[[Yep, I'm a newb, nice to meetcha all here. :] I've been lurking for awhile, but only recently observed a truely horrific case of Bad Service. I hope it qualifies!]]
Okay, so I like to order out from this small take-out place, almost entirely run by students. I've been ordering out several times a week for the past several weeks, because I'm totally sick of my college's cafeteria food. (Not easy on the wallet, but it saves my palate!) Hence, while it's more expensive than my dorm food, I like ordering there because A) they have nicer food, and B) I like supporting fellow students in their business enterprises.
Anyway. Usually, they're pretty quick, considering their small size and that I can order online. All I gotta do is punch in what I want, use their calculator to tally up the total, and send it off via Paypal. About an hour later, I hop downstairs to pick up my food from their driver (always leaving a nice tip), and vamoose upstairs to enjoy my tasty, non-cafeteria food. Sounds awesome, right?
Not tonight. I placed an order at 9:20 PM, and by 10:40, no food. So I call their live order-line, and am directed to their voice mail. This is bad in itself, as there is supposed to be someone manning the line at all times to take orders and such. No worries, I think to myself, there's probably just a traffic jam on the highway. So I leave a voice message and wait til 11, at which time I'm beginning to panic. The money has DEFINITELY been taken out of my Paypal account, and the place stops delivering at 12. Fearing that my food has dissapeared into the void, I call again, hoping to reach a live human this time.
Bad Service the first: I call, and I DO get a human! She says that she "just got" my message and was about to call me back. Uhh... I called 20 minutes ago. Where were you?
At this point, I haven't eaten in almost 9 hours, and nothing on my campus is open. This is my last hope to get dinner. So, quite unhappily, I reiterate the fact that, yes, about two hours ago (almost three now, but I'm being polite) I placed an order that has not yet been delivered.
Bad Service the second: "Order? What order? We have no order here for you."
Uh. Funny, because I'm negative $20 in my Paypal, I guess the internet fairies ate my money!
Anyhow, after a little discussion of "yes, I sent the money," "are you sure you sent the money?" "yes, my paypal account SHOWS its missing, I even got a confirmation email", she instructs me to resend my order, and "the manager will figure out how to refund your second order. This translates to me as "if we think you aren't lying, maybe you'll get half your money back... maybe".
But, I don't fight, as I am absolutely RAVENOUS at this point, and make haste to resend the money. Five minutes later, she calls me back, telling me NOT to send the money, as she has managed to locate my now-three-hours+ late order! Apparantly, it wasn't a matter of the order not getting through, as it was her not noticing it? I'm still unclear on that bit.
So, three hours later, approximately 12 hours since I've had my last meal, my food arrives... sans my drinks. It couldn't arrive correctly, right? Murphy's Law, and all that. The delivery boy seems as confused as me, since the only order HE recieved mentioned nothing about drinks. Funny thing about paying $3 for soda, I sort of actually WANT TO DRINK IT with my meal!
Needless to say, I'm finally eating my food, although I'm very dissapointed with the experience overall. As my roommate pointed out, at the point that my food was two full hours late, they should have probably offered a refund, or even a partial one. Or some kind of cupon. Or something! Instead, I get my three-hours-late food for full price, and not all of it is even there. What the hell kind of service is that? I want to support my fellow students, but I don't want to support them THAT much.