A woman in Temple City, California, shared a video on TikTok expressing her dissatisfaction with what she described as poor customer service at a local Chipotle restaurant. In the video, the complaint centered on a manager who, she claimed, did not make eye contact with her during her visit and offered minimal verbal communication while taking her order.
The video, posted by Christina Lopez, garnered significant attention online. In her video, Lopez explained that she and her husband had visited the restaurant for lunch, noting that they had not eaten at Chipotle in several months.
She stated that two employees appeared to be “in the worst mood,” though she acknowledged that if they were regular employees she might have overlooked it. However, she identified one of them as a manager, a detail she said was relevant to her complaint.
Manager’s behavior prompted online criticism of the customer’s expectations
Lopez described the manager’s conduct during the interaction. According to her account in the video, the manager “did not make any eye contact” with her and appeared unwilling to engage beyond “the bare minimum words.” She cited examples of the manager’s questions as “Anything else? What drink? What this? What that?”
@christina.jlopez Just to clear things up: I was venting about the service I received—not attacking anyone as a person. I’ve worked in restaurants for many years, and I know bad days happen. But I also believe customers deserve to be acknowledged with basic professionalism/courtesy especially when you’re in a managerial position. Two things can be true at once🤍 Based on many comments, no customer should ever leave a review because we don’t know what someone’s going through. Some of you agree, some of you don’t—and that’s okay. I wasn’t trying to start a war on the internet😂 I was simply venting about an experience that left me disappointed. I don’t regret sharing my experience, and I genuinely wish everyone involved the best🫶🏻 ————————————————- Story time… I just had the worst Chipotle experience EVER. When I walked in, the employee was just standing there looking down. They didn’t greet me or acknowledge me, so I had to walk up and ask, “Can I order?” From that point on, they were cold the entire time—no smile, no eye contact, nothing. It honestly felt like they didn’t want me there. Then I got to the register, and somehow the manager was even WORSE. They never looked at me once. They didn’t ask if I wanted a drink, didn’t ask if I wanted anything else, and didn’t even say anything besides my total. I had to remember to ask for a bag of chips myself, and because they never asked about a drink, I completely forgot to order one for me and my husband. On top of that, it was my first time ordering a kids meal for my toddler, and no one told me it doesn’t come with rice and beans. I didn’t realize until I got home, so now my toddler doesn’t even have rice and beans with her meal. I understand everyone has bad days, but this was easily the coldest WORST customer service I’ve experienced in a long time. A simple “Hi” or “How are you?” would’ve completely changed the experience. @Chipotle #chipotle #customerservice #customer #rude #manager
♬ original sound – Christina Lopez
Lopez said she found the lack of eye contact particularly notable, stating in the video: “I couldn’t even ask her like, are you okay? Because she wouldn’t even make eye contact with me.” She also mentioned that she did not recall the manager asking if she wanted anything else at the register, though she later requested a bag of chips after the total was provided.
Citing her background in the food industry, Lopez called on Chipotle to make changes. Chipotle has been the subject of other customer service disputes in the past, suggesting that customer experience concerns at the chain are not isolated incidents.
She stated, “Chipotle, you need to do better in your hiring process. Obviously, you guys need to be more strict with your managerial hiring process and probably implement monthly evaluations at this point because literally because of this person, I will probably never go back to this location, or if I walk in and I see this person, I will leave.”
In her video, Lopez called for the manager to be demoted to a regular employee position. She suggested that a simple greeting such as “Hi” or “How are you?” would have significantly altered her experience. The video also showed photographs of both employees involved.
The post drew responses from numerous viewers who offered perspectives differing from Lopez’s assessment. One commenter questioned the practice of photographing employees, writing, “Why are we taking pictures of people doing their jobs. That’s weird.”
Another user appeared to challenge Lopez’s expectations, writing: “Yes, because people working in food or retail have to be happy little robots catering to not only your needs but emotions too.” Food service establishments have been the backdrop for various customer complaints about worker interactions.
A commenter named responded sarcastically to Lopez’s complaint, writing: “’She didn’t’ make any eye contact with me,’ yeah neither can we.” One commenter appeared to make light of Lopez’s specific complaint about not being asked if she wanted anything else, writing: “Omg the worker didn’t ask if you wanted the drink that you forgot, have you informed the police already?”
