Dairy Queen Grill & Chill — Restaurant in Kitchener

I’ve never left a business a negative review before but I’m genuinely offended by the customer service I experienced from the franchise owner this evening.

I live within close proximity to this location, so I decided to walk over for a 1/2 Ib Grill Burger with Onion Rings. I placed the order to-go and brought it home with me. Upon opening the bag when I arrived home, I saw that there were fries rather than onion rings. I was disappointed, but no biggie.

I set the fries aside and started eating my burger. About halfway through, I could feel a hair in my mouth. I pulled it out, and the first thing I did was check to see if it was my own. I am 100% certain that this was not from my head or body. It was a light colour, had a crimped/wavy texture to it, and was about 2” long. My hair was tied back, and I know it came from inside the burger.

I’m extremely understanding when things like this happen. I’ve been working in a restaurant for 8 years. I’ve managed, cooked, and served. I immediately thought to observe the hair because I’ve experienced guests finding their own hairs (or animal hairs from their clothing) without even realizing. And honestly, sometimes it is a staff’s hair. Accidents happen.

I figured I’d call the store just to let them know. I had the wrong side order (which I hadn’t eaten or touched), and more importantly, the hair. All I was after was a new burger. I was hungry. I didn’t ask to speak to a manager, and I didn’t want anyone to get into trouble. I just assumed the person who answered the phone would say “so sorry about that, can we make it right!?”.

The man that answered the phone (who I soon realized was the franchise owner), asked me to tell him what my order was so that he could figure out who made it. I relayed the items I ordered, he wrote them down, then said he would call me back. I thought that was a little bizarre, but said “no problem”. He also asked if I lived close, and I said “yes”.

I put the fries back in the bag and wrapped up what was left of my burger. (Working in the food industry, I know some places want you to bring back the original order).

I sat and waited for 30 minutes. No call back. I decided to ring the restaurant myself. The same man answered, and claimed he had called me back and left a message?

I use an iPhone. My phone was fully charged, sound on, and sitting on my lap. No one had called me in between those times. I double checked my call history and messages. He obviously called the wrong number, because there was no activity on my end.

I told him I had no incoming calls or messages, but he INSISTED I was wrong. He then proceeded to tell me that I ordered French fries (which I didn’t), and that there was no way the hair came from the person who made my burger because her hair was tied back.

This is where it gets good.

He then tells me that anyone could claim to have a hair in their food. I asked him if he was accusing me of lying, and he said “no, but you ate all the food and weren’t willing to bring in the hair”.

I didn’t eat all the food. I was also willing to bring in the meal. He never gave me that option. He said he would investigate, then call me back. I never got a call back.

He then asks me where the hair is. I answered honestly and said “I don’t have it” (I wiped it on a napkin because I was sitting on my patio). To that he replies “ah, of course”.

I said I would be sharing my experience publicly and that his treatment and accusations are totally unacceptable. To that he replied: “email head office. They’ll just give you a gift card. I’m not worried about what’s going to happen to me”.

I finally had to hang up on him because I was so frustrated I was about to cry.

This man decides to call my number back after I hung up. I answer and say “please don’t call this phone number again. I will never be returning to your business”. He replies: “Oh. Now you can answer your phone?”

.....

My jaw dropped. I had to stop my Dad from marching over there. (We ended up finding the hair on the napkin). I was just too shocked and angry...

I have had the worst service from this location... We placed an order for the birthday cake for my son on July 3, 2020 for July 29. We ordered the cake to be picked up on 29th July at 3pm initially. However we later emailed them the picture we wanted on the cake as well as mentioned the change in timings to 12 pm. My husband specially went a week ago to reconfirm the order and they said yes it will be ready for 29th July at 12pm. Today when my husband went to pickup the cake, he was told there is no cake by that name, and when they checked the written note by their own EMPLOYEE, it mentioned today's date however Thursday as day. How is that even possible? Can July have two 29th? If so why did no one knew this before? What is the point of writing the date when you don't look at date and follow the day of the week? We had to delay the cake cutting for all the guest present because your store screwed up. They gave no compensation for it, other than they will have the cake ready by 1:30 pm. The cake that we received is beyond sad. My son was so excited for his cake and receiving such poor quality from you guys is really bad. If this is the quality of cakes from your store, I will never purchase it again, and I will definitely be informing others to avoid your store. The white cream even tasted like it's water mixed with cream.. just a terrible terrible job at your end...

First and last time at this place. I generally really enjoy Dairy Queen and was put off by the atmosphere here. It seems that the staff would rather talk among themselves than serve their guests.

I ordered a blizzard and a shake and then sat down to wait (it wasn't busy, actually we were the only ones in the store at the time). After 10 minutes with no food a larger party entered the store and had their food in a few minutes. We still had nothing. I asked the staff if they could let me know when we would get our food and they just looked dumbfounded. "Didn't you get a blizzard?" No. 1. I haven't received anything 2. Why would you only give me half of the things I ordered anyway before serving 4 new guests? When explaining my frustration I was asked patronizingly if I would "Like fudge sprinkles" on my shake. What kind of maniac likes sprinkles on milkshakes?

The place was generally dirty and unappealing. I would think if you had 5 people working serving 6 guests in half an hour that there would be a bit more time to clean. Also the blizzard was mixed quite poorly compared to other DQ's but that is a minor infraction for this place.

The moral of my tale is that teenagers will be teenagers, but why was nobody working there over the age of 15? I believe an older manager might have resolved my situation more to my...