Tropical Smoothie Cafe — Restaurant in Pooler

Came here 01/27/24 at 2:53 pm. Waited close to 30 minutes in the drive through to place my order and over 15 minutes to receive it. Customer service was terrible. The person taking/giving our order was a young girl wearing khaki jeans and had a braided pony tail. She was working the drive through and my first impression was that she’s really not pleasant or friendly. No “sorry for your wait”, no “thank you”, no “you’re welcome”, nothing. After 45 minutes passed and our order was given to us, both smoothies tasted horrible. I ordered a sunrise sunset and was given a light yellow-orange colored smoothie that tasted like an icy orange peel. We also ordered a blimey limey that was light pink and tasted watered down. We had to turn around after finally leaving and go inside to get our order fixed. I went inside and counted over 5 people also waiting for their orders. I walked up to the counter and spoke to the same girl who took our order in the drive through, who was even MORE unpleasant and unfriendly than I originally thought. I told her the issue with my smoothie and she just looked at me, gave a long pause with a blank stare on her face for 20 seconds and said …. “Ok” …. “What do you want me to do? Do you want a refund or remake it?”. No apology, no “thanks for your patience”, no customer service provided AGAIN. I politely asked her to remake it and she just walked away w/o responding and began whispering in another employee’s ear. So childish and unprofessional! I then waited probably 10 more minutes before receiving the correct smoothie, which was thankfully not given to me by the same rude worker. While waiting on my order to be remade, another lady walked up and kindly reminded them that she’s been waiting over 40 minutes for her peanut butter smoothie. The same girl didn’t apologize, just said “oh that’s probably one of the tickets that got lost”… and walked away to go tell the same employee that took care of my problem. It’s really disappointing to pay $7 for a smoothie and spend over an hour trying to receive what you asked for. I have done paid secret shopping in this area and LOVE to give outstanding reviews to places that deserve it. However, this location’s quality and experience has been one of the worst levels of poor...

I came through the drive thru the Pooler location on a Saturday and had a horrible experience here. It was unbelievable because the night before when I came and the server/cashier was Aubrey I had a wonderful experience which is why I came back the next day. Oh how, was I sadly mistaken to think I would get the same service 2 days in a row. Upon ordering at the drive thru, I asked if the kale salad had dairy in it, the order taker didn't think so. I asked the question in a different way because as a vegan I wanted to be sure. The order taker replied she didn't know and I asked if she could find out. She told me, "no, we're busy." Appalled at the manner and tone that she responded, I asked if a manager would know. She replied, "I am the manager." I said don't worry about adding the kale salad and believe it or not proceeded forward thru the drive thru. When I got to the payment/pickup window the rude cashier asked if I had ordered a smoothie and I said unless you're giving it to me as a courtesy, I did not. I explained to the young lady that as a customer the reason that it's important for people to know/ask and she comply is because there are people who have food allergies which could trigger a negative reaction. Her reply, "okay, and, do you want the kale salad? Not unless you can tell me if dairy is in it because I know you all have a list of ingredients for items. She just looked at me so I asked her for her name and she stated that she didn't have to give me that info and closed the window. When the window opened back up, it was another employee who was handing me my food item, so I thanked him and asked him for her name. He said Niya and when he turned around, she gave him the meanest, nastiest, glare. I haven't been back and when I tried to call to find out if she was really the manager, the...

My time was wasted for the team to huddle in the back & talk. My mobile order "promise time" was for 3:16 & I didn't get it until 3:32 as I HAD TO ASK for it or I'd STILL be sitting there! To make matters worse, the bag they had sitting on the counter where they make the wraps had been sitting there ready for 10+ minutes-it was mine! No one spoke at all even after making eye contact with me & working 5ft from me as I was there for 40 minutes. No "hello/welcome in." When I finally ask about my order from the smoothie station girl who was working consistently (because ALL 6 of the other girls went to the back, still in eye sight, standing there talking, the girl checks & says their still making it. The girls came back to the wrap station, 1 started prepping wrap bread but seemed lost then she grabbed the bag that I seen her put a wrap in 10+ minutes ago & brings it to me. I was watching her the whole time & she knew so she tried to seem like she was "still making my wrap" looking lost, but I wasn't moving so she had to give me my bag & she knew I seen she wasted my damn time as my order was ready sitting on the counter the whole time instead of her putting it on the mobile order shelf or calling a name. If your in a hurry, DON'T GO HERE! It'd be understandable if they were busy & working but this was Not the case! The MANAGER needs to coach these young girls how to provide better customer service, speak to people, & stop wasting their damn time for them to gossip! Hold them accountable! This is why recently I barely spend my $ there. This is an issue EVERY TIME I've been there the past 5 times. Find a better crew. The manager on 10/5/21 around 3pm obviously doesn't hold her team accountable, they do what they want when they feel like it. Other than bad service, the...