Kicked out of a MAJOR restaurant, discriminated & threatened!

[SirMack]

Quick question.

I live in Florida, the Incident happened while traveling through South Carolina. I stopped at a major restaurant chain to eat and was treated very badly.

In short, I ordered food, took it to hotel, food was horrible, returned for refund or replacement, was screamed at, hand was slapped, was threatened to leave or I would be arrested, told if I came back I would be arrested. All because I asked for a refund or replacement on the food.

I didn't yell, and I was very respectful the entire time. I have a witness, my fiance was with me. Basically they took my receipt, and my food, refused to return it and made me leave.

all the employees in the restaurant were African-American, and I am Asian, my girlfriend is white. I called the corporate hotline to complain, and it took over a month to get refunded the $22.00 but still I didn't receive an apology and it took 3 more complaints after it to get any action.

I have never been so humiliated, slandered, embarassed, and discriminated in my entire life. Is there anything I can do? THanks!

 

[JETX]

By complaining to the corporate office, you have really done all that can reasonbly be done.

Certainly, you could file a lawsuit against the restaurant... and if you could show that the corporate owners were aware of the problem and had done nothing, you might even be able to include them. However, the reality is that it is simply your word against theirs. The owners can say that you were screaming, cussing, argumentative, abusive and refused to leave. Your version is obviously opposite. But, the burden of proof of your allegations would be yours.

Aggravate that reality with the fact that you would have to take any action in their state, and the economics quickly make it unrealistic to try to recover anything over simply hurt feelings.

 

[latarpley]

you mean to say that when you called corporate to complain that the person you talked with did not say they were sorry?

you received a check in the mail (30 days is appropriate) with no letter expressing any type of regret for the event?

and that you were discriminated against only after you complained? (apparently the staff treated you appropriately when taking your order)

during this discrimiantion the staff intentionally yelled at you and slapped you?

you didn't call the police?

you didn't contact a lawyer ASAP?

month later you are not OVER IT?

appears you didn't like the food and are now MONEY HUNGRY!

 

[SirMack]

By complaining to the corporate office, you have really done all that can reasonbly be done.

Certainly, you could file a lawsuit against the restaurant... and if you could show that the corporate owners were aware of the problem and had done nothing, you might even be able to include them. However, the reality is that it is simply your word against theirs. The owners can say that you were screaming, cussing, argumentative, abusive and refused to leave. Your version is obviously opposite. But, the burden of proof of your allegations would be yours.

Aggravate that reality with the fact that you would have to take any action in their state, and the economics quickly make it unrealistic to try to recover anything over simply hurt feelings.

Your right. I Just wish I could get something, even a written apology from the store location. I"ve never been so humiliated in my life. I've never even had to think about being arrested, and there I was, threatened with being arrested and having charges pressed for I have no idea what. I just stood there and politely asked for food replacement or a refund and all heck broke lose. They ended up taking my receipt, my food, and refused to give me anything, not even my money back. They screamed at me, told me to not come there begging for my money back, if I did I'd be arrested. THey even hit my hand when I tried to retrieve my receipt off the counter (thats when she took it). The employees were all african-american, and the black customers that were eating were all laughing at me as well. It was a ridiculous situation.

I told them to check the security cameras and that I wanted an apology but neither occured. I've honestly never been so humiliated, disrespected, discriminated, or embarassed in my entire life. I mean they STOLE from me, then threatened me, and then it took 3 complaints and over 1 month before I got my refund, that was it.

 

[SirMack]

you mean to say that when you called corporate to complain that the person you talked with did not say they were sorry?

you received a check in the mail (30 days is appropriate) with no letter expressing any type of regret for the event?

and that you were discriminated against only after you complained? (apparently the staff treated you appropriately when taking your order)

during this discrimiantion the staff intentionally yelled at you and slapped you?

you didn't call the police?

you didn't contact a lawyer ASAP?

three months later you are not OVER IT?

appears you didn't like the food and are now MONEY HUNGRY!

The lady on the phone said she would look it to that and she is sorry for whatever happened at the location.

At the time I placed my ordered they were *very* rude and my food wasn't even properly prepared. My car had broken down in this town and I was starving so I overlooked it at the time.

Yes, the Head store manager screamed at me, calling me a begger basically and acted as if I had no pride in coming back for a refund. When I reached for my receipt (which was on the counter) she hit my hand very hard and took the receipt, refusing to return it, as well as my food.

I was traveling in South Carolina, and I am not a lawyer, I didn't know what laws they said I had broken, or why I was going to be arrested. I just left the facility. I also couldn't afford to be held up in country jail in the middle of nowhere for any time, as I had to be in WAshington D.C. with my colleagues.

I didn't know who to contact, what to say, or do. I didn't know if I should have found a lawyer in that town, or what not. This occured on June 12, 2002. I didn't receive a refund until July 13th or so.

I'm not over it because I asked for an apology from the manager that location. What I got was a check with a generic "We are sorry for whatever happened" Letter. The guy on the phone even promised to send me a bunch of coupon sto compensate, none of which I received. Also, the individual (customer service management) on the phone said that my story didn't line up with the employees at the location, he made it sound like he was doing me a favor by giving me a refund.

I'm trying to get over it, but I am still so upset at the way I was treated in front of a restaurant full of people. When I consciously was polite and kept my voice low trying not to cause problems or spook other customers. It was the head manager there that began screaming at me and threatened me and told me to not come back and beg for money.

I guess I should just get over it, but I just had to vent I guess.

 

[latarpley]

What you are asking for is a letter that says you were all in the right and they were all in the wrong. It will not happen.

You have raised the bar claiming discrimination and no company in their right mind would acknowlege this in a written apology.
You would use their letter in a civil lawsuit. Even if the company forced the manager to apologize it would not be sincere and what good are transparent words.

I really would like to hear the other side...

Accept what has happened and move on....

 

[SirMack]

What you are asking for is a letter that says you were all in the right and they were all in the wrong. It will not happen.

You have raised the bar claiming discrimination and no company in their right mind would acknowlege this in a written apology.
You would use their letter in a civil lawsuit. Even if the company forced the manager to apologize it would not be sincere and what good are transparent words.

I really would like to hear the other side...

Accept what has happened and move on....

I never thought about it that way. I just wanted an apology for the principal of the thing. But you brought up some very good points.

I guess I will just have to get over it and move on. Makes me upset that basically the restaurant location got away with treating me that way. Even after the head manager screamed across the room "I dare you to call corporate up!" I told her I would and she said "Oh I hope to hear about it! Now Get out of my restaurant!"

I guess its my word against her and her employees.

 

[Beth3]

SirMack, as appalling as the behavior of the employees at this restaurant was, I have to agree it would be a waste of your time to try to sue. Costly, extremely time-consuming (it'll drag on for years), logistically complex, and so on.

I don't know who you spoke to at corporate (some customer service person I expect) but if you want to have the last word, do some research and find out who the CEO of the corporation is and send a letter to him personally describing what happend and also how little satisfaction you received after contacting their corporate HQ.

You may not hear back and you probably won't know the outcome but it's possible a few heads will roll at that particular restaurant. A CEO worth his or her salt will make sure the situation gets looked into because they know you'll tell 10 people about your experience, they'll tell 10 people, and so on. Bad word of mouth can KILL a restaurant.

Once you put that letter in the mail, put this experience behind you. It's not worth one more moment of your carrying around the memory and emotional distress.

 

[SirMack]

SirMack, as appalling as the behavior of the employees at this restaurant was, I have to agree it would be a waste of your time to try to sue. Costly, extremely time-consuming (it'll drag on for years), logistically complex, and so on.

I don't know who you spoke to at corporate (some customer service person I expect) but if you want to have the last word, do some research and find out who the CEO of the corporation is and send a letter to him personally describing what happend and also how little satisfaction you received after contacting their corporate HQ.

You may not hear back and you probably won't know the outcome but it's possible a few heads will roll at that particular restaurant. A CEO worth his or her salt will make sure the situation gets looked into because they know you'll tell 10 people about your experience, they'll tell 10 people, and so on. Bad word of mouth can KILL a restaurant.

Once you put that letter in the mail, put this experience behind you. It's not worth one more moment of your carrying around the memory and emotional distress.

That is an excellent idea! Thanks for the input. I know I need to put this behind me, but I can't stop thinking about how they treated me, and how they taunted me to 'do something about it' and when I did do something about it nothing came of it. I guess I Just need to consciously make myself stop thinking. BUt its sad, cuz everytime I pass this restaurant chain I can't help it.

I am curious, do you have any ideas on how to find out the current CEO/Board of Directors and how to get in touch with them???

 

[Beth3]

The easiest thing would be to call their corporate offices and ask for the name of the CEO. Most companies will give out that information - it's a matter of public record.

Failing that, I would do a simple internet search using the company's name and see if that linked me to their website or other sites which include information about the company. Many company's web sites list the names of company officers and key contacts within the organization. (CEO, VP of Sales, VP of HR, Director of Public Relations, etc.)

If neither of those work, then just pop into your local library and ask a librarian for help. The information you're looking for is undoubtedly listed in several business journals/directories.

Write your letter and then get on with your life. You have a lot more to offer the world than those miserable souls who treated you rudely and taunted you.

Best wishes.