A&W Canada — Restaurant in Calgary

Complaint Regarding Rude and Racially Discriminatory Behavior at A&W

Dear A&W Customer Service,

I am writing to formally lodge a complaint regarding the appalling behavior I experienced from your staff at Crowfoot locations. The incident involved rude and racially discriminatory actions that left me deeply disturbed.

During my recent visit to your restaurant, I observed a troubling disparity in how customers were treated based on their race. When a white customer ahead of me returned their tray to a designated area near the counter, the staff smiled and thanked them warmly. However, when I, as a person of color, attempted to place my tray in the same area, I was dismissively directed to another spot for tray disposal. It was only then that I noticed the separate area for tray return and waste disposal. While I have no issue complying with such a policy, the stark difference in attitude and treatment between the two interactions was both glaring and disheartening.

Furthermore, I encountered another frustrating situation when I attempted to get some ice for my child's lemonade. I was told that ice was not provided, despite holding an iced latte I had just purchased from the same location, filled with ice. This inconsistency left me feeling confused and unfairly treated.

The combination of these incidents has led me to conclude that the treatment I received was influenced by racial bias, which is unacceptable. As a loyal customer, I expect to be treated with the same respect and courtesy as anyone else, regardless of race or ethnicity.

I hope that you take this complaint seriously and address the behavior of your staff to ensure that no other customer has to endure such discriminatory treatment. This experience has severely impacted my view of A&W, and I am reluctant to visit any of your locations in the future.

I look forward to your prompt response and hope to hear how you plan to address and rectify this...

Worst service I've received from an A&W. Placed an order for pick up through Uber Eats as I work near by and wanted to pick up something quick for my 30 minute break. On Uber Eats I was notified that it was ready for pick up. I take my lunch break and take 10 minutes to walk over to A&W.

To my surprise she had no clue what I am talking about when I tell them I have an order for pick up. The lady at the counter tells me in a rude tone that the driver is coming to pick up my order and I have to wait for him. Like WHAT?! I then showed her on my Uber Eats app that it says it's ready for pick up and she looks at it, doesn't say anything and only then she puts the order in. She tells me to wait 10 minutes for my order with no remorse or apology for messing up.

I now have to wait another 10 minutes to get my order, not to mention I had another 10 minute walk back to work. Didn't even get a chance to eat my meal as my 30 minute break was up when I got back.

If she would have apologized, I would have been more understanding but the fact that she wasn't empathetic at all made me write this review. Please hire new people. You are losing business because of your lazy and rude staff. Absolutely terrible service. Will never be coming back to...

Ordered a meal through Uber eats. Included an instruction for the burgers to me prepared as lettuce wraps instead of buns because I am gluten intolerant. When the food arrived the urges had buns. I contacted the restaurant and the person who took the order admitted that she didn’t read the notes correctly, excepted fault, and offered to take my name and number so that I could get a replacement order next time I went to the restaurant. Then the manager got involved and everything went downhill.

The manager told me that although they didn’t read the order correctly it was actually Uber eats fault that the restaurant did not read the order correctly. He completely disregarded his employees earlier admission of fault and told me that there was nothing he could do to make up for the error. End of conversation.

This is pretty hard to understand given that customer service 101 in the restaurant industry is that if the order is wrong you correct it.

Why this guy didn’t think there was a problem to solve is beyond me.

Absolutely terrible...