Twisters Burgers & Burritos — Restaurant in Rio Rancho

Mine was a not-great experience that could have been easily turned around, but just didn't. I ordered dinner for my grandson and me, specifying that his dinner should have no cheese, as he has a dairy allergy. This not the first time I have ordered this dinner for him at my Twisters, and previously had no problems. Not the case this time. The attendant took my order at the drive-through and I mentioned twice that my grandson's dinner should have no cheese. The attendant assured me that she noted It on my order. It was very busy and the drive-through line was backed up, with cars pulling forward to wait for their orders to be brought out. Altogether, I was in line for 20 minutes. The drive-through attendant brought my food out to my car, and again I mentioned how important it was that the one dinner have no cheese, and she said it was on the order. I got the food home and opened the container with my grandson's order, and it was covered in cheese. I looked at the ticket and it noted "no cheese" on his dinner. I called the store number on the ticket and was (unhappily) surprised it was a Twisters on the other side of Albuquerque, not my Twisters in Rio Rancho! I Googled to find the correct number, called and asked to speak to "Dai", the server's name on my ticket, feeling she would surely remember me. I had texted my grandson, told him the problem, and he told me he wasn't far from the store and would order his meal again. By the time I unraveled that the attendant was "Silvia" and "Dai" was the General Manager, my grandson was at her window reordering! Silvia spoke with me, apologized that the dinner was incorrectly prepared and that she was able to credit my card for his dinner. I was pleased that Silvia took charge of the situation and felt confident my problem was resolved. After 11 days, I did not see my refund in my bank transactions. I went in to the store, asked for Dai and was told he was only in until 10:00 am. I asked for Silvia but she was not there. Another associate listened to my story, but said that Silvia was not authorized to give me credit for the meal prepared in error. After a bit of black and forth, a man approached and took my contact information, copied my receipt and said that Dai would contact me the following day and that there would be no problem with a refund. Turns out this fellow was the District Manager for Twisters. I thought I was in good hands. The following day (yesterday), there was no call, voice mail or text from Dai. And as a result, I'm writing this review today. I want to point out that only Silvia acted correctly to resolve a fairly minor issue. As a 35-year manager in hospitality, I know Silvia's apology, and offer of a refund were the correct steps to take, whether or not she was authorized to do so. Her manager should have applauded her effort and assisted with the refund. Certainly the District Manager could have done something (anything, really) to end the episode and should have followed up with the manager, at a minimum. All this for a $10 meal. As a consumer, I could just let it go, but that's the problem with consumerism today...acceptance of inferior service. And I, for one, do not accept that...

Normally we prefer to come to this Twisters location as service tends to be decent. However, yesterday, was a horrible customer service experience. I have c-spine issues, which causes me to drop things without intending to as I lose feeling in my hands/arms. We had an online order set for pick up at this location. When I got there, the staff gave us our order and repeatedly stated it was all there. We had order combos, however, upon checking, we were missing our drinks and the "combos" did not come with fries like they normally do. The staff member told me there were no drinks ordered. After I explained that we had ordered combos, which are supposed to come with drinks, she seemed frustrated and told me to pull up the online order. When I pulled up the online order, it wasn't showing there were drinks or fries attached to the order. However, when we looked at the receipt, it stated we ordered 2 combos with large drinks. Once we were able to clear this up, the staff member slammed the large drink cups onto the counter. I had let her know that we had wanted a chocolate and vanilla shake. She stated we didn't order shakes, which is understandable, however, continued by rudely stating everything I ordered was there now and I could leave. I asked about getting shakes and she stated we could order them for $10. I placed the order for the shakes and received them in a drink tray. I wasn't aware I was getting the drinks and the shakes, I was under the impression I was paying an upcharge to replace our drinks with shakes. I was not aware that they did not sell shakes with their combos and they had to be ordered separately. However, the staff member told me the combos still come with drinks, so get them and leave. I had filled the drinks which started fizzing and I accidentally got some on the floor. She sighed in irritation while I asked for napkins because I had made a mess. Her response was, "you sure did". I had offered to clean the mess I had made and explained my c-spine issues, which caused me to have to put the drinks down so I wouldn't make an even bigger mess. She got upset about me still being there, while I tried to explain that if I didn't put the drinks down, I would have dropped them. She didn't care, she ignored me and mopped the floor while rolling her eyes. Come to find out, she was the manager. I had offered to clean my mess and she told me, "No, I need to clean it. You just need to get out of my way." I understand I made a mess and was in the wrong for that, however, my order was messed up and I was treated very poorly from the beginning of picking up my order. I would not recommend coming here after this experience. Management needs to be trained better on customer service skills. Again, I understand I made a mess, however, I was trying to clean it up and was told to take my food and just leave. There was a better way of handling this situation. I get people have bad days and get frustrated, but my order was not complete from the beginning and I shouldn't have been treated any differently for asking for my complete order or for spilling a little soda on the floor, which I had offered...

Although the food is mostly always delicious, more often than not, the order is wrong. One of my big complaints is that when I order a side of EXTRA crispy bacon, they throw the slices in a styrofoam container and it melts through the container. This is very unhealthy given that the melted styrofoam gets in and on your food. When I let them know they will usually take care of it on my next visit but it shouldn't happen in the first place. I've repeatedly suggested and asked that they wrap the bacon in foil rather than waste and use an entire large styrofoam container. Better for the environment, probably less expensive for their bottom line but most importantly for me is my food doesn't get ruined! It's a simple fix that needs to be passed down to all their locations. There's also another annoying issue with how they bag the food. I've attached a photo showing how all the food (sauce) is off to one side and running out into the bag creating a large mess when you get home. I make sure to keep the bag upright and drive normal without any sudden stops or turns but because of how they almost always set the styrofoam boxes into the bag, they are always slanted at an awkward angle causing the chile/juices to run out into the bag. It would be helpful if they either used flat bottom bags or make sure the bags are upright when the food is placed into them so that when grabbed by the handles the boxes don't tilt sideways spilling the food.

UPDATE: The manager, Mari, at this location reached out to me. She informed me that she showed the post and photos to all of her staff and has directed them to adjust how they do things. I asked her if she could possibly let upper management know so that this information could be passed down as training to all the locations. She said she would pass that along. She also replace my meal and even went as far as not asking me to pay for 1 additional item that I requested and offered to pay for when I arrived. I feel she went above and beyond and and will be updating the rating on this post after my next visit if this issue seems to no longer occur. Thank you Twister's management on Southern Blvd...