Update 11/08/08

No problems today.  A new class of customer has moved in bigtime, however.  Whenever the economy tanks, we get an influx of "Okies" in the OC, which was apparent both in the sudden appearance of several decripit motorhomes in the back alleys and a dozen or more raw-boned, farm-bred looking customers at Carl's this morning.

Last weekend, however, history repeated itself in the appearance of a gang-banger shooting up againg in the men's room.  I went it to use the facilities about 11am, I think, and stood there as this guy kept flushing the toilet, over a dozen times until I got tired of waiting and went to get the manager, who took up my previous position outside the stall. 

Finally the idiot, with his floppy gangbanger pants, tatoos and shaved head, left, after blocking use for any other male customers for over half and hour and leaving his cellphone on top of the toilet paper dispenser along with spots of blood on the commode seat.  I gave the cell to the manager.  Sure enough, a few minutes later the guy is trying to shove the door open while I'm inside, demanding his cell.  He finally got down on the floor and peered in trying to spot it.  I simply told him, "It's not in here."  The manager was clearly upset, especially over the prospect of little kids getting stuck with needles or otherwise contracting AIDS or hepatitus, but told me that he gave the guy his cell back.

Update 10/12/08:  It is apparent that this will never end, as Carl's is determined that they can be nastier than me, which may well be so.  My job is simply to make it public.  So, be as nasty as you want, and we'll let the customers decide.  The idea that their attitude will be remembered by the public as the economic crash worsens does not seem to have been appreciated. 

Today I went in and did my usual Sunday morning order of a spicy chicken and coffee.  I generally fill the over-large coffee cup 2/3's way and then get a second, to take my vitamins, after eating the sandwich. 

This time I was thirsty and drank the 2nd 2/3's  cup with pills left over.  Then I discovered that there was no coffee left.  All four of the regular and decaf carafes were empty and sitting on the counter waiting to be filled.  The regular employees stood around talking to each other, making no move to put another pot of coffee on.  Note that I am not the only coffee drinker by far.  About 50% of the time, I have to wait in line to get to the coffee dispensers.  In every past instance for the past several years, employees have rushed to fill the carafes.  Today, they simply turned their backs on them.  I don't normally drink decaf, but I found one of the decaf decanters with a couple ounces left, which enabled me to finish the vitamins, at least.

When I used to live in Long Beach in the late '70's and early '80's, I would often eat at the Carl's at 7th St. and Long Beach Blvd.  After a while, however, I stopped, in spite of the good prices and food, as I noticed the incredibly abusive attitude of the employees toward the customers.  I recall one little old lady, who had paid for and received her order and was simply awaiting change, which she needed for bus fare.  Tears streamed down her cheeks as she begged the counter guy for the change, hoping against hope that the bus had not already left her behind.  Meanwhile, the jerk behind the counter taunted her, "Dohn worry.  Ain't no hurry.  I gonna geh you yo change.  You just gonna haf to wait little bit." 

I would buy the salad bar, quite often, and ask for a little courtesy cup for water to take my vitamins.  This annoyed the counter person - to have to reach out with one hand and get the cup, who would deliberately turn her back and start an extended conversation with her fellow employees, while I stood for minutes on end waiting for my cup.  Finally, one day, I reached accross the counter and simply took the cup, at which point the employee flew into a towering rage and demanded the cup back, threatening to call the police.

I complained to Carl's headquarters, and the employees were very polite the next time I arrived - and when I checked my burger there was a little pike of dirt obviously scooped up from the floor on it.  The next time, there was a cockroach in my burger.

Update 10/08/08: No word from Carl's, but they are clearly aware of this blog.  One of the employees at this Carl's has greeted me with a smile for the past couple years.  This last visit, days after posting this blog, she was totally business, no smile, just doing her job.  Night and day.  However, I didn't see any of the usual druggie perps, which was a relief.

For those readers outside of SoCal, Carl's Jr. is a local institution, offering reasonbly good quality fast food at reasonably good prices.  However, one thing that has consistently stood out about Carl's is their utter failure to implement QC at the local restaurant level.  If you complain about something, then it is clear that you get a file attached to you, labeling you as a "complainer," and, the next time you call, the tone of the responder will be quite chill.  Also, you will never see any promised coupons as compensation for whatever minor problem you are attempting to alert them to. 

Thus, glaring problems rarely if ever get fixed.  I'm thinking that ultra-conservative Carl's (the founder, Carl Karcher, was notoriously anti-gay, as just one example) is almost a paradigm for what we're seeing in this national financial fiasco.  So long as things are working, let's not look too closely at the details.

Here's the latest letter that I attempted to send to Carl's corporate headquarters.  I couldn't actually send it because their complaint system is requiring me to add information as to the state, address, etc., of the restaurant, and their complaint system itself is broken on the code level, displaying the HTML instead of the drop-down.  They do not provide any standard email address to fall back on, either.  I.e., SNAFU.  Note that this kind of incompetence would normally be inexcusable at any corporate website, much less a HUGE company like Carl's.

"Your select a city and state menu for complaining about a particular restaurant is displaying html code instead of allowing a selection.

I have been a regular patron of Carl's Jr. since the '70's. The restaurant that I typically go to on Saturdays and Sundays is located at 1809 E Edinger Ave, Santa Ana, CA 92705-4709.  This restaurant stays open very late and thus has become a haven for the local drug trafficers.

Today, for the fourth time in the past several months, I found myself shut out of the men's room by druggies who took over the facility for over 30 minutes to do their drugs, from 12:30 (noon) to 1:00 PM. 

I have complained repeatedly to management, but they do not want to get involved, and by the time - usually 20 minutes - that they finally send someone to check the problem, it is generally resolved.  Meanwhile, no other customers, during the busiest - noon hour - time, can use the men's room can, as there will be up to three tattooed rockers shooting up in the can, where there is only one toilet.

The local Santa Ana police are aware of the problem and can be seen parked down the block on most weekend nights, taking license numbers.  When I have spoken with them, however, they informed me that they could take no action without a complaint from Carl's management, and, even though the restaurant would be crammed with drug users and dealers, creating a hazard for the other Carl's customers, mostly Hispanic families with children, there have been no such complaints.

I would simply like to be able to use the facilities when I go there to eat, without having to wait thirty minutes for a string of drug users to finish shooting up before I can use the can, and then typically discovering that they have completely trashed the men's room as well.  Today, for example, they poured some kind of liquid all over the floor and the toilet paper dispensor.

There are plenty of non-drug-user potential patrons in the local area, which has a multitude of small, computer-related businesses.  However, this kind of problem is not going to attract that clientel."