KFC at Leeds

[185143]

Not sure where to put this, but while bashing a Northern day ranger today, I was changing at Leeds. I arrived at 13:28 from the delayed 13:12 Scarborough service. The excessively long wait to be served and then get food caused me to miss my train (12:54 York). 25 MINUTES I was at KFC.

I wish to make a complaint as the staff weren't exactly rushing and there was a few members of train crew who were unable to be served as service was that slow they would have missed their trains!

Is this normal or was I just unlucky? Either way, my money is to subway from now on!

 

[alexl92]

Possibly worth complaining to KFC but to be quite honest the staff in there probably don't give two hoots - they'd argue it was your responsibility to ensure you didn't miss your train. I generally find that staff in Fast Food outlets really dont care about their job or customer service, speed etc.

 

[507021]

Yeah I'd complain to KFC as well because that's very poor service. I used the same branch back in April on a Sunday (at around lunchtime from memory) and I waited about ten minutes or so to be served which is about the average for me. The longest I've waited in a queue for food at a station was the Burger King at Liverpool Lime Street - only to be told after waiting for 20 minutes that there wasn't much food left so I ended up going to the branch near to Liverpool Central instead where I managed to get the meal I wanted

Generally with the fast food outlets I've used (stations or otherwise) I've never had any complaints about the service. The only time I have was when I used the drive through - and after parking up in the car park to check they had given me what I had ordered (which they hadn't) they refused to give me the meal that I had asked and paid for. Ever since then I've always parked up and gone into the restaurant to order instead

 

[Andrewlong]

Vote with your feet and go elsewhere. I know you were frustrated but how long did you have to wait for next train?

 

[richardio123]

Not sure where to put this, but while bashing a Northern day ranger today, I was changing at Leeds. I arrived at 13:28 from the delayed 13:12 Scarborough service. The excessively long wait to be served and then get food caused me to miss my train (12:54 York). 25 MINUTES I was at KFC.

I wish to make a complaint as the staff weren't exactly rushing and there was a few members of train crew who were unable to be served as service was that slow they would have missed their trains!

Is this normal or was I just unlucky? Either way, my money is to subway from now on!

Ah I work at KFC as a Shift Manager but a company store, the one in Leeds is ran by SSP which makes perfect sense why it took you so long..

https://www.kfc.co.uk/contact#!form

Use that it will send an e-mail directly to head office and it will 'CC' the restaurant in question.

 

[me123]

You'll just have to complain about it, or as has been said vote with your feet. Like all such establishments within or close to transport hubs/facilities, they have no obligation to allow you to meet your connection. It's up to you to manage that. Having said that, 25 minutes is probably too long a wait by the company's own standards (perhaps Richardio knows the standards better?), so perhaps someone will take an interest.

I was looking to grab a sandwich from Subway near Partick station once, and the service was so appallingly slow that I walked out whilst the sandwich was still being made! (The woman, who I later found out was the manager, stopped making my sandwich to answer her mobile phone... I know she was the manager because she later called me to complain that I had complained about her!).

Complaining will probably get you nowhere, but it's also probably the best weapon in your arsenal in that someone in KFC will probably have to at least waste their time reading it.

 

[185143]

Vote with your feet and go elsewhere. I know you were frustrated but how long did you have to wait for next train?

1 hour. That's exactly what I'm doing!

 

[Iskra]

I visited that outlet once (and only once), to be told they had run out of chicken and I would have to wait for more to be cooked.

Also, its seating area is far too small.

 

[507021]

I visited that outlet once (and only once), to be told they had run out of chicken and I would have to wait for more to be cooked.

Also, its seating area is far too small.

That reminds me of the time I went to a McDonalds last year just before teatime. I asked for a Chicken Legend meal only to be told there were no chicken fillets or chips left. Upon asking for just a Big Mac (obviously without the chips) I was told there were none of those either. I ended up with a big box of McChicken Nuggets and some potato wedges instead - but at least they had the drink I asked for! I got a free muffin to go with it though so they were forgiven

I do agree there about the seating area in that outlet. It was fortunate that the weather was nice because I had to sit outside the station to eat my meal due to the KFC's poor seating provision

 

[DownSouth]

Complaining will probably get you nowhere, but it's also probably the best weapon in your arsenal in that someone in KFC will probably have to at least waste their time reading it.

But if, as has been suggested, the store is operated by a franchisee and is not directly managed by KFC then enough complaints could cause the company to consider withdrawing the franchise.

 

[richardio123]

Company policy is all customers should be served and have their order within 5 minutes of joining the queue no matter how long the queue is. Especially in train stations our store inspectors will pick up on this when they do the monthly inspection.

Franchise policies are exactly the same and as stringent as company but franchise holders may not follow these as strongly as company stores do. KFC is trn with 70% franchise stores.

Railway station KFC stores do have strict procedures of not holding customers for long period of times and you should have been told exactly how long your wait was going to be and if this was too long (which is shouldn't be) as it is a QSR then a refund on your order should have been offered.

Hope this helps

 

[WatcherZero]

That reminds me of the time I went to a McDonalds last year just before teatime. I asked for a Chicken Legend meal only to be told there were no chicken fillets or chips left. Upon asking for just a Big Mac (obviously without the chips) I was told there were none of those either. I ended up with a big box of McChicken Nuggets and some potato wedges instead - but at least they had the drink I asked for! I got a free muffin to go with it though so they were forgiven

I do agree there about the seating area in that outlet. It was fortunate that the weather was nice because I had to sit outside the station to eat my meal due to the KFC's poor seating provision

Funny, ive never been in a fast food store that's run out of food, my local McDonalds do regularly run out of drinks though and the local KFC seems to be perpetually suffering power failures that leave it unable to serve ice cream or drinks on the tap (on the plus side you get your moneys worth as they usually substitute the giant bottles of pepsi for drinks their unable to serve).

 

[wensley]

....I wish to make a complaint as the staff weren't exactly rushing...

...Is this normal or was I just unlucky?

Sounds par for the course in general!

The staff at Burger Kings at York have a similar approach - customer service seems to be non-existant and they don't seem to care how long you wait!

If I'm working on the station there is very limited choice for something hot to eat, and I can't normally abandon ship for somehwere else. More than once I've had to bail out of the queue due to having trains to deal with, and no sign of a burger heading my way any time soon :roll:

 

[185143]

Company policy is all customers should be served and have their order within 5 minutes of joining the queue no matter how long the queue is. Especially in train stations our store inspectors will pick up on this when they do the monthly inspection.

Franchise policies are exactly the same and as stringent as company but franchise holders may not follow these as strongly as company stores do. KFC is trn with 70% franchise stores.

Railway station KFC stores do have strict procedures of not holding customers for long period of times and you should have been told exactly how long your wait was going to be and if this was too long (which is shouldn't be) as it is a QSR then a refund on your order should have been offered.

Hope this helps

That's interesting to know. I would have bailed out of the queue a long time before I was served if it wasn't for the fact I'd already paid. No one mentioned a refund or even apologized for the excessive wait!

 

[Darandio]

Sounds par for the course in general!

The staff at Burger Kings at York have a similar approach - customer service seems to be non-existant and they don't seem to care how long you wait!

If I'm working on the station there is very limited choice for something hot to eat, and I can't normally abandon ship for somehwere else. More than once I've had to bail out of the queue due to having trains to deal with, and no sign of a burger heading my way any time soon :roll:

And that is if they had anything in the first place!

Maybe I'm just really unlucky when it comes to BK at York, but the last 3-4 times that I have been, my first choice was unavailable.

On the other hand, I cannot fault Newcastle but I guess it is very different to York in appearance, storage etc.

 

[johntea]

McDonalds is generally the safest bet at Leeds, they always seem to have plenty of the 'standard' items ready to go and ensure there are plenty of staff on the tills at the peak periods.

I generally get served quickly enough at KFC but the amount of times I then open my meal on the train to find missing item(s) is staggering!

 

[61653 HTAFC]

McDonalds is generally the safest bet at Leeds, they always seem to have plenty of the 'standard' items ready to go and ensure there are plenty of staff on the tills at the peak periods.

I generally get served quickly enough at KFC but the amount of times I then open my meal on the train to find missing item(s) is staggering!

The Maccy's also has the same or very similar prices to the high street, whereas BK (and KFC as far as I know) charge a premium. If I fancy a BK at Leeds I make the 10 minute walk down Vicar Lane...

Going slightly off-topic, I've found the quality of staff at Burger King can vary wildly from branch to branch. The Huddersfield one was absolutely appalling, until the franchisee finally went kaput and it closed. It's now a mini Morrisons. The new(-ish) Wakefield one by the bus station is excellent though.

 

[heart-of-wessex]

Not just me who had that problem at BK York then! Last time I used it was a few years ago now, went there half and hour before the GNER train to King's Cross, and still only just made the train!

 

[T3P0]

Kfc at Leeds station accept bite cards - sometimes they give the discount anyway (when I'm in uniform anyway.)

 

[Iskra]

The Maccy's also has the same or very similar prices to the high street, whereas BK (and KFC as far as I know) charge a premium. If I fancy a BK at Leeds I make the 10 minute walk down Vicar Lane...

Going slightly off-topic, I've found the quality of staff at Burger King can vary wildly from branch to branch. The Huddersfield one was absolutely appalling, until the franchisee finally went kaput and it closed. It's now a mini Morrisons. The new(-ish) Wakefield one by the bus station is excellent though.

My current manager was stalked by an employee from there! :roll:

 

[61653 HTAFC]

My current manager was stalked by an employee from there! :roll:

I'm surprised any of them had the wherewithal to stalk someone...

 

[richardio123]

I'm surprised any of them had the wherewithal to stalk someone...

Not all of us who work in fast food are on minimum wage .

 

[Iskra]

Not all of us who work in fast food are on minimum wage .

I know, I was a manager for BK (for 2 weeks ) on £38k. Hated it though, hence the 2 weeks...

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Not all of us who work in fast food are on minimum wage .

Apologies, my dig was at the specific knuckle-draggers that worked at Huddersfield Burger King, rather than a slight at fast food workers in general! Also I was questioning their mental capacity to stalk, rather than financial...

 

[alexl92]

The Maccy's also has the same or very similar prices to the high street, whereas BK (and KFC as far as I know) charge a premium. If I fancy a BK at Leeds I make the 10 minute walk down Vicar Lane...

Going slightly off-topic, I've found the quality of staff at Burger King can vary wildly from branch to branch. The Huddersfield one was absolutely appalling, until the franchisee finally went kaput and it closed. It's now a mini Morrisons. The new(-ish) Wakefield one by the bus station is excellent though.

The staff were awful, apart from one duty manager who was absolutely sorted... but now I have no local Burger King - lets focus on the real issues here