Taco Bell — Restaurant in Houston

Let this review serve as a public notice for anyone in Houston thinking about visiting this Taco Bell location. As someone who runs multiple businesses here in the city, and serves as CEO of a media and production company, I know firsthand what good service looks like. Even in industries where some of my employees don’t interact with a single customer all day, they’re still trained in customer service, professionalism, and brand integrity. Because that’s what good leadership looks like.

Taco Bell, take notes.

Here’s what happened: I placed a mobile order, walked in, picked it up, no problem. The employee was great until I asked him to help me out with placing an order. Then I asked a simple question: “Since I’m already here, can I place one more order of two burritos and a water cup at the front counter?” I had my card ready and just wanted to avoid going back through the app. An employee was sitting directly in front of the register, literally doing nothing, and looked me dead in the eye and said, “We can’t do that.”

I clarified, thinking maybe I misunderstood. But no. He doubled down. “That’s not part of my job.” His exact words. Imagine that, someone hired to work at Taco Bell refusing to ring up an order because it’s supposedly not their responsibility to use the register.

This wasn’t a training issue. It wasn’t a technical issue. This was an attitude issue. He simply didn’t want to do it. When I said, “It sounds like you don’t want to work,” he got defensive and started arguing with me. The situation escalated when he continued making comments about me while I was still in front of him, and when I asked for his name, he refused to give it. After I started talking to Victoria, he picked up a broom and finally started to clean.

Eventually, the manager on duty, Victoria, came out. She did help process the order after coming around the counter and using the kiosk, which was time consuming for someone who placed a mobile order on their break but l still thanked her for stepping in. But let’s be honest, she wasn’t exactly warm or welcoming either. No apology. No urgency. Just said yeah we don’t ring orders up here, we use the kiosk, then handled it and walked away. It’s as if this kind of behavior is normal at this location.

Well, it shouldn’t be.

The GM at this location has alway been respectful to me and even helps when his employees are back there just talking and chopping it up.

As someone who trains employees across multiple companies, including people who don’t even face the public, I can tell you that this level of customer disregard wouldn’t fly at any of my businesses or brands. If someone stands in front of you ready to pay, your job is to serve them. Period. Not argue. Not ignore. Not dismiss. And certainly not refuse service just because it’s inconvenient for you.

Taco Bell, this is not a kiosk-only store. You have a front counter. You have a POS system. You have a staff that needs to be reminded what customer service means.

There’s footage of this entire interaction on your store’s cameras, and I strongly encourage corporate to review it. I’m not writing this for a coupon or a call, as a matter of fact I will only be returning to speak to the GM face to face regarding this review. I’m writing this so the entire Houston community knows what kind of service to expect here. This location has no excuse for the kind of lazy, disrespectful behavior I experienced.

To locals in the area: Skip this spot. There are plenty of other Taco Bells and fast food restaurants nearby where your time, energy, and money will be appreciated, not dismissed.

To Taco Bell: When a CEO of multiple businesses has to take time out of his day to publicly educate your staff on how to do the bare minimum, you’ve got a bigger issue than just one bad shift.

Do...

Went here today at 6.45 pm and ordered the easiest thing on the menu, two bean burritos No cheese. The second one had cheese. I only realized after I left that they had messed up the order. When I got home at 8.15pm, I called in. The guy who answered said, "welcome to taco bell, what can i get you" like I was in the drive-through. I asked to speak to a manager. "uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, ok." Then a "manager" got on the phone. "Hey, what do you need?" Seriously? Phone etiquette is so easy. In any case, I told the manager I didn't want a refund or replacement, I wasn't coming back to the store, I just wanted to let them know they had made a mistake and that I had found cheese in one of the burritos. He said, "I find that hard to believe because the managers are the ones making the food right now." as if he didn't believe me. Then he started questioning me of when I ordered and what was the total on my receipt, etc etc. None of that matters. I just wanted him to let the line know to be careful because there are people with food allergies out there. Then he asked me if I had "got it grilled" and I didn't remember so I said, "probably" to which he laughed at me and said, "You don't even know what you got?: This guy should be fired. He doesn't belong in customer service and needs to go find another job where he doesn't have to interact with people. There's no need to question me on when I ordered, what the total was, or to even try and look up the order at all because I specifically said I didn't want a refund or replacement. He should've just apologized for the mistake and said he would tell the people on the line to actually read the tickets and make them correctly. The job isn't complicated. I wasn't even going to leave a review, but the way he failed to handle the situation properly is why I'm writing this. I hope the GM or franchise owner sees this and take appropriate action regarding this employee "manager" they...

This is literally the worst Taco Bell I’ve been to & I travel out of the way to go to the Richmond location bcuz the THREE times I’ve been here it’s always an issue. I understand businesses aren’t perfect & I always give grace hence the 3 visits. First visit I asked for a sausage Crunchwrap add bacon. They gave me a Crunchwrap no egg or bacon. Second time they ran out of hashbrowns & didn’t say anything so I received a Crunchwrap with no hash browns, when I brought it to her attention she said she ran out & asked if I wanted potatoes instead. I declined & got a refund. Months later I went back bcuz I was in the area & decided to give them another chance. Again, horrible mistake. I ordered 2 Crunchwraps with sausage add bacon. They gave me 1 sausage Crunchwrap. I told the lady that ordered 2 & they are supposed to have bacon. She argued with me that it doesn’t say bacon. I showed her my app & told her whenever I order at the Richmond location they clearly see it says sausage & bacon. She was rude. I understand that on the system it may not show the same thing on my end but there’s a proper way to...