la Madeleine — Restaurant in Tyler

We are senior citizens and utilize reward programs when available. Today, I asked to get the reward card punched (buy 5 full breakfast plates receive one free.) Instead of the usual courteous reception, I was boldly told that I would receive only 1 punch per visit. I plainly and articulatly replied that this is our third reward card at they have all been punched one space for each breakfast. The cashier reiterated that the manger gives one punch per visit. I handed the card to the cashier and asked her to give it to someone else. I explained that I expect a business to honor their original agreement until the card is completed. (I also made mention that, as a Google Guide, I would make mention of today's encounter on my Google account. )

After sitting down at our table to await my breakfast, the manger approached to ask if everything is allright. After my replying in the affirmative, twice, he stated he has an employee in tears (in the kitchen) because someone was "yelling" at her. I replied, "Yelling?......I did not raise my voice...and having a cashier who cannot handle confrontation is not a wise managerial decision." The manager began to explain that the decision to limit rewards comes from the corporate office. He continued to attempt his rebuttal but I am intolerant of weak-minded reasonings and began to address the unfair nature of altering a reward program once the consumer has committed to the contractural agreement. The manger walked away as I was speaking because I wasn't listening to his explanation. We began our meal and I shortly excused myself to the lady's room. In my absence, the manager returned to our table with two $25 gift cards and my completely punched-out reward card. He stated that I was correct and punches are for complete breakfast plates. He claims that punches had been given to other patrons and there must've been a misunderstanding among the staff (not my problem...and...not my problem.) Thank you for the unexpected gifts....a well-stated, sincere apology would've been sufficient. The old adage, "the customer is always right", comes to mind. Suggestion: Manager and Staff, How is it that an appropriate reply is the reiteration of the previous response? Please address your customer's concerns: Listen to the words and extract a solution. Bantering before breakfast and requiring overpaying for said meal is not a successful customer retention maneuver. Fellow consumer: Insists on good and fair service. Politely and firmly stand up for your rights. Ask for personal assistance from the manager or owner if necessary. Remind certain argumentative service personnel that consumers have...

I have been a longtime fan of La Madeleine. My daughter and I would meet weekly and take advantage of the kids meal deals on Tuesdays. The manager was always very professional and polite. He often stopped by the tables to check on us. The employees have been great, no problems. I have placed pick up orders often for lunch. The orders are usually on the counter when I arrive-no issues. But today my food died along with my optimism. I arrived at lunch and my order wasn't ready. I noticed that they seemed busy so I patiently waited. I began to worry ten minutes in. I couldn't bail because I had paid on the app. I had glances from employees but no nod of acknowledgement or communication of "be with you in a minute". An employee finally came over and put my food into a plastic bag- normally they put the items in a paper sack that is more equipped to hold sauce, salads, soup (everything stays upright). Unfortunately the lid wasn't on good for the Romanoff sauce or the salad either. When I got to the car I saw the ooze. The sauce had spilled coating the entire contents of the bag and the salad has spilled out and gotten coated with sugary sauce. I hated to have to bother the employees but the food was inedible. I headed back in. Luckily, or so I thought, the employee was finishing up with another to-go order so I caught her and apologetically showed her (as if it were my fault) what happened. She shot me an angry bothered glance and tossed the food in the trash. At that point she walked off and abandoned me. She began waiting on other customers with no intention of helping me. After standing there for a minute then realizing she was ignoring/punishing me I decided I was about 40 minutes into a futile attempt at obtaining lunch so I needed a refund. I walked to the back register and told the employee. She got the manager as the neglectful employee upfront mumbled something about flimsy plastic bags/not the first time/we need more paper bags. I explained the situation and the manager seemed indifferent. She did agree to give me a refund. Ultimately, I have decided that I just cannot order food from La Madeleine again. I have no guarantee that I won't be stuck starving for last 5 hours of my work shift. Suggestions: Communication is key. Acknowledging and communicating to customers sets a good rapport and customers or much more likely to be understanding/patient. If a previously waited on customer has an issue might I suggest you take care of them first then move on to new customers. It seems like a natural order of importance. As a former food service worker it is never okay to be rude...

I've been in contact with la madeleine since (01/25/19), because somehow another email "became" associated with my account, thus locking me out of my account. So over this 12 day span, la madeleine's IT/app support barely responded to my emails, (once a day, if im lucky), and I'm the one who had to continue to reach out..finally I got a responds saying

"Hi,

Thank you for reaching out to us about this; we are happy to assist. This happened because our system keeps track of the number of accounts individual users have on the same device. Each device can only log into two different accounts. Once that limit has been hit, 90 days will have to pass until you can log in with another.

It looks like maybe someone else logged into their LevelUp account using your device.

I've gone ahead and increased the number of devices currently allowed to access your account by one. Please try logging in now, with our apologies for the inconvenience.

Please let me know if you have any other questions or if there is anything else that I can help you with!

Best,

LevelUp Support"

As you can see I was told that the number of devices allowed has been increased, which would allow me to access my account again. But of course as la madeleine's IT/app support proved in the pass, you cant believe anything they say, and it didnt work. So I reached back out saying that I'm still not able to log-into my account, then I received an email saying

" Hi,

Thank you for reaching out again. We are going to escalate this to our senior team. Thank you for your patience while they gather all the appropriate information.

Best,

LevelUp Support"

Then 3 days go by, and I get an email saying the following:

"Hello,

After review, this account will not be available for use moving forward.

Any additional accounts found linked to this account will be denied access. Any additional inquiry regarding this account or linked accounts will result in reiteration of this message. Sincerely,

LevelUp Senior Support"

And every time I reach out, they resend this email..This is absolutely outrageous, and is the worst customer service, I'v have ever experienced! I will NEVER go to another la madeleine cafe, because in order to use any of the perks that they give out you have to use the semi clashing app, and if something goes wrong, "AND IT WILL" you are left up the IT/app support, which will get...