It can be frustrating when you’re trying to give a business your money and they won’t acknowledge you—especially when hunger is added to the mix. That’s what TikToker Karina Heredia (@esthiekary_31) says happened to her during a recent visit to Buffalo Wild Wings.
But she found a somewhat unconventional way to get the workers’ attention.
Heredia says that after being ignored by waitstaff for 10 minutes, she whipped out her phone and called the restaurant while standing inside it.
She posted her Buffalo Wild Wings phone call on her TikTok account, where it has accrued over 399,000 views as of Thursday afternoon. A number of commenters replied that they, too, have resorted to phoning employees when they were inside of a store just to get service.
No server in sight
Heredia explained in a text overlay of her TikTok that she was tired of waiting for a server. “POV: Been waiting over 10 minutes to order so we called the restaurant to get their attention to have somebody take our order,” she said.
The video pans over the front counter of the Buffalo Wild Wings location, which is empty. A phone can be heard ringing. Heredia then holds up a smartphone to the lens, revealing that she is the one placing the call. The clip then zooms into the store’s landline.
In the 13-second clip, no one comes to the counter to answer the phone or greet the customers.
Heredia clarifies in a caption that not long after they stopped recording, an employee did in fact greet them. “Lmfaooo she came out shortly after but I couldnt hold myself from laughing so she asked if it was us calling the restaurant,” she wrote.
Long wait times at Buffalo Wild Wings
She’s not the only one who has gone viral complaining about the long wait times at Buffalo Wild Wings.
One mother also shared how she was left “exhausted” after going out with her kids to a BWW. According to her, the server not only took their sweet time bringing her hungry kids their requested food, but they hid from the family after making a mistake on their order.
Redditors in this r/doordash post also complained about “excessive wait times” in picking up food from Buffalo Wild Wings. The person who penned the post conceded that while they understand there’s long wait times, it’s a recurring issue. Every time they pick up a Buffalo Wild Wings order, they know that they’re unfortunately losing out on cash from other potential orders.
How long is too long?
While no two businesses are run entirely the same, there are some guiding principles industry professionals agree upon. This seems to be the case with table wait times in restaurants.
The Phoenix New Times interviewed several restaurant managers regarding wait times at restaurants. Trish Clark of the Bungalow Bar & Grill said that it shouldn’t take longer than 2-3 minutes for servers to address newly-seated patrons. She added that 3-4 minutes is the maximum amount of time for a drink to be set down. As for food, anything more than 20 minutes after the order was made is also a no-go. Clark did go on to say, however, that these numbers fluctuate depending on how busy a place is.
George Mahe of St. Louis Magazine writes that diners seated at their tables should be acknowledged by a server “immediately.” Even if they aren’t able to be tended to or have their order placed, a speedy greeting is paramount.
Yelliapp writes that “initial greet and beverage service” is extremely important. According to this resource, waters for the table and an initial greeting should take place 30 seconds to 1 minute of a guest being seated.
Is it normal to place a phone call when you’re already in the restaurant?
One commenter replied that they have, unfortunately, had similar experiences at Buffalo Wild Wings.
They attribute the issue, however, to the restaurant’s unwillingness to hire more staff members. “Our BWW is the same. They need to hire a hostess,” they said. “The servers are always too busy and that’s not their fault. It’s the company being cheap.”
Another said that they regularly call restaurants if the place is empty and they don’t receive service. “Lmaooo! Girl I always do this when it’s empty I call right away, I be knowing.”
Wait times persist at retail stores, too
However, it’s not just restaurants that folks do this in. One user on the application said, “I’ve called Costco from inside the store when I couldn’t find anyone to help me.”
Another retail customer also discussed the dreaded wait for someone to come and unlock a cabinet. “I couldn’t get help to show up at the target eletronic’s section to unlock a cabinet, so I went in the app and ordered what I needed. It was ready for pickup when I finished my shopping lol,” they said.
“I did this in walmart the other day bc they got the perfumes locked up but nobody wants to unlock it,” this TikToker penned.
@babykay371 Lmfaooo she came out shortly after but I couldnt hold myself from laughing so she asked if it was us calling the restaurant 😂💀 (OF COURSE WE SAID NO) #fyp #funny #bdubs #chicago ♬ Funny – Gold-Tiger
There was one user on the app who said that customers should probably just leave the restaurant if they wait too long. They believe that this is just an indicator of even more bad service to come: “I just leave after 10 minutes, espec[i]ally if not 1 employee who sees me even acknowledges me cause I assume the whole experience is gonna suck.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Buffalo Wild Wings via email and Heredia via Instagram DM for further comment.
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