Chicken Express — Restaurant in Port Neches

Tonight I went to Chicken Express to pick up some coleslaw with a gift card we had. It was either a 20 or 25 card and we used it one time to get two teas. My total was a little over 12 dollars. I went to pay and the girl took my gift card and went back to the managers office with it. The manager took my card and didn't come out for several minutes. At least five, if not more. I already thought it seemed weird, but figured maybe their front machine was not working. She came out and went and talked with the girl who had been helping me. The girl looked very scared and came to me to tell me that I did not have enough money on the gift card to pay for my order. That I only had 10 even on the card. I explained that it should have more money. She insisted and printed off a "receipt" which was really just the amount that they were charging me now. It did not show any of my previous purchases. I then told the girl that no matter what I had bought previously, even if I had bought more than the two drinks that I knew was the only thing we had gotten (we don't eat there anymore because my tummy can't handle it), there is no way that it would be 10 even. I asked for my card back so that I could look it up. They told me that they couldn't give me the card because they had already cut it up. Mind you, this was only in a few minutes time. They refused to give the card or a receipt. It isn't about the money, but the fact that I believe they were dishonest with me and possibly stealing money off of people's gift cards. If I hadn't been in a hurry, I probably should have called the police. Not over ten bucks but in case something illegal is going on. I can tell you one thing, I will not trust that particular chicken express with my credit cards any more (today was a gift card but still). I tried to look at their website to report it and there is no way to do so. You have to contact the local manager. Be careful friends! They kept implying that I was just mistaking it, but I can honestly say that I don't think I have ever accused anyone of...

I have two different experiences with this location thus the 3 stars.

Inside (dine-in/carry-out): Customer service is great and they are generally fast except when I ask for fresh food which understandably takes longer to cook so we are okay there. If this place didn't have a drive thru or I had no experience with it I would give it 5 stars. If it weren't for the Dr. Pepper issue the inside experience would get 5 stars, but as it is it gets 4 stars.

Drive-thru: They, like 99% of other fast food establishments, have a determination of what "light" and "easy" ice is and even if you state more specifically how little ice you want you will typically get what they consider to be light ice. This is usually still half a cup full. That is until you complain enough and come back enough where they recognize your vehicle and start putting the right amount it. They also fail to mention when they are out of Dr. Pepper to the drive-thru customer so you end up getting bottled Dr. Pepper poured into a cup. Most of the time this ends up being flat Dr. Pepper.

To this point they run out of Dr. Pepper at least once a week it seems. I don't know how exactly, but it's an extremely annoy repeating event. I understand that demand can cause rushes, but if it's something that happens this much adjust your ordering. If I wanted a 2 Liter of Dr. Pepper I could go to Wal-Mart and get one for the same price as I'm paying for the Chicken Express cup? The drive-thru experience gets 2 stars so on average a 3 star establishment. Hopefully they'll get their act together because otherwise they are one of the best fast food...

After not having been to Chicken Express in a couple of years, we decided to get take out this week. My husband watched from the drive through as our order sat on the counter while multiple inside customers were served. Finally, one of the four employees brought his order to him and repeated the order - apparently reading from the ticket, not from actually looking at the contents, because there was a missing item when my husband got home with our food. He called the restaurant and was told that only two people were working. He literally saw four employees. I drove from our home in Nederland all the way back to Port Neches to pick up the missing part of our order. There were four employees working when I got there as well. I was given the missing item and a weak apology for the inconvenience of having to drive back to the restaurant. The employee did not know that my plans had to be postponed to drive there, and my gas light came on while I was en route, not to mention the rest of my food was cold by the time I got home. The spicy chicken tenders were good. The gravy, which we unfortunately purchased an extra, was watery and unflavorful. The fried pickles were fantastic. The corn nuggets were not great. It will surely be at least another two years before we venture back to Chicken Express in Port Neches. Advice: Check your order...