Last night, which was Tuesday November 9 2010 we decided to go to the local Boston Market in East Islip NY instead of eating at home.

We waited our turn on line to be served. We then placed our order, the plates were filled, we paid for the meal and headed to a table.

When we got to the table, we realized that we had forgotten to order one more item which was a side-dish ("a side.") It's 99 cents when you purchase a meal. You cannot just walk in and get the sides for that price! The requirement is that you purchase a meal. We purchased TWO (2) meals!

So I placed the tray with the meals on the table and walked back to the service counter.

I explained that I had just purchased the two meals only moments before and that I needed to get the side order which I forgot. Well, it seemed as though the young lady at the counter just couldn't wait to say to me, "Well you can't get it for 99 cents NOW! She said this with a grin of satisfaction on her face! It seemed as if perhaps she had experienced a really bad work day there and this was her opportunity to lash out at someone...anyone! I happened, at that moment, to be within her range!

I replied that I had been at the counter only seconds ago but she was adamant! She told me that now if I wanted the "extra side" it was no longer associated with the meals which I had just bought, but that it was NOW a separate order connected to absolutely nothing! It would now cost me $2.29 for the side order instead of .99 cents!

Well folks, I guess the moral of this story is that at Boston Market if you should forget to order "a side" don't bother to attempt to get it later even if it's only been less than one minute. I spoke with :the manager: who fully backed her up! What lousy customer service posturing and attitude!

Also I should mention while I am posting this is that they have a "new" innovation there. They used to serve ALL of their meals on those partitioned plastic plates, whether you chose to "eat in" or "take it out" but now they use "real" plates if you're "eating in."

We DO NOT recommend "eating in." Why? Because you will be served your meal on ceramic plates and be given metallic utensils. It seems to be a part of their new "make you feel at home" promotion. Well, MY home doesn't have greasy dishes and spotty utensils, so I really don't feel any kind of "at home" there!

We were horrified when we closely examined the plates and utensils. They were greasy-looking and showed evidence of "spots" of various kinds. The metal utensils had "smears and spots" on them. Well, after all, they ARE serving fowl and meats, aren't they? However, this is NO excuse for grease on the table-ware! Yecccch!

Boston Market is definitely NOT in our opinion, a customer-friendly-service- oriented business! Combined with the nasty plates and utensils they provided us with it's a poor choice for a meal of any kind there!

One thing that we have definitely noticed in all of our visits to this store is that no two visits "are ever the same." There are definite differences in the condition of the food offered and served up each time we go there. For instance, there are times when the chicken is moist, there are times when the chicken is dry. Same with "the gravy" they give you. Sometimes it's thick other times it's thin and watery. Is there not a "standard" for the fare there? Apparently not! It most likely depends upon who is watering down the gravy and who is not minding the oven!

The brisket goes the same way. Depending upon who is slicing it, it can be thick or thin. Don't expect anything near to uniform slices because there is no food slicer on the premises! Slices are hand-rendered! Which brings me to another thought. The menu lists the brisket as being available as a "regular or large portion." So exactly what is the size of a "regular portion" and how much larger is "the large?"

Well, my friends there is no way to determine this because they use a marketing ploy which is to avoid using a "standard" to describe what you're paying for and what you're getting. You see, "large and small" are vague, ambiguous, unclear and unspecified terms which mean exactly NOTHING! Do they provide the WEIGHT information of what "large and small" constitute? Are you kidding? If they did then they would have to make absolutely sure that you got just what they claim to be giving you in exchange for your hard-earned bucks! It's better for THEM that you aren't provided with this precise information! There are NO precise definitions for "large or small." Next time you go there ask them how many OUNCES you are getting regarding what you ordered! Bet they won't tell you! If they wanted you to know it would be posted as X ounces for "regular" and X ounces for "large!" Then you'd know exactly what you are paying for and getting!

And finally, when I used their web contact form to relate my unfortunate experience there yesterday, I filled in ALL of the information which the form requests. It's quite a bit of info that they ask for on the Complaint Form! After I completed the form, I clicked "submit" it and all of the info I entered just vanished and the website just dumped me with an "error" message!

So much for being receptive to consumer complaints! Seems that they really don't want to hear from you!