Jack in the Box — Restaurant in Gastonia

JACK IN THE BOX MARCH , 2024 VISIT TO GASTONIA NC STORE #6803

I was looking forward to trying the new JIB Bacon SMASH Burger. Wow. Disappointing visit. I am not complaining about the ‘workers’ so much as the Lack Of Training, by management / owner / JIB corporate, whatever. Also,this store was missing needed supplies and food offerings. Good news Dept. of Health rating 98.5%...not bad. The JIB Bacon SMASH is a decent sandwich.

Not so good: There were a few cars in the drive through. I went inside  and saw one waiting for her order at the pick-up area. A couple were waiting at their table. So generally NOT that Busy. I was the ONLY customer inside waiting to place an order. While waiting , watched a young man employee carrying 3 large drinks trying to open the door behind the counter and dropped a drink. I guess those  3 large drinks were going to a car waiting outside. He tried to open the door behind the counter and dropped a drink. I noticed the young man had tremors and I admire him for working. He went to refill the 1 drink and headed out again. Another employee, woman, mid 30’s~40?, asked me to open the 2 outside doors for him. I was happy to help and open the doors for him  BUT..I AM THE CUSTOMER; I AM A SENIOR CITIZEN (who may have limited mobility myself). I asked the young man if they had CUP Carriers (like egg cartons that can hold multiple (4) cups. He politely answered and said they DID NOT HAVE THOSE.

Solution. GET CUP HOLDERS, TRAIN EMPLOYEES TO GO DO THE ‘WORK,’ AS OPENING DOORS, THEMSELVES IF A CO-WORKER NEEDS HELP.. Don’t assign work to your CUSTOMER…even those willing to help out, as I was.

Maybe 4 or 5 minutes passeand I’m still waiting to be greeted and to place my order. In the meantime there is shouting between the cook and other associates, repeating orders, confirming the order, and other things I did not catch. Maybe that’s the ‘norm,’ but I don’t think so for JIB. Don’t remember that in other locations.

The same woman, I think, who asked me to open the outside doors, asked to take my order, but seemed unsure if that’s why I was still standing there. I placed my order for the Bacon Smash, and a SIDE SALAD. She said WE DON’T HAVE ANY SALAD. That was disappointing. So I changed to onion rings. Then I asked for the BLACK ICE COFFEE. She said WE DON’T HAVE BLACK ICE. I said I’m just reading that off your menu. She offered an Ice Coffee. I accepted that.

While waiting for my order 2 other customers’ came in. I think they were maybe more regular. A woman employee (same person) shouted out to them that they HAD NO TACOS. She then moved closer to the counter and they placed an order for something else.

I’m waiting for my order. The cook yells to the woman in the front “IT TAKES 7-MINUTES TO MAKE THESE SMASH BURGERS LET THEM KNOW”. The woman at the counter TRIES TO YELL THAT OVER TO THE OTHER CUSTOMERS WAITING AT A TABLE in the dining room area. They didn’t take notice so she shrugged it off. She didn’t mention it to me.

I am at pick-up. Someone slides my order over to me with no comments or confirmation or thank you…nothing. I’m still waiting for the ice coffee. I mentioned that to 1 woman, no reply. I mentioned it to the young man, he mentioned it to another. The woman cooking saw me still waiting and ask what I needed. I told her “the Ice coffee, but the young man asked someone else to get it”. I Got the ice coffee fairly quickly after that.…it was satisfactory.

The young man was polite but very quiet. The staff is more reactive to my questions or a customer, or me initiating a transaction. I did not get a sense of welcome.

Solution: EMPLOYEES GREET CUSTOMER AND ASK TO TAKE ORDER .. DON’T JUST STAND BE HIND THE COUNTER LOOKING AT THEM.

KEEP CONVERSATIONS BETWEEN WORKSERs DOWN. I know some restaurants have that as a ‘norm,’ but I don’t think that is the case for Jack in the Box?

DON’T YELL OUT TO CUSTOMER’S IN THE DINING ROOM.

There weren’t many in the dining room The tables were generally clean. There were a few crumbs on the the other side of the table I chose. I think...

Possibly the worst Jack in the box- Normally we love JIB, but this one has at least one very rude manager who is enough to ruin the whole location for me, all employees there had zero knowledge of the menu, how the app works, or how to issue an app refund. We placed an app order for a jumbo jack combo ( the one without cheese, because there's specifically a separate button for a jumbo jack WITH CHEESE, along with another combo. As soon as we pulled up to the window, the smell of burnt grease was very strong, when the drive thru employee handed us our food he repeated the order saying jumbo jack with cheese, I asked for them to correct the sandwich since I ordered the hamburger not the cheese burger. When the drive thru attendant took the burger back, the cook/manager began yelling at the employee so loudly that we could hear it clearly from the car that a jumbo jack automatically comes with cheese and if I didn't want cheese I should have hit the no cheese button, it would have been fine if she had left it at that but she just kept on and on ranting and yelling to the point that we didn't even want the food anymore and asked for them to cancel the order or refund it. The drive thru attendant and 2 other employees had zero clues how to cancel or refund, they just stared at the screen, then the "cook/manager" came to the window and asked how we could resolve this, her argument was that she wasn't yelling at us she was yelling at the employee. When I pointed out that the employee had done nothing wrong and it was her own mistake because there are 2 separate buttons for a jumbo jack and a jumbo jack with cheese instead of a no cheese button she told us she could speak to her employees any way she wanted because she was the manager. I explained to her that even though she was yelling at the employee she was yelling about me using the app wrong and I could hear it from the car and was very offput by her behavior and now no longer wanted the food because at this point I was afraid she may do something to it if she is willing to treat both employees and customers like that with zero regard. She also did not know how to cancel the order or issue a refund. She had to call the GM who said I had to submit a refund in the app. I left the restaurant with zero food and zero refund. I did find the place in the app to submit for a refund, and I did so, but this is ridiculous and that manager (if she really was) /cook had an incredibly nasty aditude. I will not return to that location and I will let my friends and family know to also avoid that location. Possibly jack in the box all together depending mainly on my refund status but also whether or not I get a...

Update: I have returned to this location several more times in order to be able to give an accurate review of their average service/product. This is one of the most hit or miss businesses I have seen. They are NEVER fast. Idk if what I am about to say is true BUT it seems like they never run well. I could swear that I have only ever seen AT MOST 3 people working at a time and usually its 1-2. I say that they run with only 1 employee because, on multiple visits, I order, pull up to the window, give my card then the person walks to the back and is gone for 10 minutes-ish and comes back with my food and the temp is pretty hot....the owner of this franchise needs to figure it out. Maybe start to offer a liveable wage and get either some better talent or get the people they have there to buy in and care.

I really HATE to do this, I truly do. I LOVE Jack in the Box but this location is absolute trash. They tend to have friendlier staff than most other fast food restaurants but they ALMOST never have their full menu available because they just don't have the items in stock. And I am not being petty because they didn't have my specific order, they flat out could not offer ANY of their breakfast items, could not offer me a drink option because their machine was out of majority of the syrup mixes, couldn't get me a shake because the machine was broken and lastly couldn't get any tacos because they were out....I mean, at that point just hang a sign on the order menu outside saying that you guys a closed OR AT LEAST EXPLAINING BURGERS AND FRIES ARE THE ONLY OPTIONS AT THE MOMENT. I really am a diehard and loyal fan of the brand, I will say that Jack's is from San Diego, as am I. So I'm very fond of Jack but I have yet to find one in NC that is not bad. Best wishes and best of luck to you, if you so choose to give them a try. I really do hope that they get a manager or another owner that will vest their time and get the place to at...