KFC Birchanger Green - M11 Services — Restaurant in Uttlesford

My experience was not only below par but left me and my family questioning our choice of dining at your establishment.

To provide context, this was my first visit to Birchanger Services. Due to an impending flight, we were pressed for time and, amid various choices at the food court, chose KFC with the expectation of a swift and pleasant meal experience. I am traditionally a counter-service customer as I am particular about my order preference. On this day, my requirements were specific chicken parts and a potential swap of chips for mashed potatoes.

Upon approaching the counter, only one lady seemed to be serving customers, and despite noticing other staff members in the vicinity, none acknowledged the growing queue which I was a part of. After a noticeable wait, the lady who said was called Sharon (a black lady with short hair) inquired about our payment method. When I mentioned my intention to pay via card, she abruptly directed me to the self-checkout. My unfamiliarity with this system and my specific order requirements made me seek her assistance again, despite already having to wait for a while. However, her response was dismissive, and she insisted that card payments were only possible at the self-checkout, even though there were card machines right beside her.

The manner in which this information was conveyed was not only unprofessional but also rude. Instead of guiding or assisting, she chose to spend the time in a borderline confrontational manner. For a brand as reputed as KFC, I found this service shockingly lacking. It's crucial to point out that if there's a no-card policy at the main till, there should be clear signage indicating the same. Furthermore, consideration must be given to customers who may have disabilities or visual impairments, making it challenging for them to use digital screens.

To say I am disappointed would be an understatement. While I understand that restaurants can have busy moments, it's no justification for the dismissive and rude behaviour we encountered. I hope you will take this feedback seriously and ensure other customers do not face a similar situation.

Considering the competitive food industry, it is service experiences like these that could deter customers like myself...

Utterly execrable! The drink was totally flat, and a little warm. The chips were hot and over seasoned. The chicken was massively over cooked dripping in grease and utterly flavourless. Complained to head office

Thank you for getting in touch regarding your visit to Birchanger Green - M11 Services. It is clear that we did not meet expectations this time, and for this I am so sorry.

The teams in our restaurants have very high standards to meet and for any of our guests to be left feeling the way you describe is not in keeping with the KFC way.

We’re working closely with the team at Birchanger Green - M11 Services to ensure the right steps are taken in response to your feedback. We’ve already shared your experience with the manager, and our Area Coach, who oversees the restaurant, who will also make sure everything is running more smoothly moving forward. We really appreciate you bringing this to our attention, and we’re committed to try and make things better for your next visit.

To try and put this right for you and to welcome you back as our guest, I will email you a £10 voucher. This is a single use code that can be redeemed in any KFC restaurant by presenting your code at the till. Please be sure to check your junk/spam folder in case the voucher ends up there.

Thanks again for contacting the Care Squad and for the feedback you gave us. We hope to have the opportunity to serve you better in the future.

We’d really appreciate if you could, when prompted to, leave some feedback on how your complaint was handled by our team. The problem is that looking at trip advisor there are regular and very critical reviews going back to 2015 with little evidence of improvement. They sent me a voucher for £10, that presupposes that I want to eat there again! Management respond to reviews on here (but not on trip advisor) and promise learning and improvement but they failings continue. So “owner” no pious platitudes please the don’t impress! I have little confidence as to the promised...

When will I learn my lesson?

After spending most of our life on the M25/M11 due to roadworks and accidents it was time for a pee break and a wee snack on the way to Newmarket. My mate was bouyed by a really good KFC oop North last week so he got a chicken burger and I tried again with those occasionally lovely BBQ Bites. Sadly it wasn’t to be. The burger was drier than a Budgie’s cage and the bites about as fresh as Tutankhamen’s socks. And of course that “large fries” portion that wouldn’t feed a gerbil. And I was so hungry I persevered. The chicken bites coating was darker than normal and old looking and the fact I had a spork today made them easier to dissect. I think the fact the sauce had been on them for so long kinda disguised how rank they were at first but the spork was having difficulty severing the bites into manageable chunks. Had these been fresh I would have been pretty happy. My mate thought they had too much stuff made up ready for future orders and that the freshness was suffering as a result. A quick check of the average score reveals it to be even lower than others I’ve rated, so my score seems to have some consistency with the average reviews on here. Fresher...