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Collene Howard
Feb 25, 2026
I just had the absolute worst service I've ever received at Sonic before. My son wanted dinner here, so we pulled into stall #17 around 6:40 p.m. I ordered a kids meal for him and a small ice cream. The touch screen was broken in that stall, so it would not let me pay with card. I assumed the staff would run out for payment and just process the card manually at that time.
We waited almost a half an hour with no communication and the order screen rather than showing our order had been placed, was in the kitchen, OR on its way out to us was now blank as though we had never ordered. Several other people had pulled into stalls near us after we ordered, they received their food, and left. I am a very patient person, but at this point, I decided to pull into the drive-thru for further assistance. It was 7:07 p.m.
When she answered the intercom, I explained to her that I was just at stall 17 and the..... Before I could even finish my sentence, she cut me off and said they were very short staffed, there's only two of them working tonight, and her ice cream ran out. She just refilled the ice cream and is trying to catch back up.
I began again and said, that wasn't what I was going to say. I wanted to make sure you guys were aware that the touch screen was not working and I was not able to make payment with a card. I was curious as well what the update was because I hadn't heard from anyone and the screen went back to the start of placing a new order. She repeated the fact that they were short staffed, only two people working, and the ice cream situation. I told her I am well aware after she explained it the first time, but I felt as though she could have communicated that was an issue. I didn't have a problem waiting, but I was frustrated with not knowing what was going on and watching others receive their order long after we placed ours. Having the ice cream run out makes sense as to why others were receiving orders after we placed ours, but having a heads up would have been nice.
Again she cut me off and raised her voice, this time, talking over me and telling me that they have been slammed for the past 30 minutes and she doesn't have time to come out and tell each person what's going on. I told her that I was aware they are short-staffed, and I'm understanding, but that it is bad customer service to not communicate a thing to people who have been waiting for almost a half an hour. It seemed as though they completely forgot about my order and left me sitting there in the dark. She started talking over me again and raising her voice even more. At this point, I stopped her and let her know they had lost our business and we would no longer be a patron because of the lack of customer service. She continue with a snotty remark as I left, something about well that's fine, you can just go then.... Blah blah blah. I didn't stick around to listen to anything else she had to say.
I tend to give people a lot more grace and understanding, because it's what I would want if I were in their shoes. That said, I would never treat people that way if they asked me what was going on. I would completely own the situation and apologize. I wouldn't be disrespectful, make excuses for myself, and act like the customer was the problem here. That's exactly what I received from this employee. She might have been having a bad day, and clearly was having a rough night at work, but that is no excuse to treat people that way. We will not be back to this location ever again.