Taco Bell — Restaurant in White Pine

I'm writing this review to express my profound disappointment with the Taco Bell location in White Pine, TN. For years, my family and I were loyal patrons, frequently spending around $65 on a single order every week. We were happy to support a local business. However, a recent experience has completely soured our relationship, and it all comes down to a complete lack of professionalism and customer service at every level. The issues began with my last visit, where the in-store service was, to put it mildly, unprofessional. The way I was spoken to was completely unacceptable, and it left me feeling disrespected and frustrated. As a customer who had just spent a significant amount of money, I expected a basic level of courtesy that was not provided. Following this incident, I did what any customer would do: I filed a formal complaint, requesting to be followed up with by management to discuss the issue. I was patient and waited for a response. After hearing nothing, I followed up a second time, reiterating the details of my complaint and my desire to resolve the situation. The complete silence that followed is truly what solidifies this one-star review. It has now been a significant amount of time, and I have heard absolutely nothing from management. This isn't just one oversight; it's a blatant dismissal of my concerns, not once, but twice. It's obvious that the upper management here simply views a customer complaint as a nuisance to be ignored, rather than an opportunity to improve their service and retain a loyal customer. My $65 weekly orders were a staple, but it's clear that this business takes its customers for granted. They've made it painfully obvious that they don't value my business, and in fact, they've made me feel like a burden for simply expecting the courtesy of a response. My money and my loyalty will now go to a business that actually appreciates its customers. The lack of accountability and basic respect from this location is shocking and incredibly...

Manager on duty (he refused to give us his name) was extremely rude after order was made incorrectly. Informed us to contact the GM in the morning and let her know to get more people to work at night. My husband asked what was going to be done for our trouble of having to go back through the long line and he was told the only thing they'd do was remake the messed up item. When pressed about how not having enough staff had anything to do with our order being wrong, he said "well, mistakes happen." As we were handed the item, the other, female, self-described manager said, "just go. You're holding up my line". As we were pulling away, the first M.O.D said, "go ahead, prissy boy. Go write your Google review." This was an overall extremely disappointing and unacceptable interaction. I'm shocked that customer service has fallen this far.

**Positives - one of the 3 ordered items was very hot and obviously freshly made.

Ideally, the aforementioned GM will see this and make some changes to improve service. I don't believe in the "customer's always right", because restaurant staff deserve more respect than they typically get, BUT openly disrespecting and name calling customers who have a genuine issue and are simply asking to be compensated (all we'd asked for was an extra $1.99 double Taco that they'd messed up) for their time and trouble is out of bounds. At bare minimum, customers should hear an apology and have the manager take responsibility...

Stopped in at 11p on the way home. Ordered our food and as we pulled away realized our order might have had an extra taco. We got a parking spot to check the order and 5 of the 9 items were wrong. 3 were slightly wrong (regular instead of supreme) and 2 were completely wrong items. Unfortunately we had to get back into the drive thru and wait to get back to the call box, explain what happened, be directed to the window, speak to a manager and get the order fixed. The only reason I am giving this five stars is based on how the manager handled the situation. He responded quickly and politely and apologeticly. The cashier on the other hand cut me off as I tried to speak to explain what happened and said "let me get me manager, it might make sense to him." Then as she handed the corrected order to me she said "hope we got it right this time..." No, you check the order you ask the customer, you ensure customer service. I don't have to be "satisfied" but I should at least be served and treated with respect. This industry absolutely deserves to make a liveable wage but employers but do their diligence to hire competent and company-minded employees who will represent the brand well...