Saturday, February 8, 2014

Not Everything Shiny is Nice...

A customer walked into one of our local franchise restaurant on a busy day. One of its staff approached her and told her she would have to wait a long time as there were many customers. A look at the counter indicated that chicken was still available and there were a few empty tables too. But since there was going to be a long wait, the customer walked away. That was a couple of months back.

We were on our way back after CNY celebrations. The roads were busy enough but the jams were just sporadic. It could be due to the fact that we were going the opposite direction of the main flow which was heading south. Anyway, we stopped by Juru. There were many cars but one could still get a parking lot without needing to go beyond the first attempt. A few restaurants were closed. So we decided to go for Subway. Two or three tables were occupied. When we got to our turn, we were told that only 3 pieces if 6-inch bread were left.

Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos

We could see rows of bread in the open oven. The customers after us were told that they had to wait 20 minutes for the bread to cool. We took the 3 remaining pieces. I thought the staff took a rather long time to prepare our orders. The clock continued ticking as we ate.

A while later, more customers walked in. We heard customers being told again about having to wait 20 minutes. I am sure more than 15 minutes had passed by then. After chomping down my last bite, I decided to walk over and asked if I could place another order. I was told.... Another 15 minutes. Lol! I am sure we had been there for at least 30 minutes. I supposed this is Malaysian rubberized time in its element..... in a foreign franchise. Then again, maybe the bread in those opened oven must have some special heat retention powers.

A restaurant shouldn't turn away its patrons unless they have run out of tables. Franchise names draw in patrons because their food is supposed to stand for something.... Good taste, service, quality, etc. It down't so any more. I was recently at Old Town Coffee, another local franchise. An nicely located empty table with a 'reserved' sign caught my eye. As I knew that the sign was always there, I moved it to another table. Shortly after, a staff approached us and told us that the table was reserved for their staff to rest. One of the best seats in the coffee shop and they reserved it for their staff! So much for eating there. I walked out.

I have been to other franchise outlets and very often their tables would be sticky or oily from the lack of proper cleaning.

Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos

Earlier in the morning, I another experience at the above ramshackle stall which was totally different. When we got there, it was packed. There were many outstation cars and some people were standing around but we were fortunate enough to get a table. I thought we were in for a long wait. Much to my pleasant surprise, all 11 of us were served within 15 minutes. Service was prompt.... Food was not bad...

Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos

12 bowls of mee and 11 drinks... Thumbs up for their service. Well, franchise outlets don't give such good services any more.

1 comment:

Thomas C B Chua said...

Many of the franchise restaurants are being slowly killed by their ill-trained and sloppy staffs who have no loyalty to the establishment. They work to kill time or for wanting job. I have stopped going to Old Town for years, and anyway I see people frequent such places not so much for the food but for the ambiance and wifi.Having ordered a set of food and they sit there exercising the fingers on their electronic gadgets for hours.

Broken?

Education in doldrums... An already broken education system given a really hard whack by Covid-19.  I used to read about pandemics, that a b...