Complaint Rating:

Company information:
Buffalo Wild Wings
Broadway and Harrison
United States

I went in to Buffalo wild wings at 10:00 p.m., the same time I usually come in at least twice a week. My party and I ordered our food and drinks and everything was going just fine (keeping in mind I never really expect GREAT service from BWW). But, even that is past the point because this complaint has nothing to do with the service I received. So, continuing on, last call was announced at about 10:40 and the bartender asked everyone in the area (maybe 3 others aside from my 5 person party) if they wanted anything more to drink. My friend had ordered a beer somewhere between five and ten minutes prior to last call, and he replied in an extremely sarcastic manner that he had ordered a beer 20 minutes ago. I must state here, again, that we all are regulars at this place. The bartender should really know our faces by now. Notwithstanding this fact, she made a smart comment back to my friend that was completely unnecessary. In response, he said, "What?", and she repeated her comment and then added on some. We were all caught very off guard and my friend responded in a serious tone that "He didn't appreciate her lip" and she responded that she didn’t “appreciated his lip eiher.” Now, I understand that he did not phrase his response well, but the bartender should have shut up by this point. But she didn't. She continued to hollar disrespectful comments across the room at my friend (with other customers watching). Finally, this "moment" culminated in her telling my friend that he could step outside- and he did just that (handing his card to a waitress to run his tab before he took off). At this point, everyone inside the bar was uncomfortable (you could have heard a pin drop). I did not even know what to do. I had never been so disrespected in a restaurant in my life by an employee, let alone a restaurant I visit at least two times a week. So, not really knowing what to do (talk to a manager or call corporate later) we all sat there and sipped on our drinks. When our waitress was going around cleaning tables, I pulled her aside and let her know how upset the whole event had left me and my party. She was a newer waitress there, so I very nicely let her know that we were regulars and that had I not been a regular she would have gotten a $0.00 tip (I did this in hopes that she might have a word with the bartender to shush and treat customers with respect after we took off). Keep in mind now that I did put a 30% gratuity on my check. After I shared my thoughts with her (truly in a calm voice cause I was still in shock), she agreed that everyone, even herself, was left feeling very awkward by the encounter. So, I thought all was done and she might have a word with her fellow employee to, maybe, be a decent employee (or something?). Well, it wasn't over yet. I'm sure it was clear what I was discussing with the waitress since I pulled her aside... so, 2 or 3 minutes later the manager appeared behind the bar with the bartender. They were openly talking trash about our entire party and the situation that had taken place in voices so that we could hear (we were the farthest party away from the bar so other customers could clearly hear as well). Can I state that again please- the MANAGER on duty as well as the bartender were talking trash about us and the incident with my friend earlier, right in front of our faces. Even though I didn't think I could be caught more off guard than I was before, it was horrible. I could not help but announce to them, "Are you serious?" The bartender responded, "You shouldn't come to a bar for customer service!" The manager laughed with her. [Let me say here that if you consider BWW a real bar, you have either no bar experience or just drink there every night (in front of the families that come in and eat dinner with their 2 year olds). If I was at a real bar and received this response I would have laughed because they would have "got me good" :-). And I do mean that whole heartedly.] My other friend then inquired, "Aren't you the manager?" The MANAGER responded in a yelling, animated, and unpleasant voice, "YES! I AM!" My friend and I who had split the tab of the table looked at each other, scratched out our tips (which, yes, were still on the check until this point), and walked out. When we got outside, we were still all dumbfounded as to what just happened. We stood outside and chatted about what had happened, and agreed that corporate needed a call tomorrow (today). From our chat I also learned that the MANAGER was outside smoking with another employee (a cigarette break, that's fine by me). But, while on this break I also learned that she was drinking a beverage that came from behind the bar (my friends had seen her get this; by the way- alcohol break, not fine by me). So, that wraps up my complaint. I have not yet delivered a complaint to corporation by phone or email, but thought this might be a good "brainstorming" exercise to help me figure out what I would say to them. Let me wrap this up by saying that I would gladly go back to BWW if I never saw those two employees again. It has been my and my friend's "watering hole" for some time now and everything has been fine until this. Please give feedback on any thoughts about what to do so that these employees receive more than a slap on the wrist. In my opinion they need to be fired (doesn't the manager do that? oh wait, that's right, the manager was included).