Krispy Kreme — Restaurant in Jacksonville

If you’re looking for consistent disappointment, wasted time, and an experience that falls miserably short of what used to be a beloved treat, then by all means—visit the Krispy Kreme in Jacksonville, NC. Otherwise, do yourself (and your gas tank) a favor and stay far away. Let me begin by saying this: my family and I used to love Krispy Kreme. It was our go-to for Sanday mornings, celebrations, even just a simple pick-me-up after a long day. There was something comforting about that red "Hot Now" sign and knowing that you could walk in and pick up a dozen of your favorite classics. But somewhere along the way, this location lost sight of what made it special—and it’s only gotten worse. The first red flag came when they quietly started removing fan favorites from the menu. One by one, all of the donuts we actually wanted—the ones that made us loyal customers—started disappearing. Classic glazed creme filled, the original with Kreme ( the one that came around when the panthers went to the Super Bowl, and my kid’s favorite, literally all of the cake donuts, are all gone. (Blueberry is there on rare occasions) In their place? A rotating cast of novelty donuts that are either unappealing, overhyped, or sold out before noon. It’s baffling. Who makes the decision to cut the core products that people come for in favor of limited-time gimmicks no one asked for? Still, trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, I decided to use the mobile app to place an order and save time. You know, that thing businesses push as a convenience for busy customers? Well, spoiler alert: it was anything but convenient. I placed a mobile order at 5:02pm for a later pickup since it was going to be a late night after baseball, paid for it, and drove all the way across town to pick it up after the baseball game. (815 pm). That’s 45 minutes of my life I’ll never get back, and a quarter tank of gas I didn’t plan to burn to come up empty handed. When I got there, not only was the order not ready—they had sold out of the donuts I paid for. No apology. No substitution. No courtesy call. Just a shrug and a “we don’t have those anymore.” That’s it. I stood there, stunned, while they offered me absolutely nothing to make it right. They didn’t offer a refund until I requested one, didn't suggest an alternative, didn’t even bother to acknowledge the inconvenience. What kind of business model is that? In what universe is it okay to take someone’s money, not provide the product, and then send them away empty-handed? Their excuse was that even though my order was placed and paid for 3 hours before, the system didn’t “fire” to pick the order until 8:07pm. A broken system they clearly know about, but don’t care to fix. But yet again, I know that I have been in multiple times and seen mobile orders sit for more than 10-15 minutes. This leads me to believe that they filled my order, and then turned around and sold them to someone else. (considering that the order recipe they use to fill the order was in the garbage crumpled up when I asked for it to see the "fire time") Meanwhile, my family was at home expecting sweet treats. My kids were excited, we’d planned the evening around it, and instead I showed up with nothing. I had to make a last-minute run to Publix just to salvage the situation and Publix cake, because at least they know how to keep products on shelves and not oversell inventory they don’t have. Krispy Kreme, if you’re reading this: shame on you. This level of incompetence and disregard for customer loyalty is astounding. How hard is it to update your mobile app to reflect real-time inventory? How difficult is it to train your staff to offer basic customer service, like notifying people if their paid orders can't be fulfilled? At minimum, give people a call, offer them a replacement, or issue an immediate refund. Literally anything but this “too bad, so sad” attitude you’ve adopted. I can’t remember the last time I left a donut shop this frustrated, this inconvenienced, and...

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts let me tell you a little story about an Old Fat Lady, her desperation for hot donuts and Antonio of Krispy Kreme.

Antonio of Krispy Kreme knows all about customer service, Old Fat Ladies, and the red light. This OFL hasn't been able to have a dreamy hot pillow of heaven Krispy Kreme donut in months.

On April 17, 2021 while visiting her Jacksonville in-laws, they all went out to lunch As they were seated on the restaurant patio, she spotted Krispy Kreme across the street.

The whole impromptu in-law family reunion was mere background noise and a blur as the OFL kept her eye on the Krispy Kreme sign, praying for it to glow that tell-tale succulent seductive red. As the meal progressed--drinks came and went. Appetizers came and went. Main dishes came and went. But the red light across the street never came on. The whole time the OFL never took her eye off the Krispy Kreme sign. The in-laws were wrapping up thier meal and memories--the check was on its way. The OFL's heart began to sink.

Her desperation was now palpable.

And still, across the street, there was no hint of a glowing red light. As the check was being signed, the panicked OFL picked up her phone and called the Krispy Kreme at 4145 Western Blvd, Jacksonville, NC 28546.

Antonio of Krispy Kreme answered.

God bless Antonio of Krispy Kreme. Antonio knew.

Antonio is a silver-tongued saint. He talked the OFL off the ledge. He made her weak desperation into a comforting moment. He promised his crew was getting the donuts ready for the rush and the light would be on soon.

Although the OFL, waved to him across the street, threatened to bolt through traffic like Usain, and dive into the donut maker herself... he calmed her down and promised there would be hot donuts for her. OFL gave him one final warning, "Honey don't come between an Old Fat Lady and her donuts!" Antonio held strong, calm, and reassuring. She hung up the phone and keeping one eye on the unlit sign, she tried her best to join in the family conversation.

The in-laws head finished up and were pouring back into the van. To appease the OFL, they drive across the barren intersection with no hope of the seductive glowing donut red light to lead them across the road.

They get in the 'drive through' line. The OFL is wringing her hands... There is still no red light.

As the very nice Krispy Kreme lady takes the order, the OFL interrupts and cries out, "Tell Antonio, the Old Fat Lady from across the street is here for her hot donuts and I am holding him to his word."

Against all odds, Antonio delivered.

Antonio held true to his word.

Antonio knows.

Antonio knows customer service. He knows how to deliver a very delicious product. He knows how to work the crowd. He's been raised right and Krispy Kreme has an amazing personable and professional young man on their...

This store seems to lack in several ways. When they first introduced the new filled donuts, we went to the drivethru and ordered them as they were written on the menu. The woman working kept calling them something else and it confused us so we tried to clarify that she was ringing in the correct ones and she finally got an attitude and told us just to come to the window. When we got to the window she told us that everyone just seems to call them whatever they want (she was meaning we were just calling them anything we wanted so it was our fault that she didn’t know what we meant) and so I showed her on the app what we wanted and read to her what Krispy Kreme calls them and she rolled her eyes and said that we’d “get there one day.” I was in shock with how rude she was. I’m 34 years old and felt like I was a 9 year old being scolded by the old librarian for talking too loudly. It was odd. Then, two days in a row they were just completely out of the donuts we wanted. Two in a row! Tonight they were completely out of any sort of Kreme-filled donuts. No idea what the problem is with this store but I grew up going to Krispy Kreme (even went to the one in Wilmington on a field trip as a kid) and I’ve never seen...