I know there has been a lot in the news lately about cities, states etc passing laws about restrooms lately and whether or not restrooms should be restricted by gender. Well, this post isn’t about that, I’ve already address that years ago. This post is in response to an incident that happened at a local Applebees. This rant is also about poor customer service.
So yesterday we went to Applebees for lunch. We got a meal deal that included an appetizer and 2 entrees. So I had both wings and ribs. After lunch I went to the restroom to wash my hands. I walked in on a male Applebees employee standing in the ladies room. It appeared that he has been using the restroom. He muttered something about “I’m not supposed to be in here and oh, I’m in the wrong restroom.” He scurried out and into the men’s room.
So, this is no the first time I’ve encountered men in the women’s restroom. I lived in a town for 8 years where it was legal use the restroom of the opposite gender. Usually they were more a nuisance than anything. Today’s incident was nothing like that. First the guy, was acting weird when I entered. He just had this creepy vibe going. The incident was unsettling enough that I left sticky hands and all.
I ran into a couple of female management types immediately after it happened. One of them came to my table to explain why the creepy guy was in the ladies room. Her excuse was that the staff had to check the restrooms every thirty minutes. I challenged why a male was in the ladies room. The only feeble excuse she could come of with was that it was his job. So this guy had no cleaning supplies, the door was closed and there was no sign on the door. It appeared he was checking something out but it sure wasn’t the restroom. It seems irresponsible to assign a male employee to monitor the ladies restroom, especially when there were numerous female staff members working today.
The manager needs to rethink customer service. She really didn’t handle the situation well. Her only concern was keeping me quite. My experience with Applebees customer service in several states is that just like their food it is average. They do have a good allergy menu. That is the reason we even go to them. Applebees could be a really good place if they would just make the effort to strive for excellence.
The Dee Zone 