Back in the spring of 2017 I had a tonsillectomy and the only thing I could drink without being in horrible pain was Chicken Express tea. Ever since then we have purchased 3 or 4 gallons of tea per week. Last week (Tuesday) we purchased 2 gallons that were weak and not very sweet. Knowing that we would be getting more tea soon and not wanting to complain, we just sweetened the tea at home. A couple days later (Thursday) we purchased 2 more gallons. Same thing...weak and not very sweet.
I called the store and was told that a manager would call me back. No one ever called. I returned to the store the next day and asked to speak to a manager. The cashier was annoyed that she had to find the manager, but reluctantly did so.
The manager, Luis, came to the front and leaned against the wall while I explained the same story as above. He just stared at me and then said “Okay?” I explained that I was hoping he could help me since we come in a couple times per week. He then told me that if there actually was a problem with the tea I would have turned around and returned to the store right away. I explained that I have a 3 year old and that isn’t always possible. I also told him that I had called, but he said there weren’t any messages for him so I must not have.
At this point the cashier was standing there rolling her eyes and there were several customers waiting to place orders. I said, “I’m sorry you didn’t get the message. I just wanted to let you know that the tea hasn’t been up to the usual standard and I was just hoping there was some way to make it right since we have been here a couple times per week for almost a year.” He said, “Yeah, I know. I’ve seen you in here. There’s nothing wrong with our tea, but I guess I can just give you another gallon.” He handed me a gallon of tea and then said nothing else.
I told my husband what happened and he was upset that after spending so much money there (even after the price of tea increased) that a manager didn’t want to help us and basically didn’t believe me. He returned to the store and asked to speak to Luis. The cashier was once again annoyed.
Luis proceeded to tell my husband that yes he sees me at the store a lot so he knows that we’ve spent a lot of money there. But that he was perfectly reasonable and did everything he could to help me. My husband explained that the way Luis had spoken to me was not reasonable and certainly was not “everything he could do,” especially when he knows we are frequent customers. Luis told him “I think I’ve seen her a couple times, but I already gave you a gallon and I guess that wasn’t good enough”
My husband asked for a number to the district manager and then left. When he got to the car he realized one of the numbers that Luis had written down was smudged. He went back inside to ask for clarification on the number. The cashier saw him, rolled her eyes, and said “Again!” to Luis. Well at that moment Luis was on his cellphone (where my husband could see him) calling the district manager to tell him about a problem customer (me and my husband). Luis confirmed the number and my husband left.
He proceeded to call the district manager and left a message. He didn’t hear back so he called again. Still haven’t heard back. We have not been back to the store.