It was a hot sunny day in Islamabad on Friday January 24th, 2014 when my family and I decided to stop over at KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken), Supermarket F-6 to have lunch. At first, my mother and I hesitated to eat there as both of us had ‘heard’ something controversial about KFC from a few of our close friends. However, we set aside their opinions and went inside anyway. The restaurant was almost full, although there were a few tables available. We walked towards the counter to order our individual meals. My brothers and I ordered the classic ‘zinger burgers’ which KFC was known for. My parents on the other hand, ordered something lighter to eat. The cashier gave us the receipt and we sat down at our table and waited for the order to arrive at the counter. After a few minutes of chatting with my family, one of the staff members of KFC waved his hand to let us know that our order was ready. I went to the counter, showed my receipt and took the tray to the table.
I have an eerie habit of sipping on coke first before eating any meal but my brothers, Hamzah and Hannan could not resist the smell of the burgers. They opened up the covers of the boxes and shockingly, what they found were moldy burger buns messed up from the top. It was hard for me to swallow the bitter fact that the place we were eating at was ‘actually’ KFC, a universally renowned chain. Without wasting any time, I opened up the cover of my box as well and came across the same burger buns which were also stale! My mother stopped us from eating our meals. My father was absolutely furious. He went to the main counter and asked for a refund. “You call these burgers? The buns are not fresh at all! I want a refund, now!” said my Dad ferociously. The manager arrogantly said, “We cannot refund as you’ve paid via credit card.” My father knew this was an irrational excuse. However, the manager said that he would order the chef to make fresh burgers for all of us.
We waited at our table and gave them another chance. A staff member brought food for us at the table. When we opened the boxes, they seemed okay, but as soon as my brothers got hold of the burgers, the buns started to fall apart! They broke into small crumbs and eventually, fell on the table. They were the same expired buns! We could not stand there for even a minute! We left the food on the table and my Dad went up to the manager again and asked for a refund. At first the manager said he could not refund the cash but after persisting for quite a few times, he agreed to give us our money back.
Furthermore, my father asked for a complaint form and the manager handed us an ‘evaluation card’ and expected us to believe that it was the complaint form! My mother scolded the manager for giving us the wrong form deliberately! I went up to the manager and said, “You could have at least apologized to us as courtesy.” The manager seemed so ignorant and angry that he did not even care to apologize. Meanwhile, my mother went up to some tables and warned people not to eat the burgers as they were stale. All of them got alert and a few others, after witnessing two ordeals, refused to eat the burgers! We all decided to go eat somewhere else.
It was a disappointing experience for all of us. We did not expect the manager to act in an absurd manner. The management and coordination were appalling in their conduct. Maybe the manager handed us the evaluation card to escape from the complaint we were about to make. However, my father did write something on the card with regard to this issue. It all comes down to credibility and the way things are managed in such a restaurant which holds a significant spot, globally. A big thumbs down!
