Five Guys Burgers and Fries Liverpool Street — Restaurant in London

I went to Five Guys at Liverpool Street in London today. Never ever had this worst experience ever in my life. I went with my partner. I had to pee urgently as I was not able to hold it any longer, so I thought I will use the toilet first and then order as I was not in a condition to wait until I place the order. I quickly went upstairs as soon as I entered the restaurant. My partner didn't know what to order, hence he also went upstairs and thought to put our bags there until then and wait for me. I saw that I'll need code to enter the toilet, which is I am perfectly fine with. I thought I'll randomly put a code as I didn't have that much hold but then saw I'll need to put exact code on the bill. I tried calling my partner but he ran out of battery and his phone got switched off, so, I couldn't connect with him to share the code on call. And in no moment, a staff member came upstairs to check on me and see what's happening. He was so rude, I haven't come across that rude behavior ever in my life. I explained him how urgent it is for me to use the toilet but he kept arguing and instead of showing some humanity, he just walked off. I quickly went to my partner and asked him to order whatever. I also went downstairs to order and explained the situation to the manager who was least bothered of what happened. There was no apology from him and some different kind of attitude as he is doing me some favors. The whole staff was staring at me as if I have come from different planet. That made me very uncomfortable. We ordered and directly went to the toilet as I wasn't even in condition to take my order first and then use the toilet. After using the toilet, when I came downstairs, I asked the manager his name and he denied sharing his name. I asked the other guy who came upstairs to see me earlier, manager told him as well not to share the name because he knew he had done something wrong. I told them if you won't share names, I will take your picture and in a no moment, a girl from the staff suddenly started arguing with me, I wasn't even talking to her. I didn't understand why did she even interfere. She said all the staff 'smile please' and pose for a picture. I have never felt this insulted ever in my life. It was insulting, humiliating and so wrong on humanitarian ground. There was nothing known as customer service at this store. All the staff was least bothered. That girl even insulted me, told me to get out of the store and showed me the door. They said many disgusting things in the entire conversation too. If the manager and that guy argues, it is still understandable because they are involved somewhere in this whole scenario. But that girl? Why is she even speaking to me, who was even talking to her or asked her opinion? Even the fries I ordered wasn't meeting my expectations. I ordered Cajun Fries, in which I could hardly find cajun seasoning. I am sharing the picture of them and expect a strict action against this wrong behavior. Is this how Five Guys treat their customers????

I feel this wasn't just wrong at customer service level but also the humanitarian level. A person could be going through any medical condition. Are your policies this strict that you can't share a code just before the order? Are your policies these strict that you can let a customer suffer but no, can't share the code becaue 'POLICY'. I feel like suing the entire staff for defamation of my character. The reason to right this mail today is not because it happened with me, there could be someone else tomorrow. I am also from service industry and I know how much customer service is...

December 22 Edit: Well, been a while. In response to my review Five Guys sent a QR code to replace the meal. Had a very long life to use which was very welcome - this December (a year)! So just been to use it. Code wasn’t working but the manager sorted it out quickly. Super fast service this time - same journey home but this time hot food, two great burgers (love the char on the burger) and all the right toppings, super fries (love the Cajun) and loads as usual, and two great milkshakes (can’t go wrong with banana and peanut butter!). Faith restored. Will go back.

Original Post: Click and Collect, turned up on time, not that busy. Collection was chaotic. Waited five mins for a bag to turn up - fortunately obviously a short order. Missing both the milkshakes and one of the fries. Unfortunately both the burgers were included. Waited another five minutes for the extra fries to turn up. Then was asked what milkshakes we had ordered as they couldn’t find the order despite having the specific order reference. Just glad I had the complete order available though they didn’t argue. Waited another 5minutes for the two shakes. Got home (literally a few hundred yards away) to two lukewarm burgers, one set of cold fries and a milkshake missing its lid which had come off. Burgers missing some of the fillings we had added, couldn’t taste any banana in the shakes. With staff standing around and laughing and joking together, this is not good. Not worth the £40. Better burgers and service in this part of London, They won’t last long...

I was in London for a few days and thought I'd try Five Guys. Never again. I would normally only make the effort to leave positive reviews however this meal was awful. I'd seen the good reviews and then inside there are signs telling you it'll be the best burger you'll ever have. To me a burger is a burger so didn't have too many overexpectations. Mostly wanted to try somewhere different for a change. I did go at 5pm so it was getting busy. The staff were not friendly and expected you to know the menu off by heart asking about loads of extras after giving what I thought was a straightforward order. I got my food within a couple of minutes but in that way it must have been sitting ready for ages rather than cooked fresh. The burger was dry and overcooked. The fries are served spilt out in the bag and were also overdone. The drinks machine was playing up for the customer ahead of me then same for me. It came to just under £18 (regular burger, fries and coke). Yeah it's central London but really not worth it. Would I have thought so much about it if it was more reasonably priced, probably not. Not really...