I was at the Harvey’s in Garden Basket Plaza in Markham on Sunday night, and the way I saw a customer being treated like absolute garbage, had I not already ordered, I would've left.
A customer walked up to the counter with someone else, and neither of them was greeted. The employee at the front was making a milkshake or something and, instead of acknowledging them politely, loudly told them, “Can you wait a minute?” in a tone that was rude and loud enough for me to hear from the tables. When she did come back to take the order, she still didn’t greet them and just asked, “What do you want?” YIKES.
The situation became even more unpleasant when the food was ready. The customer had asked for pickles on the side with her poutine, which is something I have personally asked for and received many times at this exact Harvey’s. An older Asian woman employee at the counter immediately took issue with it and said they only give onions on the side and that they “don’t do pickles.” Rather than calmly explaining any policy, she raised her voice, argued across the counter, and acted like the request was completely unreasonable.
They eventually handed the girl the pickles but the employee kept muttering afterward. She also made a comment about other staff being “young and stupid,” implying that was the only reason customers had been getting pickles on the side before. That was really unprofessional to say out loud in front of customers, especially about coworkers.
The whole thing felt rude, unnecessary, and awkward to witness. It was such a small request, and it could have been handled politely in a few seconds. Instead, more than one staff member made the experience feel tense and dismissive. Also be so for real, THEY'RE PICKLES. Don't act all high and mighty over pickles, that's just embarrassing. The girl said she was going to email customer support and honestly as she should, what a trainwreck I witnessed.