Thinking It's Time to Say Goodbye to My Local Takeaway

hamsammich on 01/08/2024 - 15:32

Been going to my local takeaway joint for years. Food was always good, reasonable prices and I always like to support local.

Over time, prices have gone up, quality on some things have dropped. Not only can wait times be long but they'll regularly tell me food will be ready in say 15 minutes but will usually be double that. Or I'll arrange to pickup at a certain time and as I walk into the shop they tell me my food is coming up now. But then I'll end up sitting around for another 10-15 mins as the food actually isn't ready. Other times I'll go into the shop to order something and there will be no one in the shop. Someone will be out the back or outside somewhere having a ciggie. End up standing around the counter for them to eventually come back in. Other times you'll go in and they'll be in a mood or arguing with each other and won't have a sense of customer service because I know them and they'll only be polite to tourists. Also there's times where they'll put a group of tourists orders ahead of mine even if order before them. They have a 'He knows us, he won't mind' attitude and it's more important to priorities people who will probably never be back instead of regular locals.

Other day went in there to book some food to take home (which they had in stock) arranged to come back at a certain time. Come back at the set time, go to the counter and the owner gives me a Whoopsie look and tells me that they sold my order. Despite having it in stock when I came in and me giving them a clear time for pickup, they never bother to write a ticket and just forget it. Told me to come back in and hour or two and they'll have it back in stock.

Despite being a regular customer and on pretty good terms with the owners, feel like it's worth less and less supporting this place. Prices are up, vague waiting times, stuffing up orders. A few places around here slip into a She'll be Right attitude and focus on tourist trade but will also complain about how hard they have it. Even though I've tried to support this place, I don't see the point giving them my money any more.

Food & Grocery

Comments

  • sharkyoz on 01/08/2024 - 15:37
    +48

    Tell them!!! No way they'll improve if they aren't told.

    • hamsammich on 01/08/2024 - 16:01
      +5

      I dunno. They've received reviews which bring up things I mentioned but they've never improved.

      • freefall101 on 01/08/2024 - 16:17
        +30

        Reviews on the internet are worthless, a regular customer talking to them will mean a lot more to them.

        • magic8ballgag on 02/08/2024 - 08:02
          +13

          Reviews on the internet are worthless

          I'm not sure about that, I read reviews before I decide to try a new restaurant.

          • freefall101 on 02/08/2024 - 10:31
            +1

            @magic8ballgag: I guess not 100% worthless, but it's usually only good to tell if a place is really good or really bad. It's hard to tell if individual reviews are cranks or legitimate regular customers voicing a complaint. I'd still take someone telling me what a restaurant is like over online reviews any day.

            If I saw OPs entire post that captures that it's a general downhill trend on the vibe and quality I'd pay attention, but it's rare reviews are well written. I'd be surprised if the reviews mentioned bringing up issues really capture the bigger problem of quality.

        • smartProverble on 02/08/2024 - 19:34
          -2

          The challenge is doing that without getting into a fight and the ending up in prison.

        • smartazz104 on 04/08/2024 - 09:54

          If they aren’t smart enough to treat a regular customer right, they’ll probably go off the deep end if you actually tell them. People these days have a short fuse.

          • hamsammich on 04/08/2024 - 13:09

            @smartazz104: Well that's the thing. It's like when people say don't tell the council about a barking dog, go to the persons house and speak to them face to face. But the thing is there's people who take everything as a personal attack and blow up over it.

            I've been in this place and heard them talk shit about customers who they've had some minor disagreement with. I doubt they'd take my list of complaints in a constructive manner.

      • skillet on 02/08/2024 - 09:12
        +1

        Despite being a regular customer and on pretty good terms with the owners

        What do you mean by pretty good terms with the owners? Do you mean you know them by the face and not names? If you are not telling them your poor customer experience then tell them straight in the face.

      • skittlebrau on 03/08/2024 - 13:57

        Maybe they don’t read the reviews or are unaware of them? If business is going steady and they’re busy a lot, they probably haven’t thought to check?

      • goldiep on 04/08/2024 - 20:10

        Agree - if it takes you to say something after all these instances, than I doubt you telling them directly will matter. They clearly do not care and will most likely think the issue is you.

        Let your feet do the talking.

    • hamsammich on 01/08/2024 - 16:33
      +1

      I guess the benefit of a review is it warns other patrons of what to expect. I've seen and heard of other customers complaining about things in store and the owners don't really take it as constructive criticism and take it personally. Or they start talking shit about the customers when they leave.

    • Hugh G Rection on 02/08/2024 - 17:51
      +1

      lol, this is exactly what i was thinking. its worse then having a girlfriend expecting you to read there mind.

    • HeWhoKnows on 03/08/2024 - 17:21
      -1

      Unfortunately this is what happens with places that and good and hence become popular.
      Look for a new place.
      A cafe or restaurant that has just opened up and has good prices.
      But costs are going up everywhere and any place thats good gets found out quickly

  • Cheaplikethebird on 01/08/2024 - 15:47
    +4

    What kind of takeaway is it? There's not much you can't easily make better at home if you invest in the right tools.

    • hamsammich on 01/08/2024 - 16:02

      Burgers, salads, chips etc

      • BewareOfThe Dog on 01/08/2024 - 21:53

        Well if its a fish and chips shop, enough said. Anything deep gripe will taste off, unless they cook seafood separately.

      • Cheaplikethebird on 02/08/2024 - 08:28
        +4

        Grab yourself a Tefal Oleoclean deep fryer on sale (~$150 at Good Guys) and some sort of griddle and do it at home.

        I went down the rabbithole properly, bought a grinder attachment for my kitchenaid and I'm pumping out my own burgers at about $5 worth of ingredients for a double pounder burger that rivals any of the burger shops I've been to in Melbourne.

        • Antikythera on 02/08/2024 - 17:13
          +2

          make sweet bread dough in the kitchenaid with the dough hook.
          let it raise and knock it back. roll it out to about half a cm thick and let it raise slightly again.

          cut the outer circle with a pint glass and the inner circle with a shot glass.

          deep fry. flipping once one side is browned.
          it will raise to about inch thick doughnuts.
          turn out into a bowl / tray of cinnamon and caster sugar.

          eat when cooled enough not to burn the roof of your mouth.

          edit : I actually got the cheepo $35 Kmart deep fryer. works well.
          i used to make the sweet dough recipe from an old 80s sunbeam bread maker using the bread maker.
          only used to use the bread maker for doughnuts and pizza dough. until it finally gave up the ghost and i got a half decent mixer with a dough hook.

        • johnno07 on 03/08/2024 - 21:23
          +1

          double pounder burger

          You'll save yourself even more money by dying young.

  • Jimothy Wongingtons on 01/08/2024 - 15:48
    +16

    Bro I’m not going to read all that…

    reads it

    Other times you'll go in and they'll be in a mood or arguing with each other

    Can I ask, was it a Cantonese Chinese take away - because that’s how you can tell it’s ✨AUTHENTIC✨and probably going to be one of the best combination chow mein you ever did have . The more the wife taking the order and the husband chef argue and go off at each other the better!

    • Archi on 01/08/2024 - 16:01
      +4

      not sure the OP can distinguish what is Cantonese Chinese or mainland Chinese food or even whether it is a Korean running a Japanese restaurant.

    • hamsammich on 01/08/2024 - 16:02

      Nah, wasn't a Cantonese Chinese take away

    • skillet on 02/08/2024 - 09:14

      My brain is going into stereotype mode here a little bit

      Burgers, salads, chips etc

      Not fried rice, sweet sour pork, spring rolls

      • Jimothy Wongingtons on 02/08/2024 - 09:16

        I’m 99% sure the clarifying comment by op was after my comment

  • PrinceOfWhales on 01/08/2024 - 15:54
    +7

    Probably worth a shot to post this as google review (or just tell them directly) instead of a forum post, what kind of response are you expecting from us? Empathy?

    • DashCam AKA Rolts on 01/08/2024 - 16:09
      +3

      O.P. is PrinceOfWails

    • hamsammich on 01/08/2024 - 16:11
      +5

      Maybe just a belly rub lol.

    • Subere on 01/08/2024 - 16:27

      They only prioritise orders that give them 5 stars on google.

    • Loopholio on 02/08/2024 - 11:59

      I was hoping for a discussion on the falling quality of takeaway food due to rising costs. I've pretty much given up on sushi because it's now $3.50 to $4. Red Rooter is still winning with their 10-12 dollar roast dinner.

      FYI to the world, you can get Red Rooter's classic roast without the chicken. It's not on the menu so you have to ask the actual human who may be able to handle the request.

    • Munki on 02/08/2024 - 23:58
      -1

      At least a rub n tug?

  • Dollar General on 01/08/2024 - 15:59
    -7

    I’ll order from your local take out place and see which takes longer, reading your post or getting my order

  • Archi on 01/08/2024 - 15:59

    in all that text you cant say what food it was..

    • Jimothy Wongingtons on 01/08/2024 - 16:08

      Op clearly going to make us work for the answer on this one

      • hamsammich on 01/08/2024 - 16:10
        +3

        I already answered it in another post but Burgers, salads, chips etc

        • Jimothy Wongingtons on 01/08/2024 - 16:19
          +6

          Fair enough - Prob worth updating the original post then, can’t get everyone all invested in your story emotionally and then blue balls them by making them read through all the comments to piece together the mystery.

  • netjock on 01/08/2024 - 16:06

    but they'll regularly tell me food will be ready in say 15 minutes but will usually be double that

    Unless they are sitting around reading the paper and sipping tea I'd suggest they are probably busy providing cheapest vs quality food around

    Over time, prices have gone up, quality on some things have dropped

    This is a problem all businesses face. When times are good they piss away the money and when times are bad they need to cut corners. Smart ones are the one that buy the premises (to avoid CPI rent increases) then pay it off ASAP (to avoid higher rates) then bank away the money into investments (taking cash might avoid tax but also very hard to get that money legit)

    • hamsammich on 01/08/2024 - 16:28

      I don't mind a wait but when they tell people that it'll take x amount of time but it's always longer, then just tell them how long it will be. I've seen some people complain that they get told their food will take 15-20 but they end up waiting over 40 minutes for it.

      • netjock on 02/08/2024 - 09:30

        I worked at a take away and yes it does blow out to 40 minutes because there is a sports event or something else going on and everyone wants take away.

        Everyone wants to have lunch between 12-1 and dinner between 6-8 that is actually the problem.

        • hamsammich on 02/08/2024 - 10:57
          +1

          That's fair enough. But the issue is more so telling people that their food will be ready in 15 minutes when in reality it's going to take double or triple the time. Like telling people that their food wont take that long when you know it's actually going to be longer isn't good service. Give people a chance to decide if it's worth their while and they can go somewhere else instead of having to sit around. There's no big events that happen near this place and they fall behind if they have a group of people come in.

          I've been there on a quiet day and asked how long it'll take to get some lunch. I'll get told 10-15min and so I'll go do some shopping and come back after 15 mins but then still need to wait around another 10 or so minutes while half the staff are having a smoke out the front.

        • Roman Sandstorm on 03/08/2024 - 17:45

          Everyone wants to have lunch between 12-1 and dinner between 6-8 that is actually the problem.

          Yeah, because no takeaway business would ever know this. There's only hundreds of years of precedent that that's when people want to eat.

          • netjock on 03/08/2024 - 20:01

            @Roman Sandstorm: Oh you're a genius.

            You work 40 hours a week. Imagine your 40 hours of work arrives 12-1pm and 6-8pm and you have to complete it in that window.

  • SnowDragon on 01/08/2024 - 16:08

    Potato cakes (yes, cake - not scallop) and dimmies are $1.50 each at local takeaways now. If they ever get to $2 I may lose some weight.

    • BewareOfThe Dog on 01/08/2024 - 21:55

      I have a deep fryer at home, so i can cook potato scallops correctly.

      • Loopholio on 02/08/2024 - 11:52
        +3

        I gave my air fryer away because I'm too damn fat and the food it made was damn goood.

        • Antikythera on 02/08/2024 - 17:22
          +1

          its not possible to cook proper potato cakes in an air fryer.

  • Ghost47 on 01/08/2024 - 16:09
    +7

    Definitely sounds like you should take your business elsewhere. I would say good riddance to that kind of service honestly.

  • Ocker on 01/08/2024 - 16:20
    +1

    Probably one of the first to whinge about how tough retail is at the moment

    • hamsammich on 01/08/2024 - 16:40

      It's funny. I'll ask them how things are and they'll either complain how rushed off their feet they are and how it's too busy and people never stop coming in. But then if they have a slow week they'll complain about how dead it is and how no one is coming in. I see some small business go one about this but you're never going to have a perfect medium when it comes to work flow.

  • Drpepper666 on 01/08/2024 - 16:52

    Okay

  • JimmyF on 01/08/2024 - 17:22

    Over time, prices have gone up, quality on some things have dropped

    That has been EVERYWHERE…… Your local place is just following the trend.

  • zonra on 01/08/2024 - 17:33
    +2

    Vote with your wallet if you feel they don’t value your patronage enough ¯_(ツ)_/¯.

  • Ryanek on 01/08/2024 - 18:15
    +1

    New management? Maybe your loyalty lies with the previous owner.

    • hamsammich on 01/08/2024 - 19:25

      Nah same management and staff as always.

  • Sammy2000 on 01/08/2024 - 18:19
    +2

    They should be rewarding your ongoing patronage. They don't sound very professional, therefore I wouldn't trust their food quality and standards.

  • try2bhelpful on 01/08/2024 - 18:47
    +1

    It sounds like they’re not that into you.

  • kolorijo on 02/08/2024 - 07:44
    +3

    Silly to prioritize one time order than a regular. They don't deserve your hard earn money. Go somewhere else.

  • 82norm on 02/08/2024 - 07:47

    I hear you bro! But the only downside, where do you then go? without having to travel another 5km or 20 minutes away. Our local bakery is the same. Not even a hello some times. How they survive beats me.

  • JIMB0 on 02/08/2024 - 08:16
    +1

    I'm saying goodbye to my barber. He doesn't cut my hair as short as he used to.

    • jackspratt on 02/08/2024 - 15:49
      +1

      It's probably harder to find.

    • DrScavenger on 04/08/2024 - 10:03

      Tell him to cut shorter then

  • Scrooge McDeal on 02/08/2024 - 08:42

    I admire your patience. I would have told them straight up their wrong doings and leave the store and never go back.

  • kiitos on 02/08/2024 - 09:09
    +1

    How often do you go there? I've had similar, local burger place was excellent, sold to someone else, the burgers shrunk, the quality of meat declined, the prices went up. We stuck with them as it's convenient, but definitely go far less frequently.

    • hamsammich on 02/08/2024 - 15:27

      Probably once or twice a week.

  • 2esc on 02/08/2024 - 11:33
    +1

    If they are consistently like this i would have moved to another takeaway by now and i dont have much choice in the small town im in.

    A in depth polite review note their positives then note areas they could make improvements in is really all you can do.

    • hamsammich on 04/08/2024 - 14:02

      Yeah there's some other places I'd like to go to but they only open for dinner unfortunately. A couple of other places that use to be good years ago, have gone to shit and I'm sure just try and get tourist money.

  • Loopholio on 02/08/2024 - 11:47
    +2

    My local fish and chip shop has gone bad too. The crumbed fish is now a massive pile of crumb and some kind of white fish-like filling. I threw it out.

    I assume they now have to buy low quality ingredients to save money. I won't be going back, I won't be writing any reviews, I'll just move on.

    There's an excellent fish and chip shop down the road. It's a 2k walk each way but it's worth it and my fat arse could use the walk.

  • suzley on 02/08/2024 - 15:34

    Perhaps they just don't like/value you as a customer and would prefer you to go elsewhere?

  • The Hunted on 02/08/2024 - 16:15

    Has this food ever given you a runny bottom?

  • plmko on 02/08/2024 - 19:19

    Maccas will hire underpaid kids, and dry used mops over cooking appliances - no one cares and come back in droves

    Coles charges $10 for a bag of chips and force you to self-check out with no service - no one cares and come back in droves

    Some local take away shop ticks you off in arbitrary ways - worst restaurant ever

  • hamsammich on 02/08/2024 - 19:29

    I dont eat at Maccas and rarely shop at Coles.

  • snapper17 on 02/08/2024 - 20:16

    unfortunatly its all kind of going that way. I remember even years ago like 20 years ago my family used to go to a particular chinesse restraunt once or twice every month. And as time went on we noticed our portions were smaller then others and others who came after us got thiers before we did. We stopped going after that.

    Prior to covid times I used to sit and eat in my local place down the road almost every week for thier $10 dinner special. And I slowly noticed that new customers would get served quicker especially take away customers. Also customers that spent over $50 would get something for free like entree or can of drink. I rarely got this even after spending $50 in one order.

    Its not just restraunts every company seems to value and prioritize new customers.

    Regarding the dimmies around here theres only 1 place to get them at $1.80 all other places are $2.20-$2.70 for the small ones.
    I buy the marathon dimmies but they dont taste the same either steamed or fried.

  • SuperGreen on 02/08/2024 - 20:56
    +1

    Sucks when that happens, I just recently went through that with my local Thai takeaway.
    There’s only one takeaway shop near me that I feel hasn’t changed in over 20 years, other than inflationary price increases the quality has remained practically unchanged. I don’t eat much takeout these days, but when I do I’m happy to go back to the ol’ faithful, rather than give a cent to the likes of maccas or kfc.

  • DiscoJango on 02/08/2024 - 20:58
    +1

    Simple: vote with your wallet. Why 'reward' a business that treats you like shit?

  • TightAl on 02/08/2024 - 21:25

    Sounds like shit food but you go there because it's close.

  • workingpoor20 on 02/08/2024 - 21:28

    The problem is if you vote with your wallet and let them fail, those leftover restaurants will have even higher power to charge higher price.

    Plenty of restaurants closed down just after Covid. I remembered how crazily busy the survived restaurants were after covid ends.
    The reduced in competition and the desire to earn the loss income back during covid let those restaurants increase prices substantially.

  • Embaloo on 02/08/2024 - 22:09
    +3

    Yeah tell them face to face and practice it. It may not go well but it may, and can be really satisfying. Do you want a script? Read below for an example.

    Key: Use a criticism sandwich if you really want to keep going there and also maintain relationship and also want improvement, so you dont burn the bridges.

    Think about your list of gripes but also what you like about the place.

    Bring up ONLY one or two gripes, not all 6 at once. Theyll remember how they have made mistakes. Hopefully. I always remembered mine.

    1. Rehearse and plan it well, and execute this on an occasion where you get disappointed but are not angry. So be prepared to get disappointed again, be prepared to keep your cool and be calm, but dont bring it up on a day where everything is dandy as you'll chicken out.

    2. "Hey guys, thanks for getting the order, can i have a moment to chat? I can wait a few minutes til youre ready."
      When they're ready, "thanks, i can see you're flat out, but i really wanted to catch you when i could".
      "I really do like the burgers/ABC, always have in the X years ive been coming along. (Keep the positive very brief but genuine, you're not here to complement but complain effectively.)
      Gripe: This is the Xth time i've had to wait X much longer when you've told me that itll be ready by X, and it might not seem like long but i'm really having to head home for XYZ to not keep the ABC waiting, so an accurate time estimate is really important to me as a customer (use the word customer to create distance as you say things have become too chummy).
      Gripe 2: (choose one), e.g. I know you guys really want to focus on the tourist customers, but you've had my loyalty for ages, and i'd really like to be appreciated and valued as a returning customer. Can you XYZ (state WHAT YOU REALLY WANT, e.g. really focus on getting my order right each time, or such)? I am really considering only going to X's instead these days if i keep running into these issues, and change doesn't happen.
      Positive sandwich end: Again, i'd like to keep supporting you guys as you're my local and we know each others' faces and voices. Do you reckon these things would be possible to improve for my orders?

    A helpful book ive appreciated that is helpful for these scenarios is critical conversations. This is a critical conversation, dude. All the best.

    • jackspratt on 02/08/2024 - 22:37

      This is a critical conversation, dude.

      I guess it depends on how you define "critical".

      • cloudy on 04/08/2024 - 03:40

        Did you see the length of OPs post? It’s critical!

    • Yola on 03/08/2024 - 05:05

      Good script. What do you have to lose if you plan not to go there anymore? There is a possibility that they will improve. Maybe you do not like conflict and that is understandable. If you go there once to twice a week it's disgraceful that they are treating you so badly. I would follow the script or go elsewhere or cook more. Maybe try again in a few months.

    • cloudy on 04/08/2024 - 03:42
      +1

      Can you link me the book or provide author name?

      • souljah on 04/08/2024 - 09:04

        Might have meant "crucial conversations - tools for talking when stakes are high"? Best guess.

        • Embaloo on 04/08/2024 - 20:53

          Yeah haha thanks for the correction, ironic slip up haha! Been a while since I read it.

    • souljah on 04/08/2024 - 09:05

      Did you mean "crucial conversations - tools for talking when stakes are high"?

      • Embaloo on 04/08/2024 - 20:53

        Yep.

  • Dslrfirst on 03/08/2024 - 01:43
    +2

    "Vote" with your wallet.

  • grasstown on 03/08/2024 - 07:21

    That’s poor form to serve tourists first. Maybe we create this situation through google reviews. I wonder if that is killing these type of businesses. We don’t give reviews of our favourites but irregulars don’t hesitate leaving bad reviews.

  • paloverde88 on 03/08/2024 - 09:50

    Thinking of trying those marble fork or getting quite fresh bulk food sellers whete they deliver frozen

  • kalithreaver on 03/08/2024 - 15:09

    just stop going as often and if they ask why just say that the prices have gone too high and you cant afford to buy it as much.

  • Brick Tamland on 03/08/2024 - 16:08
    -1

    Do what you like I guess…

    Waiting an extra 10-15 mins doesn't sound that terrible to be honest. Sometimes they are busy.

    • aumacca on 04/08/2024 - 09:09

      well it would be on top of the original expected wait. seems to be a trend with restaurants and shops doing everything to meet delivery driver timeframes to avoid bad online and app ratings. see it in store heaps. you'll be waiting for ages, even at major fast food places, then a massive amount of bags get put on the counter and all these drivers turn up out of nowhere. drive thru is the answer as that gets priority. but obviously not an option at the local shop. apps have made local collection worse. only thing I would recommend would be try ordering by phone 15 mins ahead.

    • hamsammich on 04/08/2024 - 13:52

      But the thing is I ask them how long it'll take for something to be made and they'll always give me a shorter time then it actually is. Like if it's going to take 25mins then just tell me it'll be 25mins but don't say say 10-15. At least then I can go off and do something and come back. If you're on a lunch break, you get limited time to get something and eat.

      Also happens when I call to pick something up to take home. Will walk in the shop at the time I booked and get told "it's coming up now" but then 10+ minutes later I'm still sitting there and obviously the food wasn't ready. I feel sometimes like they have a 'Well he knows us and we don't need to rush' attitude. And a lot of the times I'm going in aren't peak lunch times.

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