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Saturday, March 27, 2010

Fooled at Harvey's / Swiss Chalet

We received coupons in the mail recently and decided to head over to our local Swiss Chalet (1 Henderson Drive, Aurora, Ontario)

The coupons included:

1. Two can dine for $13.99 (Basically 2 quarter chicken dinners) but was only valid for Monday to Thursday.

2. 20% off 2 piece Fish & Chips valid only Monday to Friday...Never had Fish & Chips with Swiss Chalet. They are not known for Fish & Chips.

3. $2.00 off the purchase of a Family Pack (we went for this).

4. $3.00 off a Quarter Chicken and Half Rack of Ribs Combo. We thought about using this but a 20 minute wait in the dining room for a seat when there was already a table for two open and not used seemed ridiculous.

So we went for #3 above on the Harvey's side. The Harveys side serves Swiss Chalet take out but has the regular fast food seating of a traditional Harveys.

The Order: Swiss chalet Family Pack (2 fries, 1 coleslaw, 1 corn) and two cokes

We ordered the Family Pack at 5:50 P.M., but did not have the food in hand until 6:00 P.M. Swiss Chalet has a way of providing poor service times. Apparently I'm a fool. Harvey's and Swiss Chalet promise fast efficient take out service with the pimply faced teenaged staff running around wearing hair nets. But when it comes time to deliver chicken and sides that they have based their business on for an eternity, they fail. I was fooled into believing I could get my simple food order in five minutes or less.

Nonetheless, the food was of usual Swiss Chalet quality (perfect temperature and preparation). Really nothing to complain about there.

Later I filled out the Customer Satisfaction survey. My receipt said "Tell Us How We Did Today for a chance to win a * $500 HARVEY'S CARD *" So I went to the Harvey's feedback website indicated on the receipt. Within about two steps completed on the survey I was switched from Harvey's to the Swiss Chalet feedback. I soldiered on to completion where out of the blue I was given a survey code for "a free soup, salad or perogies with the purchase of an entree during your next visit to Swiss Chalet." Um....what happenned to my chance of winning a "* $500 HARVEY'S CARD *"

Oh but wait, there is a chance for a "$500 Swiss Chalet Gift Card" if I spend another 2 minutes filling out yet another online survey. I've been through this before already with believing I could get my food quickly and efficently and then fooled again into believing I had a chance at a "* $500 HARVEY'S CARD *". So I refused to go along as I'd been burnt at least once by Harvey's / Swiss Chalet.

Apparently this is false advertising, I never stood a chance at winning a Harvey's gift card as no where did it say I had one or not. Does this mean I could still win a Harvey's gift card? I won't keep my hopes up as I've been fooled too many times on this visit.

2 comments:

  1. wow, what a whiner you are. Your so important that god forbid you wait ten minutes for an order. people like you who demand everything right away because they think their time is so valuable is what has ruined this earth. watch the movie Food Inc. people like you are what did this to the ecosystem.
    Here's a reality check.
    nobody cares about your oh so horrible scarful experience, and if you wasted time filling out a survey, thats your problem. Why would you blog about that? What a loser you are.

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  2. Terri:

    Thank you for commenting.

    To clarify, I was on the "fast food side" of the Aurora Swiss Chalet store instead of the dine in. If I wanted to wait for my food, after ordering, I would have sat down on the dine in section instead of the "take out" section of Swiss Chalet where the Harveys is also located. Thus, I don't believe it is unreasonable to expect to order, hand over my cash and wait around five minutes to leave from the Harvey's side on take out orders.

    One of the things I've noted on this blog is the traffic to my restaurant reviews. People read them to get an idea as to what kind of restaurant it is, whether it is worth going and what to look out for. Hence why I write them.

    As for the survey, I found it funny that I started off being entered into the draw for a free $500 Harvey's gift card (as per the details on the receipt) and got switched over to the Swiss Chalet free appetizer (free soup salad or perogies code). So I wasn't entered into the Harvey's draw and my receipt didn't allow me to hand it in for the Swiss Chalet. Bottom line, after a promise from Harvey's to get entered into something, I got nothing except a useless code.

    I'm just pointing out how Harvey's/Swiss Chalet failed on this occasion. Please note I've been to this one and other locations and had a pleasant experience. I just find the Aurora location to be hit and miss sometimes.

    Finally, I can't see why you would have a problem with someone writing the truth about their experience at a restaurant. From your comment I gather you would rather call someone "a loser" than use this blog entry to note the length of time "fast food" at a particular Swiss Chalet take out might take or, if you work for the location, to help improve customer satisfaction and point that out in your comment. Thus, I wonder who really the loser is in this situation, the one who tells the truth or the one who deems the messenger to be "a loser."

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