KFC Southampton - Hedge End — Restaurant in Eastleigh

Given the last review of this establishment was a month ago, when I gave it 2 stars; my first revision has been to make that now only 1 star. I cannot believe that, given the reviews I've read, and now feel obliged to write myself, that this place has not pulled itself up and decided that it needs to do something about it.

Let's start first with the staff; as the " face" of the business. None of them seemed to be wearing a 'uniform', with one in a popular sports branded hoodie; that I'm sure are not a sponsor. He also did nothing but bemoan having to come in to work (although it sounded like he was late anyway, from what I couldn't help but overhear). Spotting 2 girls, that I can only assume (and hope, for soon to be apparent reasons) were acquainted with him, greeted them by giving them a single finger 'salute'; in front of anyone who cared to look/couldn't help but see.

When a customer dared to enquire as to why his drink appeared to only be half filled, he was told, in no friendly way, that it was "to the fill line". This didn't match up with the advert, proudly displayed in the store at all. Ignoring that this would be considered false advertising by any standard; the male staff member previously described, made a point and show of doing it again, and basically threw it at the customer (sliding it forcefully across the counter).

When it, eventually, came to our food: the burger was tepid (not unlike the general demeanor of all the staff), the drinks mostly ice, items missing and in an act of pure laziness, the 2 sides were with the wrong meals. I shouldn't be surprised as the new self service epos systems are missing items that are supposed to be available in store; with bad English greeting you at the end of your transaction. And to top it all off, this was delivered in a take away bag, when we asked for eat in. Again, is this some defiant act to stop having to put things thru a wash cycle at the end of the night?

Oh, and in closing, the drive thru was also closed; for no apparent reason. There were clearly more than enough staff. More opportunities for closing faster?

I would enjoy a conversation with the branch manager, but I honestly cannot see them condescending to meet, as this would obviously have been addressed before by other comments.

Although it has been therapeutic to write a review of this sort, I can see it serving no other purpose; like the establishment itself also...

We visited this week at around 21:20, and planned on going through the drive thru... Unfortunately the queue was really long, so I parked up and went into the store. Although there were only two people in front of me, there was only one person serving who took the unusual step of taking an order and then waiting til it was ready before serving the next person... This resulted in a wait of around 15-20 minutes for my food during which time another 4 or 5 people were queuing behind me. On top of this the store has run out of bacon, and no offer of replacement sides were made. At this point he spoke to (who I presume was) the manager who came out and locked the door - this was around 21:40... Twenty minutes before the published closing time! When I finally got my order I was told to leave via the fire exit at the rear of the store. However, when I returned to my car I was surprised to see the drive in queue had not moved at all... Drivers were clearly frustrated and were outside their cars wondering what the delay was. The drive thru queue had grown even longer, whilst some potential customers had given up and driven off. Other customers had tried to enter the store only to find it had closed early. Also the condiments station in store were poorly stocked... Straws were available but no salt, wipes or serviettes... And none we put in with my order (eating a Double Down burger with no wipes can be very messy) and as the store was closed I couldn't get back in to request some or use their toilets to clean up.

As an ex mystery shopper I know what standards KFC expect from their stores, and this falls far short in every area... Except food quality - despite no bacon in either my wife's burger or my double down, it tasted good. The fries were average... Would have been better with salt!

Overall a very disappointing experience and we won't be returning to this store for the...

One star becuase I cant leave no stars. Went in to order on the machine on the 23rd March 2021. The machine took my payment and the money has been taken and I had a notification on my phone from Apple Pay telling me the transaction had gone through. However, the KFC machine did not give me an order number, or send my order to the kitchen or print me receipt. So I'd paid £29.99 to KFC for nothing! I explained to the manager what had happened and showed him on my phone that the money had gone through but they said they could not refund me as they had no order number for me or my money. I asked if they could go through their paymets or the ordering machine as I know my transaction would be on there somewhere, they didnt look for anything. I was given a piece of paper with the number for KFC HQ, I asked them if they could phone HQ for me but no, its up to me to chase KFC HQ for my money back. I find this exceptionally poor that it's all up to me, the Customer (Not sure how I'm a customer cos I've paid for nothing..) to chase and sort the refund out and they could have done more. I can see this being a right ball ache and wish I'd never bothered with KFC. Not the first time I've had issues with this store either. Sort it out.

EDIT The number they fobbed me off with isnt operating becuase of covid. Good...