In 1999 Jim Shaub purchased Waffle House fromTree top. All was well until about 5 or 6 years ago. For some reason upper management has said to hell with stores. Let's all just make some money and go home.
Service has gone down as well as the food quality. Not to mention the stores are very unclean. Most of all the management has gone down.
Let's start at the Begining. I mainly go to Dickerson Road #706 and Trinity Lane #485. For years I have been going to Trinity Lane. Most of the time the manager Diane Koch did a good job. She was however unable to stop the theft, drug use, or get rid of the bad employees.
The main problem started when the managers asked the customers to please let them know if we saw anybody stealing, not writing tickets, who was sending food out the back door, and who was selling drugs. When we told them who it was we were told it would be taken care of.
It was not.instead they told the employees who the informent was and then the war was on. The employees began calling the 800# and just plain refusing to wait on us. When we notified management about this nothing was done. At the time I thought Diane and myself were friends. How wrong I was.
Diane was transfered from Trinity Lane to dickerson Road. It was a poorly ran store but we thought that it might could be improved.
One of the regular customers, Billy Gann who has been going in there for 25 years asked for a coffee ticket. Well heaven forbid because the waitress Susie makes her money by not writing tickets.
So she told him to just leave the money on the table. We have been told in the past if no one will write you a ticket then you dont pay, and let the manager know.
At that point war was on again. She started telling the manager we refused to pay. So now we have started writing our names on our tickets if we ever get one. This cut into Susie's money so she started calling the 800#.
For those of you who may feel sorry for Susie please keep in mind that she has been caught stealing money, food, not practicing proper sanitation procedures, and much, much more.
One day Billy Gann had left a map at his booth by accident. He went back in to get it, and it was gone. When he asked about it he was told Susie threw it out. He asked her about it and she said I sure did. He told her she was not that stupid, but she was that aggravating. She ran to Diane and told her Billy called her stupid.
Diane came to our table and asked us what had happened, and we told her. Nothing was done. She told Susie that she did not have to wait on Billy anymore.
Less than a week later we came in for coffee and Susie yelled out while on the floor I'm not gonna wait on that son of a b*tch. At that point I called Diane and told her what had happened. She said she would deal with it.
Later Diane said that she had called Bill Navel. He said that he told her it was he said she said. I don't understand how that can be when 4 or 5 of us heard her say it, and alot of employees, along with customers.
At that point Susie made the corporate decision she did not have to wait on me. We brought this to Diane's attention and nothing was done. We went up the chain and talked to Mark Rogan about her and nothing was done. All we have been told is we are working on it she is on a tight rope. One more write up and she is gone.
I find it funny that an entire management team can't make one waitress abide by the rules. Keep her from getting on the grill when she is not properly trained to be there. Can not stop her from running her mouth to customers, robbing them blind, wash her hands or at the least put on the required hat. As soon as the manager is out the door off comes the hat. That's when you know she is ready to work.
Lewis, he is the new manager by this point, saw her put money in her pocket. He said he corrected her but did not write her up because she told him that everyone does it. Well I guess if everyone jumps off a bridge we will be able to get rid of her. No wonder Waffle House has went bankrupt.
Well I finally got a meeting with Mark Rogan and Ken Wright. What a waste of time. They did not want me to bring Billy Gann. They thought it was going to be an Allen Maxey ass chewing, or to tell me not to come back.
Well it did not turn out that way. Billy backed up everything I had to say. All they were really interested in telling me was that they have a big file on me. I have asked to see this file several times. It has not happened to date. If they were capable of keeping such big files on me it seems like they could keep one or two on past employees who have robbed them blind and not rehire them in two months.
More than likely the only file they have on me is some complaints about allen is being mean to me and not letting me steal Waffle House's money Imagine that. Management knew this was bull and did not stop it.
Well once again they were saying we are going to get rid of Susie. When what they meant to say was sit still and be quite while we try to find a way to get rid of you.
So the meeting is over, and we stopped at a different Waffle House out on Harding Place, and what happened. Keep in mind we have never been in this Waffle House. We get our drinks and sure enough we have to fight for a ticket. The waitress tells us to leave the money on the table. Imagine that.
What was so funny about that is not 30 seconds later Ken Wright walks in. I let Billy tell him what had just happened. All he could do was hang his head. I did ask him if I complained to the manager would I get another page in my file. He said no.
Sometime later we went back to Dickerson Road. We thought maybe things had gotten better. Wrong they had gotten worse.
Susie started with the following. She started calling the 800# when we pulled in the parking lot. Would talk and spread rumors about us because we stood outside and drank coffee and smoked. Would complain to other employees if they waited on us. Mabey she just didnt know what a good tipper I was. She had a few other employees, aka, people she was sneaking free food to call and complain about us. She began to refuse to wait on us and just plain being hateful to any one who talked to us or sat at our booth.
She took a jacket that a customer left behind home with her instead of turning it in. The owner had already called and left his phone # and said he would be back on monday to pick it up. A customer brought in a braclet that they found in the parking lot. She said she put it in the register. Wrong right in her pocket it went.
Billy's mother passed away at the age of 91. She was the sweetest woman you could ever meet. When Susie heard about it she said I don't give a damn about that old woman she don't mean shit to me.
All this plus the money she has stolen. Plus the free food she has given away. Then a metro police officer came in and she ran her mouth to him and told him I was stalking her. Mind you this is a place I have been coming to for 20 years or so, but I was told I was barred from coming in. Management was dumb enough to fall for her lies. This is how poor management has become.
Which brings us to the point we are at now. Me standing outside infront of Dickerson Road Waffle House with a sign that says dont eat at Waffle House. Poor service poor management. Jim Shaub is now out of Waffle House and Ken Wright is now rumored to be over another area, and Waffle House inc. Has taken over. Still no changes. Susie is still there running her mouth, and robbing them blind. Lewis the manager still does'nt care.
His boss Mark Rogan could care less about anything that goes on in his division. We have called the corporate office to try and talk to Burt Thornton the ceo, but he has refused to call us back. They will not return my calls or any other customers that call to complain about Susie or the management.
There are several of us that want to talk to Burt Thornton or Terry Winecoff who is over the remaining 113 stores.
We have been asked several times why do we keep going back if it is so bad? My answer to that is that it is the principle of it. It used to be a good place to go. Now it is like this. Management can't manage. Employees can say and do anything they like. Store can't and won't be kept clean.
Some employees don't even have on a clean uniform. They are not made to wear a belt to hold up their pants. Some look like a tatoo parlor with legs. They will hire anyone without checking them out even if they have stolen from them in the past. They have hired people who are out on parole for violent crimes.
All we want is to be served. No mouth. No bullshit. Not to be asked what is going on in their stores. We have told them if they want to know what is going on in their store then hire a secret shopper. They said they do not do that. Guess they are afraid to see what they might learn about their stores.
Just want to leave everyone with something to think about. If one waitress per shift, per 113 store steals 10.00$ a day in cash from not writing tickets that is 1,237, 350.00 in lost money every year. Now I am not an accountant but that is alot of money, and they wonder why they are filling bankruptcy
I hope this reaches the people in charge and they see where the money is going. Mabey then people will understand and see it is time for a change. You as the customer are getting the brunt of this. I am sure many of you have noticied the price increase. To absorb this loss I believe.
Well if you are in Nashville and you just gotta have a waffle you will see me outside standing with my sign. Hopefully you will drive by and join my protest, but if you just gotta have that waffle you will find Susie with her unwashed hands and no hat ready to pocket your money and serve you up a waffle.
In short, serve the coffee, leave us alone. Still do not understand why Bert Thornton won't call myself or anyone else.
This has been another atempt to inform you by Allen Maxey.
Allen
nashville, Tennessee
U.S.A.
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