Culver’s — Restaurant in Ohio

The Culvers food is decent. I prefer the custard concrete over generic soft serve offered elsewhere. However, this is the second time in a row I went and had issues with the staff not understanding what gluten-free means.

VARIABLES: Two visits ago. Lunch time. Drive-thru.

CHALLENGE: The words out of my mouth were, " What do you have that is gluten-free?"

ACTION:

1. The server didn't know what gluten-free free meant.
2. The customer (me) had to educate the server on what gluten was and go through the order with them.
3. I ordered a gluten-free grilled chicken sandwich with a side salad.
4. We spent a good 5+ minutes determining what dressings didn't have gluten as the line behind me grew.

RESULT:

1. People in line behind me were irritated When I got home to eat my meal
2. The salad dressing said "gluten-free" right on the packaging.
3. My salad had croutons on it
4. I got the gluten-free bun and a grilled chicken breast but received no lettuce, tomato, or sauce for my sandwich

EFFECT OF RESULT:

1. I had to throw away my salad
2. My sandwich was dry, overpriced for what I got.
3. I called and asked for changes to their ordering system and education.
4. The people behind me in line were not happy about the wait and may have been late to get back to work, etc.

++++++

TRIAL NUMBER 2.

VARIABLES: Two weeks later. Lunch time. Drive-thru.

CHALLENGE: The first words out of my mouth were, "My entire order must be Gluten-Free." I ordered the same food as previous and clearly stated where I knew they messed up last time.

ACTION: The server didn't know what gluten-free free meant any better than the last time. I had to educate the server on what gluten was and go through my order with them. The line behind me grew.

1. Server picked croutons out of my salad and forgot my dressing.
2. Server forgot the sauce for my sandwich, too

RESULT:

1. People in line behind me were irritated When I got home to eat my meal
2. My salad had crouton remnants on it
3. I got the gluten-free bun, a grilled chicken breast, lettuce, and tomato, but no sauce for my sandwich

EFFECT OF RESULT:

1. I had to throw away my salad again
2. My sandwich was dry without the sauce, overpriced for what I got.
3. I am writing this public review in hopes that this issue will be resolved.
4. The people behind me in line were not happy about the wait and may have been late to get back to work.

BACKGROUND: It is a real thing that serious medical issues arise from eating certain food items. Ingestion of specific food allergens: gluten, sugar, nuts, dairy, red dye, monosodium glutimate, etc., can literally cause an emergency medical situation while driving, etc.

FUTURE STATE:

CHALLENGE: Customer arrives and specifies a food intolerance upon ordering.

ACTION (requirements):

1. Server is able to set a medical red flag in the ordering system at any time during the ordering process.
2. Ingredients for all items sold are in the ordering system. All food items = all the way down to the cheese, deserts, sauces, and salad dressings
3. Specific allergens: gluten, sugar, nuts, dairy, red dye, monosodium glutimate, etc.
4. The system provides the subset of the menu that can be ordered without the specific ingredient
5. The system provides substitutions that can be provided on items that have the ingredient (example: no croutons on salad if gluten-free).
6. Servers are educated on the importance of medical intolerances
7. NICE TO HAVE: Culvers offers a corn or rice-based crispy chicken / fish batter option that does not contain wheat.

RESULT:

1. Order taking and food prep is easy / as taught
2. Customers get their entire order, including everything except the specific ingredient.

EFFECT OF RESULT:

1. Customers don't have to throw out what they paid for!
2. Customers don't accidentally ingest something that makes them sick. (stay healthy)
3. Customers are happy
4. Customers want to come back
5. No delays in the line from lack of education on food intolerances
6. People behind those with food intolerances aren't delayed, late...

First I would like to say me and the fam love us some Culver’s.

Unfortunately this location just isn’t it. Me and my wife stopped in to grab lunch today and ordered a burger, fries and curds. When the order came to the table the fries had a curly black hair in the bottom of the fry sleeve. My wife took it up to the counter and and they quickly brought out some new fries. Cool, unfortunately at this point hair in the food has made me lose my appetite. Tried to move forward and opening the burger to check for hair, found a vegetable that I have a food allergy to that was not ordered. Well enough was enough and took the meal back to counter. The front of the house staff who are the best part of that place tried to talk with the manager to get a refund for the meal. The lady who was helping us came back to the front after speaking with said manager to pick the tray up and head towards the trash can. As she was taking my food away I asked if she was able to get a refund, which she responded with no because they tried to make it right as my food made it into the trash. So I just sat there for a second in confusion that you will serve me hair, items I didn’t order that can make me sick, and threw my food away with no refund?

Hey maybe they were having a bad day as it’s hard to believe that this would be normal. $15 lesson learned, just if it’s happening to me I am sure it’s not the first time. Like I said Culver’s is a go to for us, just not the one in Perrysburg.

Before you shoot an auto reply to my comment, I have called customer service and filled out your...

Placed an order on the app that included a gluten-free meal and once again they forgot to give us the gluten-free meal. This happens approx 9/10 times that we order to go, whether it’s at the drive through, inside or on the app and we have to make a trip back to the store to get the meal they’ve forgotten, inconvenient and a waste of our resources, without any compensation or apologies whatsoever. This trip we were traveling a bit of a distance for a scheduled appointment, leaving us no time to turn around to get the food they forgot to give us. I called the store and explained the issue to a manager and how this happens frequently. She acknowledged my food was still sitting there (~20 minutes later), if I wanted to come back for it, and when I explained we couldn’t and to just refund me, stated she could not issue a refund and said she would mail us coupons for another meal, which we never got. I contacted corporate with a complaint and requested to be contacted by phone. I got an email asking for my address so they could mail out coupons which, again, we did not get.

They have my money and I have no food, no coupons for replacement and they refuse to issue a refund. Seems like...