KFC Richmond — Restaurant in South Island

My wife and I decided to treat ourselves with some takeaways on a lovely sunny Sunday evening and thought "Why not try out the new KFC in Richmond?!?" So off we go. Well, what can I say? Very, very disappointing! We went through the drive through as the plan was to take home and eat on the deck and enjoy the last of the sun. Driving up to the building we see an advert for the Kentucky Bacon Stacker - 2 x chicken fillets, Cheese, Bacon and crispy onionsand the picture looks delicious, and while the stacker burger alone is at the higher end of the KFC burger menu price - we thought that it would be an awesome thing to try. Again, very, very disappointing! So we finally get through the drive through (25 mins - a bit long but no biggie, it is dinner time and there are hungry people about)

So my order was: 2 x Kentucky Burger Stacker large combos (Note we specifically ordered the "Stacker" version of the burger - Double the fillets etc) Extra seasoning on the chips 2 x extra pieces of regular recipe chicken

We got home to first discover that the chips did NOT have the extra seasoning I had requested - twice (Once during the order, again when paying) and were lacking in seasoning altogether. Not a good start. Then I checked the chicken pieces, and to be honest, I felt sorry for these pitiful things. The drumstick was missing the knuckle piece, exposing the bone, and most of the coating had fallen off most of the flesh and the pieces were 'shriveled' and tiny. (again - see pics) So with a heavy heart I opened the burger, and here was the biggest kick in the '1/4 pack' - The burgers were this tiny, collapsed, depressed looking mess. Half of the meagre ingredients had fallen out of the burger...but wait!....when putting the burgers back together again we discovered the MOST disappointing part of the order. The burgers each only had 1 pitiful chicken fillet, and while mine had 1 tiny sliver of bacon which I had to find hidden to prove it was there, my wife's was missing the bacon and onions completely...almost like a snack burger. Except we paid $20 each for the pleasure. Both were missing the sauce as they were very dry, and the fillets we also very dry and tough, the whole thing being a sad example of a poorly made burger with less than adequate ingredients.

As you can imagine, we were a bit dejected, so I thought that I would do the right thing and call the branch (I would have visited the store but we live in Stoke and I wasn't going back there tonight) I found the branch phone number and spent about 30 minutes trying to call them to explain the problems. No answer. I tried a few more times at random times to see if I could catch somebody but nothing at all.

We had been looking forward to our dinner tonight, and we had both thought "Fancy new store! New fresh faced staff! Excited new business setting a new standard for fast food franchise service in Richmond!"

But boy were we wrong.

It is a shame, but we will not...

I have not purchased KFC for a very long time in Nelson, due to the standard of general service and regularity of incorrect orders.

So I placed an order of over $100 worth of KFC Richmond. A newish location, less than a year old. Order done online. We show up, collect the order the checked it in the car prior to leaving it appeared correct. $100+ purchase, there were many items. On getting home it was discovered one burger was missing. I tried to call with the number provided, it rings out and cuts me off. I did this twice. I then drove back and ask them about the missing burger.

I was then told a new burger would be made, but within 15 to 20 seconds, another burger was handed to me saying this one was made a few minutes ago. I said to the person I was told I was getting a new one. I got told this was made a few minutes ago and the customer services person started to leave. I then queried what am I meant to do with my meal that is now at home going cold? She said this is a new burger, it’s a couple of minutes old, then tuned her head away and started to talk to another customer.

I repeated myself to no avail, and the couple of staff involved just ignored me.

Yes, I understand dinner times are busy. Drive thru, and other orders, lots going on. But the competitors seem to cope. You have one job….get the orders right.

While is my first visit to this location, it is the continuation of the dismal service or ability to admit fault, cover the issue, irrespective of location.

This is why I will not return any time soon, or later, for that matter. I'll take my money to the competitor's. In simple terms, the continuation KFC delivers regarding its poor service, and inability to get an order correct, astounds me.

Looking at Google reviews, I am clearly not unique....

This is a bit controversial for me as the taste and tenderness of the chicken has only gotten better and the staff really know what they're doing.

Most experiences have been good but last night when I was getting KFC with my friend, with ordering on the App via redeeming coupons, our orders were made but apparently they were sitting on the side, there were a lot of staff on yet no one asked if we had ordered or are waiting, all of the staff were ignoring me when they could obviously see me walking around wondering where our orders were.

I went up to ask someone at the counter and showing them my order number and they just pointed me to the direction of the kitchen.

It wasn't until 20 minutes after my meal was estimated to be made and 15 minutes for my friend that I had to raise my voice after the first attempt of grabbing anyone's attention by saying excuse me failed.

This was absolutely piss poor service that would make anyone feel both unappreciated and unwanted, especially when there were so many staff on, probably 6-9 people on which is more than enough.

This woman was also walking back and forth in and out of the kitchen cleaning the tables, eyeing us out but not talking to us or asking if we're alright.

This is not cool, and it made me feel insecure, unappreciated, unwanted and gave me cold vibes.

I will give props to this one man when I raised my voice higher than he did come and ask if I'm okay after I raised my voice, but overall I shouldn't have needed to in the first place.

10/10 quality of chicken 6/10 quality of service (but this could go either way and be higher, just never order on the app for pickup in store). 7/10 atmosphere...