[DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions written in ‘Fan Mail’ posts are those of the email author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of StraightFromTheA.com – In other words, I didn’t write this so don’t be mad at me! – ATLien]
from: T. Simms
to: StraightFromTheA
date: Sun, Sep 22, 2013 at 9:34 PM
subject: Awful Experience At Atlanta’s Frank Ski’s Restaurant -?Worst Service In The ASo I decide to take my aunt to get something to eat. I decided I would take her to?Frank?Skis. I had been there a few times and it was great it had been a while since I was there last and I have heard whisperings about the service becoming bad but I thought it would be okay.? So wanting to surprise her with where we are going.
We pull up to?Frank?Ski’s and she is excited. So we walk in and are immediately seated in a booth on the wall. I see a few people at a table in front of us watching the game. As we are talking and getting settled one of the ladies who were watching the game comes over and begins rambling about the happenings of the game (I don’t watch football so I have no idea what she is referring to). After her rant and announcing that she is ready to go home she tells us that she is our waitress. We order drinks and water. The drinks come shortly but no water. She leaves quickly without asking if we were ready to order. We were.
About ten minutes pass and she is nowhere in sight. We flag down another emoloyee to ask if we could receive service.? He leaves and comes back after about five minutes to let us know that our waitress is busy and that she is the only one working. (Oh k. What exactly are we to do with this information. Our service shouldn’t be so drastically compromised because of scheduling issues. ) So another few minutes pass and another worker comes over to take our order. I let her know I am ready for the check.
My aunt suggests the drinks be on the house for the lack of service we had already experienced.? The young lady says “ok I will make sure that happens” and walks away.(if this was something she was incapable of doing she should have escalated the issue immediately). ?We wait a few minutes for confirmation and no one comes.
After about ten minutes our original waitress comes back and asks what is going on. My aunt let’s her know that our drinks are being comped and once we finish them we are going to leave. She says ok and walks away. We get up to leave and as we are waiting outside valet two managers two servers and the HEAD of security walk out and declare “you haven’t paid your check you must pay.” All these people come out the restaurant upset. ?Apparently none of the three employees could actually make decisions and none of them actually consulted a manager with our issuses.
My aunt relays the whole incident to the loudest manger and she says “Im sorry but you still need to pay this bill.” I proceed to pay the entire bill as the Head of security hands me his card and thanks me for handling the situation like a lady and offer the three of us $60 worth of free entry. (Thats one entry per person at $20 each on a?Saturday?night or?Friday?night).
I express my concern with the lack of management presence inside the restaurant to one of the managers and she let me know that she was sitting at the bar the whole time. (If your short staffed as a manager why are you sitting at the bar). ?As we get into the car the server with dreads sucks her teeth.
I work with customer service and I am a business owner so I am familiar with customer service practices, and there were absolutely NONE displayed at?Frank?Skis this night. There is a way to deny a request of waived charges and there is a way to ensure that a customer never returns to your establishment or company for service and this night between three managers two servers and the HEAD of security?Frank?Skis has? ensured that we will NEVER return to this establishment.
Wow! ?I have had my own issues with Frank Ski’s restaurant… like that time the ceiling leaked on me during the meal and when I complained the waiter was like ‘it’s ‘condensation, get over it’ — (my solution was that I never went back).
While this long letter isn’t really a surprise, I guess I could share a bit of knowledge as to WHY there isn’t much of a “management” presence in the local hot spot.
[Flashback: ?Frank Ski is OUT, Ryan Cameron is IN as V-103 Morning Show Host]
Frank Ski has now landed a new radio position in Washington, D.C.
[READ: Frank Ski Lands Job at WHUR in Washington, DC]
He started the position on Sept. 9, and took over the 3pm spot over Howard University’s WHUR afternoon drive show.? From what I understand, Nina Brown, who was Ski’s morning show producer and subsequently worked for him managing special events at his Frank Ski’s restaurant, is on his DC team as well.
That being said… both Frank Ski and Nina Brown are gone from the restaurant, and while I’m not privy to their managerial procedures, it’s safe to say that at least two decision-makers aren’t around much these days at Frank Ski’s restaurant.
I hope that service improves soon for the popular ‘meet, eat & drink’ hot spot because these kinds of stories from patrons can’t be good for business.