Moe's Southwest Grill — Restaurant in Tampa

I don't really give reviews in general, good or bad, unless something was outstandingly good or unbearably bad. This was obviously the latter.

Story time!!!

I work next to this Moe's so when I do order through the app, its the only location I use. I've used them before without issue, I do admit. However, the chain of events today were purely and simply unacceptable.

Friday is always the busiest day for me so I just ordered a chicken bowl through the app. Total cost $15.15. Not a huge amount of money, and the only condition is to give them at least 15 minutes before you go to pick it up. I get busy at work and something strange happens: I get a message from the Moe's app saying I've earned 140 points. This was almost exactly 20 minutes on the nose after I ordered it on the app.

However, this message never pops up on my phone until AFTER I pick up the order. I immediately head over.

Initially the employees were confused because they couldn't locate my order, which already confirmed my suspicion: the meal I paid for had been given away to someone else for free.

At this point, everything is forgivable. But here is where my real problem is (if you can believe the other part wasn't the problem): the run around, excuses, and lies I got waiting there for 30 MINUTES was a deal breaker. If they just fessed up right away and offered to remake it, I'd be fine with that. Mistakes happen. However, I was then told the following, in this order: FIRST that they couldn't find it in the pick up section but it should be there, then they said they located my ticket and it was coming down the assembly line (which was a lie), then told me to CHECK THE ADDRESS ON MY ORDER (not a fan of condescending attitudes in customer service in general), and finally, that they didn't have it---with a shrug and then went back to work, ignoring me.

WITH. A. SHRUG.

So now, I've spent $15.15 and 50 minutes of my lunch time trying being lied to, misdirected, and then brushed off.

I paid for someone else's lunch, got to stand around and be lied to, then had to go back to work, hungry with no time left to get something else and $15 bucks poorer. That's the best way to spend what little time I have on our busiest day.

I did talk to a supervisor later over the phone, just to let him know what happened (I did not cause a scene inside the Moe's itself because I do have at least that much decency, even after how I as treated). To his credit he offered to make me one and bring it over, but that wasn't the point anymore, and that still wouldn't get my money back (he did, eventually, offer to refund it).

I've had a lifetime in customer service, have a Bach Degree in Hospitality Administration, and pride myself on my personal customer interaction. So maybe I set a high bar for myself and shouldn't project my standards and expectations of everyone else.

Or, maybe, just maybe... your employees shouldn't shrug at people and go back to working when they give your food away that you already paid for to to someone else.

A real crazy damn concept.

The app has been uninstalled, called my bank to dispute the transaction just in case it isn't refunded (there is no trust there), and now my anger has slipped into a rather somber disappointment, but a burning need to at least tell the story publicly. Oh, and still hungry.

At least I got 140 points....

I had the WORST EXPERIENCE at this location a couple of weeks ago. Didn't even hear the "Welcome to Moe's" greeting once during the hour or so we were there. After going to this location[Moe's Southwest Grill, 2543 N Dale Mabry, Tampa] at least once a week, the food quality has drastically declined, and the operational problems have escalated [no soft drinks, unable to process gift cards, unable to use 'customer points' etc]. I sent two emails [franchise holder and corporate] as did two of my dinner companions, but to no avail. Two weeks later and still NO REPLY. We haven't returned since. No wonder people still go to Chipotle. Here is the original email sent to the franchise holder, Mia M Mclure: Mia:

I recently returned to Tampa after a three year absence. During that time, I lived in Atlanta and discovered Moe's. Several friends and I made regular trips to Moe's, nearly every Monday and usually at least one or two additional visits during the week. We got to know the owner [who was frequently present] as well as the GM [who himself was a former Moe's franchisee]. The service was great, the staff was friendly and they NEVER failed to stop by during our meals to check on the quality of our experience.

Last May, I came back to Tampa and immediately looked for a nearby Moe's. Your location is closest to my home, and the experience over the first few months was ALWAYS satisfactory. We were always warmly greeted with a robust "Welcome to Moe's" and our food quality was exceptional. In the last year we have visited your location dozens of times. When a long time friend moved to Tampa in October, he soon joined our Monday tradition ... as well as numerous mid-week meals at Moe's. He agreed: The experience was awesome!

Recently, however, this has changed - dramatically and for the worse. One employee [Destiny? Destine?] is always cheerful and remembers us every time we come in. If for some reason one of us misses a visit, she even asks where the 'other one' is. The last several visits were particularly disappointing. Today's visit was tragic. Among the issues:

You were out of 'regular' rice at 6 pm, the height of dinner rush; Your rewards program was inaccessible [as it has been for our last few visits]; Your Coke machine was not functioning properly and out of most flavors; Your only iced tea options [sweet and unsweet] were GREEN tea; Your corn salsa had virtually no corn and tasted like diced tomatoes; Your gift card system was down [as it has been for at least 4-5 months]; Your air conditioning seemed to be barely working; Yours men's room door lock was broken; Your queso was lukewarm at best; and No one ever said "Welcome to Moe's" the entire time we were there.

Individually these issues would be annoying. Collectively they are inspiring us to look for an alternate Moe's for our weekly visits. I do not know whether you are a hands-on owner, but I am certain that you would want to be aware of these problems. As a provider of marketing and social media management services for numerous businesses, I always advise my clients to be aware of these situations as a proactive measure. I hope you will take these concerns to heart and resolve the issues before our next visit or it may well be our last.

Best...

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Moe's, but this location...... Disgraceful. First off, no cheerful "Welcome to Moe's " upon entering, looked to be understaffed. Looking at the meqt in the pans through the glass, it looked as if the meat was made 2 days prior and just sat out overnight until next day. The employees were extremely unfriendly during ordering process. Upon sitting down pretty much every table was either dirty or sticky, including the seats. The salsa bar was filthy. Salsa everywhere and dried up on counter. Soggy lemons. Even the screen on the soda machine was dirty and sticky. The food tasted nothing like traditional Moe's. Meat was greasy and entire burrito was soggy but oddly tasteless. The chips tasted stale and had a weird fishy flavor to them. I noticed my homewrecker burrito didn't have guacamole on it and went back up to counter to ask for it. The employee who I am guessing was either the manager or shift leader (Mike, I think his name was -?) looked at me with disgust, as though I had 2 heads and responded with, "ok, and? What do you want a side of guac or something? " ..... The whole experience was horrible, food and service was straight disgusting , entire restaurant was FILTHY, and to top it all off my daughter was VIOLENTLY ill after eating there and I suffered from heartburn until the next afternoon. That was my first and absolute last time ever going to...