Restaurant Experience

We took the kids to a O'Charley's last Saturday for lunch. We usually go there when we want a sit down, but don't want to spend a lot of money because their kids meals were free and you just had to pay for their drinks.

We were surprised when we got there to discover that the kids meals were no longer free. It wasn't a huge big deal, as I can completely understand the need to charge for those. The prices on most of them weren't horrible and ranged from $2.99 to $5.99. Each kid got their own meal. PM got a Sprite (his treat when we go out to dinner) and DQ got a milk.

When we got our bill we were shocked to see in addition to their meal charges a drink charge. PM's single childs cup of Sprite was $2.19 and DQ's chocolate milk was $1.99. :wtf1

We asked our server about it, as it appeared on the child's menu that the drink was included but you had to pay $1 extra for a smoothie. He was very flip about it and likened it to purchasing an adult meal and you don't get the drink free. I typically would have asked to speak to the manager but DQ was overtired and I really needed to get her home. So we just paid and left.

I filled out the online form regarding our experience because the more I thought about it and the more I looked at the kids menu, that we had brought home, the more upset I became. sure, it is only $4, but it was the principal of the matter.

Yesterday I got not only this response, but a call from the manager:

Hi,

Thank you for taking the time to let us know about your recent visit to our location. On behalf of O’Charley’s, please accept our sincere apologies for the service you received while dining with us. Our goal is to exceed our guests’ expectations and please know we take your feedback very seriously. The drinks most certainly are included in the price of the kids meal. We are forwarding your comments to the Operations Director and General Manager; we appreciate the opportunity to correct these issues so you and every guest will be better served in the future.

We are sending you a gift card to use towards another visit, hoping that we have another opportunity to show you what our company is really about. Again, we apologize for the disappointing experience and look forward to serving you again.

The call from the manager went well, I told her what had happened, including the servers comments. She had already spoken to him and after I told her his comments, she said she was very glad I had told her that and that she would be having another conversation with him. Also, that we should soon be receiving a $10 gift card. Ok, I am glad they are trying to rectify the situation, but the $10 is a little bit measly in my opinion to try to get a family of four to come back. But, at least it gives us back our $ that we were wrongly charged.