DICKEY’S BARBECUE PIT Consumer Complaints
DICKEY’S BARBECUE PIT Consumer Complaints: Add your own, or comment on the consumer complaints below. You don’t have to use your real name but please indicate the Dickey’s location, time and date (if it’s a specific incident), and your real email address (won’t be visible). This page is not owned nor operated by Dickey’s, but is read by Dickey’s corporate personnel and franchisees. We are especially interested in hearing on your opinions of new products, discontinued products and menu changes.
(UnhappyFranchisee.Com) Have you had a bad experience at a Dickey’s Barbecue Pit restaurant, or noticed changes in quality, service or menu items?
Are your problems with a specific location, or seem to be systemwide?
Have you tried to share your disappointment with Dickey’s but got nowhere?
Please share your opinions and experiences with a comment below.
If you would like a response, please be sure to use your real email address (it won’t show publicly) and be as specific as you can about the location and day and time.
If you would like to report a closed or a closing Dickey’s location, please do so here: DICKEY’S BARBECUE PIT Closed Location List
Dickey’s Began a Menu Change in 2016. What do you think?
Have you noticed a menu change at your local Dickey’s?
We’ve received complaints about such changes as the elimination of fried items like Okra & Onion Tanglers.
We’ve received complaints about the elimination of Free Ice Cream for Kids.
We’ve had cheers and jeers about new items like tacos and sliders.
UnhappyFranchisee.Com shares our readers input with Dickey’s franchise owners and corporate staff, so share your feedback below or email us at UnhappyFranchisee[dot]com.
Dickey’s Consumer Complaints
9/1/16 Robyn D. wrote “beef and cheese taco was half a slice of cheese and some brisket. does not look appetizing.” |
1/7/17 Golden Unicorn wrote: “The fuck is this @Dickeys a street chicken taco?” |
12/23/16 Jeff wrote: “Poor choice on our part I guess. First timers mistake. And I had to ask for the cheese they forgot to put on” |
Dickey’s Menu Complaints
Dickey’s customer wrote:
Got dinner @ Dickeys in Port Orchard&I ordered cornbread. The guy told me they don’t serve cornbread &other Dickeys do but not supposed to.
9/16 Lundi M wrote:
So disappointed no more fried food!
One of the main reasons my family goes to Dickeys is the awesome French fries and onion rings. They have a new menu and got rid of them. Such a bummer. Hope cooperate comes to their senses. Otherwise we won’t be back. We will go to the one in Yakima Washington that fought and kept the fried foods.
Bev wrote:
NO MORE OKRA, OR ANY FRIED SIDES So disappointed that corporate has decided to take away one of the good features of this chain. We come here for the okra and now it is not available, so sad!!!
12/23/2016 Lisa H. wrote:
NO FREE ICE CREAM! I have eaten at Dickey’s at several locations, in Ohio and elsewhere. Food and service is generally good. One thing that I always looked forward to was the free soft serve ice cream that was in the dining room of every single Dickey’s I have been to – anywhere. Not this one! Was told this was a “new model.” Well, this model sucks cuz there is no free ice cream and their menu is much more limited than other Dickeys. No fryers=no fried okra. They got rid of the best parts of Dickey’s. I’ll stay with going to City BBQ-it’s better BBQ anyway.
DICKEY’S FRANCHISE OWNERS: ADD YOUR VOICE! COMMENT BELOW OR SEND US AN EMAIL IN CONFIDENCE TO UNHAPPYFRANCHISEE[AT]GMAIL.COM.
Also read:
DICKEY’S Franchise Owners: Tell DBRI Your Biggest Concerns, Anonymously
DICKEY’S Franchise Issues: Menu Management
DICKEY’S Franchise Issues: Switch from U.S. Foods to SYSCO
DICKEY’S BARBECUE PIT Closed Location List
DICKEY’S Franchise Owners Share Frustrations & Fears
DICKEY’S BARBECUE PIT Franchise Complaints
DICKEY’S BARBECUE PIT Makes a Terrible Promotion Worse
Dickey’s “The Middle” Family Reunion Sweepstakes Contest Details
Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants Inc. Threatening to Sue U.S. Army Veteran
ARE YOU A DICKEY’S FRANCHISE OWNER? PLEASE SHARE A COMMENT, OPINION OR REQUEST WITH DBRI. COMMENT BELOW OR EMAIL IN CONFIDENCE TO UNHAPPYFRANCHISEE[AT]GMAIL.COM
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We have been dealing with the Dickey’s corporate office since November of 2016. The Dickey’s in Appleton, WI closed 5 months after signing a catering contract with us for our wedding and getting a down payment of $1412.78. After multiple conversations with corporate, they stated that they got the refund approved and that we should see a check in the mail. Just recently they told of that they never cut a check to refund our money and are now in conversations with the Appleton franchisee owner to try to get our money back. Is corporate not responsible if the franchisee cannot pay? Are we completely out of our money?
Kelly:
We contacted the franchise owner of the Appleton Dickey’s franchise about your claim that they owe you a deposit.
The franchisee claims that the Dickey’s legal department has stated that they paid you in full for your deposit.
I asked for proof that the legal department made that claim and they furnished a letter from a Matthew Frizzo, Dickey’s Legal Counsel, that does indeed say that Dickey’s corporate issued a refund to you.
Are you saying that that’s not the case?
Thanks,
ADMIN
That is not the case. We have been back and forth so many times with this. Below is the timeline.
11-7-2016 — I contacted the Director of Catering Sales that we initially set the catering up with because we saw in the paper that the Dickey’s in Appleton was closing. She contacted the Appleton franchise owner and he e-mailed us letting us know that he was working under a different catering service and was still going to fulfill our catering order just not as Dickeys. We told him that we did not want to do this. We booked with Dickeys and wanted Dickeys to do our catering for the wedding. The Director of Sales contacted 2 other locations within the area to see if they could handle our wedding. They could not. Because of this we were told that we would receive a refund for the $1412.78 we had paid.
11-10-2016 — We submitted a copy of the check as requested so Dickeys could verify the amount of the refund. The Director of Sales let us know they had made a formal request for reimbursement.
11-11-2016 — We were told our refund request was in and approval and check cutting process should take another couple weeks
11-21-2016 — I checked back in with the Director of Sales because we had not heard or received anything. She told us that everything was assigned internally to the appropriate people but did not know how long the process would take.
12-11-2016 — Reached out again for an update. I was told the refund was approved and she was just waiting for accounting to cut the check.
12-25-2016 — Reached out to see if the check had been mailed yet.
12-26-2016 — We were told everything was approved, so it was not ok we had not received a check yet. She was going to follow up.
12-31-2016 — Reached out again. Was told the Director put a ticket in for accounting to cut the check.
I asked if there was someone else with the company I should be talking to on this because we had been being told the check was approved to be cut for weeks and still it hadn’t. The Director was going to check on everything after the holidays.
1-4-2017 — We were told that the Director got three super high VP approvals for our refund and she was just waiting for account to cut the check.
1-17-2017 — Checked back in again. Was told she was under the impression the check had already been cut and mailed out. She e-mailed accounting and legal. She told us we might want to reach out to the Appleton franchise owner. I asked if the check was being mailed to him. She said not, but as the franchisor they were not responsible for the franchise’s debts. This is when she told me that their legal team was stepping in and sent the franchise’s legal team notice of what he owned us.
At this point I was a little upset because we had been being told that we were going to get payment for months and that the check was in the mail and now were told their legal was contacting his legal. I asked for the legal team’s information and she said she didn’t have it. She told us that instead of a check being cut, legal contacted the franchise’s legal on the 10th.
1-18-2017 — Was told that a formal “Demand for Reimbursement for Unjust Enrichment” was sent to the franchise giving him 30 days from 1-18.
Kelly:
Your recordkeeping and organizational skills are impressive! Ordinarily, I would tell Dickey’s corporation (DBRI) that not only should they repay you in full, they should hire you to get their obviously messy administrative house in order. However, I’ve been reviewing their employee reviews on Glassdoor & Indeed and don’t think I’d wish employment with DBRI on a new bride (or bride-to-be) who has already had enough aggravation!
I received a copy of the letter that Dickey’s Counsel Matthew Frizzo sent to the Appleton franchisee, and the letter clearly states (to the franchisee) that DBRI repaid you in full. They are demanding that the Appleton franchisee reimburse DBRI for what it already paid you and if not received in 30 days they will add it to the many other disputed amounts that the two sides are going to fight out in upcoming mediation and possibly arbitration after that (and possibly an MMA cage match to the death if those two don’t work out).
Who knows how long that might drag on!
The Appleton franchisee also told me that they were instructed by DBRI to have no contact with you because you are Dickey’s client, not theirs.
So it appears that Dickey’s Director of Catering Sales (Michelle Matthews, right?) promised you that they were going to send you a check and that it had received “three super high VP approvals.”
Then, months after promising to cut you a check, they say they changed their minds and are reneging on their months of promises.
Then, they suggest that you contact the local franchisee, who they’ve separately forbidden from having contact with you.
Meanwhile, they appear to lie to the financially devastated franchisee that they have already paid you.
Kelly, I shall send an email to Matthew Frizzo, Corporate Counsel at Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants, Inc., and and request some clarification. I will strongly suggest that, for the good of what’s left of the Dickey’s brand, he will order a check cut and overnighted to you by the end of the week, with an apology for the inconvenience and for lying to you. I may add my observation that you seem to be the kind of determined person who knows how to post complaints with the Better Business Bureau, the Texas Attorney General, Ripoffreport.com, PissedConsumer.com and, of course, UnhappyFranchisee.Com(!).
I will also copy the new President of DBRI, Renee Roozen, who will hopefully instruct the Dickey’s team that the last thing they want to do is tangle with a newly married Type-A Personality from Wisconsin… so pay the lady.
All the best,
ADMIN
TO: Corporate Counsel Matthew Frizzo
CC Dickey’s President Renee Roozen
SUBJECT: Dickey’s Brand Dilution in Appleton, WI
Good morning, Matthew:
Sean here from UnhappyFranchisee.Com.
A conversation has ensued on one of our pages that raises some concern regarding the “dilution” of both the Dickey’s brand and your professional reputation:
http://www.unhappyfranchisee.com/dickeys-barbecue-pit-consumer-complaints/comment-page-1/#comment-1443945
I’m hoping you’ll be kind enough to engage with me on these branding issues:
1) Kelly Navin posted a timeline indicating that over the span of three months DBRI’s Director of Catering repeatedly promised that your company was cutting her a check for $1,412.78 as a refund for the catering deposit. Michelle Matthews allegedly told her the payment request had even received “three super high VP approvals.” Then, in the third month, Matthews said DBRI was reneging on its promise and her refund was contingent on collecting it first from the franchisee.
Question: Don’t you think it would be better for the Dickey’s brand if you told Kelly Navin that DBRI is overnighting her a check for $1,412.78 and that she’ll receive it by the end of the week?
It’s clear from her comment on the site that Ms. Navin is highly organized, persistent and skilled in the use of social media.
Her credible account of her interaction with a DBRI Director not only suggests that Dickey’s home office cannot be trusted to honor its word, it seems to be a highly dysfunctional and micromanaged corporation. Not only were three “super high VPs” involved in a simple catering refund, but their approvals and authority were overridden at the last minute?
That does not seem like the “Good to Great” kind of management Roland Dickey, Jr. espouses!
Wouldn’t the wise move, at this point, be to immediately apologize for the inconvenience and pay the lady?
2) Ms. Navin referenced a letter from you to the Appleton franchisee dated 1/18/17.
I obtained a copy of that letter. In it, you very clearly represent that DBRI had already issued payment to Ms. Navin and another catering depositer.
You wrote: “To prevent further dilution of the brand caused by you, DBRI has elected to reimburse those guests. As a result of DBRI’s reimbursement of the guests noted above, you have been unjustly enriched in the amount of $1,725.16. DBRI demands immediate reimbursement of $1,725.16.”
Matt, I looked up the definition of “reimburse,” which reads: reimburse /ˌriːɪmˈbɜːs/ verb 1. (transitive) to repay or compensate (someone) for money already spent
Ms. Navin seems to contradict your statement that she was previously paid back by DBRI.
Question: Is honesty considered “optional” at Dickey’s corporate office? As an attorney aren’t you prohibited from making false statements of material fact (at least that blatantly and in writing?)
According to the Texas Disciplinary Rules Of Professional Conduct Rule 4.01. (Truthfulness in Statements to Others) states “a lawyer shall not knowingly: (a) make a false statement of material fact…” The Michigan Bar (where you were admitted) states the same in its Rules of Professional Conduct Rule: 4.1 Truthfulness in Statements to Others ” a lawyer shall not knowingly make a false statement of material fact.”
Related question: This is the second potential example of dishonesty from Dickey’s corporate employees in the Navin refund dispute… and this from the legal department. isn’t it unwise to open yourself and Dickey’s Legal department open to an ethics complaint by making a false statement of material fact? Isn’t this hurting the Dickey’s brand? Or am I misinterpreting the situation?
3) This one might just be a matter of semantics but, while I’m not an attorney, I’m kind of a word geek.
In your letter to the Wisconsin franchisees you state that “DBRI has elected to reimburse those guests.” DBRI decided to take that action, you state, “To prevent further dilution of the brand caused by you.”
I understand how this situation might “damage” the positive brand image or impune the integrity of the brand image, but isn’t “dilution” of a brand the negative consequence of overuse, overexposure and/or indiscriminate application of the brand image?
It’s my understanding that brand dilution might result from, say, a brand known for slow-cooked meats served fresh from the smoker suddenly having its logo plastered on mass-produced packaged products sold in Wal-Mart stores. Or brand dilution might occur by a company allowing its trademarks to be used indiscriminately in sloppily planned controversial sweepstakes that promote late night sitcoms.
Did you actually mean a different word when you wrote “dilution”? Perhaps clarifying the wording of your letter and correcting the false statement of material fact might help the Wisconsin franchisee and their attorney understand your point-of-view more clearly, or at least take you more seriously.
I look forward to your response or, at the very least, getting a Dickey’s brand-boosting update from a happy bride saying that she received a check from DBRI… and it cleared!
All the best,
ADMIN
UnhappyFranchisee.Com
Did Kelly got her refund check from Dickey’s Corporate?
Good question. I’ll send her an email.
I have the same problem with Dickeys! Easter, I ordered Easter dinner to be catered, it was supposed to arrive at 2:00 PM even keeping track left Rockford il location on its way! 5:00 no food. At 3:00 PM started calling the store busy signal so decided to call where I ordered on catering Her answer so sorry I will get back at you and let you know no answer, I called until I was blue in the face. So, I had to order Easter Dinner for all the guests that was invited from a local restaurant. April 1 called again until blue in my face again, Did it surprise me no again busy signal, not to mention I called Headquarters they gave me the store number said they will answer. That did not happen either. So yesterday I finally got through something, I doubt very much I will hear anything, but they had the nerve to charge my credit card March 20, 2024! Now if I don’t hear soon will take them to court!