I visited Popeyes Chicken on Thursday, December 27. I purchased two Triple-Play boxes of fried chicken. I headed home to dine with my family. We began eating some pieces of chicken, and we noticed that the chicken was not thoroughly cooked. It was bloody. I called Popeyes Chicken to speak with a manager I was familiar with, and he identified himself. He knew me, because he remembers me visiting the restaurant frequently this month and in the past. I told him that I was bringing back the undercooked chicken, and he said that was fine.
I arrived at the Popeyes Chicken around 4:30 P.M. Eric was not coming to the front of the store. He was hiding. I asked for the manager. I was approached by Mireya, the manager. I told her about the chicken not being thoroughly cooked. She looked in the bag. I told her that we were in the drive-thru lane. The female employee at the drive-thru window was at the front register ringing up customers. I asked her, "Do you remember me?" She told me "No." I said, let me go and get my husband outside in our vehicle. He asked her, "You do not remember us?" She denied waiting on us.
Mireya said, "You did not purchase this chicken from this store." I replied, "Well, why am I here upset about the undercooked chicken? My kids can get sick from eating this undercooked chicken, and I want my $13.33 back." Mireya asked for my receipt. I told her that the lady who was standing at the front register at the time never taped the receipt to the bag. I explained to her that my husband handed her a twenty-dollar bill along with a coupon for the Triple-Play boxes of chicken. Mireya went looking for the register receipt at the drive-thru register that the female employee was using. Mireya came back to me and stated, "No, you were not at this store." I became angry. I told her, "If my family becomes ill from eating the undercooked chicken, I will call my lawyer and sue this store."
Mireya walked away and went looking for the register receipt and the coupon.
She was telling the female employee that I would not get a refund, just a gift card or a rain check. The female employee stated again, "I did not see you in the drive-thru." I told her, "Oh! Now you have selective memory. I guess you better not say anything to protect your minimum wage job." She laughed at me, and I noticed her removing her name tag so as not to be identified.
I remembered the young man who was approaching the counter. I asked him, "Do you recall taking a bag to the customer in the drive-thru, and you had to return into the store to bring back out the beverage?" He said, "Yeah." I asked him to tell Mireya, the manager, that he had seen me in the drive-thru. He walked away toward Mireya at the desk where she was sitting down. He then came to the drive-thru window register to give me back my money. I was in the store for a half hour. Mireya was laughing, as were the female employee and the young cook.
The cross contamination of undercooked food was running in my mind. I told all of them that it is a shame you have no regard for customers, and that you are selling food poisoning to the community, which is a health hazard. Your store service has deteriorated over time and it is sad. Serving undercooked food just to make a buck.
This happened at the Popeyes Chicken at 1380 Irving Park, Hanover Park, Illinois.
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