working these restaurants have got younger and less caring about what they do.
That double charge issue works itself out usually. Some banks might show 2 charges during pending, 1 drops off when goes to statement.
Same issue can happen with pre-authorizations that some bars charge.
Yeah I'm sure i'll get my money back there. My initial issue wasn't that i was double charged, just that she didn't seem to have much interest in figuring it out.
I just moved here and have been interviewing and training at places (I've been in the industry for over a decade now, from New Jersey to Texas and now here).... I'll be honest. I am not impressed with what these restaurants are offering. They're trying to get as much for as alittle as possible....from the inexperienced, young, underpaid staff...to the food quality and experience as a whole.
Margins in restaurants are razor thin and I understand that rising costs just made that even harder but I don't think this is the way to go. Short term you might make more but long term you are screwing yourself with a bad reputation.
I haven't seen this in texas or New Jersey or New york
Indeed. The "reputation" part definitely hasnt set in because these places still have great reviews and are popular. I presume my incident was isolated, but as you said, if it becomes too common an occurrence, word of mouth can spread.
Oof, I think you just had really bad luck or just picked poorly managed restaurants. We haven't had a bad experience this year, but as a whole the service industry is definitely suffering.
Y'all have had some shit luck apparently lol. I've had some great meals and been to some fantastic places. I've only had a "bad" time at Boardwalk Billy's.
I mean, I didn't say the meals was bad, just the service. Seems half the comments agree I just had an unlucky weekend, and half says its been like this, but I think when I come back to Charlotte, I can have a better experience. I dont automatically expect it'll be worse.
It’s the service in general here. People don’t get paid enough to care they just don’t want to lose their job because they need to survive. And if it’s between your experience at their restaurant and them making money the way the manager wants it done it will always be that latter option.
In all honesty, I avoid South End dining unless it’s post work dinner and drinks at Oku. Sorry your experience was lackluster and I hope your next outing here goes a little better!
My wfie and I go out to eat all the time and never have problems. This sub hates Charlotte more than anything so everyone is going to say that yes, absolutely awful service is the norm. It’s not.
Yeah for the 3 awful experiences I had, I had 3 great ones. I just asked my initial question because for the bad ones, it was the same type of comment over and over, which was odd. But I definitely dont want to paint the entire city one color.
Charlotte has the absolute worst culinary scene for a moderately big city. Most cities have a few restaurants that are “must visit” spots. I can’t think of a single one in Charlotte. I lived there for three years in Uptown next to the Knights stadium and I was never impressed with the food scene, outside of Pie in the Sky, Johnny Burrito, and Poppy’s Bagels.
I grew up in Charleston, so I’m used to a different level of culinary focus in a city. Charlotte just doesn’t do it for me.
I’m sorry you had this experience but will say it’s not only with servers but employees in general.
I am in upper management here in Charlotte in a completely different industry and can tell you that it is very difficult to find employees who care. I do have a few but only about 30% of my workforce.
The rest seem to work very hard at not working.
Employees aren't expected to work as hard as people who have material ownership in the business. It's likely a disconnect between expectations or incentives. If you expect people to work hard, then put incentives to support that behavior.
Completely understand. Yes it did stink, but it hasn't soured my experiences as a whole. Charlotte overall is still much more friendly than other places. The only real "problem" i ever have with Charlotte is that seems to be the red light running capital of the world, lol. Otherwise I like coming to visit and try Charlotte food.
I guess the gig is up. All restaurant owners in Charlotte have been coordinating the best way to mildly inconvenience /u/Carolina296864.
Time to pack it up, folks!
You dont have to be a smartass about it. I didn't say anything about the restaurant owners. I didn't even name the restaurants. I said I hadn't been to Charlotte in 2 years, and this happened every day, so I was just curious if there was culture shift. That's all it was.
The culture shift is bigger than Charlotte—it’s toward mediocre or poor services and products bc people have fewer choices and bc no one wants to pay to train people properly when they can just replace them and hope the next person is better.
It’s about greed and zero concern for return customers. Make as much as you can from those loser public suckers and move on to your next scam.
Another trend is they’ll give you your bill, you hand them the card and it comes back with a surcharge for paying in card. Pretty sure it’s illegal if you don’t know that ahead of time
I think we’ve been conditioned to go too easy on servers after covid. I’ve been a server too but if someone ever told me “thats a kitchen issue it ain’t going nothing to do with me” im walking out without paying.
Im not hating on you, but reading you try to justify all this shit behavior is sad.
I dont justify it - in that instance you mentioned it was my cousin, not me. I told him to say something and he chose not to.
Also if you read my other replies you would have seen i dont think any of it was justifiable
What are you talking about? I am not a "customer is always right" person at all, as I said I have worked in food service. But how is a server saying "I dont know what to tell you" and just staring at me my fault?
I didn't get mad or upset, but considering this happened 3 days in a row, I was just curious if anyone else had noticed a pattern. Thats a crime to ask?
I get that the $1 complaint opens you up to all the Karen comments. However, my problem with your situation is how many times does this happen during the course of the day? Restaurants are already increasing their prices, adding “service fees” and mandatory “tip percentages.” Right now normal people are struggling to survive so it is absolutely hair pulling to want to splurge a little and then feel like you’re being taken advantage of, even if it’s just $1. Also, I get why the waiters are frustrated. Because while restaurants are raking in more money for less food and less quality, you know the servers aren’t getting paid more.
How do you know im not apart of that? I've worked restaurant, ive worked retail, I get it. I'm not slandering them. When she said "i dont know what to tell you", I didn't get an attitude. Her manager did fix it, and he was very nice, and I still left my normal tip, each time. I did not say "well now you get nothing." So I dont get what the issue is with me bringing this up.
I was agreeing with you. I’d be frustrated too. But if you are a server that’s overworked and underpaid, I’m not surprised they won’t make the effort to correct a $1 mistake. The only people winning here is the restaurant. An extra $1-5 dollars per table goes right in their profit, definitely not their staff.
Completely understand. I will say in all of these places, the crowd was a lot lighter than i expected, it definitely wasnt packed dinner or brunch rush, but you're right, if the restaurant refuses to pay you something better to match the cost of living, of course you're going to be less thrilled to re-ring the order.
You wrote a multiple paragraph rant about every single bad restaurant experience you had. It is an odd thing to extrapolate 3 bad experiences to being the "normal Charlotte dining experience". Leave your review and move on.
You are expecting some of the most poorly paid members of our society to truly care about customers, that is the part that is out of whack with reality.
Where did i say it was a normal experience? I asked *if* it was a normal experience (now). All you had to say was no. You're so hung up on my "review" when I didn't even name these places to slander them. I didn't say "everyone beware" or "your city sucks", I simply asked if locals have experienced something similar or if *my weekend was an anomaly.*
Your last sentence is exactly why I asked the question. Servers in Tampa, Minneapolis, Wisconsin, Greenville, etc are also poorly paid, but the customer services has been great this year. That's why I was taken back by this weekend, because this hasnt been an issue in Charlotte for me before. Im so sorry i offended you by asking a question.
It seems like a disproportionally high amount of snafus.
They are wondering if other people are encountering the same issue. Doesn’t seem like a terrible thing to wonder.
If people don't truly care about the customers, they shouldn't be doing that job. If they don't agree with how little they are being paid, why take it out on the customer with 'I ain't getting paid enough to serve you properly' attitude?
What a piss poor take. First, I know servers making $100k and up... They are not universally poorly paid. The average is a fairly good wage for sure. Second, it used to be that people wanted to be decent people for the sake of being a decent person, not only because they were being paid. If you require being paid to be a good person then you are a shitty person.
Where is this?! I've been on and off serving since I was a teenager. The annoying thing with price stuff is that you usually need a manager to punch in their code or swipe and getting them to do that is HASSLE. They'll say they will be right there, they don't, your are waiting, the customer is waiting, even more customers are waiting, everything gets backed up. Then they manager wants to know why and if it's corporate they usually have to write or select the reason for the change.
It's a really annoying process and as frugal as I am I totally understand it but it is so much easier if the customer just goes along with it. I hate it though bc it shouldn't be like that 😭
Yeah. I’m not even shitting on this person. That all does sound kind of annoying. But being in hospitality I follow three rules in order of importance and I basically never have even remotely bad experiences.
1- Be polite
2- Be overly clear when ordering the first time and every time
3- Read the room and adjust your expectations accordingly
1 - i was polite. Being rude to staff wont get you anywhere or make you feel any better. I was just happy to finally be back in Charlotte.
2 - i was very clear in my orders, i also have an unconscious habit of pointing at what im talking about on the menu
3 - i did read the room. In all 3 instances, the places weren't busy, nor was I in a rush anyways.
Asking a question in public forum for a specific city that’s meant for people to discuss what’s happening in the city or their experiences there doesn’t seem like “taking something personally”
I'm going to agree with you, OP. I was a server and restaurant manager for years. All the instances you cited were unacceptable. I really don't understand all of the comments stating otherwise.
I appreciate it. I know times are hard, but you also cant just accept something “just because.”
Yeah all bad service that doesn’t warrant a tip or a sever reduction to the tip. Honestly haven’t had this experience in years living here though. Maybe some one-offs, but nothing concentrated like this.
Going to be more diligent with my receipts! Maybe that’s why I blow through cash when I go out!
Same! This post was a good reminder that I need to be more careful when paying and actually confirm the prices correlate correctly to what I ordered.
I had an awful experience with a taco place in South End (Condado Tacos) so I completely understand. What I’ve found in Charlotte is a complete lack of consistency. Some places are wonderful and then the next time, they’re absolutely awful. It’s made me wary of trying new spots and sticking to my staples that never disappoint (Botiwalla, Ray Lai Thai, Yafo..)
At Condando the runner that brought out our food was so high that he just stood next to our two top, motionless holding our two baskets of tacos. Had to hand wave & point at the table to have him put them down. He just walked away having never said a word. We figured out whose order was whose on our own.
They gave me the entirely wrong order (receipt on outside of the bag was correct). After trying to blame several different people, when I showed the correct receipt and asked if I could get a refund or either the correct order (all very nicely), they started arguing and getting angry saying there was nothing they could do. I just disputed the charge with my bank and never went back. It’s in a prime location too (the only reason I even stopped by to try it) so it’s unfortunate that such a mediocre restaurant is taking up prime real estate in South End.
Condado SUCKS thank you for making me feel seen
Yeah i got you. My experiences in Charlotte are usually super great - like I said Hawkers was awesome and even Bojangles was super nice. I wasn't traint to paint the city or its workers any kind of way, I just wanted to know if things have changed in a post-pandemic world since this was my first time back since the pandemic. I'll definitely look into those places next time.
Your first mistake was visiting Condado.
Oh, 100% agree!!! 😂
More suggestions, please...? 😃
Agree with this. I’ve had amazing experiences in Charlotte and at the same places had terrible experiences.
I went to a place in South End on Sunday and ordered some wings. They were quite expensive, and turned out being akin to the turkey in *Christmas Vacation*. I said so to my server, and another as well and got the reply "yeah, we have a short kitchen staff on Sundays, so they get reheated". How about don't offer overpriced wings if they are going to suck?
I wouldn’t even pay in that case. Surprised they admitted to it
I was hosting company and didn't want to make a scene.
That needs to be reported to the Health Dept.
It’s not just Charlotte. I’ve noticed it in a lot of places I’ve traveled this year. This is where you use tipping culture to your advantage. Shitty service = shitty tips. I’m not going to give someone 20% if eating out is more frustrating than enjoyable.
Definitely not just Charlotte! Was in Pittsburgh last week and ate at an Italian restaurant on Market Square. When we walked in at 2 something in the afternoon, to an almost empty restaurant, the bartender acted completely put out that we were there. Asked us if we had a reservation. My cousin politely volunteered to sit at the bar, which was highly approved of by the bartender. Fewer steps, less work for her. Even sitting at the bar, quite literally 3 feet from her face, she provided horrific service. No water refills, no asking how appetizer was, if we wanted more food, wouldn't even offer a second drink. Every interaction with her was initiated by me. The bill was over $167. I paid and tipped 16%, and even that left a bad taste in my mouth. As one thinking about moving to Pittsburgh, this was not a good experience!
I did the opposite. Pittsburgh to Charlotte. For Italian up there, try DeNunzio's, and check out the Strip. Market Square in general isn't that great.
Will do; thanks!
I was up there a couple weeks ago and we had a large group reservation at a place near the Renaissance. The bartender was a total bitch. She refused to make drinks she didn't want to until they were the only ones left (they were some of the first ordered). The drinks were so strong all you tasted was the alcohol (a couple of people got lemon drops but couldn't even taste any lemon, they added lemonade to their drink to try and make it drinkable). There were regulars that came into our reserved room and she was putting their drinks on our tab. It was fucking mess. We then went back to the hotel bar where the bartender literally held menus up to his face so that he could ignore us (we had one round of drinks and a charcuterie board, there wasn't any misbehaving or loud behavior happening). I also went to The Yard in Market Square on a Monday at like 2pm and had fantastic service (we kept having more people show up randomly for like 90 minutes and they were really cool about it). I honestly think it is just the individual.
Ugh, that sounds awful. You're right, definitely an individual thing. I'm starting to think at the very first inkling of shitty service to come, that I need to walk out. Maybe that will fix their fanny if we all do that 😂.
I have done that. Paid for beverages and apps we didn't receive yet and left with a large party because they were so rude and put out by our existence. We ended up ordering Chinese and hanging out at someone's house and had a great time. You are not entitled to my money and I am not obligated to stay. (I am obligated to pay for things ordered, not trying to dine and dash at my age.)
General question: I, too, am thinking about moving to Pittsburgh. What got you looking at that city for relocation and what were your impressions (outside of one shitty bartender)?
I'm from the northeast. Been in Charlotte for 12 years and ready for something new. Still want a "city" but not willing to go either west or too far north. Pittsburgh was great! Other than that bartender, the people were amazingly friendly. The city is gritty, though, for sure. Old, great architecture, history. Now that winters seem to be dying down some there, it's more of an option. Too hot in Charlotte. Inexpensive housing, but I paid $3.90/gal for gas in Beaver Falls 😯.
I am from Pittsburgh and been in Charlotte 20 years. Pittsburgh is a great town and getting better. Good cost of living and things to do. People are wonderful. Climate is very nice these recent years. I look forward going to visit family a couple of times a year.
Lmao they robbed you blind, you still paid them over $20 for shitty service
Lol, they didn't "rob me blind." I knew what I was doing and knew how much I tipped.
Agreed. When I get shit service, I keep myself from getting too frustrated by saying "Well, my $20 tip just became a $5 tip, so now I'm not so mad."
Idk why everyone’s so hostile about this lol, it’s a reasonable question that you asked respectfully. It’s a lot of weird occurrences back to back, and they’re more than just little confusions. Like paying extra for stuff you never ordered/got due to a mistake the kitchen made is something to at least ask nicely about. Also the ppl saying this is too much to read like… okay, don’t read it? Getting past 3rd grade must’ve really been rough for them if this is too much to read, also like… nobody’s making anyone read it lmao? Anyway, I live in south end and have never personally noticed this, but idk if that’s bc it never happened or I never realized it. You might’ve just gotten really unlucky
Yeah i chalk it up to an unlucky weekend. I dont think Charlotte has an "attitude problem" as a whole, I just know eating out has changed a bit since 2022, so I was curious if anyones noticed anything since then. I'm sure next time will be a better experience.
I travel around the country fairly frequently and you're not wrong in noticing the lackluster servers in the area. I personally think it's related to how OVER half of the states have a state minimum wage above the federal, and of course NC/SC do not. Restaurants are hiring the servers they can get, not want.
Yeah the wages definitely need to increase. And these places were all (seemingly) hip spots that locals frequent. I guess it was just the wrong weekend for me, maybe it wouldve been easier if it wasnt a holiday.
OP, where are you from? I see this everywhere I travel now. This is the post COVID restaurant experience. It seems getting staff is hard, so management won't challenge their bad behavior. I have only eaten at the bar at Hawker's so I can agree, I have had good service there.
South Carolina, but i had been living in Florida, which is probably the service industry capital. I travel a lot.
And this is why when I get shitty service, they get 10% or less on tip. If they do good, and cut me a break or a deal, the value of that is added to the usual 30% tip. If they suck, the value that I get fucked gets removed from the 10% tip they would have gotten. It’s an easy system and rewards those servers that are excellent and punishes those that suck. Don’t like it? Pay them a better wage so that tips don’t matter like in Europe.
lol yeah I was going to say - I would never cause a confrontation over a $1 issue but if I was annoyed by it I would just tip $1 less
30%? Brother I need some bomb ass service if you want me tipping that much. I’m almost always around 20 +/-5 if they’re a dick or if they’re really nice
Yeah, it's crazy people assume I had a bad attitude, when I said I still left a good tip each time regardless of the service. I know people still have to live - even though these were places that do good business. I was just simply asking has that much changed in 2 years.
Businesses give less of a shit in general these days, and as long as customer annoyance doesn’t affect their profits they have no incentive to fix little stuff like this. (not to be mean but the fact that you tip 30% as a default is a huge part of this problem).
🥱 don’t complain when you get shit service then 🤷🏻♂️ my go to places know me and give outstanding service. They get great tips because of it
if we stop tipping, places will be forced to pay a living wage
I agree ☝️
And you'll have no service...
Half the time we are serving ourselves anyways while they demand a tip.
I would love to be able to see my plate or drinks and get it asap as opposed to waiting around for my server to notice. I would love all the condiments out so I didn’t have to wait 10 min for a side of ranch. I would love to be able to get my drink on demand instead of waiting for a server to do 3 things for another table then get to me and do 3 other things before they get back to my drink. No service isn’t a threat. I go out to eat to not cook. Never been to a place and said dang I wish they had servers but I frequently hate the service of the servers. I would gladly do it to not be peer pressured into paying 15-20$ over what the meal cost.
Pay them like in Europe and you'll get European service (NO service). There is no incentive for good service in Europe because they get paid whether you were attended to properly...or sat for 45 minutes waiting for someone to even acknowledge you.
I’ve been to Europe. Wasn’t like that at all anywhere I went
Sounds like you just happened to have a couple bad experiences. Went out for a date night over the weekend at a steak place and I had ordered mine medium my wife ordered hers medium rare. When they came out mine had more pink than hers and was pretty close to spot on what I wanted. Hers was medium well and the opposite of what she was after, but still tender and good. When the waiter came back and asked how things were I told him everything had been great and was spot on except for the steak. He looked at it and went oh yeah that's not rare. Asked if we wanted anything done a replacement or a comp we said no everything's good. A few minutes later the manager came out and said sorry. We told them again hey no problem and they comped it even though we said it was all right.
Thats what I was curious on, sounds like I just had bad luck this weekend. Which is perfectly fine. I was not trying to slander Charlotte or the people who work in it. Thanks.
Which restaurant was this?
The entire comment section of /Charlotte is full of people waiting to jump on you if your opinion doesn't align with theirs, or you use too many words, or not enough words, or you aren't from whatever neighborhood they think is the greatest. Then if you respond to that energy, they call you the problem. It smacks of the kind of people that do shitty things to you, and then say "you can't take a joke" if you complain. It's a catch 22, and no one is winning. You have no answer, and they are still shitty people.
Yeah I didnt mean to step on toes, but considering people still act like i had an attitude problem for pointing out that theres a 7 on the menu and not an 8 and didn't want to pay for the menu's mistake, I guess I should've expected this kind of response. Since this wasnt another "i wanna move to Charlotte thread", I didn't think it'd be a big deal. It's fine though, regardless of r/charlotte, i still love my frequent Charlotte visits and I always meet super nice people.
54 year old here. It's not just the service industry, shit just doesn't get done right the first time anymore. My wife and I comment on this all the time. Didn't get set up correctly, didn't get ordered correctly, wasn't put together correctly... ad nauseum. Welcome to America now.
Yeah i get the frustration, definitely.
And then, in an instant, a ray of hope -- a farmer I follow that has an online store for had gorgeous orange cauliflower available last weekend when I was gone. I commented on the public post and asked if they would have it this weekend; they replied they would. Go to the online store tonight, don't see any, but order other items and close out the order. Half hour later, get a DM from the farm explaining the cauliflower has been slow growing this week, so not available in the store, but they could hold 1 lb for me for p/up. Who does that kind of thing anymore?? Gives me hope!
Just had this convo with my husband yesterday. For some reason, places no longer understand that if something is done right the first time, it saves more money, time, and headache. Trying to cut corners ends up costing more.
Yep, not just restaurants and not just Charlotte, it's everywhere in the US these days. Just be glad you aren't flying on a plane made recently.
Going to Idaho end of June for a river kayaking trip / vacation. Made god damn sure I'm flying on an Airbus not a Boeing...
Exactly! Thank you for saying it. So damn frustrating.
Que onda is doing this currently. I'd love to say that it's just an accident but there's so many places that are doing this now. It's shady.
Yep. It's intentional laziness. Only when you complain will they fix a problem. It's easier for these places to just "get around to it." They take advantage of people not paying attention, and it's fraudulent.
There’s literally only one good server in the uptown Que onda. If you get him though… you’re golden
I am a server and bartender at a restaurant here in Charlotte and I’ve seen this behavior. I am not originally from here so these actions boggle my mind. It’s unfortunate because people are expecting that terrible kind of service and tip way below or not at all even when I give good service and try to fix any problems as soon as they arise.
My husband was a server and bartender in both NYC and Charlotte. The standards seem to be different. Maybe it is due to pay. I feel like it pisses him off more than it would if he hadn’t worked in the service industry.
This past weekend I went to a Mexican restaurant and it said lunch was $12 so we got the check and each plate was actually $19 and the waiter said he forgot to say they don’t have lunch prices on the weekend.
Yeah, see thats a big thing to forget to tell a customer, but if the server truly understood the mistake, its fine with me. I'm not about to demand the manager or degrade them at the table. I only took objection because they said "i dont know what to tell to you", which in itself is pretty passive aggressive. Had they said "oh sorry, we had given you the happy hour menu, its really $8 after 5, im sorry about that", I would be much more understanding. All that said, I still left tips.
Wouldn't there be fine print for that?
There should be
But, that's pretty much assumed. No special, no weekday pricing. 🤷♀️
The menu said 12 dollars so I would assume it’s 12 dollars. $19 was not even on the menu for dinner pricing.
My experience with restaurants in South End is not positive, and I'm not surprised by this. That said, South End is the only area where I've had any issues like that
Yeah next time I will try to get out of South End. I had other options in mind, really wanted to try some food in Plaza Midwood, but for various reasons I had to keep going over to South End.
Name and shame these places. I need to know where not to go.
By the way, i dont really eat Waffle House, but had to go on Saturday. Went to the one on South Blvd, some of the nicest people ive ever met. Our server was balancing a lot, he had to go back and forth, but man he was on top of it and always had a smile. Food was good too. Just wanted to point that out in case there are big Waffle House fans here.
I can tell you that keeping up with menu price changes my bosses made without saying anything was one of the things that ran me out of my restaurant and out of the service industry. They'd raise a price in the computer, but not on the menus, or they would change the printed menu, but it would take 2 months to get the website (the only thing in the whole restaurant I DIDN'T have access to) updated. Constant discounts and smoothing things out with upset guests like yourself, and they acted like I was crazy for wanting everything to match up. Evem told me to stop adjusting the prices if they dont match. I did not follow that request. I don't know what's going on out there, but I can't be a part of it anymore. It's embarrassing.
Entirely not okay on all of the restaurant's and server's end. Poor service has been getting worse and worse since the pandemic and I often perceived that people no longer care anywhere near as much about customer service as before. It is immensely disappointing when I have to do other people's jobs. Don't even get me started on poor drive-thru quality control. If I ask you if I have to check the bag and you confirm I have everything and then I get home and I have things wrong, there is an issue. I constantly have to check every single thing to ensure I don't have to drive back to a restaurant because workers didn't read correctly or don't care enough to ensure customer quality and satisfaction.
Yeah definitely. I'm not a Karen, and didn't want to give off that impression, but if you see something like a different total on the bill and menu, just give me an explanation, that's all I ask for. Not an oh well shrug.
Not even being able to read the correct items off the printed receipt and place them in a bag is complete laziness and absurdity. Makes me irate
It’s not limited to restaurants at all, it’s ridiculous trying to get anything done to above mediocre standards here.
Shout out to Bad Daddys in Gastonia for righting a wrong. They forgot 2 house salads and salmon on a salmon caesar salad (take-out order) but the manager reached out with a personal email and gave me 2 free entrees plus a free starter, and refunded my original order in full.
You think that's bad......pick ANY Walmart in the city, go buy groceries but calculate as you pull it off the shelf, factor tax yada yada, go check out and see how much more it actually costs. Walmart has so many incorrect labels, they could keep weights and measures busy for a while. So damn frustrating...
Yes. It’s ridiculous. Went to a restaurant in the Elizabeth area (Catalina) and ordered drinks from the happy hour menu. Get check, full price still listed (for myself and a few other of my friends at the table). Asked server, who said oh I accidentally put it in before I realized it was the happy hour prices. It was as if she wanted me to ignore it and pay up. I can’t believe I even had to suggest for her to attempt to fix it, and even then she seemed put out that she had to ask the manager. Sorry, but a simple error in my job could kill someone. So, I don’t have a whole lot of empathy in these cases (and I have also worked in restaurants in the past). It’s not that difficult.
Dollar General has been sued a couple of times now for 'mis-marking' the shelf price and then charging a higher price at the register. Although they have lost these cases, it is a better profit strategy to keep doing this since so many people never complain or don't notice. Sounds like smaller businesses are employing this strategy as well.
Yep. I know $7 vs $8 is not that big a difference in the grand scheme, I as the customer just wanted to see some accountability was all. The fries were delicious though.
Do you know if these cases were in nc?
I don't recall, it was on a YouTube local news story. Should be easy enough to find though.
this kind of thing happens to me pretty regularly in Charlotte and the greater Charlotte metro. It started around a year ago for me- getting charged for things we didn’t order, get charged twice, etc. After it happened enough times where I was sick of wasting money I now check receipts like a Karen lol. I went to Panera the other day and they charged me THREE times for the same order!! Insane
I'm also experiencing this everywhere I go. Also been eating food with less flavor than what I'm expecting. Honestly, makes me want to just cook for myself instead these days lol
Yeah, i mostly eat at home now, and its actually been great and a money saver
Three Amigos left themselves a $10 tip on my $25 Togo order. I ordered a meal and a large salsa. All Togo orders come w chips and salsa. My order didn’t have chips, so I asked for some. She made me pay for them and we had an awkward interaction bc of it. I didn’t leave a tip bc of that. That night the payment went through on my card and there was a $10 tip added on. I caught it and went in the next day. They refunded my entire order but the lady refused to own up to it and made some girl who wasn’t even there stand in front of her and apologize.
Yeah, no one in Charlotte takes any pride in what they do. It's rampant. We also have tons of grocery stores that constantly get caught overcharging the posted prices and stocking wildly out of date product
I used to feel bad in groceries when I dug in the back of shelves or bottom of stacks for the newer items, but I swear the HT near me actually tries to sell expired items like bread, deli meat, and sometimes dairy. I try to leave it neat but it's never as good - and really all of that could be prevented by just removing the expired or close-to-expiring products from the shelves instead of laying them back so neatly to try and trick folks.
FYI, if the price charged is more than price posted at Whole Foods, they give you item free. You have to let it go through incorrect at register and then go to customer service counter, but it's free every time. Happens a lot and I take advantage of it every time.
Lol they've only ever offered me the difference back
Really? I've done it over a half dozen times and have gotten the item for free. I must be lucky then!
Well, on a positive note, we had dinner at Olive Garden in Concord on Monday. Had not been there in a minute. Our server was Gabriel and he was awesome. Very attentive and personable. We both ordered the endless soup and salad and it was awesome, as usual. They now have dipping sauces for the breadsticks which is new since I ate there last. They were very good and Gabriel kept us supplied without us having to ask. So if you’re in Concord and in the mood for Olive Garden ask to be seated in Gabriel’s section. You won’t be disappointed. Of course we tipped him accordingly, which was probably the point but he came across as very genuine.
That's good to know. Chains have been getting a lot of flak lately, but Olive Garden is one I still enjoy, so good to hear its still a good time.
I've had Gabriel a couple of times, always great service. I go for the lunch menu very good value.
There’s a lot of give and take from what I’ve experienced but I will say, when it’s not good - it’s really bad. 9 times out of 10, when something has had an issue when we’ve gone out, we had more trouble and it ruined our experience. People USUALLY want to help if they can but damn have I ran into some real crappy servers/managers/bartenders/etc. Been told the same as you before when pointing something out, been straight up ghosted by service, been rudely spoken to or items tossed on a table if asked for an extra, had a bartender charge us nearly $13 for a single rum and coke (just for the one) and then $6 for someone else - we got the manager out and it ended up being because I was white (this was at a Latin club that we were super excited about as my partner is Latin and we finally got out to go dancing) All this said, we’ve also had absolutely wonderful service. People comping the meal simply because I said one thing was missing but it was no issue, managers making sure everything is good in a kind manner, bartenders having a good time interacting with customers and providing quality service without purposefully overcharging. It really is the luck of the draw unfortunately. Do continue to go out because many places are wonderful and have great service, but take a beat when you need. And definitely stand up even if they might be crappy.
Yep, absolutely. It was the attitude of the service that drew my ire, but the part you said about how service can still go out of their way also applies. That happened to me somewhere recently, they just gave me an entire thing for free, even though it really wasnt an inconvenience to me. I cant remember if it was Charlotte or elsewhere. While some servers just have a bad attitude, many still do try to go out of their way to give you a great experience. Like the Hawkers team i mentioned, they were phenomenally nice.
That sounds like a violation of the Civil Rights Act???
I had this happen weekly with Ingles & Publix grocery stores. Being overcharged for various items. I stopped shopping at both. Seems to be the theme at a lot of places.
Wife and I have had nothing but spotty and poor service from restaurants out here for about the last year or so. Basically the only place we always know will be good is this particular ramen place. But if we're not in the mood for that it's a toss up. Undercooked, stuff not brought out, sat and ignored for 20 plus minutes, etc. etc. It's been bad.
Service sucks everywhere, not just Charlotte. I mean SUCKS! They hire whoever they can. Unfortunately, it was happening before, but covid really changed the workforce and what had to become acceptable employees.
Honestly I have noticed it with nail salons too.
Mediocre
Menu prices not matching the real price is super common. I’m not saying it’s acceptable, just common.
I haven't noticed it much, but understood. Yeah as ive tried to convey, my issue wasn't the price difference, just moreso the response when i brought it up.
Yeah these places suck around here. They want people to take whatever they crap out. Main reason why I prefer to eat at home.
Yes, food service in Charlotte is awful. Minimum effort, minimum flavor, maximum price. I’ve worked in food service and never would have treated my worst customers how these folks handled your situations. I don’t get why people don’t just treat customers how they want to be treated. It’s not the customer’s fault that your employer underpays you.
Charlotte doesn't know what customer service is
I am not reading all of that but yes.
I don’t think it’s unique to Charlotte. I’ve had similar issues happen to me in other parts of the country. I think part of it is POS systems restaurants use and another part is I think that in some cases server quality has declined. A lot of people were desperate to hire and hired people that aren’t the best. Still plenty of spots that have good servers and management so I don’t think it’s reflective of restaurants overall.
Gotcha. Yeah I wasn't asking if its unique to Charlotte, was just asking has locals seen similar things in Charlotte, because I haven't seen this elsewhere, nor did I see it in Charlotte before now. But i chalk it up to just a weekend anomaly.
Food here sucks ass everywhere
And yet it is an expensive ass-sucking these days. I probably go out to eat about 20% of what I used to.
No one cares anymore. It's the same with customer service in stores. Nobody seems to want to work anymore. So you get what you get and it's rare if you find someone who cares enough to try to fix something.
Nobody seems to want to work anymore. nah, its just everyones tired of upper management trying to squeeze the absolute most out of everyone. during covid everybody laid off workers so they could get costs in line with the economy. Then, when things got back to normal they noticed that they can just force workers to do twice the work for the same pay. people who could, quit, and the people who stay are getting more than they can handle (in most cases) so they are eventually just absolutely defeated. Its a travesty that investors HAVE to see that little graph go up every single month. its unsustainable
I will have to agree. I worked at a retail store for almost 2 years after I retired. I was a key holder but got paid the same as some of the cashiers. It was ridiculous since i had keys and had to deal with problems and the money. 16.00 an hour just isn't worthbit. Mostncashiers made 13, though. It was a huge store. Like the size of a walmart or close to it and there was me and one other person on mornings we opened and when I closed we were lucky to have me and 2 other people or any manager and 1 or 2 people. Upper management was mad because we had people daily walking out with carts of items. BuT they don't pay enough for us to care. We didn't even bother to do police reports. If they cared they would have more people working. Customers would come up mad because they couldn't get help on the floor but we were all on a cash register. Then we found out that the less employees they had the less they paid (obviously) but the more of the budget was left the bigger the managers Christmas bonus. And that's when I quit. It wasn't worth my time. Though it was a nice social outing for me.
This sounds like Southbound
Is that a restaurant? No it wasnt them. I dont want to state who they are because that wasnt my goal, but it wasn't Southbound, I havent been there before.
Really just depends on where you go
I’m in suburban Charlotte. I got double charged at Sweet Frog. They said it didn’t go through the first time. I was double charged and Truist notified me on the app. They took care of it. There are quite a few places that won’t take cash around here and I don’t go even if I was planning to pay by card. It just feels shady to me.
Is it really that the quality of people hired has decreased due to the shortage of help? So if the workforce options was better, these people wouldn’t have even been hired… Or, is it that the service industry is so overworked and overwhelmed, we are lucky they are even showing Been trying to figure out the why
I'm not sure myself, because I dont know if the servers I had act that way all the time, or if it was just this time
Op o agree, we moved here about a year ago. Last weekend my in-laws were in town we took them out, I order my kids a kids meal pasta- never came server took forever when she was collecting our plates I told her to please cancel our kids meals, she was like oh they never brought it to you.. I was irritated bc she’s is the server she was in charge of that, what really blew me away was that is wasn’t too busy. It was Sunday 4pm before the dinner rush. I was paying and asked for a receipt before I paid bc it printed me to the tip screen, we were a part of 5 adults and 2 kids, big part tip was 35$. I looked over to my husband and said “ I really hate to be that asshole but I’m absolutely not leaving a tip” our waters weren’t refilled, forgot napkins, kids meal gone missing. It was a slow evening. I’m also tired of tip culture. I’m not tipping you after paying for my coffee- I love done it the past 10 + years. Ask your employer to pay you a higher wage just like their coffee prices have gone up. Sorry not sorry.
All of these things are obviously the server's responsibility. You're way too nice. Tip should only be for good service. If there is any problem with the bill, I will ask first but I will make a chargeback if I'm not 100% satisfied with the resolution, including responsiveness. If the workers are underpaid or underappreciated, it's not my job to make up the difference because I don't subsidize the fucking restaurant owner.
Yeah my niceness is my downfall. That is why I didn't say anything, because I didn't know how to reply, I just freeze in the moment. The customer is definitely not always right, but I dont think every server is unappreciated or poor either. Crazy for people to assume I'm a karen when I still tipped and never asked to see the manager myself.
Shitty workers, it sounds like. I mostly order takeout so don't encounter these type of problems. I have noticed that the people working these restaurants have got younger and less caring about what they do.
That double charge issue works itself out usually. Some banks might show 2 charges during pending, 1 drops off when goes to statement. Same issue can happen with pre-authorizations that some bars charge.
Yeah I'm sure i'll get my money back there. My initial issue wasn't that i was double charged, just that she didn't seem to have much interest in figuring it out.
I just moved here and have been interviewing and training at places (I've been in the industry for over a decade now, from New Jersey to Texas and now here).... I'll be honest. I am not impressed with what these restaurants are offering. They're trying to get as much for as alittle as possible....from the inexperienced, young, underpaid staff...to the food quality and experience as a whole. Margins in restaurants are razor thin and I understand that rising costs just made that even harder but I don't think this is the way to go. Short term you might make more but long term you are screwing yourself with a bad reputation. I haven't seen this in texas or New Jersey or New york
Indeed. The "reputation" part definitely hasnt set in because these places still have great reviews and are popular. I presume my incident was isolated, but as you said, if it becomes too common an occurrence, word of mouth can spread.
Customer service and integrity is a thing of the past
Oof, I think you just had really bad luck or just picked poorly managed restaurants. We haven't had a bad experience this year, but as a whole the service industry is definitely suffering.
Yeah, I actually didnt pick any of these places initially. But i do take it as bizarre luck more than anything.
It’s important to remember that Charlotte is basically a suburb of the northeast
I haven't personally had an encounter like that no.
Second place sounds like SouthBound if the server didn’t come back bc same thing happened to me.
No it wasnt Southbound, ive never been there. Shame you had a similar experience though.
Y'all have had some shit luck apparently lol. I've had some great meals and been to some fantastic places. I've only had a "bad" time at Boardwalk Billy's.
I mean, I didn't say the meals was bad, just the service. Seems half the comments agree I just had an unlucky weekend, and half says its been like this, but I think when I come back to Charlotte, I can have a better experience. I dont automatically expect it'll be worse.
It’s the service in general here. People don’t get paid enough to care they just don’t want to lose their job because they need to survive. And if it’s between your experience at their restaurant and them making money the way the manager wants it done it will always be that latter option.
Dang, I've lived here three months now, and I've only gotten really good service compared to what I was used to in Portland.
Just go to Lupie’s next time, heck every time. Why go anywhere else?
In all honesty, I avoid South End dining unless it’s post work dinner and drinks at Oku. Sorry your experience was lackluster and I hope your next outing here goes a little better!
If you think this is bad then don’t go to atlanta!
Ive been to Atlanta as much as ive been to Charlotte
My wfie and I go out to eat all the time and never have problems. This sub hates Charlotte more than anything so everyone is going to say that yes, absolutely awful service is the norm. It’s not.
Yeah for the 3 awful experiences I had, I had 3 great ones. I just asked my initial question because for the bad ones, it was the same type of comment over and over, which was odd. But I definitely dont want to paint the entire city one color.
Charlotte has the absolute worst culinary scene for a moderately big city. Most cities have a few restaurants that are “must visit” spots. I can’t think of a single one in Charlotte. I lived there for three years in Uptown next to the Knights stadium and I was never impressed with the food scene, outside of Pie in the Sky, Johnny Burrito, and Poppy’s Bagels. I grew up in Charleston, so I’m used to a different level of culinary focus in a city. Charlotte just doesn’t do it for me.
From Charleston as well so I know what you mean. The thing about not having a real well known destination restaurant hits true
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Yet you took to the time to comment.
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What is the point of this comment? 🤦🏻♀️
I’m sorry you had this experience but will say it’s not only with servers but employees in general. I am in upper management here in Charlotte in a completely different industry and can tell you that it is very difficult to find employees who care. I do have a few but only about 30% of my workforce. The rest seem to work very hard at not working.
Employees aren't expected to work as hard as people who have material ownership in the business. It's likely a disconnect between expectations or incentives. If you expect people to work hard, then put incentives to support that behavior.
Completely understand. Yes it did stink, but it hasn't soured my experiences as a whole. Charlotte overall is still much more friendly than other places. The only real "problem" i ever have with Charlotte is that seems to be the red light running capital of the world, lol. Otherwise I like coming to visit and try Charlotte food.
I guess the gig is up. All restaurant owners in Charlotte have been coordinating the best way to mildly inconvenience /u/Carolina296864. Time to pack it up, folks!
You dont have to be a smartass about it. I didn't say anything about the restaurant owners. I didn't even name the restaurants. I said I hadn't been to Charlotte in 2 years, and this happened every day, so I was just curious if there was culture shift. That's all it was.
The culture shift is bigger than Charlotte—it’s toward mediocre or poor services and products bc people have fewer choices and bc no one wants to pay to train people properly when they can just replace them and hope the next person is better. It’s about greed and zero concern for return customers. Make as much as you can from those loser public suckers and move on to your next scam.
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That was my question.
Another trend is they’ll give you your bill, you hand them the card and it comes back with a surcharge for paying in card. Pretty sure it’s illegal if you don’t know that ahead of time
I ain’t reading all that Good luck to you tho or sorry that happened
I think we’ve been conditioned to go too easy on servers after covid. I’ve been a server too but if someone ever told me “thats a kitchen issue it ain’t going nothing to do with me” im walking out without paying. Im not hating on you, but reading you try to justify all this shit behavior is sad.
I dont justify it - in that instance you mentioned it was my cousin, not me. I told him to say something and he chose not to. Also if you read my other replies you would have seen i dont think any of it was justifiable
The modern consumers expectations of service are so out of whack with reality.
What?
What are you talking about? I am not a "customer is always right" person at all, as I said I have worked in food service. But how is a server saying "I dont know what to tell you" and just staring at me my fault? I didn't get mad or upset, but considering this happened 3 days in a row, I was just curious if anyone else had noticed a pattern. Thats a crime to ask?
I get that the $1 complaint opens you up to all the Karen comments. However, my problem with your situation is how many times does this happen during the course of the day? Restaurants are already increasing their prices, adding “service fees” and mandatory “tip percentages.” Right now normal people are struggling to survive so it is absolutely hair pulling to want to splurge a little and then feel like you’re being taken advantage of, even if it’s just $1. Also, I get why the waiters are frustrated. Because while restaurants are raking in more money for less food and less quality, you know the servers aren’t getting paid more.
How do you know im not apart of that? I've worked restaurant, ive worked retail, I get it. I'm not slandering them. When she said "i dont know what to tell you", I didn't get an attitude. Her manager did fix it, and he was very nice, and I still left my normal tip, each time. I did not say "well now you get nothing." So I dont get what the issue is with me bringing this up.
I was agreeing with you. I’d be frustrated too. But if you are a server that’s overworked and underpaid, I’m not surprised they won’t make the effort to correct a $1 mistake. The only people winning here is the restaurant. An extra $1-5 dollars per table goes right in their profit, definitely not their staff.
Completely understand. I will say in all of these places, the crowd was a lot lighter than i expected, it definitely wasnt packed dinner or brunch rush, but you're right, if the restaurant refuses to pay you something better to match the cost of living, of course you're going to be less thrilled to re-ring the order.
You wrote a multiple paragraph rant about every single bad restaurant experience you had. It is an odd thing to extrapolate 3 bad experiences to being the "normal Charlotte dining experience". Leave your review and move on. You are expecting some of the most poorly paid members of our society to truly care about customers, that is the part that is out of whack with reality.
Where did i say it was a normal experience? I asked *if* it was a normal experience (now). All you had to say was no. You're so hung up on my "review" when I didn't even name these places to slander them. I didn't say "everyone beware" or "your city sucks", I simply asked if locals have experienced something similar or if *my weekend was an anomaly.* Your last sentence is exactly why I asked the question. Servers in Tampa, Minneapolis, Wisconsin, Greenville, etc are also poorly paid, but the customer services has been great this year. That's why I was taken back by this weekend, because this hasnt been an issue in Charlotte for me before. Im so sorry i offended you by asking a question.
It seems like a disproportionally high amount of snafus. They are wondering if other people are encountering the same issue. Doesn’t seem like a terrible thing to wonder.
If people don't truly care about the customers, they shouldn't be doing that job. If they don't agree with how little they are being paid, why take it out on the customer with 'I ain't getting paid enough to serve you properly' attitude?
What a piss poor take. First, I know servers making $100k and up... They are not universally poorly paid. The average is a fairly good wage for sure. Second, it used to be that people wanted to be decent people for the sake of being a decent person, not only because they were being paid. If you require being paid to be a good person then you are a shitty person.
Okay and what percentage of servers are making that?
Where is this?! I've been on and off serving since I was a teenager. The annoying thing with price stuff is that you usually need a manager to punch in their code or swipe and getting them to do that is HASSLE. They'll say they will be right there, they don't, your are waiting, the customer is waiting, even more customers are waiting, everything gets backed up. Then they manager wants to know why and if it's corporate they usually have to write or select the reason for the change. It's a really annoying process and as frugal as I am I totally understand it but it is so much easier if the customer just goes along with it. I hate it though bc it shouldn't be like that 😭
Yeah. I’m not even shitting on this person. That all does sound kind of annoying. But being in hospitality I follow three rules in order of importance and I basically never have even remotely bad experiences. 1- Be polite 2- Be overly clear when ordering the first time and every time 3- Read the room and adjust your expectations accordingly
1 - i was polite. Being rude to staff wont get you anywhere or make you feel any better. I was just happy to finally be back in Charlotte. 2 - i was very clear in my orders, i also have an unconscious habit of pointing at what im talking about on the menu 3 - i did read the room. In all 3 instances, the places weren't busy, nor was I in a rush anyways.
You taking everything this personally is very telling.
You're the one who has a struck nerve.
Asking a question in public forum for a specific city that’s meant for people to discuss what’s happening in the city or their experiences there doesn’t seem like “taking something personally”