I wrote an email to Smoothie King Corporate tonight because of the illegal & disgusting treatment we received at the S. Dale Mabry Smoothie King across from Plant High School. I avoid this location at all costs because 2 years ago I had a similarly disrepectful & degrading experience & never went back. These people do not value customers. My mom wanted something cold & sweet so I pulled in to this location with great hesitation. I usually let rude, ignorant behavior go when I feel someone is out of line or wrong because it's not worth being upset. However, this purposeful act of discrimination just can not be ignored because it involved my elderly, handicapped mother. It's been a very long time since I've been so incredibly angry about such a disgusting lack of SIMPLE customer service. My mother & I walked into the Smoothie King on S. Dale Mabry & no one was in the store, but the clerk. The employee took our drink order & we moved over to the cash register to pay. For some reason, the employee (daughter of the owner I found out) did not start our drinks & was doing busy work behind the counter. A man walked approximate 3 minutes behind us & she took his order. We thought she was starting our drinks, but as we would find out a few minutes later, it was his drink. I'd gone to move the car closer to the front because my mom is handicapped & can't walk well. After several minutes in the car, I returned to the store. The man who had walked in behind us, walked out with his smoothie. I was stunned!! I walked in & my mom was struggling to stand up at the cash register, leaning on the counter. At least 10 minutes had gone by from the time we walked into the store and ordered our drinks. This incompetent employee still did not have our drinks ready. My mom was very upset because she was purposely pushed aside because this employee felt my elderly, handicapped mom didn't count as a valued customer. My mom told me that when I went to move the car to the front, this incompetent employee actually said to my mother, ""I'm going to take this man first."" My mom, who is very sweet & polite, just stood there in disbelief. After our drinks were finally finished, I helped my mother back to the car so she could sit down. I went back into the store & told the woman that it's incredibly unprofessional & illegal to discriminate against an obiviously handicapped person!! The employee argued with me that the man was there first. REALLY? When we walked in there were no customers in the store! This ignorant employee then enlisted ANOTHER male customer who had come in after us to jump in & defend her. The employee turned her back on me & the male customer started yelling at me. I got scared & I left. This behavior by the employee was not only discriminatory, but SOOOOO UNNECESSARY!! How hard is it to take the first person in line?? On top of all of this terrible treatment, we returned home to find out the drinks tasted like rotten fruit. Bad product, degrading treatment with a nasty attitude. I truly can't believe these people are still in business. I do appreciate Smoothie King Corporate investigating the illegal & hoffiic treatment we received by this nasty employee. I've been to other locations where the employees smile & they are very pleasant & helpful. Each is individually owned. The staff, management & owners of this location on S. Dale Mabry in Tampa need to revisit an extensive training class on Customer Service, Professional Business & REVIEW THE FLORIDA LAWS IN REGARD TO DISCRIMINATION AGAINST THE ELDERLY & HANDICAPPED. I encourage everyone in South Tampa to choose another location to get their smooties unless you enjoy being treating badly. Again, this was my second time having a horrific experience at this specific Smoothie King. Never again!!
Pros: ONLY IF YOU ENJOY BEING IGNORED & THEN INSULTED
Cons: EMPLOYEE WAS RUDE, UNPROFESSIONAL & DRINKS WERE TASTED BAD
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