Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen — Restaurant in Waterloo

Very poor customer service. Ordered online 4 chicken sandwich combos (2 spicy and 2 classic all with fries and two with biscuits) for delivery and only recieved half our order (2 sandwiches, 2 bottles of pop, 1 box labeled fries x2 and only one of the two biscuits all packaged in a bag clearly not the size for 4 combos). Neither sandwich recieved indicated if it was spicy or classic either so since the kids needed to eat first we gave the kids the two that had arrived while we went to call the restaurant to sort it out.. Lo and behold one ended up being a spicy one with the sauce only blobbed in the middle where it wasn't immediately noticeable ahead of time... now we have a child not able to eat their sandwich, only the fries and no biscuit... on to the ordeal with the restaurant..... Called and spoke to restaurant who tried telling me they'd shipped all 4 combos worth of fries in a small box (box clearly labeled with Fries x 2 on it!! - i will add photo to review if possible). After arguing back and forth with no resolve and the staff member clearly starting to circle back on her story an apparent manager was put on the phone.... multiple issues.... 1. Manager stated "in my culture saying sorry is taking ownership".....this was his answer for not getting the rest of the order delevered to us. 2. This supposed manager wanted us to place another order online (suggested ordering just a dipping sauce) and they would then ship the rest of the order with that one... we explained this would incur further doordash fee's and we were not paying additional to rectify their mistake as this was not our responsibility. 3. Story eventually changed on their end to now point the finger in the direction of doordash claiming the driver had left the other bag on the counter (this would then indicate doordash had actually left 2 bags on the counter as the 2 drinks we did recieved were in their own bag, plus going by previous employee the "other bag" must have only contained 2 sandwiches since all 4 fries were in the box labeled fries x2) ... what was the final outcome? I was told to come down and pickup the rest of my order, it wasn't their responsibility to get it to me or i could take an in store credit..... clearly i will not be using this restaurant ever again and an in house credit to that poorly run of a restaurant holds no weight as i will not set foot in that location even if my life were to depend on it. Furthermore the fact a supposed manager used the words "in my culture saying sorry is taking responsibility" instead of actually correcting his store's mistake disgusts me to no end. I hope popeye's head office reads their negative feedback to at least help train their staff as this specific location needs more than simple retraining of its staff members...

TLDR: I rarely post reviews, let alone bad ones, but I'm sick and tired of this Popeyes. It is the nearest one to me, but at this point I'd rather drive to the boardwalk on the other side of Waterloo than go here again. All, because of their employees. Judging by my general experience coming here over the years, I'd say it's a lack of leadership from the franchisee.

Over and over again the employees at this Popeyes fail to accurately take orders and often forget what the order is. On too many occasions when we gave specific requests on ice in drinks (or not), hot sauce packets or not, and other miscellaneous edits to the order, the employees fail to remember or even altogether disregard the request even when saying "yes" to it.

Those are benign. I am really more or less tolerant to that level of disregard. Today, however, was much worse. Yes, today was the day that the Popeyes Sandwich came to Canada. I didn't want it, though. Just happened to want Popeyes today. Waited 40 minutes to make an order in the drive through and ordered a 3 piece chicken combo and 5 piece tender combo. Waited another 15 minutes to pay where they said my "chicken sandwich and 5 piece tender" order was ready.

Okay, mistakes happen. I say that isn't what I ordered and ask to confirm if that is, in fact, what they have as my order. The employee responds that she isn't sure and instead goes to ask the person who took my order. Okay. Strange. Anyway the employee comes back and says that that's what was ordered. I asked if I could change the order now or not.

They proceeded with the unusually flippant response "What? You don't want the chicken sandwich? It's special today." Well. If i wanted it, I would've ordered it wouldn't I have? Instead of asking what I did want, I had to explain that I didn't want what they decided I did order. I know what I ordered and what I want.

Finally we got onto changing the order to the 3 piece combo with spicy chicken. They said they could do that. So I asked how long would it take if I wanted a 3 piece combo. They didn't understand. I followed up by asking if there any 3 piece combo ready and available (i.e. don't have to wait for it to fry since they keep them in the heated racks). They didn't understand. Finally they got the idea when I asked can it be done soon. They said yes.

Got home. Wasn't the spicy, was just the plain.

Mistakes happen, that's acceptable. Not acknowledging a mistake could've been made, not adequately presenting all options and trying to convince the customer to take whatever was already...

I recently had an extremely disappointing experience at my local Popeyes store, and I feel compelled to share my frustration. It is disheartening to see a renowned fast-food chain like Popeyes neglect its employees' training and fail to allocate shifts after the completion of training.

First and foremost, the lack of payment for employee training is a major concern. Training is an essential part of any job, and it is only fair that employees are compensated for the time and effort they invest in acquiring the necessary skills. However, Popeyes seems to disregard this basic principle by not providing any compensation for training sessions. This practice shows a lack of respect and appreciation for the hard work put in by their employees.

Even more disappointing is the fact that, despite completing the training, employees are not given shifts. It is understandable that there may be limitations in terms of the number of available shifts, but to invest time and energy in acquiring the necessary skills, only to be left without any opportunities to put those skills into practice, is both frustrating and demoralizing. It leaves employees feeling undervalued and unimportant, which is detrimental to their morale and motivation.

Moreover, this lack of shift allocation raises questions about Popeyes' commitment to its workforce. A company should prioritize providing its employees with a fair and reasonable number of shifts, especially after investing in their training. By neglecting to allocate shifts, Popeyes is essentially wasting the potential and expertise of its trained employees, which is both a disservice to the employees themselves and a poor business practice.

Overall, my experience with this particular Popeyes store has left me deeply disappointed. The failure to compensate employees for training and the subsequent lack of shift allocation demonstrate a disregard for their welfare and professional growth. It is my hope that Popeyes takes these concerns seriously and addresses these issues promptly, as they ultimately reflect on the company's reputation and treatment of its employees. Until then, I cannot recommend this Popeyes store to anyone seeking fair and rewarding employment...