narratives

Our server was fantastic at the beginning of our visit. He was very attentive and friendly, offering us Margarita Swirls and Queso when he greeted us. When it came time for us to order, Cornel suggested that we order the fajitas, as they came in a large order for two. He informed us that they were the best value in the location and that we would be pleased. We were given drink refills before the glasses were empty. Although our plates were not cleared until our check was presented, we have no complaints of our server.

The managers were both observed assisting the servers. Though neither were visiting tables, they were interacting with guests as they left the location, or when they delivered food items.

The ambiance of this location exceeded our expectations. We loved being able to see directly into the kitchen to view the food preparation. The openness was very inviting, and we can't wait to return to this location.

There are no concerns that would prevent us from returning to this location. Both restrooms, however, had very slick floors. The handicapped stall in the women's restroom had water all over the floor. I was unable to put my purse on the floor because it was so wet. The rest of the restroom appeared to be dry. The men's room was also wet, though there were no signs alerting patrons to the fact. My young child fell while entering the restroom with my husband.

We were not thanked when leaving the location, even though three employees were at the door.

The women's restroom floor was grimy. There were several paper towels littering the floor near the trash can, even though it was only half full.

Our server was very friendly and polite, but seemed to be uncomfortable with leading the conversation. When delivering our drinks, instead of asking us if we were ready to order, he just stood there like he was unsure of himself. I finally asked for some direction of the menu, which he easily gave to me. Later when our food was delivered, which was for the most part fantastic, the manager was the one to offer refills. We did not receive the salads that were included with our meal (though he did deliver salads to the tables around us, to his credit). Jason did not check back with us after our food was delivered, despite walking past our table several times to assist the table behind us. When he did check on us 11 minutes later, he left without offering refills, even though the two empty glasses were sitting on the edge of the table.

We only observed two servers and the manager in the dining area, and Jason did have several tables to attend to. We really were happy with the service received and felt Jason would have been more attentive had he not been busy - and nervous!

Jason did suggest an appetizer and dessert; however, nothing specific was mentioned.

We received our appetizer in record time; six minutes after ordering it. The food items were excellent, other than noted above in the food section.

The manager was very observant and attentive. He was seen assisting the staff in serving and maintaining tables, including ours... He noticed the empty drinks a few minutes after our server "missed" them, and promptly offered refills. When notified that we did not receive our salads, we were told that he would make it right on the bill, which he did. By that time, we had almost finished our entrees, though he did offer to bring them out at that time.

Overall, the service and food were great. We did visit this location about a year ago, and are happy to say that the food has improved vastly -- We will be back! Thank you!

I entered the location and was warmly greeted immediately by Hannah. She immediately asked if she could help me. I told her I was just looking. After a few minutes, she re-approached me and asked if I was looking for something specific. I told her I wished to look at some emerald or ruby rings. She took me to the case where they were located. Hannah was very attentive to me and listened to what I was looking for in a ring. As she waited on me, she would also greet any customer that came into the location in a warm and welcoming manner. I asked Kathie for a card. I told her I wished to think about the purchase. She gave me her card and told me that any associate could help me when I came back in and to just mention or show the card to the associate. I thanked her for her time and she wished me a good evening and immediately gave her attention to other customers.

There was one customer in the store when I first arrived. Four other customers came into the location during my visit. The cases were well maintained, clean and free of smudges. The sales floor was clean and free of debris. Current sales catalogs were on three of the jewelry counters.

Credit applications were available on the counters. There was a wedding theme table set up at an entrance to the location. All the merchandise was well organized and grouped. The lighting was at a comfortable level. Hannah was very efficient and professional throughout the transaction. She made me feel comfortable shopping at this location, and I would certainly make a purchase from her at this location in the future.

I arrived at the dealership at 2:35 PM. I immediately went into the showroom and was greeted by Charlie within 45 seconds. He shook my hand and introduced himself, asking me my name. He then asked what I was interested in. I told him I was looking for a new pick up truck. He asked me if I wanted 2 or 4 wheel drive, regular cab or crew cab. I told him I was looking for 4-wheel drive with a regular cab. He asked what color I was looking for and I told him dark blue or dark green. He went into his office and I used the rest room. He checked his inventory sheet and informed me he had exactly the truck I was looking for. He mentioned he had a dark green 4-wheel drive regular cab Chevy Silverado and asked if I would like to see it. After I said yes he went outside and brought the truck to the front door.

We walked around the vehicle and he pointed out the trailer hitch and asked if I would be towing anything. I told him I had a small pop up camper and he said there would be no problem hauling it with this vehicle, as it has a towing capacity of 8000 pounds. He then opened the hood and showed me the Vortex V8 engine. Then he asked if I would like to take a test drive and I told him yes. He asked for my license and went inside to make a copy of it. While he was inside, I sat in the truck and looked at the control panel. I was very impressed with the layout and the ease of operation.

He returned, handed me back my license, and explained how the Tow/Haul Mode switch worked, that you need more power to haul a heavy load. He then explained how the 4-wheel drive interlock system worked and how the CD/radio worked. He then pointed out the dual zone climate control feature and explained the benefits of it. We then went for an approximate 20-minute test drive and he asked me if I did mostly city or highway driving. I told him highway and he told me the average gas mileage would be about 20-23 mpg. He then mentioned if I were driving in 4-wheel drive high, the gas mileage would be 16-19 mpg. This information was very helpful and I appreciated him telling me the difference. I was very impressed with the handling and the power of this vehicle. It was a very smooth ride.

We returned to the Dealership and he asked me how I liked the vehicle. I told him I liked it very much but I was test-driving other vehicles and had one more to do before I made my decision. He asked me if he could give me a price and I said, “certainly.” He asked if I had a trade in and I said no that I was selling to a friend of mine. He left, returned about 3 minutes later with a price that was lower than I anticipated for this type of vehicle. He asked how I was going to finance. I asked what their percentage rate was and he said without a copy of my credit report, he would guess around 6.9%. I mentioned I had a credit union at 4.9% and he said that if I decide to buy this truck, he would get my credit report and try to beat the 4.9% and possibly even make it 0%. He asked if I would like to take the truck home for the night and I told him under normal circumstances I would, but it would be pointless because my wife is out of town for a few days and I want her to be part of the decision making process. The Sales Manager, Butch, then came over, introduced himself, shook my hand, and asked if I was satisfied with the vehicle and the service I received from Charlie. I told him I was extremely happy with both and he said, “Great!” Butch then received a phone call, excused himself, and told me he hoped to see me back. I then asked Charlie how long this price would be in effect. He said as long as we have this or a comparable vehicle in stock, and told me he has 8 at this time. I told him my wife would want to test drive this vehicle and we made a tentative agreement that I would call him in a few days when this could be arranged. He wrote on his business card that he was off on Tuesdays but would come in if that was the only day we could get up there. I told him to enjoy his day off, that we could work around Tuesday. I then mentioned that I had to get back to work and that I was extremely pleased with the vehicle and the price. He shook my hand and said that if I had any questions, to please give him a call.

Charlie is a very personable and knowledgeable salesperson. He is extremely patient and at no time used any heavy-handed pressure. He asked very good open-ended questions to determine my needs. I would definitely recommend him to anyone that would be looking to purchase a vehicle.

I was approached by George within minutes of entering the lot. I was looking at the specifications sticker on a used Tracker when he approached and asked if he could help me. He made eye contact and smiled while extending his hand to shake my hand in a very professional manner. He asked what I was looking for and I responded that I was looking for a Tracker. We discussed why I was looking for a new car. I explained that I wanted a larger car than my current small sedan but did not want a full-sized SUV. He agreed that the Tracker was a good choice for those needs. I mentioned that I had narrowed down my choices to the Tracker and the Saturn Vue, and said that I was concerned about gas efficiency by switching from a smaller car to an SUV. He assured me that the Tracker got very good gas mileage and gave an estimate of city/highway gas mileage (which turned out to be accurate when we looked at the specifications sticker on the vehicle). He smiled and said they had a great deal on the new Trackers right now that would be worth checking out. He then led me to two Trackers. One was a hard-top bronze-colored vehicle, and the other was a silver soft-top vehicle. I commented that I had not realized Trackers came with soft tops also, and he made a competitive comparison against the Vue (that the Vue does not come with a soft top). We opened the doors and looked inside each vehicle, as he pointed out some of the features of each (the CD player, the ability of the back seat to fold down, the cargo door on the back, gas efficiency, etc.). As we were looking at the vehicles, he mentioned the current offer from Koons for $4000 off any new vehicle, and we looked at what that would reduce each car’s price by. As we talked about the vehicles, he used positive phrases and an upbeat tone of voice. I appreciated that he was demonstrating the features of the car without pressuring me to make a decision right away.

After we had looked through the vehicles, he asked if I would like to take a test drive in one of them. I said yes, I would like to try the soft-top Tracker. He responded that I might want to try the hard-top vehicle instead because of its lower center of gravity, and because it would give me a more fair comparison to the Saturn Vue (since it is also a hard-top vehicle). I responded that I still wanted to try the soft-top vehicle, but said that if I didn’t like how it handled I would try the hard-top. He then got the key and pulled the vehicle out so I could get in the driver’s side. As we pulled out of the lot, we stopped at the main building so he could copy my driver’s license and write down my contact information. We then went for a test drive around the block, during which he pointed out more features of the vehicle (the greater visibility compared to my sedan, how well it accelerated, the comfort of the seats, etc.). He also mentioned that Chevy was planning on switching to a body style like the Saturn Vue next year (I had mentioned that my one reservation with the Vue was the body style, which I do not like, so this comparison was a gentle effort to give a more favorable view towards buying this particular vehicle in the near future).

Along the way, George also made pleasant small talk and had an easy-going attitude that was not at all pushy or aggressive. When we arrived back at the lot, George offered to look up what the cost of that particular vehicle would be. We sat down at a table and he filled out my contact information on the top of a white form, then said he was going to talk to his manager (who I did not see) and find out the price of the vehicle with the $4000 rebate. After a few minutes, he reappeared and showed me a written quote of approx. $13,000, plus title and tax. We discussed different financing methods (I mentioned I wanted to talk to my credit union about loan rates, and he said that once I did that to give him a call, because they could probably match or beat that rate). He wrote down the quote on his business card so I could take it with me. I had already mentioned that I wanted to wait until my boyfriend could come see the vehicle also, and he asked which day we would be coming in. When I responded that I was not sure, he mentioned that the $4000 rebate would change (either up or down, he did not know which way yet) a few days from now, so if I wanted to get that “great rate” on the Tracker, I needed to com back before then. At the end of our transaction, he walked me to the door, and shook my hand and smiled, and thanked me for coming in. He was a great salesman without being pushy or aggressive, and did a great job of selling the vehicle without making me feel pressured. If I were in the market for a new vehicle, I would definitely go back and talk to George!

I arrived at the store at 8:05pm. I was the only customer in the store. Before I could even begin to look Alex greeted me and asked if she could help me with anything specific. I explained that I was shopping for a replacement engagement ring for my wife because she lost hers. I told her I thought it would make a nice 10th anniversary gift. She then asked me what type of diamond I was interested in. I explained that I had no clue because I did not know very much about diamonds.

She began to show me the various types and cuts of diamonds available, explaining each one to me. The last group of diamonds she showed me were diamonds exclusive to this chain. She explained that they were the "ultimate" engagement ring, that the diamonds were certified diamonds, and explained what that meant. She also said that they were set in platinum settings and bands. She explained that they had more facets, resulting in a more brilliant look.

At this point she asked me what price range I was looking in. She showed me a series of round cut diamonds and I remarked that I liked the 3/4-carat ring the most. She told me that it was a "J" color and "I3" clarity, to which I said I had no idea what that meant. So Alex took a couple of minutes and thoroughly explained the grading process to me, what I should look for, and what I should avoid. When I thanked her for the explanation, she smiled and said it was what she called the "Alex Valentine Diamond School 101", and that she hoped the two minutes it takes to explain the information would help customers make a better decision regarding a purchase.

She pointed out to me that when looking from the top the 3/4 carat diamond looked very similar to the 1 carat diamond, which was the same color and clarity but cost $1000 more. She also explained the service plans available at this location, detailing the costs of the plan and what was covered. She explained that if the setting appears worn during inspection, they would fix them, which would cost $20 each without the plan. She also said that resizing was covered by the plan.

Alex then explained that if my wife ever decided to want to get a larger ring, she could bring this one back in and apply the $1500 purchase price towards a bigger ring. I thanked Alex for her time and told her that I wanted to shop around just a little bit more before making a decision. She said she understood but asked me to check back with her if I find another ring elsewhere that I like because she was confident that she could offer me a better "all-around" deal. She also gave me her card at this point.

I found Alex to be very warm and friendly during our conversation. I felt that she was sincerely interested in making sure I was making an informed decision, which met my needs and might generate future return business rather than just making a large one-time sale. If I were to sum up my shop in one line I would say that I would have been comfortable making a purchase tonight without shopping further had I truly been in the market for a ring.

This was the best experience I could imagine for a To-Go shop. First of all, I called from a cellphone, and my call was cut off in a dead zone. I reconnected with the individual who had been taking my order, and he asked for my phone number immediately in case I went through another dead zone and he needed to call me back.

The associate was completely polite and courteous, speaking clearly to compensate for the cellphone. I was out of the parking lot with my order within two minutes of driving in. The To-Go parking is in the back of the restaurant, but signs clearly mark all the way around where one is to drive to get to it.

The food was wonderful, packed to survive a journey home, and included all necessary silverware. The shrimp is the best appetizer I've ever had. I ordered it mild, and it had just the right amount of kick without burning my tongue. The flavor was perfect. My one complaint is that it could have included a bit more blue cheese dressing, since even mild, it was fairly spicy. The turkey sandwich was a solid sandwich, although nothing unusually special. I could have made it at home, and it was just a tad over-garlicky. I did appreciate the way the fries were packaged separately from the sandwich, which prevented them from getting soggy.

There were no deterrants on this visit. I'll definitely be going back to this location, and would recommend it to friends.