Chick-fil-A — Restaurant in Lynnwood

Overall we had good experience with Chick-fil-A but this review is specifically for the Lynnwood WA location. Service prior to the pandemic and post pandemic has been noticeable but continued to order from this location. Then we started getting cold fries or on could occasion missing item. On one visit I called to let them know our kids milk was not in the bag and the lady apologized and informed us we will get the milk and cookie credited as rewards on our app. I hold her the real reason I called was this was not the only time an item was missing but called to finally informed them of repeated issue. When we ordered on our last visit it was noted the promised reward was not there but we were not overly concerned about it. When I retrieved my order at the restaurant the condiments were all wrong. Call them at the pickup stall and waiting for the correct condiments. While waiting checked the rest of the order. When I removed the napkin in the bag found black hair on the fries which disappointed me because it was so obvious. When the restaurant worker, I believe he was the manager, arrived with the condiments I informed him about the hair. He looked at me, the fries, then me and informed me that they all wear hair nets. I am an Asian male with short hair. He emphasized they wear hair nets so I asked if he is indicating if that is my hair and I am complaining about it. I may have black hair but shorter than what was found in the fries. If ASKED if I wanted the fries replaced which surprised me also. I also informed him of my recent issues with Chick-fil-A and about how their service seem to have been degraded since the pandemic. Now he did at the end comeback with a store card, probably reward card, as a compensation. When I declined he said at least he tried. Normally I speak very highly of Chick-fil-A and this store experience but I will go to other Chick-fil-A store other than Lynnwood now. This whole experience has been a surprise as I have always spoke highly of...

Arrived just before 10:20pm to a good line of cars in the drive thru. 2 stations - girl working one guy working other. I pull up to the guy and proceed to wait approximately 3 minutes while he radios back and forth with the workers inside to "see if he can take my order", and the order of the now 3 cars behind me.

3 minutes doesn't sound like much but when you are sitting there in a drive thru waiting to order, it is eternity.

Finally allowed us to order. Then we waited excessively long in the line at the window, only to be given un-fresh food. Fries were cold, hard, and had no salt. Bun on sandwich was hard and chicken was room temperature. I am an Immunocompromised organ transplant recipient and cancer survivor in my 30s, so I had to throw my meal away because not only was it gross, but it was also a food safety concern to be given cold food - especially chicken. I don't know how long this sat out.

The thing that upsets me the most about this is that I had to wait to see if you would take my order. At 10:22pm when you close at 11pm. This was absolutely outrageous. I have worked at 7 different restaurants/food establishments in my lifetime and I have to ask - what happened to customer service?

If you are closing and there is a line, you stay open to finish the line. That is how it works in America. So why am I being stopped 38 minutes before you close to have your employees try to figure out if they can take orders or not?

Utter incompetence. Lack of training. Lack of...

Food- Delicious as always.

Service: Poor/ Below Average.

There were two lanes. The lane to the left (my lane) had one associate. The lane to the right had two. One was taking orders and one was sitting behind that person. Multiple cars went through this lane while I waited in my lane. The associate pictured here (face blurred) appeared to be having a casual conversation with the occupant/s of the vehicle in front of me.

Constructive feedback- what could have been done?

At a bare minimum, the associate taking the order or conversing with the person or people in front of me could have explained what was going on (although under the apparent circumstances, the associate may not have wanted to) OR at least said, “I’ll be right with you.”

The extra associate in the next lane could have come over.

Someone else from inside working could have come outside to assist.

Important: As soon as the car in front of me pulled up, a shift change began. The employee going off shift could have explained to the person coming on that I had been waiting a very long time and momentarily delayed the shift change (I had a drive-thru mobile order and took less than one minute to tell them my name and move up.)

The person relieving the associate going off shift said “Thank you for your patience during our shift change.” However the shift change in and of itself was routine and no problem — the issue was the very long and unexplained wait time before my order was taken or I was...