Today was the final straw for this location! I can't believe that I have resorted to writing about Pollo Tropical... However this place has completely become a HEALTH HAZARD. This location is always busy and I think they need to receive a HUGE wakeup call before they seriously hurt someone. I consider myself a regular, three to five times a week. I have noticed a lot of new faces lately so I guess this is how those on the higher pay grade try to keep their jobs when they receive complaints. That's kind of like a plumber putting a band aide on leaky pipe. This place honestly needs a serious health inspection and some serious training on how to prepare food and handle customers. \r
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Today I saw something that will make me NEVER eat at this location again. I noticed a male customer return to the counter with the food he was just given while I was standing there. The customer asked the employee if he could have a different piece of chicken because his piece was very dry. This piece of chicken was very noticeably tamper with (some skin pulled back and a small piece was easily seen to have been removed). The employee gladly changed this piece of chicken but instead of disposing the old piece she placed it on top of the rack where the fresh chicken off the grill is waiting to be served. And yes I did actually see with my own eyes that the chicken he returned was tampered with. I was so shocked and couldn't take my eyes off of the rest of the chicken because my order was being prepared right after this. I didn't know what to say and the pieces of chicken I received didn't touch the tamper piece. \r
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Why didn't I complain or ask for a manager to make them aware of what I observed??? I'll tell you because I made my complaint to a male manager a few months ago in person on more than one occasion, who I no longer see working there, after my chicken was pink just about every time I ordered. This manager just looked at me and the chicken and said, "what do you want me to do" with an attitude and angry facial expressions. Well if that's how the manager acts and if I have to actually tell him to give me a new piece of chicken or ask for a refund then shouldn't I be wearing that name tag? \r
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After a few weeks I gave this restaurant another chance and noticed that male manager was no longer there. However the unprofessionalism from the drive thru employees still seemed to be occurring. Why should I hear the employee laughing the whole time I'm trying to order and then because she didn't pay attention I had to repeat myself upon her request. This seems to occur often and as a result my orders would be completely wrong or I would be missing items. If I order ten orders togo at once I expect mistakes, but if I order one simple order with one or two sides and a drink why shouldn't that be right? After all of this I finally decided to call the number printed on my receipt and asked to speak with a manager. I was asked why and when I said I have a complaint the employee placed me on hold and I was waiting on my speaker phone for approximately 38 minutes. Why did I wait that long before I hung? Because it just continues to prove how dysfunctional this location truly is. I don't think they will wait 38 minutes to collect and count my money. So should it really be my responsibility to contact the CEO of Pollo Tropical and ask them why they can't get it together? \r
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This is a bad economy and everyone is cautious these days with spending money. Wouldn't it be intelligent to make sure your business is running well so you might be able to keep your doors open aside from unnecessary law suits?\r
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If any district or regional managers are reading this, I think you guys might want to monitor your cameras, spend some serious time on site and higher a completely new management staff. If the leadership doesn't care about what's going on then why would the troops??? Maybe the managers on staff at this location are also following poor leadership from the district and regional managers. \r
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Whatever the case may be, you can bet there will be several major lawsuits in the future if they don't already have some pending from spreading bacteria and diseases which may occur as a result of reissuing food that has been returned and tampered with or constant under cooked chicken. I have been a customer of this location for years and this place has really fallen apart over the last year and seems to have also become a MAJOR HEALTH HAZARD. Please eat at your discretion as the staff/management truly do not have your health in mind. \r
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This message is for customer awareness and not intended to belittle or bash this location or employees because they "messed up a few orders". I apologize to the few employees that might be currently working here that actually do their job correctly.
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