Hurricane Grill & Wings
Hurricane Grill & Wings
If you check…back on April 28, 2010 Jeff Eats “did” a Hurricane Grill & Wings review. For those of you who don’t already know, Hurricane is a “rapidly” growing national chicken-wing chain with a number of stores in our South Florida market. Suffice it to say, the joint serves good stuff at reasonable prices.
Now…Hurricane Grill & Wings has a “Flavor Rewards Program—in a nutshell, this program is a CARD which accumulates points each- time you spend money at a Hurricane Grill…supposedly, the points add up and you can use them to buy food and merchandise at the restaurants.
Sounds Simple, doesn’t it? Au contraire!!
Jeff Eats has one of these cards and EVERY-TIME I have tried to use it, Hurricane Grill & Wings’ computer system has FAILED TO WORK. To make a long story short, both- my original card and a replacement card sent to me by the home office “didn’t” allow the servers or for that matter the general managers to in-put credit earned for purchases. Simply put…the system stinks. The latest failure of the system was last night- at Hurricane’s newest South Florida outpost in the Mission Bay Shopping Center in Boca Raton.
In the scope of things, this points’ thing (on an individual basis) is small potatoes . That said, if it happened to Jeff Eats, it may have happened to other customers here in South Florida and elsewhere—and I’ll bet you a lunch, all of the “points” not being correctly calculated might add up to some hefty numbers being “saved” by the home-office. Sinister? One never knows, does one?
One final thing, this morning I called Hurricane’s home-office to “discuss” the problem with my card(s) and found the two individuals that I spoke with very -confrontational in handling what should have been a very simple matter to “appease & cure.” From my viewpoint, these two folks weren’t too strong on the customer satisfaction front. I am telling you-these two treated my “problem” as if I had asked them to cure cancer or something. And no–they didn’t credit my card account with last night’s purchase…And no–they didn’t figure out why my card and their system didn’t work. As a matter of fact, one of the employees intimated that I might be making this “purchase” up. Sheez!!
A deal is deal…and this card is a DEAL, which Hurricane is not honoring (in my case, anyway). I can only imagine, how many cardholders might be getting “jipped” out of their money.
Like I said, the food is good…same for the prices and service.
That said, I’m out. Hurricane Grill & Wings has lost me as a customer.
UPDATE: April 28, 2011.
To make a long story short. After my February 18, 2011 “review” appeared and several phone callls to the HOME OFFICE. Jeff Eats was issued TWO CARDS. The first one DIDN’T WORK, the second one, worked one time and this evening it didn’t work. Hurricane Grill makes it very difficult to stay a loyal customer. I can only imagine—how many other customers are being “BEATEN” out of the points that they have rightfully earned. For real this time, I Won’t Be Back!
Jeff,
I live about 5 minutes from the new Mission Bay store. They did a nice job in converting another wings restaurant into a Hurricane. The center that it is located in is a good one for families, so this store should do well. I have eaten in a number of Hurricanes including the one on Palmetto a short distance away. I have always found the wings, salads, fries etc to be very good. Same for the service. It’s a no hassel place.
Like you I have one of those cards. At the end of the meal I present it along with my credit card to the waiter or waitress. I never really pay attention as to whether or not the bill is being added into the system. I have absolutely no idea what amount is suppose to be on the card.
What you have written about is not of paramount concern to me. As you note it’s small potatoes. However, if Hurricane hasn’t been correctly recording the amounts I would think that the numbers could be huge here and throughout its chain system.
The next time I am in a Hurricane I’m going to see what numbers they have for me. I am also going to check with my credit card companies and get the amount of the bills that I have been charged. It will be interesting to see if this situation is just more than a fluke in your case.
Mr. L.
I’ve been to a number of Hurricane’s over the years, including the new one in Mission Bay a few days ago…I didn’t even know that they had a promotion card, nor was I ever offered one…
When you called the office to lodge your complaint, they should have been a lot nicer. I mean, it is a FREQUENT CUSTOMER card. You are the type of customer that they should be most concerned about. They should have done everything in their power to see that you, or any card-holding customer for that matter, hang up the phone satisfied. If they couldn’t fix your problem over the phone, they should have at least tried to offer you something for your trouble.
Jeff, you have this blog, which is probably going to get this issue fixed for you personally in a matter of hours after someone from Hurricane gets wind of this, but for the average joe, the best way to deal with a situation like this is to speak with your wallet and not give them any more of your money. There are plenty of other “joint(s) that serve good stuff at reasonable prices.” in the area.
Good Luck,
a loyalty card that chases away customers.
sounds like a great idea to me.
jeff, if the card didnt work for you, you got to figure that it didnt work for other customers.
cant believe that mgt just blew you off.
In this day and age you wonder how companies can survive when they so rude and indifferent to their customers. Don’t they understand the power of the internet? Haven’t they seen the impact of CLASS ACTION LAWSUITS? It doesn’t take a genius to see where this is heading. You have a strong following in South Florida and this failure on the part of the corporate people to aggressively address the deficiency in their customer loyalty program will impact their business in this market and could ultimately result in expensive legal action.
Keep up the pressure.
The Optimizer
optimizer, dont laugh! it’s these small penny ante things that sometimes end up in huge class action suits. just run the numbers, so many customers, not getting the few cents here and there that they are owed, can often added up to huge accumulate sums.
Over the years I must have literally accumulated a million rewards cards. I must have 90 stamped ice cream cards sitting in my desk with just one stamp from the same ice cream store. Most people don’t follow through on these cards. With your blog you must have cards all over the place. I find it incredulous that 2 cards that you had didn’t work. One card not working could be but a second one driectly from HO not working sounds nuts to me. It wuld seem that the next step in the equation would be that if Jeff’s didn’t work 2x and out of 2x then others have to having the same problem.
I see where a phone call to HO didn’t get this matter straightened out. What could be their problem after all, all you want is for the card to work and to get the credit that you rightfully are entitled to.
I CANT BELIEVE THAT HURRICANES HOME OFFICE DIDNT IMMEDIATELY STRAIGHTEN THIS MATTER OUT FOR YOU. WHAT IN THE WORLD COULD THEY BE THINKING?
Jeff, this is a real simple one to figure out and I’m sure you have already done so. If your cards didn’t work it means that others cards didn’t work either. Now the question did other customers pick up on this and did Hurricane correct things for everyone whether or not they knew that they weren’t getting their points?
I think I know the answer. Only those who complained or realized what happened got what they were suppose to.
Others here have noted, Hurricane should have taken care of your concerns immediately. Whoever you spoke to who didn’t act immediately really has no idea how to handle customers.
Jeff Eats:
If the two cards failed, you can go to the bank that many other cards are failing. This is a no brainer. Something is wrong with their POS.
The home office people you spoke to know that the system isn’t working correctly. They just don’t want you to know, so they tried to put you on the defensive. Not too bright, they should have done their best to get your problem ironed out.
I have been w Duffys for 7 years in management, this tale struck a cord w/ me. I believe we were one of the first to issue guests a points based loyalty program in sofla. you earn a point for every dollar you spend, 100 points gets you a $10 credit loaded onto your card, or %10 off every purchase. You also get double points on tuesdays and with all togo orders. Monday nights “MVPS” get every entree for 10.95, and M-F 2-4pm they get %40 off the food order. I work in an area with a lot of seniors on fixed incomes, and believe me, they keep track of their points and its not “small potatoes.” I can assure you Duffys would never “skim off the top” here, these guests would catch on quick! Everything is done automatically by a software program. Ill be honest I am often confused with the questions that come from guests regarding their points, and how they are adding up, I dont do math, thats why im in the restaurant bizz! Anyway, in conclusion, I would be surprised if HG came up with a way to scam their customers via loyalty card, whats more disheartening is how Jeff was treated by the corp office! Thats crappy…..Love the blog Jeff, I check in every other day-
ps, i’ll bet you that hurricane has known for quite awhile that its system isn’t accurate. it seems like duffy’s is much more customer oriented on this rewards issue than hurricane is. if jeff’s cards failed, you can bet others have also failed. personally i agree with you that hurricane isn’t really looking to scam anyone here. it just seems that they might be very lax in running their business. but no matter how you slice it, if one customer lost out on legitimately earned points, hurricane should be ashamed of itself.
Reading this I am very disappointed with Hurricane Wings. I have been reading Jeff for a long time and one thing I know is that he calls it just as he sees it. For him to write this story he must have really been annoyed and pissed off at the way Hurricane runs this system and how he was treated.
Jeff, Keep calling it like it is. That’s what your readers love about Jeff Eats. No bs here just the real deal.
Jeff,
Right now it’s 4:15pm. Just curious, did Hurricane’s management do anything to straighten out this matter?
Mr. Kat:
Just had a chance to read your post.
In response to an email that I sent him, this morning, I received a call from Mark Snyder who is Hurricane’s COO. Mr. Snyder said that he would look into the matter and get back to me.
Right now it is 4:40 pm. Since that call from Mr. Snyder I have not “heard” from Mr. Snyder or anyone else associated with Hurricane Wings.
To my knowledge, my Rewards’ card balance has not been updated to reflect last night’s purchase. In addition, I am also going to assume that the card that I have in my possession will still not “work” on Hurricane’s system.
If and when I hear from Hurricane, I will further update this writeup.
To be perfectly honest with you, I’ve already reviewed Hurricane Wings, so there isn’t too much more information that I can provide about the food, prices and service. To say the least, I am not happy with the way they run their REWARDS operation.
The lack of “immediacy” in dealing with me, should give you a heads up on Hurricane’s corporate culture.
If I hear from Hurricane, I hear from them…if I don’t, I don’t. I will tell you, that #1 on Jeff Eats’ Worse Corporate Response list is The Capital Grille and for right now, Hurricane Wings a close second.
Thanks for reading…
Sorry to hear about others having issues as I’ve been going to the 441 location and now the Parkland location for about a year. We’ve used the card a few times, no issues to speak of. That said, we’re not tracking the balance very closely, but when we hand it over the server almost always asks us if we want to add to it or use the credit toward the bill. I hope they can work it out as its a silly way to lose customers – a loyalty program that in fact disenfranchises people.
Jeff,
we own another wing brand franchise. we have a loyalty card that works. call us at (305) ***-**** and set a date to come in. just show us your hurricane card and we will treat you, family/friends to $100 of our food. looking forward to meeting you.
http://www.southfloridadailyblog.blogspot.com just picked up this story.
can’t figure why hurricane wouldn’t take steps to immediately credit your rewards’ account and get its system working correctly.
a loyalty card that doesn’t work, what a novel idea, chasing away loyal customers. brilliant!
Hey Jeff, Did these guys ever get your rewards card to work and updated?
I live right behind the Mission Bay center and think that they did a great job in building their new store. I am familar with Hurricane and have been to the store on Garden Shops. Their wings are good, same goes for the rest of their food.
I don’t have a rewards card. never really pay any attention to those kind of things. In this case from you have told us it seems it doesnt matter as to whether or not you have one or not because it may not work anyways.
If they haven’t gotten you straightened out by now, there is something wrong with their customer service operations.
Interested in following this saga to see if Hurricane does the right thing or not.
Professor:
Just so you know, “eventually” Hurricane credited my account and issued me a new card, which on its first outing (March 31, 2011) didn’t work.
Enough said.
Thanks for reading…
Just a further update.
Hurricane sent me another card (that would be the third one) and low and behold, tonight it worked.
Thanks for reading…
Jeff, Glad to see that 3X was the charm. One quick question, was the management smart enough to add extra points to your card for all of the trouble that you went through?
zaza: Just had a chance to read your post.
To answer your question, NO! The management didn’t add extra points to my card.
To be perfectly honest with you, for all of the trouble that I went through to get this matter straightened out, good customer service warranted giving me “something” for my trouble.
Thanks for reading…
We had a bad experience at Hurricane grill in Mission Bay as well . Took forever to get our food. I ordered parmesan garlic wings, and got
plain wings. The artichoke spinach dip portion of the dip was too small and when we asked for salsa, they said they had to charge us and it wasn’t even 2 tablespoons worth. They lost the Bruno family as customers also.
Kristine, we go to the one on Palmetto in Boca and find the food and service just right. We ate in Mission Bay once but like the bigness of Palmetto store better.
Ate at the one in Stuart. Was not impressed in the least. Small portions and crazy service. Bunch of people hanging around there … just hanging not eating. Friends of the waitress I guess but bad impression… food barely ok.
That would be “Gypped” as in what Gypsy’s do 🙂
Jeff, saw you 4/1/11 update that the new card didn’t work. That’s crazy.
Wow, I was going to give them a try. But not with customer service like that.
Love the wings and salads.
Jeff, saw your update. this chain must be run by morons. amazing how 3 cards that you got all failed. i also found it amazing that mgt didn’t offer you something to keep you as a customer. someone isn’t taking care of business at this chain.
i have eaten in both boca stores something like 10 times and i never even knew about a card.
the management better watch this game or it’s going to collapse.
Just read your saga about that rewards card. A big company like this should be ashamed that its system constantly fails. I am also mazed that you were so patient coming back for more abuse. Personally I’d just go to another place and never set foot in this chain again. I am also mazed that after having so many problems that this company didn’t send you a gift card for free meals etc. They obviously couldn’t give a rat’s ass about you and probably other customers. Your journey convinced me to not even consider Hurricane for my wings.
Jeff, Just read the story here. I like the food. I usually go to the Coconut Creek one. Great story of corporate ineptness.
ARE YOU TELLING US THAT HURRICANE STILL CAN’T GIVE YOU A CARD THAT WORKS?
I FOUND THAT TO BE ABSURD.
I ALSO FOUND IT TO BE ABSURD THAT THE PEOPLE RUNNING THIS COMPANY DIDN’T PUT EXTRA POINTS ON YOUR CARD AFTER THE NUMEROUS PROBLEMS THAT YOU HAD.
I WOULD THINK THAT A GIFT CARD, POINTS OR SOEMTHING WAS WARRANTED.
NOT SURE, BUT $100 IN POINTS OR DOLLARS WOULD HAVE BEEN A NICE WAY OF APOLOGIZING.
ok wings.
Ate in Boca Powerline store last night.
Good wings, fries and salad.
Hey Jeff . Did you ever think that maby you demagnitized the card? WOW is your hotel key still working.
wings ok but nothing great
ate there one time. won’t go back. the food is nothing special anyway
wings are good but not the best around.
NO Coustomer Servies at all . they don’t get it they are lacking in knowledge of custommer service????? worst experience ever,
Jeff:
Picked up 20 honey mustard wings last night at Boca location on Palmetto.
Small, hard, very little meat.
Won’t be going there again.
wings are small and have very little meat. ff and chips are good, but this place is suppose to be about wings.
not my first, second, or third choice for wings.
ok food, but nothing great
Boca loc. on palmetto is very poorly run. Never really busy. One in mission bay is busier and better operated. From reading others here bet my card has been cheated like crazy on points.
Wings are just fair.
Wings ok
Ff and chips were so salty that it wasn’t even funny,
There are better places
good salads.
the wings are small and second rate
wings are inferior product. small and meatless. dont bother.
Have to agree, wings are crap.
We had a Super Bowl party at my house. Picked up 100 wings 4 different flavors at Hurricane Wings on 441 in Boca. Not the best. Small and very little meat on wings. The flavors were also very bland. First and last time for Hurricane.
wings are crap.
waste of money.
One on palmetto and jog in Boca just closed.
Hadn’t been to Hurricane in quite sometime. Had found wings very skimpy and that loyalty card issue to be bad news.
Tonight my wife and I gave the Boca store a chance.
Pleasantly surprised how good the wings, salad and parmesan fries were. The card system still doesn’t work but they took my card number and said they would make sure the pts got in the acct .
Based on the food, we’ll be back for another meal.
Jeff
Loyalty card system as of tonight still doesn’t work.
love their wings, fries, burgers, salads.