Legends story to be researched by KCCI

[DaddyMac]

My only point in all of this is quite simply.... When you have a business owner that acts in the way this guy acted then you get what you deserve. If the customer was being absolutely obnoxious and rude the guy still didn't have to do what he did. He simply could have pointed towards the door and politely asked them to leave. Instead he ranted and raved and gave them a reason to make this into the big deal that it has become.

Obviously the lady who wrote the email felt compelled enough to take the time to type that email up and send it out to everyone she knows because of the poor service and the owners behavior. Do you think she would be dumb enough to do so if the group she was with was acting in the same way and think that the truth won't come out? I doubt it, but who really knows.

I'll agree with the first part. He should've just told them they got a free meal and be on their way. I'll add this - I've had lousy, lousy service as well out of Legends - although the Pleasant Hill location. Our bike club has stopped going there due to staffing issues very similar to this, and across several occassions.

It's never escalated to anything resembling this however. My opinion - it takes two to tango in these situations.

As for the second part, and your question, yes I can believe it. Easily. Some people are just that special.

[Cyclonestate78]

Again, you're taking this lady, who you've never met, at her word that it went from zero to hasta luego with nothing in between. Here's a conversation I can easily imagine having happened:

Teacher: Waitress! There's a hair in my salad!
Waitress: Sorry about that, I'll take it back for you.
Teacher: (snarkily) Can I get an apology, please?
Waitress: Ma'am I didn't put the hair in your salad, please let me see what I can do.
Teacher: I want to talk to a manager.

Manager: What seems to be the problem?
Teacher: Well there was a hair in the salad...
Manager: Sorry about that, I'll make sure you're not charged for it.
Teacher: Also that waitress was very...
Manager: Ma'am we're a little swamped, if you want to talk about this further you'll have to wait, but I will take care of comping your meal.

Teacher: We're still waiting.
Manager: Sorry about that. We were'nt expecting a big crowd. Can you please wait a little longer.
Teacher: We've been waiting and now we'll be late for our meeting!
Manager: I'm sorry, if you want I suppose I can get the owner to talk to you.
Teacher: (snarkily) You do that!

The owner was interviewed on tv... did he refute anything from the email detailing what had happened? Did he comment on the antics of the group that complained? If he had a major problem with how they were acting don't you think he would have stated that loud and clear on the Channel 8 news?

Someone had just written a detailed description of what happened during the incident. It was a very onesided view of the events.... Don't you think he would have set the record straight had the description not been accurate?

[wgleason]

The server probably had tenure. So, even though they were a terrible server there was nothing that could be done about!

[CloneIce]

This whole thing is a great example of the power of the internet and how connected people are these days and how minor incidents can really come back to haunt you. In the past the only people who would've known about this are the people who were there that day and their acquaintances. Kind of crazy to think about.

[DaddyMac]

The server probably had tenure. So, even though they were a terrible server there was nothing that could be done about!

[Clonefan32]

The owner was interviewed on tv... did he refute anything from the email detailing what had happened? Did he comment on the antics of the group that complained? If he had a major problem with how they were acting don't you think he would have stated that loud and clear on the Channel 8 news?

Someone had just written a detailed description of what happened during the incident. It was a very onesided view of the events.... Don't you think he would have set the record straight had the description not been accurate?

Even if everything in that e-mail is true, personally boycott the place, and maybe tell some family and friends about your treatment. What good comes out of trying to run someone out of business? Is it worth trying to put people out of work because the owner yelled at you?

[Cyclonestate78]

Even if everything in that e-mail is true, personally boycott the place, and maybe tell some family and friends about your treatment. What good comes out of trying to run someone out of business? Is it worth trying to put people out of work because the owner yelled at you?

Here is a little test we will try....

Who is the worst property manager in Ames?

FYI.... telling your family and friends will result in the same type of deal but only much slower. News travels quickly on the internet so all the email did was speed up the process.

[Clonefan32]

Here is a little test we will try....

Who is the worst property manager in Ames?

FYI.... telling your family and friends will result in the same type of deal but only much slower. News travels quickly on the internet so all the email did was speed up the process.

So you condone trying to ruin someone's reputation based on hearsay based on one isoalted incident? That seems reasonable, and reason enough to attempt to put people out of work.

[ruxCYtable]

The story was on last night at 10 PM. The owner apologized. It should have all been over when the owner gave the customer the meal free. However the customer chose to be vindictive and escalate the incident. The customer wanted blood and the waitress fired.

This was handled poorly by both sides. Often times a customer simply wants an apology, an acceptance of responsibility and, in some cases, a free meal. If what you are saying is true, it sounds like this person was being unreasonable and it escalated from that point. Nothing excuses the behavior of the waitress or the owner, however, if the email account is true. You offer your best remedy possible and, if it's not enough and the customer makes a scene, you simply say you're sorry, you've done all you can do, I have to get back to work and you need to leave.

I hate to generalize because it always makes a person look bad, but some generalizations simply seem to be true, for whatever reason. In college, I worked at a restaurant near the Grant Wood AEA. We would sometimes get large groups of teachers in unannounced during our extremely busy lunch hour. I think in the place I worked we did a good job to accommodate these large groups and give them good service. I always felt teachers were difficult customers. They seemed to want to be waited on hand and foot and, although being busy is never an excuse for poor service, they never seemed happy, never seemed to realize how hard you were working to take care of them and they were lousy tippers. My theory was that since many of them had never worked in the private sector, they understood nothing of efficiency and had blinders on when it came to understanding the retail/service sector.

This is not meant to disparage teachers, who I think do a wonderful job, particularly here in Iowa, in the face of enormous obstacles like problem students and parents. There just seems to me to be something about the job that they do that makes them more difficult people to deal with in situations such as these.

[marothisu]

http://www.cyclonefanatic.com/forum/...own-funny.html (Legends Bar and Grill downtown...funny)

lmao the owner sounds like a complete idiot.


is this the same guy who owns Legends in Ames? Because a handful of years ago, they accused my friend of stealing something from there when he didn't and the surveillance showed he didn't either, but they still tried to pursue it.

[CycloneChris]

I have to say, this whole story cracks me up. Only in Des Moines, IA would a group of teachers start this type of campaign, and a news station actually pick this story up. At this point, the owner of the restaurant has no choice but to save face, and apologize with zero rebuttal to the comments.

Quite frankly, I'm left wanting more. What kind of a salad was it? How about the dressing? What was the color of the hair? What color hair did the waitress have? What hair products did the waitress use? Why hasn't anyone found a picture of Marsha Richards, the teacher who started this?

[ddisu]

Not defending this situation, but some of you have never owned a business. We have a family business and we have asked a few folks to never come back again. They paid, but they were not worth the headaches and complaints. No matter what, you could not please them. Mistakes will happen and if the customer is dissatisfied with the resoultion no matter what, what can you do?

If you treat everyone well, the people that patronize your business will see that. They will also see that sometimes you have to deal with an unpleasant customer however you see fit.

So you condone trying to ruin someone's reputation based on hearsay based on one isoalted incident? That seems reasonable, and reason enough to attempt to put people out of work.

Look at my quote. It is hard for one complaint to bring down a business if it is a good business to begin with.

[Flag Guy]

While the owner certainly acted inappropriately... I am reminded of a situation when I was younger working as a lifeguard at a YMCA. A particular patron got to me in a way no one else ever managed to, and I went off the handle on her (She deserved it... she tracked down my coworker, cornered her and yelled at her, driving her to tears, even though I was the one that had told her kids to stop doing something).

I fully expected to get in trouble for what happened, but I was later told this particular customer had a habit of going off on staff to provoke an argument in order to demand a refund for her membership, then come back a few months later, and repeat. Her business was no longer welcome at that location, and that was that.

Not to say I acted appropriately in that situation either, but I can certainly see where the staff or manager would have been provoked by someone who just can't be appeased and was looking to make a public scene. That e-mail is probably leaving out a lot of deatils

[Clonefan32]

Look at my quote. It is hard for one complaint to bring down a business if it is a good business to begin with.

One complaint disseminated throughout the internet and news media can.

[iccyfan]

My first thought - hair in a salad - who cares!!!

My second thought - how pathetic are our local TV stations getting such that this is considered newsworthy?

A Cedar Rapids station ran a "Smiley Face Killers" story last week that seemingly came straight from the pages of Cyclone Fanatic. Are journalism programs really this poor such that "professional journalists" are running with internet clutter for stories?