No Service

A warning to all concerning Steers Highlands Shopping Centre. Although food quality is not of major concern, the concern, however, lies in the service and management of this particular branch. Over the last 18 months+ (1.5 years+) they don't seem to be interested in or to actually even attempt to do anything about it. On Sunday 5/12/2021 at 18:20 we placed an online order (not very large) via their app, which they confirmed right after payment was made. At 18:34 we got phoned and told that it would take 90 minutes+ for the food to be delivered (due to them being very busy), which means we will only have our order by say approximately 20:00. I found this to be unacceptable and requested to speak to the Manager Frans, as we have on a previous occasion spoken to him and he informed us that he will address the issue that we had on the previous occasion. Once again, I was told that no, this person has left and Julia is now the manager [It would appear that Managers there only lasts about 6 months]. However, I was told that Julia was busy and she will phone me back when she can, at her convenience. By this time, it was approximately 19:00 and I decided to go see for myself what is going on. I arrived around 19:10 at the store and guess what!! (No surprise for the third time in a row), the shop is empty, none, zero, nada customers waiting for orders. Even in the parking area, it was only our vehicle and one other vehicle which was parked!! (I actually took photos of both the EMPTY STORE and the PARKING AREA WITH ONLY TWO VEHICLES PARKED with their stationary motorbikes with no drivers in sight). Out of the 3 takeaways, there was 1 (one, numero uno) customer and they were at the Fish Aways take away. Debonairs Pizza and Steers, on either side of Fish Aways, were deserted (looked like a ghost town) - only at the Steers was 1 person working there and another one, later on, appeared in the kitchen area - no other staff to be seen. When we then asked for our order, we discovered it has already been prepared and had been placed on the hot tray unit at Debonairs Pizza's side and they were now waiting for a driver. On further investigation it was discovered that the food has been waiting there for a while as this was the only order, and having worked at Spur during my lifetime, I realised that it could not have taken them say 40 - 50 minutes to make two burgers as this is a fast-food restaurant after all! So, this would by implication have meant that the food could have been made within say 30 to 35 (and that is giving them some leeway) minutes, which then means the food has been waiting on the hot tray from anywhere from 18:50 to 18:55 (which means the food has been lying there for at least 15 minutes). Now taking into account what I initially indicated that we were going to get the food by 20:00, that will by implication mean that the order would have sat there for an HOUR or more. Only, later on, did Julia decide to appear and when we confronted her about what had transpired, we were told ONCE AGAIN that they have issues with drivers (AND THIS IS WHERE THE ISSUE COMES IN - THIS HAS AND IS THE TYPE OF EXCUSE WE GET EACH AND EVERY TIME, and after 18 months+ (1.5 years+) HAS STILL NOT BEEN FIXED OR DOES NOT SEEM INTERESTED TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE). They currently only have 2 (two) drivers to cover 3 takeaway shops, and I am sure anyone will be able to tell you that that kite is not going to fly unless more reliable drivers are employed. I would hate to think what disaster is going to strike them in the event of those three stores getting truly busy all at the same time. Then I can only assume that you would have to place your order and then hope and pray you still get it the same day!! All the while your food will be sitting on the hot tray and strangely getting cold. We were home by 19:25 and the food was barely room temperature because the hot tray is not going to keep the food at the cooking temperature for hours on end. Upon opening the order, we discovered that they could not even follow very simple instructions on the order that only one of the two burgers was to have no lettuce. Instead, both burgers ended up with no lettuce! I have taken the time on the app to place such a specific request as it allows you the option to either add or remove items from the burger. Over the last 1.5 years+ every 6 months or so, we would place an order with the hope of them having improved their service as previously promised, only to find out that we are once again getting the same old excuse every time (and every time we get begged to give them time to work on and fix the problem and give them another chance)! That is why we give them about 6 months so as to afford them a fair amount of time and opportunity to "FIX" their problem. To date, it is still not fixed and I don't see this ever happening. I will no longer support this Steers at all and have told Julia in so many words that they will not see me ever again. They do not show or have any remorse for either their actions or their conduct and to hide their problem of not having sufficient drivers, instead of saying to the customer to please come and fetch their food as they can't promise how long it is going to take a driver to deliver the food, whilst the food is sitting patiently on the hot tray waiting for someone to collect and deliver them. Only after leaving the store, we get phoned by Julia, who tries to play the empathy card saying that we must think about the people who are working there and that we must feel sorry for them and all sorts of nonsense; however, any sincere apology or true indication of her actually making it her mission to address the issue and ensuring a drastic improvement of their service delivery to their customers, who in actual fact helps paying each and everyone's salary, is non-existent so to speak! Having to beg your customers not to lay complaints and take necessary action against the franchise is not the way to solve the problem, especially if the said customer has been reporting the same issue every time.