My family is moving oversees, and today was my last day to see them. We all went out to lunch at Olive Garden, my favorite restaurant. Usually, the service there is really good. Today, not so much.
Our waiter introduces himself and says that both he and his assistant would be helping us today, and that if we needed anything just ask either of them. Then, since we already knew what we wanted, we went ahead and ordered.
Now, it was pretty busy, so I was expecting a long wait. But it took half an hour for our drinks to come out, and all we had ordered were two lemonades and a water. Then it was another half an hour before our soups and salads came. Our main courses came fifteen minutes after that, which wasn't too bad. But this was when the fun started.
So, by this point, two of us had finished our drinks, and since they were refillable, we wanted more. The assistant waitress was walking right at us, so my mom tried to call her over. She pointedly ignored us and took the order of the table next to us. Which, okay, maybe understandable the once since maybe they were supposed to take orders first before helping other tables or something. But she stands there and has a long conversation with them while cooing over their baby, and then she walks away to put in their order and doesn't come back for another ten minutes. Yet again, she ignores us and goes to ask them if they need help. As she turns to leave, I loudly call to her, but she keeps walking.
So, the original waiter comes back, and we tell him what had happened. He says that he will get our drinks, as well as to go boxes since we were done eating by this point. And he says he will say something to the waitress. He walks off. Twenty minutes later, neither of them has come back again.
So, this is where the good service starts. My mother grabs the plates with our leftovers and goes to the front and asks to see the manager. The manager was awesome and got our boxes right away. And she doesn't charge us for any of our food. So, a good end to it all. But still. I get that they were busy, but the pointedly ignoring us was just not okay.