A TikToker by the name of Jena (@jena.l1) went viral for calling out a Popeyes franchise location. Jena said that after placing an order in the drive-thru, she was asked to leave the line and park so that an employee could bring her food out to her when it was ready.
Unfortunately, Jena says she waited for 20 minutes and still didn’t see anyone come outside with her food. So, she exited her vehicle, walked inside the store, and saw her food waiting for her at the counter.
@jena.l1 Funny thing is I drove far to this Popeyes because the one next to my house has worse service🥹 they tried to catch attitude too like what the fuck #whyme #popeyes ♬ original sound – Jena
Jena writes in a text overlay, “Order thru drive-thru and they told me to park then never brought me my food I was waiting in my car for 20 min. I called the store they don’t answer!!! I had to go down in my pajamas.”
She added in a caption for the video: “Funny thing is I drove far to this Popeyes because the one next to my house has worse service they tried to catch attitude too like what the fuck.”
The fast food business is one of the few industry sectors left struggling with understaffing issues in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. While some areas of the country are doing better than others, there are still reports of restaurants and fast casual chains not having enough employees to maintain normal operational service speeds at their respective locations.
Labor shortages have had a direct impact on the consumer experience. Customers are noticing longer wait times and more order errors, which are presumably a result of employees being stretched too thin at work due to understaffing. While the number of workers at many locations may have dropped, the number of customers frequenting these locations on a daily basis hasn’t necessarily changed.
Throngs of commenters responded to Jena’s post, expressing that they had similar experiences at Popeyes and other fast-food franchises.
“I had a Similar thing, cept they gave my order away, left me waiting for 30 min while they remade it and then still got it wrong. Never went back,” one user wrote.
“I didn’t eat there for 4 yrs bc of the same thing except I was preg & sitting inside. Don’t play w/ a [pregnant woman] & food lol,” a second shared.
However, others believed that their negative encounters were an issue unique to the fried chicken chain.
“Yea that’s why i never go to popeyes anymore. service is HORRIBLE every time i go,” claimed one user.
“Man I wanna like Popeyes but every place I’ve been to, the service is straight awful and they be forgetting your stuff all the time,” a second added.
Others shared ways Jena could try to make up for her bad experience and avoid the situation in the future.
“This is why if I’m in a drive thru, and they ask me to park, I say no. Funny how quickly they move and I get my food afterwards,” one user wrote.
“That’s why I never leave the window if they ask me to move up or park,” a second agreed.
“Why didn’t you just go back in the drive through,” a third asked.
“Call corporate. they’ll treat you nice,” another suggested.
The Daily Dot reached out to Jena and Popeyes via email for further comment.
