I had the unfortunate experience of dining in at the Red Lobster 0033 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd on 6/21/23. We were supposed to have a celebratory dinner but it was a total disaster from start to finish.
Upon arriving at RL we waited and were directed to a booth. Our server Travon W showed up a while after and said I will be back. (You will notice that I am using the words "a while after" because the wait in between was very long). We again waited for a while before he came to take our order for drinks. Again he left and we waited for a while before he brought the drinks. He eventually returned with the drinks with insufficient straws which was another wait for the additional straw. At some point he brought the biscuits and said he would be back to take our order, which again took a long while before he returned. He finally showed up for our food order and 'he kinda threw himself on the table, like leaning his arms onto the table, really not professional and distasteful.' Seeing that each time he left, he was taking such a long time to return, we decided to include "2 additional meals to go" at the same time. Instead what our server said was "I'll take your order to go closer to the time you finish your meals, that way it will be hot." I then said that's okay if it is cold, just place the order now. To me that made no sense because anyone who orders a meal to go expects it to be cold when it reaches its destination. I truly believe he was killing time and never intended to place our order. So we placed our orders for 2 of the ultimate endless shrimp, 1 seaside trio and 1 cajun chicken to dine in. We waited and waited and finally around 940ish, our meals were brought out. I was so very disappointed because instead of getting a regular size plate for the unlimited shrimp, we were given a refill size which is like a kiddie meal. The cajun chicken was dry and looked as if it had been sitting out for quite a while and reheated giving it a rubbery look. Very dissatisfied. The server placed the meals on the table; at the same time we requested the refills of the ultimate endless shrimp because at this rate we may not see him for a long time. He was gone before we realized we had not gotten any cutlery. We waited, while at the same time looking around for the server but no sight of him. He eventually showed up and without any apology said there was no cutlery available but he will get us the take out packs of plastic cutlery. When he returned with that, we again requested the meal refills and we reminded him of our take out orders. About 10:00, he returned and said, "I am sorry but the kitchen is closed so you can't get the take out meals nor the refills." At this point, I was so irritable, angry, hungry and just downright pissed off with this sloppy incompetent server. After we waited so long to be served, bringing us a refill size instead of the regular size meal and now 'notifying' us that the kitchen is closed, so we cannot have anything more, yes I was angry. I was ready to scream at this incompetent guy who really couldn't care less. I said to him "we placed our orders so long ago, why didn't you put it in, I reminded you twice. I am paying for 2 ultimate endless shrimp meals and we are walking out of here dissatisfied and hungry because we were given kiddie meals. We asked to see the manager who approached us apologizing for the closed kitchen. He also didn't really care that we were upset. The manager brought us a refill that he was able to salvage from the kitchen but no time to eat as the restaurant had already closed. To add insult to injury, the manager tried to compensate for their incompetence by offering us 2 discount cards for future meals I believe $10 off $40? I just left those cards there, we couldn't get a decent meal today, why would I return to Red Lobster just to get $10 off $40?
Another couple who were sitting just behind us arrived about 9:30, they waited until just before 10pm before the server showed up and we heard him saying the kitchen was closed, the couple got up to leave, they were clearly upset. However, while speaking with that couple, we overheard him complaining to them that we, our table customers, were very needy. I was appalled and embarrassed to hear this because we actually had very little conversation with this server. How gross disrespectful it is to be complaining to another customer about us as if we were begging for a meal.
To end this long review of my terrible experience at Red Lobster, I will say that workers like Travon who don't like their jobs should just quit. Customer service is very important. You have to genuinely like (or be really good at faking it) meeting people of all diversities in order to work in the hospitality industry because you can never tell who your next customers will be. I love talking with my servers, they are also human. I would never go out to eat without leaving a decent tip sometimes above the normal especially if service was exceptional. Today I left NO TIP, not a cent. Our service was beyond bad and poor, for want of a better word, it was egregious. I had wanted to try this ultimate endless shrimp and it was an absolute disappointment. We felt cheated out of our meals, I feel as if I paid for meals that we didn't receive. We were upset, angry, disappointed and now humiliated after hearing what this server had said about us. His behavior was sloppy, unprofessional, unapologetic, a-don't give a damn-employee who clearly didn't care for his job.

Red lobster complaint for US veteran for the red lobster in lynnwood Washington
J
John Hughes
To Fox13tips
1 day agoDetails
My name is John Hughes, I am a disabled veteran, I live on a small disability check, and I save like 10 dollars a month so once a year I can go to red lobster, this time i was completly discriminated against, I have some ptsd issues, and brain trouble from going to Iraq, anyway i was really excited to finally get some red lobster again, and really long story short I was called a f@#$ing $#*!ed, that I should have my mom order,( because sometimes I get excited and mix my words up) and that i was lying about even being a veteran, but I do have a disability, and then I didn't even get my whole order, the resarount was in lynwood washington off of 196th I think, then my wife had to take a fairy to go get the food as I live on whidbey island, I got in touch with the district manager and she basically just blew me off, she did say they would refund me and I waited patiently but they never have, 350 dollars is a lot of money for us, but on top of that I have never been so disrespected in my life, especially on my favorite day of the year it ruined my year, you don't think I know I have problems, and then to have red lobster point it out to me, if I was jeff bezo this would not have happened when they called me mentally f#^×ing $#*!ed they ment it, they were not joking it hurt my feelings, and then they only gave me half of our food, and that half was burnt and not eatable, i dont know where to turn when a rich company abuses there powers and crushes a little guy like me, anyway I want to warn others who save up there money to eat there, it's not a big story but it ruined my whole year, they do not Care about there Customers Or The Quality of There Food. I Am A Big Man But This Really Hurt, And The Way They said It Was Not Right All They Care About Is There Money

Bugs were in my food.