Beware of Denny's on Wake Forest Rd in Raleigh, NC
Tmxchange
Dennys #6625, Wake Forest Road, Raleigh, North Carolina:
April first, 2000 - Wife and I were visiting from waaaay out of town,
househunting. Stopped in for a late breakfast (I don't really like Dennys to
begin with, but they were the only place that didn't have a huge line of people
waiting to get in, and we were starving). Found what appeared to be a big wad
of phlegm (snot) in my second cup of coffee, *after* taking a sip. Spit it out
onto my plate, called the host over to my table, asked to see the manager. Host
hemmed and hawed about how it was probably just a lump of cream, and how it was
"impossible" and "infeasable" for anyone to have spit in the coffee. Finally
got the manager to the table. Same line of b.s. from her. Both of them were
treating my wife and I very, very rudely, and acted as though *we* were somehow
to blame. Finally, as she (manager) was walking away, she mumbled "sorry about
this". I grabbed up the (alleged) phlegm wad in a napkin, and left.
As my wife and I were crossing the parking lot, the host came running out the
door after us and yelled in an accusatory tone "are you refusing to pay this
check?" Can you believe this?
Went to the cops, they said "yup, looks like phlegm to us, sorry we can't help
you...". Monday morning, called the health department, they said they were not
able to help either. Burned up the phone lines calling attorney after attorney
- all said that due to various circumstances, my chances in court would be slim
to none.
Sent a piece of the (alleged) phlegm wad to an independent lab in New Orleans
for testing. It checked positive for human DNA. Unfortunately, it could have
been my dna - a fact I hadn't considered until after having the test performed.
I *could* have further testing done to determine if more than one person's DNA
is present and to see if mine is present at all, unfortunately, my pockts
aren't that deep - we're talking thousands of dollars worth of testing here.
In the mean time, talked to the owner of this particular franchise - a Mr.
Carl Ferland of Cary, NC - a couple of times. After realizing that a quick
apology and the offer of a free meal wasn't going to pacify me, he became a
jerk about the whole thing. His best offer was to split the $350 I had spent on
the test with me - an offer I considered to be an insult.
For the record, I was not looking for money out of this thing. Once I found
out that I had basicaly zero recourse through the "system", my one and only
goal was to get the word out on this place. Once having made that decision, I
only spoke to Mr Ferland as a courtesy, nothing more. The fact that he has done
nothing to help fix this thing (he could have shown some good faith by firing
or suspending his manager - a woman named Pam Orbich - and the host) has only
strengthened my resolve.
I last spoke to Mr Ferland last Thursday, the 15th of June. He was a bit
panicked because I had let him know I was going public with my story. Our
conversation went nowhere, at which point he indicated that he was going to
have his insurance company call me. It's now been a week, they haven't called,
and quite frankly, I don't think it would change my feelings one bit even if
they did.
Throughout this whole situation, I have remained a gentleman. I could have -
and probably should have - stood on my table and yelled at the top of my lungs
to everyone in the restaurant what I had just found in my coffee, but I didn't.
I could have beaten the shit out of someone (as one attorney suggested I do),
but I didn't. I could have tried to extort huge sums of money out of Ferland
and/or his franchise, but I didn't.
The gloves are off now. The web site (including pics of the evidence)
detailing this whole mess will be up by tomorrow afternoon, the flyers will be
printed this weekend, every local media outlet will be notified, and any other
thing I can think of to make a huge public scene, I'll do. This is just *too*
wrong to let go.
I'll post a link to the site as soon as it's ready.
TMX
lmohawk2
it has cost you by now and your chances of recovering ANY money is very
slim, even it is wasn't a "steaming cup of coffee ACCIDENTALLY spilled into
your lap as you were driving away from a drive-thru window and you sue
because it was toooooo hot!"
Just not worth the problem. Assuming you never knew that many fast-food
restaurant employees (those damned minimum-wagers!) politely offer some
special "ingredients" to those customers who seem anal-retentive in the
first place. Yet another reason I never stop for food out.
IMHO,
"Tmxchange" <tmxc...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20000623042449...@ng-ck1.aol.com...
Hubert Mitchell
Denny's and have never had any problems. Sounds like you are the
problem. If you would have walked out of my restaurant without paying
i would have had you arrested. It used to be that the customer is
always right, but I am ashamed to say that we are in a different era now
and people aren't as honest as they used to be. Some will even spit in
their coffee.
Bye now!