IHOP Consumer Reviews - Page 2

BRANSON, MISSOURI -- I recently vacationed in Branson Mo. with my daughter and four grandchildren ranging in age from 11 to 21. After enjoying the day at Silver Dollar City and then a show at one of the theaters we decided to have a late meal at one of our favorite restaurants, IHOP. What followed has to take the record for the worst service and plain didn't give a damn attitude from a restaurant manager and staff that I have ever experienced.

The restaurant was busy but not crowded. There were six of us so naturally it took a few minutes to be seated but once seated our problems began. Our waiter was obviously very inexperienced and nervous. We were patient with him as it took him several minutes and several corrections to take our drink order. While we waited for our drinks to arrive I mentioned to my daughter that perhaps we should go somewhere else because this waiter didn't appear to know what he was doing but the grandkids wanted IHOP so we stayed.

Finally our drinks arrived and the waiter took our order but it was quite an ordeal. He erased, scribbled out and re-wrote each order several times and repeated what we'd ordered several times before he got it right and left to enter our order. About fifteen minutes later our waiter returned and said he needed to check our order with us again which he did. This time when he left my daughter and I watched him as he went to the computer order entry unit.

After watching our waiter attempt and fail to enter our order for another fifteen minutes and watching people who had come in after us receive their meals, eat and leave, my daughter got up and asked another waitress if there wasn't anyone who could help our waiter get our order placed. She was told abruptly she'd have to talk to the manager, which she did.

The manager who hummed and said he would help get our order placed. Once our order was placed, guess what… half of the orders were wrong. My daughter complained again to the manager who did absolutely nothing. Finally the waiter said he would correct our bill for the items we ordered but did not receive. Nice of him since apparently until then he expected us to pay for items we did not get. However when I reviewed the "corrected" bill it was still wrong and was charging us for three items we did not get and for one we never even ordered but our waiter insisted he had corrected the bill.

I took the bill to the cash register and told the girl there the bill was wrong. She looked at it and said I'd have to talk to the manager. Been there did that twice already. I gave up and paid the bill including the $7 and charge for items we did not order or get and we left. It simply wasn't worth arguing with a manager who obviously had no idea what he was doing and who couldn't care less about his customers. It's a shame one IHOP is allowed to be as bad as this one was. It ruined our evening and our opinion of IHOP which until then was very high. It will be a very long time before I take my family to an IHOP again.

VININGS, GEORGIA -- I have worked for IHOP for nine years. Today I was fired. I was set up from day one. My life has never been perfect. It's far from that. However, I have always been a faithful employee. I loved my job and still do. All I wanted was to succeed. But others made sure that it did not happen.

I was rehired because of the promise I showed for the company. I took a two year break before that so I could look at other aspects of the Hospitality Industry. I came back to IHOP because of my love and experience for the company.

I was sent to a store that needed to be helped because of all the problems they had with staffing or at least that was my impression. I went in there with high hopes that I would be finally trained for a management position. Hopefully a GM slot would open when I finished.

However when I arrived I was put into a server's position. Which was fine, I knew I had to prove myself. I gave every inch that I could spare to them. They did not care for my input or opinions and I was put on the back burner.
My past was still an issue with the current General Manager. He classified me as a drama queen with too many issues. The past is the past and I was just trying to move on with my life and finally have something I could be proud of.

The servers at that location ran the store and all the manager did was look back at them and watch. He cursed at us. He belittled us every chance he got. When I asked he for help with my recertification he refused and brushed me aside. The servers cursed back at him and he still to this moment in time won't do anything about it. This angered me and I said something about it. He said to wait after the new year and he would take action then.

The new year and he still has done nothing. An unfortunate thing happened with me and a customer right at the beginning of the year. A lady came in and tried to sit in a closed station. I went up to her and asked if she would like to sit in another station because there was no server and she said she wanted to stay there. I said okay and turned and saw another server bringing her menus. I figured she was going to wait on them.

This server and I did not get along because this person had a very negative attitude. Did not care about her job and talked to everyone with disrespect. She got talking to the lady and the next thing I knew that lady was calling me a Racist. She called over the MOD and then started calling her a dirty, greasy white lady. To make this long story short I was considered by my manager and this lady to be a racist. Never in my life or career have I been called that. I got along with everyone at some degree.

Anyway I was fired on the next complaint that this manager received over eggs. I went to the back because one of my coworkers was wanting to quit. The General Manager told me to get the hell out of his kitchen and I gave him a look and started to walk out. He then followed me and told me to run my checkout papers. He had no right to talk to me or anyone that way. But that was the deck I was dealt.

My main reason of this complaint is simply because I was set up for failure. I was yelled at and cursed at since the first time my first day. They be held responsible for his actions. But he won't because he never is. I was told to call and talk to whoever I wanted because it would do no good. Just because you're a manager that does not give you the right to be unprofessional and unethical. Something should be done about this recurring problem.

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA -- My girlfriend and I went to the IHOP listed above less than an hour ago and the entire "experience" was less than stellar! It all began when we walked through the door. We were first greeted promptly and courteously. We were immediately taken to a table. The table we were taken to was dirty and had to be wiped down in front of us while we waited. This happened despite the fact that the restaurant was around half occupancy. We sat down in the booth and my seat was so beat up that all the springs were blown out and there was only one spot on the bench where it was tolerable at best. I could only imagine how it would be if someone had to sit beside me.

We were greeted by our server, Yolanda, who could barely formulate a complete sentence and of course didn't make much sense. It broke down to, "Did anyone get your drink order?” We told her no and we proceeded to order two cups of coffee and a large orange juice. Since we were also ready to order we went ahead and my girlfriend asked for "The Big Breakfast" - eggs over-easy, sausage, hash browns, and of course pancakes.

I ordered the "Quick Egg Breakfast" eggs scrambled, bacon, hash browns with American cheese, and wheat toast. After 10 minutes of watching her walk around aimlessly, we finally got our drinks. As we were preparing our coffees we had to ask for something to stir it with since we did not have any silverware on our table. Once she got us the silverware and stirred the coffee, it tasted as if it was sitting for several hours. - Nothing finer than old coffee.

After another 10-15 minutes we finally received our meals. She placed the wrong meals in front of us (don't get me wrong I know it happens and is normally dismissible but considering everything else...not today jr.) and I had a plate of pancakes in front of me with no wheat toast. I informed her of her error and she took the pancakes and 10 minutes later returned with my toast.

The meal - My eggs were runny... I have been making scrambled eggs since I was 8 years old... very difficult to screw up, but they succeeded where I apparently failed - both types of eggs were also room temp. My bacon and her sausage... room temp. Our hash browns were cooked long enough to be cook. They were not browned and they were room temp. Her pancakes were room temp as well. My toast was well... the first two halves were fine and the next two halves weren't toasted at all. I must say that the orange juice (advertised as being Tropicana) was the only satisfying part of an otherwise dismal meal.

IHOP needs to consider doing two things. First, change the slogan or get rid of it all together. Second, invest in ESP (espsystems.net). This system will greatly reduce the amount of dissatisfaction in service by keeping employees better informed about what's going on with their guests as well as the status of the establishment. This also includes notifying servers that food is in the window to keep it from getting cold before getting to their tables. Maybe their new owners will make some much needed changes.

I also want you guys to know that we are not some snobby, expect everything to be perfect, and don't know how restaurants work couple. I was in the restaurant industry for six years and my girlfriend is still in the industry and has been for more than twelve years. I know I will never be back, which is sad considering IHOP used to be a family tradition.

STEVENS POINT, WISCONSIN -- Ordered a fried chicken dinner. Chicken was almost burnt to a crisp.
Mashed potatoes luke warm. Salad just a big bowl of greens with two slices of onion a few diced tomatoes.

ROCHESTER, NEW YORK -- Stuffed French toast came out of the kitchen hard -- possibly put in microwave to heat up, left in too long, sent back. Strawberry topping ice cold. Asked for crepes instead. Crepes had sauce frozen in a solid lump which I literally could pick up in my hand. No apology for either. I will never go there again!! The absolute worst experience I've ever had at a restaurant with what should be the easiest meal one could buy at a restaurant.

NEW BERN, NORTH CAROLINA -- I went to IHOP in New Bern, NC at 4pm on Monday. Food was not delivered until after 5pm. Complained to employee only to hear that some people did not show up for work (no surprise there, after being there I would not work there either). No apology. I complained to IHOP website only to get a canned response from whomever in email stated was a regional supervisor. Guess that IHOP does not run on return customers as they sure don't seem to want them.

LEESBURG, GEORGIA -- A party of eight to eat breakfast. The server took their time. The food was cold when served. Not many customers in the place. The manager did not check on us. They were quick in getting our bill to us. I won't go back for a while. Time it took to get served: 45 minutes. Food to be delivered: 40 minutes. Someone needs to retrain those people.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS -- On Nov. 9th a companion & I went to IHOP at 5929 N. Lincoln Ave. for dinner. My companion ordered an egg dish that was ill prepared. I ordered the country fried steak with mashed potatoes and substituted corn for the broccoli. The meat tasted of old grease, the "mashed potatoes" tasted NOTHING like mashed potatoes and was cold.

The next morning we, for some crazy reason, decided to go to the same place for breakfast. We were seated, handed menus and the waiter walked away. I went and ask him for a wet cloth so I could clean the syrup from the table where I was seated. He told me he would get it. He came, he swiped, he missed.

My companion ordered pancakes this time and I ordered the stuffed french toast and, not learning from the evening before, eggs. I like my eggs over med but when I order them over medium at IHOP in the past, they come to me over easy. So to compensate I ask for my eggs to be over medium well. As my friend ordered pancakes we pulled the syrup tray closer. OMG, the table and the little short wall the syrup sits next to were filthy. Dried syrup with dirt dried in the syrup. The little short wall even had syrup dried on it. The floor under the table had, a spoon, several empty sugar packets, a couple of crayons and enough food for an appetizer.

Our food came. My french toast was cold and the eggs were as hard as an egg can get with both sides brown and crusty. When I paid for this filthy, poor food experience I ask if a manager was on duty. The young woman said, "Yes, he's here." So I asked to see him. She ask what could she tell him it was about. I said, "the dirty restaurant, I'll be waiting be my table."

She comes back several minutes later... "Oh, he's not here." She ask if I wanted to leave my name and number so he could call me. "OH YES." I did, he didn't. So the next day I fill out their online form, one for each visit. I called their customer service number and told my complaints to them. I was told someone would call me. No one has.

MANASSAS, VIRGINIA -- On Sunday, May 6th, I visited IHOP #3190 in Manassas, VA with my son and his friend. This is usually one of our favorite places to grab a quick breakfast or lunch when he's home from college. We have always experienced good food and excellent service, which is why this visit was so disappointing and annoying.

When we entered, the restaurant was starting to empty out after the post-church rush. We were seated at a booth where the table was cleared but dirty. It took about 5 minutes for the waitress to take our drink orders and then our drinks didn't arrive for another 10 mins. She forgot my water (which I never received) and said she would come back for our food order. We waited another 20 minutes. BTW, the coffee was undrinkable - tasted about 3 days old.

Tired of waiting I went to the service station and asked to speak to the manager. He emerged from the kitchen and barely listened to my complaint. He never made eye contact, never apologized, never walked over to our table. I went back to the table and the waitress came over and practically hissed at us as she took our order. She was inexcusably rude. I wanted to leave right then, but my son said we should stay because he was very hungry. We waited another 15 minutes and our food never arrived though the waitress did continue to give us hateful looks every time she walked past.

The manager never walked over to check if we'd been served. At that point, I was so furious, I got up and left. There were several waitstaff gathered around the service station doing nothing, so it's not like they were short-staffed. I used to be a regular customer, but I will never ever visit this IHOP again. And, I will be sure to tell others not to go there. BTW, the General Manager's name is ** - I picked his card up from the front desk.

I don't know the name of the manager on duty, but he clearly needs to be replaced - he has no sense of customer service and at this rate a popular and busy IHOP will soon go downhill. There are lots of other restaurants in the area for people to go to.

WARNER ROBINS, GEORGIA -- Let me begin by saying that I am for the most part an enjoyable human being. I am young, but I have had a lot of experience in the food industry. I became the Assistant Manager of a restaurant chain at the age of 21 and I have continued to be in management since. I had recently moved to a new area and was looking for employment. I was eating at IHOP one evening with my friends and the evening manager approached me and asked if I would interested in being employed on her shift. I said sure since I was without employment at the current time.

I filled out the application and she saw that I had management experience and said there was a position for a two night a week manager would I be interested? I said of course. She told me she would talk to the owner and see what we could come up with. After this I was told I was to be trained on everything because I would placed into management as soon I was prepared. I was excited and worked my butt off serving. I became one of the best servers she had. Time passed and nothing was mentioned about the management position but I did not say anything because I figured I was having to prove myself.

Well I worked even harder. I begin to notice things weren't quite right at the store. I noticed how much management lacked to work as a team. I realized how big of a jerk our owner was when he stated in front of the entire waiting staff that he would not compensate us if he we brought home less than minimum wage. He would actually fire us because obviously we didn't know what we were doing.

I also began to notice that time was coming off my checks and then someone told me that he takes thirty minutes from us for a break that we never get. On top of all that night shift makes no money because the manager on duty at night has absolutely no idea how to manage a restaurant. All in all it has been a terrible experience. I have never been ashamed of where I have worked but this is one place I am ashamed of. So, if you are ever in Warner Robins, GA... look up IHOP and take a look for yourself.