[Escape Artist]

Originally Posted by Koapaka

Decided to go out to eat this evening, and went to Cody's Roadhouse at Lake Sumter.

Got seated, and waited and waited and waited for our server to come and even ask us for drink order. I would say it was at least 15 minutes, but hey, everyone is short staffed...so we just enjoyed waiting. Came and took our drink order, wanted a bottle of wine and 2 waters. Another 15 minutes LITERALLY before the water was served. Oh, no wine, what else do you want (claims they only had ONE of the bottle selections listed....ok, no problem, hubby has a beer and I stick with my water). Order was taken at that time. Hubby asked for his steak cooked rare.....she responds cant promise that buy will request.) Now, at what point does the customer not have the right to request the temp they want their steak cooked?? I ordered chicken wings. Literally, another 20 minutes passed and when she waltzes by to serve the people that have come in way after us, I ask about the beer. "Oh, I put the order in, I have to wait for them to serve it" was her response. No apology, no let me check on it...basically, "not my fault". Beer finally arrives about 10 minutes later....still no food. We actually watched people come in, get seated, get served and enjoying their meal being waited on by other servers as we sat and waited. Never offered to refill water, just kept asking "everything alright here" every time she passed by. Finally, food arrives. Hubby orders another beer since he has been drinking the other one during the extended wait....never comes. Bottom line, I have been the person preaching patience as we deal with these staff shortages...but it was apparent this particular server was NO hurry, not my fault, get there when I get there mode.

I actually was so unhappy I seriously considered leaving no tip. I could not bring myself to do it and tipped the 20% minimum we always leave (And for exceptional service we have left as much as 100% of the bill....trust me, CHASE credit card sends me constant email notifications, "did you intend to leave this percentage as tip?"), but gotta wonder....think we will be eating at home a lot more this winter as the snowbirds return.

At what point does the "short staffed" issue start to allow incompetence to rule the day?? There HAS to be a limit, where do you draw the line???

Sorry to say, this has really turned us off to Cody's. The entire experience was actually that sad.

You stated that others were being served and getting their food, drinks, etc. so maybe you were just unlucky and got a bad server? That can happen at any time, not just because of Covid.

[JSR22]

Originally Posted by snbrafford

==================================================

My wife and I recently traveled to New England area on our first vacation since this whole Covid thing stopping in Myrtle Beach along the way. All during our trip, many hotels and restaurants had signs posted that they were short staffed to had cut back on service due to COVID. If you go into other returns here in The Villages like Beef O'Brady's or Bob Evans or Darrell's Dinner or... the list goes on - there will often be a "short staffed" sign on the door. And not to mention - there are "help wanted" signs everywhere. No one wants to work for service industry wages as long as they can collect unemployment. The solution, in my opinion, is to reduce unemployment payments the longer a person is on it (assuming they are physically able to work) so they will go back to work. We can't continue to reward people for not working when there are plenty of jobs out there.

The people who stayed as servers are working in the higher priced restaurants and there is plenty of help. They make a whole lot more money getting 20 to 25% tip off an $70 to 80 tab then a $20 to 25 tab.

[Two Bills]

Originally Posted by snbrafford

==================================================

My wife and I recently traveled to New England area on our first vacation since this whole Covid thing stopping in Myrtle Beach along the way. All during our trip, many hotels and restaurants had signs posted that they were short staffed to had cut back on service due to COVID. If you go into other returns here in The Villages like Beef O'Brady's or Bob Evans or Darrell's Dinner or... the list goes on - there will often be a "short staffed" sign on the door. And not to mention - there are "help wanted" signs everywhere. No one wants to work for service industry wages as long as they can collect unemployment. The solution, in my opinion, is to reduce unemployment payments the longer a person is on it (assuming they are physically able to work) so they will go back to work. We can't continue to reward people for not working when there are plenty of jobs out there.

There is of course the alternative, of making a working wage more attractive than unemployment payments.
That would mean paying a little more for your food, and/or sensible sized portions!

[Escape Artist]

Originally Posted by Two Bills

There is of course the alternative, of making a working wage more attractive than unemployment payments.
That would mean paying a little more for your food, and/or sensible sized portions!

This is a two-pronged problem. One is that businesses, especially restaurants, have been greatly affected by the pandemic so they've had to reduce their staff and economize in other ways. Secondly, many service industry workers were collecting both federal and state unemployment until that stopped recently. they might be slow getting back into the job scene as maybe they've saved up during the past year and half and are living off that for the time being.

And finally, you don't raise wages during an inflationary economy. Having said that, many businesses have offered workers incentives like paying for their college tuition among other perks.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by snbrafford

==================================================

My wife and I recently traveled to New England area on our first vacation since this whole Covid thing stopping in Myrtle Beach along the way. All during our trip, many hotels and restaurants had signs posted that they were short staffed to had cut back on service due to COVID. If you go into other returns here in The Villages like Beef O'Brady's or Bob Evans or Darrell's Dinner or... the list goes on - there will often be a "short staffed" sign on the door. And not to mention - there are "help wanted" signs everywhere. No one wants to work for service industry wages as long as they can collect unemployment. The solution, in my opinion, is to reduce unemployment payments the longer a person is on it (assuming they are physically able to work) so they will go back to work. We can't continue to reward people for not working when there are plenty of jobs out there.

Unemployment MAXIMUM in Florida is $275/week.

If you work a part-time job at near-minimum wage, you'll be lucky to see $150/week in unemployment checks - and then only for 26 weeks. After that you get nothing.

No one wants to collect unemployment if their check can't even cover the cost of their the electric bill. But there are people who were working full time with benefits, who have college degrees and professional career-type jobs, who are overqualified for Burger King AND have expenses more appropriate to the salaries they were making before their companies closed shop or eliminated positions/departments.

[wisbad1]

Originally Posted by Bay Kid

We have now learned how to get paid not to work.

So where did everyone go? Not sure what is going on anymore.

[jdulej]

Originally Posted by wisbad1

So where did everyone go? Not sure what is going on anymore.

They don’t want to wait on a bunch of non-vaxxed crazy people which is the reputation the villages is getting. Many of the prior wait staff have kids or live with their parents with no healthcare. Would you subject yourself to that risk?

[DylanTodd]

In my humble opinion, I commend the original poster for leaving the 20% tip and then posing the question here on TOTV. What he/she originally asked is when will the 'covid excuses stop?'

I am still in the restaurant business in New England until my wife & I move down full time. This afternoon I was actually at the Massachusetts restaurant association meeting with other restauranteurs discussing all these challenges we are currently facing and trust me there are a lot of them! The best perspective I heard today is the people shortage is here to stay and would have been here regardless of the COVID. As baby boomers are aging out of the workforce the generations underneath chose to have less children or delay starting a family. This is probably the realistic cause for our shortage, not covid.

Again its just my opinion, but if we don't support the art of service and provide patience for restaurant managers during the next year or so while we get our footing underneath us it will just drive more people away from the industry.

[Nucky]

At what point does the "short staffed" issue start to allow incompetence to rule the day?? There HAS to be a limit, where do you draw the line???

When those who do such work have wrinkles in their bellies then and only then will they com back to work, maybe. I'll bet you people may have taken the time during COVID to try and improve their life situations. Work, family, jobs, learning to cut their expenses. It could be way worse. Be grateful you were out for a dinner and had what some would consider a decent evening.

We have one couple in our group who find fault with everything from the second we hit the parking lot. Not fun.

[bagboy]

Originally Posted by jdulej

They don’t want to wait on a bunch of non-vaxxed crazy people which is the reputation the villages is getting. Many of the prior wait staff have kids or live with their parents with no healthcare. Would you subject yourself to that risk?

Those spewing that garbage about Villagers being unvaccinated are clueless

Covid Act Now

[justjim]

Facts are there is a shortage of labor at all levels. The labor shortage was predicated for year 2020 by labor analysts twenty five years ago when I was still active in the workforce. Look around you. Covid 19 made the labor shortage noticeable in the service industry because these employees interact daily with the public. Doctors, nurses, medical technicians, teachers, construction equipment operators, truck drivers, computer programmers, mechanics, plumbers, electricians, just to name a few of the occupations where a shortage exists. Unemployment compensation has little to do with the shortage of workers in today’s economy.

[sdeikenberry]

My golf group stopped using Cody's Sumter for lunch after golf. We watched service go down the tubes as COVID progressed, while other restaurants seemed to be handling staffing and service much better. The last time our group was at Cody's we experienced much the same as the author of this thread.

[tsmall22204]

The door you walked in is also an exit. All your complaining and not once did you ask for a manager. I think your problem is YOU.]

[ttc1991@aol.com]

Originally Posted by Koapaka

Decided to go out to eat this evening, and went to Cody's Roadhouse at Lake Sumter.

Got seated, and waited and waited and waited for our server to come and even ask us for drink order. I would say it was at least 15 minutes, but hey, everyone is short staffed...so we just enjoyed waiting. Came and took our drink order, wanted a bottle of wine and 2 waters. Another 15 minutes LITERALLY before the water was served. Oh, no wine, what else do you want (claims they only had ONE of the bottle selections listed....ok, no problem, hubby has a beer and I stick with my water). Order was taken at that time. Hubby asked for his steak cooked rare.....she responds cant promise that buy will request.) Now, at what point does the customer not have the right to request the temp they want their steak cooked?? I ordered chicken wings. Literally, another 20 minutes passed and when she waltzes by to serve the people that have come in way after us, I ask about the beer. "Oh, I put the order in, I have to wait for them to serve it" was her response. No apology, no let me check on it...basically, "not my fault". Beer finally arrives about 10 minutes later....still no food. We actually watched people come in, get seated, get served and enjoying their meal being waited on by other servers as we sat and waited. Never offered to refill water, just kept asking "everything alright here" every time she passed by. Finally, food arrives. Hubby orders another beer since he has been drinking the other one during the extended wait....never comes. Bottom line, I have been the person preaching patience as we deal with these staff shortages...but it was apparent this particular server was NO hurry, not my fault, get there when I get there mode.

I actually was so unhappy I seriously considered leaving no tip. I could not bring myself to do it and tipped the 20% minimum we always leave (And for exceptional service we have left as much as 100% of the bill....trust me, CHASE credit card sends me constant email notifications, "did you intend to leave this percentage as tip?"), but gotta wonder....think we will be eating at home a lot more this winter as the snowbirds return.

At what point does the "short staffed" issue start to allow incompetence to rule the day?? There HAS to be a limit, where do you draw the line???

Sorry to say, this has really turned us off to Cody's. The entire experience was actually that sad.

We had exactly the same experience. We must have had the same server. We will not be returning for a long time. Cody's in Brownwood, however, has excellent service. And nearby Gator's in LSL has been our go-to alternative for LSL's Cody's.

[bowlingal]

It must have been your server. According to your post, other people came in after you, different server, and got service before you. Go back, sit at another table and see......