Hardee’s — Restaurant in Overland Park

Here’s the thing: I’m a fairly easy-going and understanding person, especially when it comes to food service. Mistakes happen - nothing wrong with that - but it’s important to me that a restaurant owns their mistakes and tries to make things right. With that context - here was my experience at this establishment:

I have not eaten at Hardee’s in at least 20 years and wanted to give it another try, so I downloaded the app and drove to this location. Upon entering the store, I activated an offer on the app for 25% off one of the specialty meals. The in-app timer popped up telling me that I had 15 minutes to use the deal before it was gone.

When I got to the front, I ordered the relevant combo meal and mentioned the app coupon to the cashier, who then asked me to scan the QR code showing on my phone. I scanned the code, she said “whoops”, and then she asked me to scan the deal again. And then a third time. And a fourth.

After clearly failing to get the system to work correctly, the cashier then went to get an assistant manager. The assistant manager then told me the deal wasn’t working and showed it as “used” (even as the app screen is still showing the countdown timer and the coupon in showing on the screen). I asked if she could manually input the deal on their end or, if not, if she could get a manager to fix things. Reluctantly, she got the manager, who then slowly walked over to the counter looking pissed off at the inconvenience of being asked to speak with me.

I explained to the manager that I’d been asked to scan this several times, but had been told it wasn’t working and they couldn’t give me the deal. I showed her the coupon in the app (with the timer still running and the QR code still showing) and asked if she was able to manually give me the discount. She said that she has nothing to do with the app so she can’t fix it. I asked again if she would be able to honor the deal, and she said she was not going to. I then said that I would rather have my order cancelled if she wasn’t going to honor the deal, to which she said “good. Cancel his order. Next customer”.

The deal would’ve only been around a $4 difference, a drop in the bucket compared to the potentially much larger amounts of money Hardee’s could’ve made from me if I’d become a loyal customer. They neither tried to acknowledge or make up for their mistake, and instead they made it seem like I was the source of the problem.

Unfortunately for them, I live my life out of principle and spite. Just as I’ve boycotted Nebraska Furniture Mart for 5+ years due to an issue with their delivery service breaking my fridge and then refusing to accept responsibility when it failed the next week, I too will be boycotting Hardee’s for the rest of my life (mostly because I’ve heard their food is...

It was 8:15 on a Wednesday evening and I had experienced a pretty rough day. I hadn't eaten diner yet, was as hungry as an orphan, and was craving Hardee's chicken fingers dipped in thier hot honey sauce. I knew that would make me feel better - I drove up and placed my order only to hear back that they were out of the hot honey sauce. Despair washed over me like a flood taking out a small Vietnamese village and I felt like crying... again (it wouldn't have been the first time that day). I got ranch instead. The man taking my order was so nice, it somewhat soothed the crushing disappointment that threatened to queench me like one of those youtube videos of the press smashing random objects. I pulled up to the window and saw him frantically scurrying about (he was the only one I saw in there) prepping my order. He was an older grandpa-looking gentleman who bore a striking resemblance to Jim Lahey from The Trailer Park Boys. I liked him immediately. He handed me my bag and I sat in the parking lot and ate. The food was delicious - the fries were crispy, fresh, and hotter than the Latina that had tried to seduce me in Little Rock, AR. The chicken was flavorful and and had an excellent crunch - but was not too crunchy. The ranch was less than satisfying. As I ate the fries, I was reminded of my beautiful ex - she loved fries. Three and a half years of memories began popping into my mind like over-cooked popcorn. I felt like crying again. I stuffed more fries into my mouth and thought back to my 2 hour therapy session that afternoon. I'm pretty sure my therapist thinks I'm a mess - I don't know what answers he's looking for and we just kept going around in circles like a drunk who can't get off a merry-go-round. Except I'm the drunk who can't stop crying... ugh - I wished they had hot honey sauce to go along with the chicken. Hardee's on Metcalf - please stay stocked of that delicious depression-shleemping sauce. You never know when it'll make someone's soul-crushing evening a...

Hardee's has been one of my favorite places to get breakfast, swinging by the drive thru on my way to work. The food is good and service is generally fast. Today is Saturday and I decided to stop by and grab breakfast around 10AM but this time I went inside since I was not in a rush. After standing at the counter for 5+ minutes while an employee stood with her back to me, my presence was finally acknowledged. Obviously the drive thru must have been busy but I was surprised at the lack of acknowledgment knowing I was standing there. After my order was taken and food handed to me, I went to the condiment area that was pretty barren seeing 1 knife, 2 forks, no salt and no napkins. I then proceeded to the table area and saw one dirty table after another. Food littered the floor. I was a little disgusted seeing a number of french fries scattered on the floor....keeping in mind it was 10 in the morning and they do not have french fries available at that time. It was evident by the filth of the tabletops that the dining room had not been cleaned in some time. I was hungry so I found a small corner to sit and quickly ate my breakfast. Upon getting up, all 5 of the trash cans I saw were all overflowing, again noticing that many had items that were not being served during breakfast hours. Since I was never able to get a napkin, I went into the restroom to wash my hands. It, like the rest of the interior, was dirty and not well stocked. My breakfast was good but as I left, I could not help to wonder if the kitchen was as filthy as the dining room. This is one time I really wish I just stayed in my car , was still ignorant of what was inside and used the drive thru. Knowing what I do now, I doubt I...