Cheesecake Factory

I think that the following communication I sent to the Cheesecake Factory HQ explains it all: "Dear Ms. Linda Candioty, and To Whom This May Concern at the Cheesecake Factory: I have been a long time customer of your culinary establishments in ... more

I think that the following communication I sent to the Cheesecake Factory HQ explains it all: "Dear Ms. Linda Candioty, and To Whom This May Concern at the Cheesecake Factory: I have been a long time customer of your culinary establishments in Texas, specifically your branches in Dallas, Allan, Stonebriar, Southlake, and literally, last, your location in Arlington, which is the trigger for sending this feedback email to you. Over the past weeks, I made the choice to have several casual after-business-hours meetings at your Arlington location. Even though “Chilli’s” and "Romano's Macaroni Grill" were primary options on the table of choices; I thought that the ambiance at your restaurants was favorable to the image and atmosphere I wanted to have projected. To my literal shock during my first visit, their service was anything but close to my expectations -which were based on over a decade of experiences with your restaurants- especially from the greeters who were totally dismissive and lacked any greeting skills, not even a smile or eye contact! (with one exception: there is a Hispanic lady possibly in her later 30’s or above, who was exceptional)… and later, from the management team that looked like a bunch of people who had nothing to do, and were in most senses doing nothing, except walking around like Gestapo with frowns on their faces!! The following day, I took my guest to the same location for dinner and beverages, hoping that the experience we had the first day was just a freak occurrence, and I was proven wrong! The second day, the service was even worse, to the degree that when we were paying the gratuity, which was 15% of the ticket, we heard one of the servers telling ours: “that is bullshit! 15%, that is just bull-shit, I’m going to tell him!!”, where the other server stopped her from coming to our table. I should note that we were the only customers there till after closing, and I should also point out that the 15% paid was for her nice smile, not the service, because she only brought us the dishes we ordered (with someone from the kitchen), and one refill on the drinks in over 2 hours. The third day, I called your company in the morning, and was transferred to “Guest Relations -GR”, and immediately, I was sent to V-mail… I transferred back to the operator who advised me that if I leave a message, I will receive a call-back with in the hour, so, I left a V-mail with my contact info and a message about my desire to provide some feedback… To this day, more than a week after the fact, I have not received the call back. In the afternoon, I was totally hesitant to take my guest there again, and actually, I had decided to boycott your business; but now, my guest was comfortable to the proximity of the restaurant to our meeting location; so, to be courteous, I accepted that we go there again, especially that he wanted to “treat me this time” for my invitations. We went, and guess what… the loud-mouthed and obnoxious waitress who we heard her voice the night before was serving us! [we joked and laughed about that]… what an irony! I minimized my interactions to polite conversation, and allowed my guest to do all the talking and ordering. At the end, on the way out, he did not pay a gratuity different that mine, and was greeted with a smile and a thank you! (I was happy for him!) I should point out that he is a guest in Texas from up north. Next day, I called GR back, and received V-mail again, so I requested to speak to the Director of GR… I was transferred, and guess what again… yes, v-mail… the operator advised my that if I left a message that I will receive a call before the end of the business day… wrong… until this day, I have not heard back. (Truly: Guest non-Relations!!) I left town on business, and returned; I accepted another two invitations of his there, for he liked the Cheesecakes! And, my Texan hospitality barred me from depriving him of satisfying his sweet-tooth... actually, by this day, he had every Cheesecake on your menu. But I did not see any change in management’s style, on the contrary, I noticed as if your management are forced-labor working there! The server-staff were OK, and a couple of them were actually very nice. Yesterday afternoon, I met-up with the same guest who wanted to “go and grab something to eat, ” and he suggested your Arlington establishment… this time I was adamant, and I politely refused to go there after reemphasizing the reason… when I eat out, I am paying for service and atmosphere, not necessarily the food, because if I really want to eat great food, regardless of how diverse, I would eat at home! Today, I called you all again, and guess what… your V-mail! At least, now I know that your company is getting their money out of what they invested in the VMS! If you are interested to learn: your Arlington branch (at least) is a Chef Gordon Ramsay “Kitchen Nightmares” customer service nightmare. You have five (5) floor managers who seem to be in chronic depression with some aggression complex to-boot! I have coyotes and foxes on my property that are friendlier; these managers have the impression that they are doing us a favor by being at work. The front line servers are much more pleasant, but several “ooze” their lack of comfort/desire to work there, or more likely under the management of their depressed bosses who have no sense of enthusiasm or customer service skills! No ma’am/sirs… from here on I am taking my business elsewhere. I should let you know that I have already shared my experience with a couple dozen persons since, and I have found out that many others have felt the same about your operations, and they call you “over rated”… “the décor is nice, but service is crap” (quote); and another comment from a vegetarian colleague: the bastards make their cheese cake with beef gelatin!! And I discovered that by coincidence one day when I was taking a to-go slice home, and I read the ingredients!” So now that I am comfortable to know that my experiences were not simply perceptions, but true experiences, I have decided never to go to one of your restaurants again pending the outcome of this communication. I also intend to share this experience with my online business network (which is at 65-Million readers the last time I checked) if this matter is not addresses satisfactorily. Can someone in leadership at your business explain to me why all these repeated failures kept reoccurring? … from the frontline to Directorship level? I would love to understand and reconsider my current stance if possible!" ... To this day, they have not replied to my phone calls not email messages! less