A Tennessee woman says a Popeyes manager refused to remake her full meal after she returned to the restaurant with cold food and hard chicken tenders. In a TikTok video posted under the handle @shellzmacncheezy, the creator, whose name appears to be Shelby Desha, said she had placed an online order for pickup and returned to the location on Fort Campbell Boulevard after finding the food inedible.
The video shows the woman speaking to a manager at the drive-thru window. She told the manager she had picked up the order about 15 to 20 minutes earlier and that the chicken tenders were hard and inedible, while the rest of the food had gone cold. She asked for the order to be remade, saying she would return the food and just wanted her meal to be warm.
The manager, whom the customer identified as “Daniel” because she said she did not know his real name, responded that the only item he could replace was the tenders. The manager suggested she could use an air fryer or microwave to heat the rest of the food. The customer said she had paid for the meal to be warm and did not have those appliances at home.
Manager declined to give name, said store is corporate-owned
When the customer asked to speak with someone above the manager, the manager said she was speaking to the manager and that the store was owned by corporate. The customer asked for the corporate phone number, and the manager said she did not have it. The customer then asked the manager for her name, and the manager refused to provide it.
“You don’t want to give me your name?” the customer asked. “I don’t need to give you my name. I’m not obligated,” the manager replied, according to the video. The customer told the manager that she had been recording the entire interaction and planned to contact corporate about the incident.
The customer also told the manager that she had driven back to the restaurant specifically to have the food remade and that she had returned the entire meal. She said she had no gas left after making the drive back and that the restaurant had ruined the food she had paid for. Being turned away after returning food you paid for is a fast-food problem that shows up elsewhere too, as a woman says McDonald’s refused a refund for a missing apple pie.
Customer shows location, describes tenders as barely cooked
After the exchange with the manager, the customer turned the camera toward the restaurant and the surrounding area. She said, “This is the location. We right here on Fort Campbell Boulevard, y’all. Good old f–king Fort Campbell.” The video’s caption identifies the location as Clarksville, Tennessee, near Fort Campbell.
The customer then showed the chicken tenders she had brought back to the restaurant. She described them as “weird-ass chicken nuggets” and said they were “hard as f–k. Damn near barely cooked, almost raw chicken, right?” She demonstrated how hard the tenders were by trying to pull them apart, saying they were difficult to rip open.
She said she had ordered a full meal to eat but that all of the food was now cold. The video’s caption says she does not have a microwave or air fryer at home and that she went to bed hungry that night. The caption also asks Popeyes whether this is how corporate-owned locations treat their customers and includes the hashtags #dobetterbebetter, #popeyeschicken, #popeyes, #clarksvilletennessee, and #fortcampbell.
Several people who watched the video commented on the interaction between the customer and the manager. One commenter suggested the customer dispute the charge with her bank and contact corporate. Another said, “He acting like that meal you’re trying to get replaced comes from his paycheck.” Documenting a botched order on camera and taking it to the restaurant is a familiar playbook, like a customer who ordered two Big Macs via DoorDash and found no meat patties.
A third commenter wrote, “He should have replaced the whole order since you did bring it all back,” while another said, “He shouldn’t be a manager.” One commenter noted, “U were so calm about it too he was just rude for nothing.” Another commenter directed the customer to a KFC on Fort Campbell Boulevard, saying her husband works there and would provide fresh food.
