The Case

Following is a transcript of the official complaint which I have filed with Friendly's corporate offices in Wilbraham, Massachusetts regarding our visit to the Natick Mall franchise on March 8, 2000 at approximately 6:00PM.

This is provided strictly for your records.

Transcript follows --->

I wish to notify you of a bad experience which I had at one of your restaurants recently. Our party's waitress was Zeida, and her nametag also carried the denotation of "Friendly's University, February 2000" below her name. I am sincerely in the hopes that she is not yet a graduate from your training school because the service which we received was simply terrible.

Furthermore, outside of her control, the quality of food was subpar. When we, a party of three, arrived at the location (inside the Natick Mall, Natick, MA), the restaurant was not at all crowded -- only about 5 tables were seated. Zeida took our order and delivered drinks and such. From that point on, it was, quite honestly, all downhill.

We waited nearly 10 minutes just for our appetizer -- a regular order of mozzarella sticks. When she finally brought it out, she apologized, conceding that it was only the small size. The plate that it was delivered on didn't appear overly clean, and we discovered there was a piece of a french fry sitting on the plate. We had to ask her to please bring out another small size that, combined with the first, would closely equal the regular size, which we had ordered in the first place. This seemed an obvious solution to the "problem" that the waitress could have dealt with on her own, rather than require us to nearly insist upon she do.

Our main entrees consisted of a Fishamajig sandwich, a smoked barbeque chicken sandwich, and a Friendly Frank. I have eaten hot dogs in your restaurant for almost 10 years, and this one definitely did not taste right. I would've sent it back thinking perhaps it was bad, but opted not to when my colleagues, whom I was dining with, admitted that their meals, as well, were not of the quality we expect from Friendly's. Even though the restaurant was not at all busy for the duration of our meal, the waitress was invisible, and only came by after we had all practically finished our meals to inquire how everything was and refill our long-empty beverages.

To top it all off, when she brought the refills, she wasn't even carrying them on a tray; instead, she carried out the three drinks with one tucked inside her arm, which was sloshing all over her, and subsequently, all over my coat when she reached over to put it down on the table. It seemed pretty apparent that the soda was going all over, yet not once did she apologize.

I would have commented to a manager on-site about all of this, but unfortunately, since our waitress was the one who ended up ringing us up when we finally went to the cash register (asking how everything was), I felt it inappropriate to create an obviously uncomfortable and embarassing scene by requesting to speak to a manager or simply outright doing so, obviously in front of her.

One final point that I do feel I need to mention. Every instance when Zeida was delivering food to my colleague on my left, inside the booth, rather than lean across the table to pass a plate or glass, she opted instead to lean across me. This seems, if anything, to be the most inconvenient way to do so, in addition to making me a prime target should a plate or glass slip and fall. I mention this because it struck me as unusual behavior, and I am in the hopes that this is not how your waiters/waitresses are now being trained when it comes to passing food. If, for no other reason, there is such a thing as an individual's personal space, and mine was certainly violated with her practically on top of me, passing plates/glasses to the inside person.

I want to underscore that I will continue to dine at your restaurants (probably not this location again, though) because, overall, I have received nothing but high-quality food and service at your establishments, and I have dined at many over the last decade or so. I do bring this incident to your attention, so that appropriate corrective actions can be taken to ensure that your other patrons do not have to be subjected to this.

Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you regarding this matter.

Sincerely,
Michael W.

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