Poor and Unacceptable Service

Original e-mail to KFC Customer Care

I hereby would like to express my utter disgust with your deteriorating service levels, specifically referring to 2 of the restaurants I often visit in the Northern Suburbs of Brackenfell.

Please understand that I specifically did not go to social media with this, as I believe everybody deserves a chance to fix what is wrong. That said, the frequency of my experience is of such nature, that I highly doubt I would be the first or the last patron complaining, but nevertheless, I thought it would be the right thing to do and officially bring this matter to your attention.

KFC Ruwari Brackenfell:

On several occasions, the experiences at this establishment were below par. Orders are almost never delivered correctly, specifically at the drive-through. I find it hard to believe that delivering on an average order consisting of four meals can be that hard. Perhaps, it is time to look at automating the order process, because clearly, the training you are offering your staff seems to be a waste of time? Either that or the people you employ to service your clients are simply ***********, entitled, and frankly don't appreciate the opportunity.

Secondly, the food quality at this establishment has shown a substantial trend downwards with the chicken often underdone and chips served cold.

(New) KFC Haasendal, Brackenfell:

My family and I were delighted to see the new logo at our local community mall and had high expectations of this restaurant launching with the service levels we expect from KFC.

Myy family and I supported the establishment on 3 occasions since its launch towards the end of last year. Unfortunately, the excitement was short-lived and two of the three times, I left disappointed, after having to double-check my order at the window and point out to the waitress that they once again made a mistake and I was missing something. The last time, was Sunday 16 January 2022, when we received our meals without chips. I would think that you have a system in place that checks the delivery before handing to your clients? I am now making a habit of it and checking everything before I leave at the window despite the inconvenience that this might cause me and your other clients.

Upon my last visit, I was also shocked by the "vibe" in the establishment. The music was so loud and the staff dancing that they forgot that they were serving clients. Extremely unprofessional in my humble opinion.

Please note that I am also a manager of a number of client-facing staff and understand the value of a good spirit amongst staff members, but this was ridiculous as I had to shout at the window for the lady to acknowledge me and fix my order. The choice of genre was Kwaito, which I bet is not synonymical with the neighborhood that they serve.

To top it all, when I got home, they unsurprisingly forgot the condiments and I had to accept it as just another bad experience.

My plea to you is to investigate these establishments in particular from a quality, waiting time, and general service perspective. My expectation is that you would improve on your service levels and ensure your paying patrons are getting the quality service and food they are paying for.

I would be hard-pressed to order KFC anytime soon from any of these two stores again, and if I had to, and receive similar disappointing service, I would most certainly remind myself and my social community of this email.

Follow-Up:

A certain Snenhlanhla Dladla answered my e-mail and assigned the case number CAS-834461-J5W5F2. He/she explained that I need to provide my contact number as they were unable to reach me (despite it being in my signature). I promptly rep**** providing my number again. It was clearly a copy and paste response as not an hour later I received the same email, again from Snenhlanhla Dladla, and again requesting my contact number. Note that I have no missed calls on either my office or Mobile number and this is a testament to the deep-rooted problem, manifested in my experience at your front-end.

I decided to call in personally and was unable to speak to Snenhlanhla Dladla. I left my number once again and still awaiting his call-back.

Tonight, I tried for a second time to call you, and this time requested to speak to a senior representative. I was then put on hold and after 30mins and no response I hung up.

I know it will not make a difference to you, but you have lost me as your client. Your service is SHOCKING and I am extremely disappointed in how it was handled. I have given you four chances and you threw it away.

This matter will not consume any more energy of mine and I will not make another call to your customer care helpdesk. The time, money, and energy spent on this matter have now exceeded what I am prepared to spend.