la Madeleine — Restaurant in Gaithersburg

It's not often that I am driven to post a comment or review for an eating establishment. Either its for exceptional service or disappointing, in this case its the latter. Today I ordered lunch online and arrived 10 minutes after the scheduled pickup time. I followed the instructions for curb pickup, by dialing the provided number when I arrived and the designated location and keyed in the number to be asked for my identifying vehicle, etc. The phone rang without being picked up for 30 minutes. Irritated that I had to then find a non curbside pickup location, I re-parked my car and went inside to find my order. At the indoor register where two employees and maybe a half-dozen seated customers, spread the safety distance within the restaurant area. I eyed my order on the counter and waited for the employee nearest me to acknowledge my presence. When she did I asked was there a problem with the phone service, due to the fact that no one picked up the curbside line? She said to her knowledge it was working. I then told her that I had been waiting thirty minutes in the pickup zone, with no one answering the line. I even showed her the number, when questioned about whether I dialed correctly! Well, the number was from the email reply, I showed her what it was and she then believed me. I informed her my cold food order had at that time been sitting at room temperature for nearly and hour, judging from the time stamp on the bag receipt, and she offered to have it remade, and have the manager come out to address my situation. Five minutes after this brief discussion, the manager (or what appeared to be the manager) walks out behind the counter and towards the end I was located, over to the pickup shelf, retrieves an order for a deliver service, and goes out the door, without evening stopping to acknowledge my presence. WOW! Talk about discourteous service. The counter clerk glanced at me quickly, before disappearing. I don't think I will be patronizing this location again, and please be warned, don't attempt to use curbside pickup here, unless you want to be...

I had an interview with this company and I wish I could say I had a great experience but that's not the case here. I had the interview at 1:30pm and I arrived at 1:25pm. I checked in with one of the employees and she let me know she will let the manager know, I took a seat and waited for 15 minutes. Nobody communicated with me that the manager was going to be late for the interview. Okay, I understood that maybe she is busy, no big deal right? I noticed that she came around and saw me as I was waiting for her, no communication from her, but still wanted to give her some grace, after all I do understand that as a business owner/manager it can get busy & stressful. I waited another 15 minutes total of 30 min at this point and I saw her again with a clip broad as if she was doing inventory. As I read her expression, she was calm and unbothered. I noticed then that two employees in the front were whispering about notifying her twice about my interview with her. So, obviously, I got up and went up to one of the employees, I told her "I would like to withdraw my application" She responded with a sad expression "Are you sure?!" I stated, "Yes, Thank you, and have a nice day".

In the end, my point here is that a little communication can go a long way. And by the looks of it, management does not appreciate the employees' time or efforts, especially hearing the two employees saying negative things about management after I left. Beware to all...

I always enjoy going to La Madeleine locations, so I was excited to find this one. The food and atmosphere are wonderful, and this location was no different.

Unfortunately the service we experienced was not acceptable. I waited in line at the register for 10+ minutes with only one party of 2 ahead of me. The woman working seemed distracted by all manner of different things, and frequently left the counter to do these things in the middle of waiting on the people in front of me. When I got to the counter, I asked for a slice of cake. She replied that they didn't have it, to which I responded that it was right there in front of us. Then she told me that I'd have to wait for it as they were busy. I mentioned that I'd already been waiting long enough, and asked her to please slice the cake. She refused and told me sternly that I'd have to wait. Normally I'd be understanding in a situation like this, but given the a) long wait and b) her inattention and attitude, I believe I was justified in asking for this.

In no way did them being 'busy' seem to have any effect on her sense of urgency or customer service skills. She seemed utterly unbothered by her inability to efficiently handle customers. I left feedback on their website and asked to be contacted, but never was. I will not be returning to this La Madeleine location and am disappointed in their...