My wife and I had THE worst experience ever at this Zips location that we have frequented hundreds of times since moving back to the Spokane area in Dec. 2002. We ordered the same thing we always order...a buddy combo with two double cheeseburgers and a well-done tub of fries from an employee named Gabby, who right away we noticed lacked any personality or customer service demeanor whatsoever (stay tuned for more on that...)

While my wife was eating, she found a hair in her double cheeseburger. She took it back up to the counter and showed it to a blond female employee (whose name unfortunately we do not remember) who was very genuine and apologetic, and also had a new burger made and brought back out to us at our table. We thanked her for making it right and went on eating.

Five minutes or so later, I also found a hair in my burger. I'm not sure why, but I felt bad about it and considered not doing anything, but in the end, I knew I needed to let them know about it, so I did. I talked to the same blonde employee as my wife did and she was visibly disgusted by it and again had a new burger made this time for me. She also offered a free shake of our choice, which we accepted. She should be commended for her customer service excellence!

About halfway through my second burger, I found YET ANOTHER HAIR in my burger. By that time I had lost my appetite for burgers altogether and went back up to the counter for a second time myself, third time between my wife and I, and this time talked to Gabby, the employee from which we had originally ordered. I let her know that I again found a hair in my burger, I showed it to her and as she took the burger I said, "I don't want another one, thanks," and she said, "Oh...well, I don't know what to tell you. Everyone has their hair up as they should," outside of that comment, she offered no apology or reparation of any kind for the trouble we had been through.

lt is my opinion that she should not be working in a customer service capacity at this or any store because she does not have the temperament to do so, lacking any kind of emotion or empathy of any kind, which does not reflect well on the establishment as a whole. I was so shocked and angered by her lack of empathy or emotion for the situation that we left as quickly as possible so as to not cause a scene.

In the morning, I went back to the location to talk to the manager, Jennifer, about the situation. I described the situation and she at least showed sympathy and offered to refund the cost of our meal from the night before (which was the least she could do) and which I accepted. She defended Gabby and her other employees, despite the unbelievable circumstance of 3 out 4 burgers having had hair in them.

One time is bad but understandably could have been an accident, Two times is unlikely and highly concerning, But three times is highly irregular and frankly intolerable.

In fairness to Jennifer, she did say she might need to have employees start wearing hairnets, which I agreed would be a good practice moving forward and I expressed that I hope it will happen. Time will determine whether that actually happens or not.

This Zips location has been our "go-to" location for hamburgers for more than 20 years, frequently meeting friends or bringing family that were visiting from out of town with us whenever we could. Looking at our bank account history from the past 10 months, we found that we have eaten at that location more than 30 times. Never in my life had I had such a negative experience at a restaurant as I did last night. One thing is sure, I will not be going to this Zips, or likely any other Zips location any time soon, if ever again, due to this horrible experience.