Jan 26, 2012

Are my recent issues with Noodles and Company in Owings Mills indicative of a problem with the whole oganization?

All:

Some of you are aware of the issue that I have recently had with Noodles and Company. I used to go to one of their shops frequently enough, maybe 3-4 times a month. My wife and I enjoy their food, and like the fact that as a general rule, we can eat healthy foods quickly there. Noodles is one of only a few places where I can honestly say that.

On Thursday of last week (1/19/2012) my wife and I went to the local Owings Mills location, and ordered dinner in. Usually we get carry out. I don't eat lunch, so I was fairly hungry. SO was my wife. We ordered:

1 medium sized dinner for each of us
1 soup for me/1 side salad for my wife
1 order of pot stickers to share

Since the restaurant was crowded, we had 2 choices of where to sit. I'm not comfortable in booths, so I chose a small table for 2 in the corner. When the "waitress" (I use the term loosely out of respect for actual wait staff) got to our table, she LOUDLY exclaimed to a crowded restaurant:

"Ya'll gonna eat ALL THIS FOOD!?! It ain't gonna fit on this table!! I SWORE it was for at least 3! I got 3 silverwares!!"

So, to get her to shut her mouth, we moved to stools at a bar set up. Much less comfortable.

We stayed about 10 minutes or less, got to go containers and left. I should have said something there, but I'm not confrontational by nature, and I WILL NOT TOLERATE embarrassing my wife. Period.

People who eat at restaurants are not CUSTOMERS or PEOPLE WHO PAY YOU, we are guests. Period. And they should never be humiliated by illiterate sounding teenagers who have the social graces of a 2 year old. People like that should NEVER be in customer facing positions in ANY industry.

In any case, this is why we won't be eating at their establishments in the near future. I used to recommend them to everyone. I took clients to lunches at that location, too. No longer.

When we got home, I took this to twitter. I actually got a quick response from someone with Noodles who wanted to chat (@noodlescompany). I was asked to send them my story via email. I did that evening, and was thinking I would get some sort of response. There has been none to this point.

So, what I am doing is boycotting Noodles and Company until I get some sort of response. What do I want, you might ask:

1. The offender fired
2. Training for the staff on how to be polite, and literate
3. Branch management trained on what to look for regarding these sorts of scenes

I ask anyone who has had negative experiences with @noodlescompany to let me know. I want to know if I'm the only one who has this issue (poor service/poor customer relations) or if it's a more systemic issue with their company.  I hope not.  I've gotten in touch with them via Twitter and email, and I hope I can soon post a positive update on this story.  I am hoping that the issue is with one server, and not the whole branch.

Thanks, all.

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