Panda Express — Restaurant in DeLand

On 5/10/24 at approximately 3:50 I placed my order at the Drive Thru. The order consisted of a Family Deal- 2 Orange Chicken, 1 Teriyaki Chicken with Double Noodles. I also ordered a large Walnut Shrimp, Medium Steak and 2 orders of Spring Rolls. The total was $70.50. I proceeded to wait in the line. At approximately, 3:57, I reached the DT window. Waited another couple of minutes (3:59). Then paid. At 4:00, I was told that they were still waiting on a couple of my items to cook and asked that I pull around to the front and they would bring it out to me. I was told it would take 8-10 more minutes (expected food by 4:10.) At 4:16 and after watching a few cars in DT pull in & out AND a few people walk in & out of the restaurant with their food, I thought they had forgotten my order. Keep in my, from time of ordering to time of entering restaurant (4:17), it was approx. 25minutes. I entered the restaurant to check on my order. About halfway through the restaurant, a worker had the "Family Meal Deal" in his hands. He proceeded to tell me that they were out of Spring Rolls. He also didn't have the steak or the shrimp part of my order stating, "It was still in the back." I explained that the wait was beyond the expected time and not acceptable. He proceeded to give the excuse that they were short staffed. I saw 5 workers. I was quite upset... shaking and on the verge of tears...you see I am disabled and it was very difficult for me to get out of the car (which is why I order in DT to begin with!) I mentioned my personal situation to them and they demonstrated no care. Ultimately, I requested a refund. I was told they had to call the manager. No manager working on a Friday going into dinner hour? Ok. They wanted the original receipt. I wanted to keep it so that I could scan it and give feedback. Then, they wanted to keep the Refund Receipt. I wanted the information off of both receipts so that corporate could have match up the transactions since the purchase occurred in the DT and the refund occurred in the restaurant. Also, I'm sorry, but it is not a good business practice to not give a customer a copy of their refund. What would be my proof if it didn't go through? When I confronted them about the receipt situation, I was told you can take a picture of the receipts. MY PHONE WAS IN MY CAR!!!!!!!!!! Which ultimately meant I was forced to walk back out precariously on the curb to open my door to my get phone AND back again on the curb back into the restaurant and then back again on the curb to my car. I mentioned that Panda Express had better hope I don't fall-Isaiah said, "they wouldn't be responsible." I wonder what Panda Express' legal team would say about that... I took a photo of the refund receipt but, when I started to take a photo of the original receipt Isaiah SNATCHED IT OUT OF MY HAND. When I said, I hadn't taken the pic he marched away and said, "And, You're not going to either!" Completely unacceptable. Do yourself a favor. Drive across the shopping center parking lot- fresher food, faster/courteous service, larger portions...

Panda Express is a usual Family favorite. We drove by the DeLand Fl - Woodland Blvd location on our way to the beach. We observed an elderly woman Interacting with the staff and it was escalating quickly. She was homeless and had her cart parked outside. She came up to the register and was babbling incoherently about her friend giving her money and wanting food. Rather than them preparing a plate and sending her on her way, they treated her as if she was hostile. She was just complaining and obviously mentally ill. I felt the manager had no control over the situation and staff looked confused and some were even shaking their heads and laughing. A customer in line intervened not to help, but to ask if they could go in front of her because they are waiting too. The whole thing was a disgusting display of lack of compassion. Whats a full plate of food worth? I approached and asked the staff to just give her what she wants and I used my card to pay. She asked for apple juice with her food. They asked her to leave. Mental illness and homelessness is a formidable adversary; but empathy is free. Service and Deescalation Training is in order for the manager and the staff. The poor lady took her tiny kid sized food package with no applejuice and left. I’ll...

This is my second experience at the Panda Protracted in DeLand. I went a couple of weeks after it opened and found them still in the training mode. The food was average for this type of fast food establishment. On my second trip I decided to try the drive thru as there were only two cars waiting to order and one at the pickup window. (this was about 5:00 pm on Saturday April 2nd) After waiting 16 minutes I was finally able to move forward to the order kiosk and I was told to wait. After another 5 minutes I was told again that I could not even place my order because they were "going through shift change". Not knowing if and when I would finally be able to order, let alone, be served the food I left in disgust. As I rounded the building I did notice the person who was before me in ordering was still at the pickup window a full ten minutes or more from when they moved to that widow. Needless to say I now understand why there has been a long line at the drive through, not as I thought, because of popularity of the restaurant but rather because of horrible service backing...