Joe's Crab Shack — Restaurant in Sacramento

If you decide to go, check your credit card charges ASAP.

The short version: we were significantly overcharged, management has been uncooperative, rude, and does not want to refund, only offer a gift card for my "trouble."

The long version: We had lunch at Joe's on a Friday. It was just two of us and the restaurant wasn't busy. We paid with a credit card and left a cash tip. When I checked my credit card account a few days later, I discovered they overcharged me by $45.67.

I called and explained the situation to Alvin the general manager - our bill had been $94, we left a cash tip, my credit card had been charged $140. Alvin promises he will investigate and call back.

Alvin does call back, says he located my receipt, and my bill total was $140, not $94. I ask how that's possible, since the customer copy of my receipt clearly shows the amount as $94. Alvin seems surprised and asks for a copy of my receipt. No problem, I get the email and send a copy.

Alvin calls again and says he found a second receipt for my table paid with a different card for $94. He thinks when the server split our check with the rest of our party, she accidentally put $94 with a $20 tip on the other card and $140 on my card with no tip (because we left a cash tip). I explain there were only two of us at the table, we didn't split a check or use a second card, and ask how his copy of my receipt could show a different amount, since my copy (with my card info) shows the total as $94? He has no idea how this happened, he will need to talk to his IT department.

I ask for a copy of the receipt he found showing the $140 charge on my card; he says he is not able to give me a copy, but will leave a $40 gift card up front for me to pick up for the "trouble." I decline the gift card and request a refund. He assures me it would be a Visa gift card I can use anywhere. I again decline and ask for a refund. Alvin initially says he can't refund, then says they can, but it takes "8-11 weeks to process" and he's trying to save me the trouble by giving me a gift card. I decline. He offers a $45 gift card. I decline. He tells me I'd need to speak to someone named Alain for a refund, but my receipt clearly shows my bill was $140 and Alvin is “trying to help" me with the $45 gift card. When I again request a refund, Alvin gets defensive - he doesn't know what happened, he's on my side and trying to help by not making me wait for a refund, and insists repeatedly that I just take the gift card.

By this point, I'm fed up with the whole situation, so I tell him yet again I do not want a gift card, I do not appreciate the way he is speaking to me, and now I would like full refund. Alvin says fine, he will have Alain call me at 2:30 after the lunch rush to process a full refund... and hangs up on me.

No one calls back, so at 4:00, I call again, and am transferred to Alain. I briefly explain the situation to him.

Alain tells me they don't offer refunds. I ask to speak to Alvin again, because Alvin had told me they would process a full refund. Alain laughs and says "that's not going to happen."

He then tells me Alvin authorised him to refund $45.67 or give me a $50 gift card (yep, upped the amount again). I ask to speak to Alvin. Alvin is gone for the day. I start to say I was overcharged - Alain interrupts and informs me I was NOT overcharged, it was just an honest mistake.

He then claims he and Alvin sat down with the server and she had accidentally switched the charges on two checks, so it was just an honest mistake, not overcharging. For the remainder of the conversation, he interrupts and talks over me, telling me I'm being "ridiculous," they're not going to refund because there's no reason, and this whole conversation is "pointless." He says several times I can complain to anyone I want to, but it "won't do any good," and eventually hangs up on me.

I've now heard from three other friends who’ve had a similar experience at this location in recent months. So clearly there's an...

ADDING:The generic response's from "Joes Crab Shack" are not helpful at all, there is no sincerity whatsoever by doing that and is almost a bigger slap in the face after having an unpleasant experience.*

I am writing this after a very poor experience yesterday at the Sacramento location.

I have visited this establishment numerous amounts of times, and I feel this place is slowly going into the dumps.

Sunday 8/13/23 we attended the Monster Jam to see the monster trucks and celebrate my daughters 8th birthday, and when we were done we asked her where she wanted to eat and she chose Joes Crab shack. The reason she chose this for her birthday Lunch/Dinner was because we took her there a few years ago to celebrate her birthday and she always talks about how much fun she had dressing up, running around and everyone singing happy birthday to her. WELL... that was not the case nor was it even close to it yesterday. Needless to say we had a very disappointed 8 year old on the way home.

When we sat down, we instantly told the server that it was her birthday and my daughter was excited at this point. She ordered the Shark Nibble drink specifically for the fun "THERE IS A SHARK IN THE WATER". That of course did not happen at our table, but she watched and heard it happen at a few others while there.

We then went about our meal and tried to get her to instead look forward to the birthday song and ice cream. The table directly next to us (and in front of my daughter) was also celebrating their birthday. The server we had was serving that table as well and they came out with another server to sing happy birthday to them... My daughter was excited and singing with the restaurant to that lady at her table. They did not do the dress up running around thing, but it is not the end of the world (well, maybe it was for my daughter in a way as she has videos and pictures of doing it before and would not stop talking about it on the way there and complaining after we left).

Well, it came time for her to get HER birthday song/dessert and all she got was her scoop of ice cream... no song... nothing.

We came to this place for all the fun gimmicks that they do, and this server did NONE of them. Our previous birthday visit (4 years ago) she was given a bib all written on, songs sang, birthday celebrated and this time was not even worth it. Shoot, she did not even get a happy birthday song YET she had to watch someone else just minutes prior get that treat..... $180 for 3 people to eat and not get any of the things that we actually came for. I could see her major disappointment so we immediately left to try and make better memories for the remainder of our day.

HIGHLY disappointed in how our experience was.

RAVE TO ROY the balloon guy though, he made her a balloon hat (for a fee of course) and that helped somewhat...

I usually don't write reviews, but I feel it's important to share the incredibly disappointing experience my family and I had at this location on April 11th. We've been loyal Joe's Crab Shack customers for years, but after this visit, I don't think we'll be returning.

We arrived around 7:00 p.m. and were seated right away. After a few minutes, we asked our server if we could move to a window table, and she approved. We got comfortable and settled in -- but shortly after, the senior kitchen manager, Mel Barzola, came over and told us that the table was reserved. He said, "Sorry, there was a reservation and that shouldn't have happened," but offered no real apology, no empathy, and most importantly, no guidance.

After we got up, he didn't even tell us where to sit next -- instead, he turned around and walked away toward the front, leaving us stranded in the middle of the restaurant. A minute later, he came back and told us to return to our original table.

We then politely asked if we could sit at another open corner window table, but he denied it, saying it was reserved for "bigger parties." The frustrating part? The restaurant was practically empty. There was absolutely no reason we couldn't have been accommodated, especially after being moved from a table that had no reservation sign in the first place.

I'm outraged at the complete lack of accommodation, customer care, and basic courtesy. We were treated like an inconvenience rather than guests. There was no effort to make things right, and the whole situation was handled with indifference.

We complied with the request, and still, we were left feeling embarrassed, uncared for, and less important than the other party. It was incredibly disappointing -- especially because this all could have been avoided with simple kindness and better communication.

I have been a loyal patron of Joe's Crab Shack for years, and I felt compelled to share this feedback so that you may consider improving the customer service experience for future guests. I hope that you take this feedback into consideration and implement any necessary changes to ensure that all customers feel...