Why is the restaurant/dining service here in Atlanta TERRIBLE? (transplants, coupons)

[Ant131531]

4/5 times I'm out by myself or with friends, I get terrible service. Usually, it's either, it takes forever for them to seat me, forever for them to take my order, or forever for them to come back and check on my table, if at all sometimes. Why is that such a problem here in Atlanta? When I vacation in LA yearly, 9/10 times I get great service and the people working seems enthusiastic about their job. Here, the waitresses/waiters seem lazy and don't want to do their job and just want to collect the paycheck. They do the BARE minimum required. And they wonder why they only get a 10% tip from me, if even a tip at all? For the rare times, I get incredible service(note, it is rare), I give a 30% tip. Sometimes, even when you're courteous, they will get an attitude with you. Like why? I'm not surprised to see new people working at places like Waffle house every week. Southern Hospitality at it's best.

Anyone else have this problem here?

[JoeTarheel]

I find that you often get back what you put out. I always try to be nice and friendly to people I encounter, and I usually get good service in return.

Are you an impatient person? It sounds like you might be by the "it takes forever" comments. Have you started a thread on this same topic in the past?

[VJP]

Sounds like you find everything in this town to nitpick. I dont share your experiences at all and my wife and I eat maybe 2to3 times a week out, plus go to bars and lounges. I will aboid places with bad service, and trust me, the ones with long waits and booked reservations dont suffer from a service problem. Where are you eating? Suburbia? Exurbs...?

[Ant131531]

Originally Posted by JoeTarheel

I find that you often get back what you put out. I always try to be nice and friendly to people I encounter, and I usually get good service in return.

Are you an impatient person? It sounds like you might be by the "it takes forever" comments. Have you started a thread on this same topic in the past?

I barely start threads in the first place, but no I've never written on this topic before. And I'm a very courteous person. It usually happens in places like Waffle house though. At the more upscale restaurants, it doesn't happen that often, but I don't eat at those places that often. I love Waffle house, but the Waffle houses near GSU and Five points especially has bad service.

My parents and a few friends have also commented on the service here not being good. A lot of times, they will also mess up your order when you go to Fast food places like Mcdonalds...like seriously, this is one of the easiest jobs someone can have...why else is the pay barely above minimum wage?

It's a problem when time between when they take your order and give you your drink is 10+ minutes, which has happened a couple of times now. It's a problem when once they give you your order, they never come back to your table....ever. It's a problem when you must get their attention to ask for a refill on your drink.

Maybe it's simply the areas of the city I'm in? The closer I am to Atlanta, the worse, the service is and vice versa.

[Ant131531]

And then they get mad and angry when you don't leave any tip or a bare minimum tip when they did the bare minimum as a server or waiter.

The attitude among people seems to be 'Let me try to do at little as I can without being noticed while collecting as much compensation as possible'. This attitude also radiates in college where people barely pass classes and have low gpas as a result. And people wonder why they never get very far in life.

[Atlanta_BD]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

And then they get mad and angry when you don't leave any tip or a bare minimum tip when they did the bare minimum as a server or waiter.

The attitude among people seems to be 'Let me try to do at little as I can without being noticed while collecting as much compensation as possible'. This attitude also radiates in college where people barely pass classes and have low gpas as a result. And people wonder why they never get very far in life.

It's not just restaurants. It's bad customer service everywhere here. The servers are often very rude and have nasty attitudes. I've even had workers be rude to me at the drive-thru when I'm trying to place my order, talking very nasty to me and try to rush me. I was in the fabric store last month and as I was checking out, I had a promo code. When I went to redeem it, the cashier told me that she doesn't have time to navigate the system to redeem my code (there was no one behind me) and I needed to get out of line and wait. Needless to say had to tell her how rude she was, and that it was poor customer service to tell a customer she doesn't have time to do her job. I immediately reported her to manager.

I used to help manage a very busy restaurant that more often than not had lines literally out the door. The lines were even longer when we had promo codes or coupons and I'd redeem every single one of them promptly and with a smile, long lines and all. And if any of one my crew said to a customer what that cashier said to me, I would have fired them on the spot.

[Ant131531]

Exactly. I don't think I'm the only one on this website that notices it. The people here just seem to be lazy and it's directly polar to the 'Southern Hospitality' so many people in the south spit out of their mouths. Maybe it's just the Hispanics in LA feel more keen to work their butts off and help support their families. In an economy like this, without a college degree, people should be happy they have the jobs they have and should work like it's the only thing keeping them off the streets in Downtown Atlanta.

[Atlanta_BD]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

Exactly. I don't think I'm the only one on this website that notices it. The people here just seem to be lazy and it's directly polar to the 'Southern Hospitality' so many people in the south spit out of their mouths. Maybe it's just the Hispanics in LA feel more keen to work their butts off and help support their families. In an economy like this, without a college degree, people should be happy they have the jobs they have and should work like it's the only thing keeping them off the streets in Downtown Atlanta.

Maybe it's "all those transplants" ruining the city and providing poor customer service.

[samiwas1]

It's funny...my experiences are the exact opposite of what you write about. I eat out quite a bit due to being a freelancer on work sites. I almost always have good service, whether in fast food, mid-range, or higher-level restaurants (I never, ever eat upscale). And I have even remarked to my wife recently about how the service at most fast-food restaurants has been stellar in the past couple of years. Very polite, and very few wrong items.

The last really bad fast food experience was when we were traveling somewhere in South Georgia. As I was waiting on my order, I noticed that nearly every person's order had a mistake of some sort, as they kept coming back to the counter. Mine was no exception. Apparently, they just got lost and the domino effect started.

There's only one common trait to this and your other bashing threads...

[Mutiny77]

I can't say I've had the same experiences.