IHOP — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Seeking Legal Representation

I was pepper sprayed here three nights ago without warning and without precedent by the trigger happy security guard indicative of a much larger problem dealing with bias against the homeless and a misunderstanding of mental illness by "trained professionals".

I have unfortunately been in and out of homelessness since a broken engagement with my ex fiancee left me penniless and struggling with suicidal ideation and bipolar mood swings.

Ever since then my life has been a shell of what it used to be. Resources are scarce and empathy even harder to come by. The other night was one of the rare occasions where I had more than 20 dollars on me by the end of the day. I dont panhandle and I don't steal so money isn't easy to come by. Walking by IHop I decided to get chicken and waffles and a strawberry milkshake. As I was walking down the street towards the Korean Spa I stopped at the bus stop to eat. I finished the waffles first and drank half the milkshake. Unfortunately the chicken tenders were rock hard and cold. I went back to ask for my money back and was immediately met with skepticism that I wanted a free meal. She told me there was nothing they can do since I still ate half the meal. My arguement was that I ate half of the meal because it consists of two foods! Waffles and chicken! I ate the waffles first. I asked for the manager who immediately started accusing me of the same bulls!$%. I became angry and threw the chicken tenders at the floor. While this was perhaps an immature way of handling the situation it in no way justified what happened next.

The security guard who seemingly just walked in out of nowhere pushed me out the door with his chest. As I turned around I saw him pointing something at me which at first I was terrified was a gun or a taser. If you know the area you know how homeless are treated. In hollywood less than a year ago a young black dude was shot in the back and killed at the Walgreens on Vine for stealing a Gatorade! The security guard in that case wasnt even charged with a crime because what's another dead homeless black man in hollywood?

Anyway it turns out this guy found it necessary to pepper spray me directly in the face and eyes without asking me to leave, without asking me to calm down, without asking me if I would like the authorities called, without warning. I have never been hit with pepper spray before but it was immediately the worst pain I have ever felt in my life. And I've had kidney stones. It was like my face, eyes, and lungs were soaked in gasoline and lit on fire. I was laughed at and ridiculed as I writhed in pain and gasped for breath helpless on the cement outside. When I finally caught my breath underneath the pain which over the course of about twenty minutes only got worse I begged the guy for some milk as I know that orndawn soap are the best neutralizes for pepper spray. He ignored me for about ten minutes?). Finally he grabbed a cup of water and splashed it on my face and head without warning. This just made the spray reactivated and pour down my head back into my eyes and the pain increased again. I ripped my shirt off and ran out the parking lot blind. It took two hours before the pain wore off and I could see again.

I will never feel safe around security again and I am losing faith in humanity in general. I really just want to...

We showed up here on a weekend afternoon, not exactly a Herculean feat of scheduling, mind you. And who do we end up with as our illustrious server? Lilibeth. Oh, what a joy that turned out to be.

So, we dared to place our food orders – how bold of us! And then commenced the grand waiting game. And guess what? We kept on waiting. And waiting some more. It's like they were attempting to set a Guinness World Record for the longest diners' torture session.

Oh, but don't you worry, dear reader, for there's more. You see, there was this gentleman, a true dining champion, who sauntered in ahead of us. Not only did he triumphantly conquer his meal, but he also managed to defeat our chances of ever seeing our own orders materialize.

Now, hold onto your seats, because the plot thickens. Our server, oh, what a mysterious and elusive creature she was! She vanished into the abyss, leaving us no choice but to implore another server for a search-and-rescue mission. Eventually, after what felt like a cosmic eon, Lilibeth graced us with her presence. And what wisdom did she bestow? "Oh, we're still working on your food," she said, as if we hadn't guessed.

But wait, there's a twist! Whenever we dared to crave something, whenever our parched throats begged for liquid sustenance, whenever we yearned for her assistance, Lilibeth was on vacation – a vacation from serving, that is. The sightings of her at our table could be counted on a single hand, and even that would be an exaggeration.

Then came the grand unveiling of our highly anticipated sustenance. Drumroll, please! And there it sat, the food, in all its glory, radiating the unmistakable aura of being forgotten for an eternity. The pancakes? Well, let's just say they could double as frisbees. As for my omelette, it appeared as though it had endured an ill-fated desert expedition.

Ah, but fear not, for our tale reaches its climactic zenith. Our attempt to make a swift exit due to the ever-pressing constraints of time was met with nothing but the void of Lilibeth's absence. Cue the dramatic music. Picture this: we, the abandoned and forlorn patrons, had no choice but to ascend to the realm of the cashier. And there, dear friends, we were graced with a tidbit of information: Lilibeth was gallivanting on a 10-minute escapade. Bravo, Lilibeth. Bravo.

Now, indulge me, if you will, in a rhetorical inquiry: How many breaks did Lilibeth indulge in while we suffered through this tragicomedy?

And lo and behold, the pièce de résistance: Neither the cashier nor her compatriots in serving saw fit to utter a single syllable of remorse. Oh, the audacity! If I had the privilege of donning their shoes, I would have been profusely apologizing on Lilibeth's behalf faster than you can say "culinary catastrophe."

Ah, yes, perhaps Lilibeth had the misfortune of encountering a day more wretched than the darkest corners of Hades itself. Who am I to say? But mark my words, this saga shall forever remain etched in my memory as the solitary instance when a tip was but a fleeting thought, a mirage in the desert of subpar service.

Oh, and as an aside, I must inquire: Who is the illustrious manager presiding over this fine establishment? Pray tell, for this symphony of inefficiency and neglect is a harmonious reflection upon your leadership, dear manager....

Absolutely atrocious experience here with one of their managers. When we arrived around 9:45 PM on a Friday, the manager on duty (after interrogating my friend, a military veteran, about the service dog assigned to him for PTSD) asked us to wait to be seated, because she only had one server at the moment, and the rest of our party had not yet arrived. We were seated at 9:55 PM.

The manager then came to our table and informed my friend that his (large) service dog would need to move under the table. The dog didn't want to get under the table, so we decided to leave. But a server told us we could just move to another section where the dog would be out of the way.

By the time someone finally came to take our order, it was 10:10. I asked to order a special that's only offered from 7:00-10:00 PM, since we had arrived at the restaurant long before 10:00 PM but were made to wait to order. The server initially said yes, but then checked with the manager and came back and said no, it was too late. I asked to speak to the manager, who refused to budge, even though it was their slow service that made us wait.

At this point we decided to leave. On the way out, I asked the manager for her name so I could contact the corporate office to share my experience with them. She refused to give her name. When I pulled out my phone to take a picture of her, she got extremely upset, ran back to the kitchen, and threatened to have security remove us by force.

Harassing a veteran about his service animal and refusing to honor the terms of a special because the servers are slow is egregiously dreadful customer service, even by the already pathetically low...