Earl of Sandwich. Beware the chair.

luv

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I posted this in reviews, but thought I'd share it here.

Before I left, I went up to the guy stocking cups and napkins and said, "One of your chairs is kind of broken. The wooden seat is only attached to the seat base in the back, so as you pull your chair in, your finger can easily slide in between the two, causing it to be smashed between them when you sit, which is why my finger looks like this. (Held up my red and purple finger tip, all swollen.) I put it over there (pointed), by the high chair. I'm not complaining; I just wanted to let you know so that nobody else - especially some little kid - gets hurt."

All the while, the guy is listening and nodding. He continues to nod and says, in a thick accent, "You want high chair?" So I tell him that I don't and he's confused and I tell him it's okay and I move on to the girl at the counter.

She begins to listen, but I'm like halfway into my second sentence when she turns and starts walking away. She turns and tells me, "Sorry. Hang on." So I hang. I want to leave, but I don't want anyone else to get hurt, so I stay. A guy who looks like a manager comes walking through and she motions to him to attend to me.

So I tell him my story. I don't know why I kept talking. He was looking around the whole time, but I kept going. When I was done, he said, "Thank you" as he turned to go back to working.

I doubt anyone actually heard me. The only one who seemed even a little interested was the one who was, due to a language barrier, incapable of helping. I doubt they'll do anything about the chair. My fingertip is now back under the nail. It still hurts. I might have cracked the bone. I dont know. I just know its ugly, hurts and i can't bend the tip or use it. If that had been a little kid finger, it could have snipped the tip right off. And that's what concerned me the most. Little fingers have a way of sliding into little places.

I didn't expect them to fix my finger or even ask about it. I did expect them to say, "Where is the chair?" and get that chair off the floor so that nobody else would get hurt. But nobody looked at the chair and nobody cared even a little.

I don't know what it will take before they bother to attend to it.

So, beware your chair at Earl of Sandwich, lol. I'm going to beware of all chairs in the future...because, geez, it hurt...once bitten, twice shy. :)
 

luv

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I think the best option is to just watch where you stick your finger.
Nobody can see their fingertips when the tips are under the seat. Unless you inspect the chair before sitting by holding a leg and lifting up on all edges of the seat, there is no way to know a chair is broken in the way that one was.

Even Niles Crane didn't do that much preparation before sitting down. :)

I think that, rather than expecting every customer to do a thorough chair inspection and/or have x-ray vision to see their fingertips as they pull in their chairs (and be able to see both of their hands under both sides, lol) you might just grab broken chairs off the floor once you know they're broken.
 

unkadug

Follower of "Saget"The Cult
Probably the best thing to do is to write some letters both to WDW and to Earl of Sandwich:

EARL OF SANDWICH® Corporate Office:
6052 Turkey Lake Road, Suite 202
Orlando, FL 32819
 

luv

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Probably the best thing to do is to write some letters both to WDW and to Earl of Sandwich:

EARL OF SANDWICH® Corporate Office:
6052 Turkey Lake Road, Suite 202
Orlando, FL 32819
Thanks for the address. I'll send an anonymous note. Maybe they'll find it and fix it before someone else gets hurt. It will be Tuesday at the earliest before they get it, though.

The whole point of not officially complaining was so that I wouldn't be troubled with having to do paperwork or have insurance companies calling me.

A friend of mine once turned left into oncoming traffic and we got hit on the passenger side. Someone called an ambulance and they insisted on taking me in. I had a concussion, but not a bad one. No big whup. I didn't want anything. But her insurance company kept calling me. They even asked her to bug me. They insisted on giving me money so I could sign a paper. I told them I didn't need to sign anything, but I'd sign it for free if they'd quit bugging me. No, they HAD to give me money.

That story and the paperwork nightmare with insurance companies gets longer, lol, but I'll leave it there.

It was all nuts and taught me to never let people know I was injured in any way, lol. If I'm decapitated, my dead head will be found with a mouth beginning to say the words, "I'm fine." :)

I wouldn't even have said ANYTHING, but I wanted to prevent someone else from getting hurt. Some little kid really could lose a finger in that thing, though.

So, I'll make attempt number four to have them get rid of (or fix) the broken chair. I really shouldn't have to, though. Someone should have taken ten or fifteen seconds to listen and then just removed the chair. I'd have even brought it to them. Maybe I should have just taken the thing and put it on the counter, lol.
 

RonAnnArbor

Well-Known Member
First, I would always ask for the manager, not one of the lackies that work there -- they get paid minimum wage to do a job they hate in a location that is their last choice to work at in Orlando...Ask for the managers. Sending a letter after the fact isn't going to do anything about the broken chair.
Another option -- take out a pen and write BROKEN CHAIR BEWARE on a napkin and put it on the chair, or tie it to the chair with another napkin, or use bandaids to tape it to the chair...you can be creative...its more for the other customers, not the worker taking garbage out of the bins.
Thanks for trying to help out a situation which I can almost guarantee got worse as the day/week went on without anyone taking care of the problem...
 

wiigirl

Well-Known Member
Hey! Once Bitten,Twice Shy. Ian Hunter. Love that song. :)

Awesome song!

75.gif
 

unkadug

Follower of "Saget"The Cult
Thank you you for bringing this to our attention! We would like you to know that we are listening to our guests and will make sure this issue is addressed. We appreciate your feedback!

Earl of Sandwich USA
Thanks for replying, but wouldn't it be better Public Relations to just have the manager listen to the customers in the first place instead of having to have to fix a problem AFTER the fact?
 

tecowdw

Well-Known Member
So I tell him my story. I don't know why I kept talking.
Yes, why are you still talking?
;)

I bet that is the reaction you felt you were getting from the three of them, huh? It's a shame but the service industry these days are full of people that don't care. Sadly, Disney isn't immune to that syndrome.
 

luv

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thank you you for bringing this to our attention! We would like you to know that we are listening to our guests and will make sure this issue is addressed. We appreciate your feedback!

Earl of Sandwich USA
This makes me very, very happy. You are restoring my faith in people. :). I didn't think anyone from the place would see it.

Thank you.

And I agree with the poster above. It really is a good sandwich shop. Never had a bad meal there.
 

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