A Red Lobster customer shared a “gross” discovery she made in a to-go order. Leading up to the find were a series of frustrating events that have her considering making a call to the chain’s corporate offices.
Tammy Jo Gaylord (@tammyjogaylord) posted a viral TikTok about her ordeal. Users on the app had varying opinions on her grievances. Some thought she could’ve been more proactive. While others seemed just as miffed as she was by the restaurant’s attitude toward her order.
To-go
Gaylord begins her story by delineating how she had a “nightmare” experience at a Red Lobster location. The tale begins with her ordering “curbside to-go” from the restaurant. Initially, everything seemed fine.
The TikToker says she was able to place her order without conflict. Next, she received a notification that her food was ready for pick-up. Following this, she arrived at the location to pick up her food. One of the restaurant’s employees approached her to let her know that they were just waiting on biscuits.
Red Lobster’s Cheddar Bay Biscuits are a beloved staple of the chain that have devoted fans. There are box mixes sold in stores, and there are plenty of copycat recipes online for those who are smitten with the flavor of the seafood chain side.
Moreover, Gaylord says that at 6:01pm, she was informed that the kitchen was waiting on more biscuits. “No problem,” she thought and resigned herself to sitting in place, scrolling through social media to kill some time.
Waiting, waiting
However, after occupying herself with her handheld device for 19 minutes, she began to wonder where her food was. After making this discovery, she decided to inquire into the status of her food again. Gaylord said that she wasn’t really “concerned” with getting biscuits. The food service worker replied that they would look into the issue and let her know.
However, Gaylord noticed that the employee neglected to ask her for any information, which prompted the TikToker to ask if they needed her name, phone number, or what she purchased from the restaurant. In response, the employee rattled off a laugh and proceeded to take Gaylord’s info.
Another 10 minutes go by, and there’s still no response from the kitchen, so Gaylord calls to ask about the status of her food yet again. She is shocked by the candor of the worker and the perceived lack of concern over her food.
According to the TikToker, the Red Lobster employee simply said, “I don’t know what’s going on. I know they were waiting on biscuits.” Following this, Gaylord tells the worker that she doesn’t “care about the biscuits, just my meal.”
Next, she goes on to tell the worker that she’s worried her food will “get cold” after waiting 30 minutes for the pick-up order.
‘She was very rude’
Despite expressing these concerns, Gaylord said she was met with a discourteous reply from the Red Lobster employee. Because of the lack of decorum she says she experienced, the TikToker then requested to speak with the location’s manager.
“Honey, she sat the phone down, and I could hear them working, talking to customers, people, whatever,” Gaylord says.
She adds that she was left on hold for an additional five minutes without any reply from the store. That is until she hears in the foreground of the hustle and bustle of the restaurant someone ask a question. What she heard next was a gross misrepresentation of the events she relayed in her video.
According to Gaylord, the worker helping her with the issue called her a pejorative word. Furthermore, the Red Lobster employee indicated that the TikToker wanted to argue about the status of her Cheddar Bay Biscuits.
However, the TikToker stated at least twice that the opposite was the case: She could care less about bread. All she wanted was her to-go meal. “Why is the phone laying there?” she recalls someone on the line asking. “And the girl said, ‘There’s some [expletive] on the phone wanting a manager to complain about biscuits.’”
Gaylord conveys that she was incensed by what she heard on the call. “I’m steaming upset because I just heard her say, ‘Some [expletive] wanting to complain about biscuits.’” Furthermore, she says that at this point in the evening, it’s 6:45pm. So she’s been waiting for 44 minutes for the food she ordered.
‘My food’s been sitting there’
Gaylord indicates that she decided to hang up and call again. When an employee answered she requested to talk to a manager. After being asked what the “problem” was, she retorted that there were “a lot of problems now.” However, Gaylord still maintained that she just wanted her food. “I don’t care if you don’t have biscuits just bring me my food that’s been sitting there for 45 minutes.”
Finally, someone brings her food out, which she takes and begins to drive home. However, she hasn’t disconnected the call and opted to stay on the phone to speak to a manager. The entirety of her commute back to her house, Gaylord says she was still on hold.
Because she was on hold for so long, the TikToker’s temper had flared. So, by the time she finally did get to speak to a manager, she was audibly “upset.” During her conversation with the supervisor, Gaylord opined that the treatment she received was “unacceptable.”
Upon hearing Gaylord’s complaint, the employee promised they would “come up with a solution.” However, that discussion was to be had the following day, presumably due to the high customer traffic at the time.
‘Ice cold’
The TikToker felt little consolation from the manager’s words as her food, as she feared, was no longer warm. By the time she finally got to sit down and enjoy her order, all of the items were “ice cold.”
However, she states that wasn’t even the worst part. Throughout the video, Gaylord’s face can be seen hovering over a green screen image. Toward the end of it, she moves her head out of the way to reveal what she found inside of her order.
Following this, viewers were presented with a to-go container of macaroni and cheese. A metal fork was placed inside, “with the lid closed.” The tip of the fork is coated with cheese and what appears to be bits of macaroni. This suggests that perhaps someone was digging into the food order with the utensil and either mistakenly or intentionally left it in the takeout box.
Moreover, she says that their order was also “missing one of our desserts.”
“I couldn’t even eat my meal; I was just so frustrated and aggravated, and this made me sick. That’s not my fork. That’s a Red Lobster fork. The lid was closed, and when we opened it, that’s what was in there.”
@tammyjogaylord #greenscreen my nightmare experience at red lobster!! it was as crazy as it gets. I just don’t get it.#redlobster #redlobstercheddarbiscuits #crubsidepickup #badservice #sickening #whatwouldyoudo @Red Lobster ♬ original sound – Fl girl Tammy Jo
‘What would you do?’
At the end of the clip, she expressed she wasn’t exactly enthused with the idea of calling the restaurant again. Upon being previously stuck on hold for so long, she wasn’t in the mood to reach out to the restaurant again. Gaylord then asked viewers what they thought a good course of action was. At this point, her thought was to contact corporate and complain.
Commenters had varying replies to her storytime. Numerous TikTokers wondered why she didn’t just walk inside the location instead of constantly ringing them up. “Why didn’t you just go in instead of calling so many times?” one said.
Another echoed this sentiment, “Why did you just sit there and not go in to confront..?”
Gaylord replied, however, and explained that she wasn’t trying to cause workers undue stress. “I was trying to be considerate that they were busy! I really should have!”
However, there were others who seemed to sympathize with her situation. One user on the app agreed with Gaylord’s idea to reach out to upper management. “Call corporate. This is part of the reason that Red Lobster is closing restaurants.”
Someone else thought that she was entitled to a re-made meal and cashback for the wait. “They should have re made your food AND gave you a refund!”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Red Lobster via email and Gaylord via TikTok comment for further information.
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