One can age about 12 years in the drive thru, and about 15 inside the actual establishment. They constantly run out of not just one, but multiple items on their menu. Why do I keep coming back? The god kids love 'em and they are the closet to their and our house. Ok, I'm going to crawl back into my shame closet now for going here...
Review Source:Worst Taco Bell/KFC I have ever been to. I have never once gotten a "Thank You" or questions on if I want anything else. The staff is always talking with each-other and paying no attention to my order. My co-workers and I can't believe how bad this place is run and the way the staff is allowed to behave.
Review Source:I'm not going to make excuses for myself, or try to justify why I've been here (more than once...*hangs head in shame*). Â Let's agree that their offerings taste like crap, bring intestinal discomfort, etc., but we've all been programmed to crave bean burritos and pump cheese at random times.
You know those hidden camera shows, where they show fast food workers dropping things on the floor, using tortillas as kleenex, scratching their balls with the cooking utensils, and so on? This place definitely looks like it could be featured. Â
The dirty-looking, bitchy lady that took my payment at the drive-thru window seemed pissed that I interrupted her snack (she was too busy chewing on something to say thank you or ask if I wanted sauce). Â I think I saw Tyrone Biggums pacing in the background behind her. Â No bueno.
On my last visit, they were completely out of extra crispy chicken and original recipe wings. Â How does such a thing happen?!? Maybe the bitchy lady and Mr. Biggums ate it all.
Stay far, far away from this mess of an establishment....far, far away!
If I can put no stars I would. I ordered a nacho supreme and mashed potatoes. When I got home and opend my nacho supreme there was nothing on it at all only nacho chips I was Sooooooo pissssssssed off then I went to the mashed potatoes as I was eating them I seen so much powder in the middle of it I was so disgusted never again will I go there the people are rude and never gets your order right
Review Source:I am bummed that this is the only Taco Bell anywhere near our place, because sometimes in life all you want is a chalupa. Â Or you're starving at 1 am and you need something that isn't McD's or a Golden Nugget. Â Or you feel bad about yourself and need some punishment. Â All good reasons to hit up a Taco Bell.
I have never had a good experience at this Taco Bell. Â Shit that has gone down:
* Tried the Cantina Bowl when it first came out. Â Received a Cantina Bowl with regular chicken instead of the new chicken, refried beans instead of the black beans, and no corn salsa, drowned in over-salted cilantro sauce. Â I didn't even realize how much was screwed up until I was halfway into this culinary abortion.
* They have over-corrected. Â They now use the new "citrus" chicken for EVERYTHING at this location, and it is effing terrible. Â The flavor is bad on its own but worse in standard fare like chalupas.
* A Crunchwrap Supreme that was both burnt on the outside and chewy/stale on the inside. Â How?! Â "Crunch"wrap my ass.
* Missing food. Â This has happened thrice now, no matter how well I think I have checked the bag before we pull away from the drive-thru. Â This last time, I don't even know if we got charged for the missing chalupa, because their order screen was down at the drive-thru and we realized after we got home that we were never given a receipt. Â SHADY BITCHES.
* Once, BF brought home T-Bell. Â He had to wait extra long for his KFC bites, so they had him pull off to the side. Â For 15 minutes. Â Apparently though, they made my veggie volcano nachos first and just let them sit while he waited, because by the time they got to me they were fucking chilaquiles. Â Nothing but lukewarm sauce and cheese and mush. Â Disgusting. Â
* If they tell you that it's just going to be "a couple minutes" for whatever you order chicken-wise, run. Â It is a damn lie and you will be waiting forever.
* Every single time I have ordered a Baja chalupa from this location, I have gotten the "Supreme". Â Every. Â Single. Â Time. Â If you don't carry the Baja sauce anymore, just nut up and TELL ME. Â Don't take my order for a Baja chalupa and then give me something else, as though I won't notice. Â I know my Baja sauce, and you are a charlatan. Â
* Everyone who works the drive-thru is kind of unpleasant. Â Everyone. Â Maybe it's because they know how badly it sucks.
[EDIT: Â I started this review at 2-stars but reading it over I have talked myself into a downgrade.]
Super, super, polite people who work here. I have never gone inside, but they are always friendly and say "ma'am" and ask how are you tonight when you drive up and place your order.
All I really ever order is the Taco Bell hard shell veggie tacos, so I haven't experienced how they are with bigger orders, and I never eat Kentucky Fried Chicken. Taco bell has plain, cheap, not too spectacular fare, but I am not expecting fine cuisine when I go there. Once in awhile someone gets confused and tries to make my order more complicated than it is, when I only want onions with my bean tacos, but my experiences with them have been pretty good. I was horrified once when they gave me the wrong thing, and I bit into a taco meat in it, and they occasionally leave off the onions, but if they do that they give you replacement tacos so you end up with four instead of two.
They fill your order pretty fast, and there is never much of a wait. I go there cuz I hate to cook, and it's quick.
I know, it's weird to right about a fast food joint, but the people who work at this location deserve it. While doing laundry at Mr. Bubble (also great), I stopped in to get some late dinner at 10:54 pm. (The lobby closes at 11pm.) Despite the late hour and the fact that I turned out to be their last customer, the ladies were beyond helpful and generous. I can't thank them enough.
Review Source:I have been to plenty of Taco Bells in my time, and this one HANDS DOWN is the WORST OF THEM ALL. Â Make sure before you leave you open each food item and see if there is rotten vegetables and meat in there! Â I just had to throw out half my order because it had hard steak and also brown vegetables in it! Â Stupid me I took off before looking my food over and trusted it would be ok. Â The 1 item i received (Steak Taco) that actually had decent looking meat in it only have 3 pieces of steak and maybe a sprinkle of cheese...they missed everything else and skimp on what they did put in. Â Sending this over to Taco Bell Corporate also to see if I can get a refund! Â DO NOT GIVE THIS PLACE ANY BUSINESS....SHUT THEM DOWN!!!
Review Source:I've been going to this Taco Schmell for years!! Let's make a few things clear......you go to a Taco Bell / KFC for the basic simple things on the menu! Don't try to get to fancy, just go basic and they can't screw it up! Let's review shall we!
Taco Bell: Go for the Tacos! HARD or SOFT, simple!! I don't eat here often but sometimes I have a craving for crap food and sometimes a good old Taco Bell taco hits the spot. I order a 6 pack for myself to go! Usually 4 hard, 2 soft......ya mix it up a bit. DO NOT open the taco and look inside at that pile of crap (or you may puke!) , JUST PUT SAUCE ON AND EAT! Those who try to get to fancy with nachos and salads.....really??? You're own fault it is crap! I love taco schmell!!
KFC: Few pieces of chicken, biscuits...and mashed potatoes!! The best taters with gravy around! I really wish you could just get legs or wings.....but no they always toss in a thigh or breasts........which are harder to eat. Nothing better than eating my chicken, and scooping up some potatoes with my biscuit!
Parking lot can be hard to get into or drivethru line long sometimes , but do try! do try!!
This taco bell/KFC pretty much stinks. Â Fast food is usually fast food - you'd think it's hard to mess up - it's a formula of sorts. Â Unfortunately, almost every time i've been here they've managed to mess up the order or forget something. Â And their pop machines have been broken several times as well. Â When the food is right, it's usually really sloppy and the service is typically slow.
The people are really nice though and i'll keep going back because it's close and who doesn't get cravings for taco bell? Â I just know what i'm getting myself into - and I try to check my order before I leave if i'm driving though.
The WORST fast food place I've ever been to in Chicago. Â Don't go there - drive a few more minutes and go to the TBell on Clybourn.
I love the ease of getting cheap tacos late at night when the mood just strikes me, but this place has messed up my order THREE times - they always forget to put something in - either they don't put the sour cream and tomatoes that I paid for on the tacos, or they forget one of my sides in my KFC order. Â I've tried calling to let them know they've forgotten things, and after letting it ring for seriously a few minutes, someone picked up once, and they offered me a free meal (the smallest one they sell) as compensation. Â Not very good customer service.
Service = extremely slow, twice I went there (when we were in the process of moving) and their drive-through window was broken, so they took orders when you got to the window and you had to wait while they made it.
Taco bell is taco bell, no matter where you go. But these people are super nice about giving you your food. Yeah, maybe service is a little slow, but honestly, everyone was nice and good natured, and even the dude cleaning up the parking lot as we were leaving said "have a good night!" And we got a free crunchwrap supreme. Now that's service.
P.S. We went inside.
Story time!
The first two times I went there the food was below average. No sour cream or cheese on the fiesta potatoes. No cheese on any of the tacos we bought. However, the third time we went there took the cake and has made for one of my favorite fast food memories ever.
The store was just about to close when my friend V and I got to the drive thru menu. We both took our time in deciding what to order but finally ordered one meal each: Baja Chalupas and Steak Quesadillas.
When we rolled up to the window, the gangsta who took our order decided to play "Let's Make A Deal" with us. He asked us if we had ordered the last meals. We said yes. He then turned around and held up a giant Taco Bell plastic bag, tied at the top. It looked like a Thanksgiving turkey was inside it. He asked us, "Ok, I know you ordered those meals, but I'll give you whatever is in this bag with 2 drinks for $10 cash." My friend and I's mouths dropped. We couldn't believe such a shady deal was about to go down. But knowing the thrill-seekers we really were, we decided to take the risk.
We pulled into a parking space and opened the bag. Inside was 2 Nachos Bell Grandes, 6 soft shell tacos, and 2 empanadas. Not bad for $10. We ate like kings (in prison).
Overall, this joint is horribly managed, far from fresh, and really spits in the eyes of everyone who decides to spend money here. I would say wait til closing to play Deal or No Deal.
KFC + TACO B. = Better Self Image.
We've all had Taco Bell, we've all had KFC. But when these two franchise giants combine on California Ave., something really magical happens. When you leave this power duo you feel so much better about who you are as a human being.
Think of it as watching Jerry Springer for 18 solid hours.
Never before have I seen "team members" put together formulaic meals with such hilarious consequence. You've got p1ssed of customers demanding that chicken have zero cook time. You've got apathetic kids behind the counter who look like they were doing gravity bongs until their shift started. And you've got one manager with a look on his face that says, "I really should have finished my Comms degree."
I love this place. No matter how bad my life is, one visit here for a Seven Layer Burrito (tm) with a large diet saves me hundreds of dollars on therapy.
Thank you KFC/TB, thank you.
If I could give ZERO i would. Â Equal to the amount of care their employees have about their job and the quality of their food. Â I ordered a bacon ranch tortada and when I got home i soon realized they put STEAK in it. Â Steak isnt even a possibility in ANY of the tortadas. Â It's almost like they throw whatever they want in your meal. Â
Their employees are also extremely offensive. Â My boyfriend was in there getting my "steak" tortada and overheard the employees shit talking him. Â They were throwing around homophobic language and it was disgusting. Â
So if you want to have a surprise meat taco or be called a f-- to your face enjoy tacobell/kfc on irving park and california.
Absolutely the wost fast food location of any chain any where I've been in Chicago. Deserves zero stars. I've heard rumors they allow gang members to hang out inside the restaurant. Needless to say my only experience has been with the drive-thru. This was the first Taco Bell I ever visited after moving to Chicago. The lack of Taco Bells here with a McDonald's on every corner was annoying. So when I found this combo KFC/Taco Bell I thought great! I couldn't have been more wrong.
There was never a visit where I wasn't in line less than 15- 20 minutes. There was never a visit where the cashier didn't cop an attitude, get an order wrong, or just plain behave unprofessionally. We had tried both the KFC and Taco Bell items from the menu. I would say if you are stuck eating at this hell hole, stick to the KFC side. Bad chicken is bad, bad Mexican food is horrific.
Here's just some of the things that happened at this location....
Waited in the drive-thru for 15 minutes even though there was only one or two cars ahead of me.
Ordered an extra biscuit to go with my KFC and an employee stuck it in the bottom of the bag. No container or wrapper or napkins. Just stuck it in the bag.
Chicken cold.
Taco Bell was just nasty. Items were sloppily made. Too much sauce.
Employees just don't give a damn. Once I saw an employee decide to have a conversation with my order just sitting there in the bag. When I gave her a dirty look she acted as if  I had done something to her.
So you may be asking why did I go back. Well at the time it was the only Taco Bell we knew of and it was relatively close to my apartment. I usually give a restaurant more than one chance and I gave this one several. After a certain point we vowed never to go back, and we haven't.
The bottom line is this place stays in business for one reason and one reason only. Location, location, location. It is the only TB in the area. Â I really wish to God it would close down because no one, not even a dog should eat there or get treated with that kind of poor service.
The best Taco Bells are on North Ave (combo TB/Long John Silvers) and  Devon Ave. Outstanding food and service. I have yet to find a great KFC.
I get a craving for KFC every once in a while, and this is the most convenient location for me. Granted I don't expect much from KFC employees, but when you order a bucket of 15 pieces and end up with NINE, something or someone is seriously imcompetent. I can understand a missing leg/wing or even an extra leg/wing, but how do you miss SIX pieces?? Makes me wonder if I got a half-eaten bucket of chicken! The drive-thru line is rather slow for 'fast food' (it's all that trouble counting chicken pieces, I guess!), but since I'm a sucker for their biscuits and cole slaw, I'll be going back (pathetic!).
Review Source:Let me begin by saying that I do not condone eating the fast 'food' garbage that you normally find at every street corner in America.
However, having a paltry 5 G-dubs in my wallet--and the rest of my pockets full of naught--I decided to try the recently advertised KFC $3.95 grilled chicken meal. Â Supposedly, this meals is under 400 calories. Â Well, now I see why...
I ORDERED a breast and wing (you could have also chosen a thigh and drumstick), but what I RECEIVED was some fetal alcohol abortion that one of employees was striving to get rid of. Â It must've been post-prom weekend.
Literally, it was not only the ABSOLUTE WORST chicken--or pa-FUCKING-thetic excuse for chicken--that I have ever eaten, it was also the smallest piece of protein imaginable. Â It could not have been more than 2 ounces of meat. Â Ok, for an example, the Burger King advertises a half-pound double cheeseburger (just the patty), Now, this means that the meat was the equivalent of just 1/2 of 1 of those patties. Â And...and...AND it cost me almost 5 fucking dollars (with our delightful 10+ % tax).
Do not forget that that 5 dollars was the only money I had. Â I fucking starved.
I hate you KFC. Â I hope you die.
This is by far the worst Taco Bell and KFC on the planet the employees are rude, filthy, and poorly trained the food is awful and the entire establishment is in a filthy state they always get the order wrong via drive thru and when you go in it always seems to take more than 20 min to get the order I hate this place and hope that it will be shut down.
Review Source:It's only getting three stars because it's the ONLY Taco Bell open at midnight within reasonable driving distance. Â If two-and-a-half were an option, this would get it.
On a bit of a tangent, WTF is with Taco Bell's 'Open Late' bullshit campaign? Â The one on Milwaukee (near Belmont) closes at like 11 (despite having their 'Drive thru open' sign lit, employee(s) inside, menus lit up, but then she says 'we're closed'.....was that NOT supposed to piss me off?). Â This is the city of Chicago, bars are open til 4; there should be MORE than enough drunks to justify staying open at least til 2. Â Ever see the lines at White Castle at 3 a.m.?
Anywho....rolled into the drive-thru last night, half-drunk, intrigued with the with the really awful idea of a KFC with my Taco Bell (a lil after midnight on a Wednesday); it was not to be. Â After a certain time, this is Taco Bell-only. Â Fine. Â Wanting not to spend my usual $7 for a 'real' burrito at anywhere-near-my-house, I thought I'd get a few cheap lil things off the 'value' menu. Â Again, not happenin'. Â This Taco Bell DOES NOT HAVE A VALUE MENU. Â So instead of getting a few things for $3-5 total, I got some small, shitty, coldish nachos and a lame chicken-but-mostly-rice-and-beans burrito for $7. Â And they were out of 'mild' sauce (I'm seeing a consistent pattern of this location having an inventory/supply/ordering problem). Â Disappointing.
I will say the one-and-only employee at the time was very polite, and I received my food quickly. Â That's the best thing I can say.
For a crappy fast food joint, I have to say this one is alright.
The staff is pretty amiable and the place was cleaner than I expected. Service was normal, bit slow but that's "fast food" these days. The girl said she was the only worker there (with one person in the kitchen) so I have to give them props for being rapid.
Would provide listing of incidents, but I will keep it short and sweet.
1)Food: Not fit for human Consumption. I actually got just a taco shell once. I guess fillings are a lot to ask for.
2) Cleanliness: Non-existent.
3) Service: Horrible
Sometimes you just want some taco bell, but shame on me I went there more than once......
The other reviewers are right:
WORST FAST FOOD JOINT that I'm aware of in Chicago. Avoid at all costs. I swore this year to never go back.
Not only do they constantly run out of key ingredients (no tomatoes or cheese one time?!) but the employees are rude and never once got my order right. Not one single time.
The way the food is served is even despicable. One time my hard shell taco was completely smashed up, and served in a half-torn paper bag (with no napkins of course). I'm not kidding at all. THE BAG WAS TORN HORIZONTALLY at the middle. A half-bag, if you will. Who does this??
Being pretty poor and occasionally really craving a fresco chicken ranchero taco, I have to say, it's really too bad it's the only Taco Bell in the area.
Hmmm. Â I grabbed the dog in the car and headed here as I was stuck at home by myself for dinner. Â Bitter? Â Hmph...
I was all set to drive through the drive-thru. Â Plan failed. Â The drive-thru was long and it didn't connect inside the lot. Â I was going to have to turn around by going out of the lot into Irving Park. Â Okay. Â No problem, I'll go inside.
Wow, tons of people sitting and waiting in line at 5:45p on a Thursday. Â Wow, I guess a lot of people like KFC/Taco Bell for dinner... Â
There was only one person running the front register and packaging the food. Â I was there for 25 minutes which seems quite long for fast food.
I came home and the food was okay. Â The original crispy wasn't really crispy. Â Sort of soggy and the wedges weren't too fresh. Â
Eh, I won't be back for a dinner.
Yeah, not a good drive-thru experience. Cut me off-mid order, then didn't have apple juice though they said they did through the speaker. Asked for different sides for 3 different meals, got a stack of green beans. Terrible, even though I was overtly nice to the woman at the window and tried mightily to exert patience, since there was a line around the store and out to the street. Bad, and the chicken was abscessed with breading ribbed with some kind of blackish gristle. Made me shiver when I saw it.
Review Source:This place has the WORST drive-thru that I have ever ever ever experienced. And I've gone through many drive-thrus, being a poor college student lol.
Nine and a half times out of ten they do not get the order right, are really rude and short with you, have no manners, and don't ask if you want hot sauce.
But like one of the reviewers said, the service is much better if you go inside. Why is that?
I have mixed feelings about this place.
If you go inside, it is worth it. The staff is so nice. there is this one guy in particular, cacausian young guy-so so nice. if he is more than 5 minutes late, he gives a free drink. the staff is so polite, they are patient and keep saying thank you, and maam. It makes it worth it when you wait a little bit for your food.
If you go through drive through-it's a disaster. almost every single time, my order is messed up and i always forget and check it at home and it's too late then. i think they are just in too big a rush and don't realize.
but overall it is pretty good, just recommend going inside instead.
it should be known that i don't eat fast food often, but when i do its taco bell, so i tend to consider myself quite the connoisseur. that said... this store is the bastard child of colonel sanders and that freaky spanish-speaking chihuahua.
we wait for the shift change.
we order.
we wait. we wait some more.
20 minutes later we check to see where the hell our food is.
for our inconvenience we get an extra bag of inedible cinnamon twists that tasted as if they had been fried up 3 days prior and left to sit in a wet paper bag.
we take a few bites. we take a few more. eventually we bite into something more than dry tortilla.
we realize we've been overcharged.
we are compensated with a dollar bill and an expired kfc strawberry parfait.
This is pretty much the worst fast food restaurant in the history of the world. Â And I am including the fake McDonald's-type restaurant from the movie version of FAST FOOD NATION where there was shit in the food. Â And also the fake Long John Silver's-type restaurant in the eventual movie version of my uncompleted novel DEEP FRIED DEATH, where the hush puppies come to life and attack people like the critters in the movie version of the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel CRITTERS.
Where was I? Â Oh yes, this place is awful. Â They run out of tortillas all the time. Â I don't understand how a tortilla-based operation like a Taco Bell restaurant can fail to keep a handle on their tortilla inventory, but it's happened at least 3 times that I've tried to eat here.
Sometimes, you order something, say a cheesy bean and rice burrito, and not only do you get the wrong thing, but you also get something that is not even really on the menu, but appears to have been cobbled together at random from whatever they had in the kitchen. Â And no matter what you order, whether it comes out right or not, it takes FOREVER to make.
It's a shame that this is technically the closest Taco Bell to my apartment, because the one on Clybourn (and, to a lesser extent, the one in Citibank center) are much, much, much better.
Not that I expected differently, but this Taco Bell/KFC doesn't exactly have their "A" crew working on Tuesday nights around 9:30pm.
Stopped in here with a friend and the young man behind the counter, who has clearly not made foodservice his profession of choice, greeted us with a warm and hearty "Wussup? Can I take your order?"
Yes sir, you can!
Sorry Colonel, I made a run for the border that night. When offered the various types of hot sauces, my friend and I both expressed a burnin' desire for Fire. "Aw shit, we're out of Fire man, I don't even know why I offered it to you. Sorry."
Don't get yourself down, chap! We'll take the next hottest category that you have available in stock!
We were each rationed two packets of "hot" sauce, and a short time later we received our meals. I'd opted for the Grilled Steak Burrito, inspired by the recent commercial. I took 4 bites before I got anything but tortilla, and the other end was a giant glob of sour cream, but the part in between was pretty good.
I would encourage Colonel Sanders to invoke some military-style discipline and pride into his troops at this outpost.
I'm not a big fan of fast food, but when you're slightly drunk and out with friends late at night Taco Bell is like a bright light and I'm a fly. Â So, we do the drive-thru thing and the woman asks me to repeat myself three different times. Â Well, I know I'm not speaking in a different language nor am I speaking softly. Â It was very annoying seeing as I was concentrating hard enough on getting the order correct and not acting drunk. Â I made sure to look at the screen to make sure it was all correct, surely it was, so I pulled around. Â Everything did not turn alright though. Â Low and behold, they had not given us 4 soft tacos, which we paid for, and was indeed on the receipt. Â JERKS!
Review Source:Every time I've been here it's a long wait (for fast food), or they are out of what I want. Â Â
Truth is, I SHOULD NOT be going here. Â Why do I? Â I dislike KFC, and I always feel kind of sick after eating Taco Bell. Â Also, there's lots of independent chicken places and taquerias around. Â In fact, I think there's a Famous Taco Burrito next door. Â It can't be any worse, can it?
Ok this review is for all KFC's (the general recipes) but this particular location probably only deserves one or two stars as the food is decent but the service is usually poor, grumpy, and they usually are out of the kind of chicken you want. Â I think this is endemic of any split franchise. Â But this is the closest KFC/Taco Bell to me, not counting the KFC/Pizza Hut express on Milwaukee ave between California and Western (that one is worse and its not even busy). Â
Kentucky Fried Chicken, with its two varieties actually has very good chicken. Â Its nice two be able to get two distict types of fried chicken at the same place and at the same time if need be, if you feel like it. Â Both have very tasty recipes, I can't judge between the two, because I tend to like the white meat crispy and the dark meat original (hey I already admitted I have fried chicken obsession issues). Â I place KFC at a second behind my fav browns, but slightly ahead of Harolds (for uniqueness of flavors), then Pollo Campero and then the rest. Â At either rate, you probably know what KFC tastes like. Â The recipes stand the test of time, although their switch of cooking oils has made a slight taste change (for the worse I think, the its the price of avoiding trans fats). Â They both are on the greasy side, but the crispy stays crisp when cold, athough they both pass the cold chicken taste test. Â
KFC has one ace in the hole. Â Its traditional sides are the bomb. Â They have by far the best biscuits of any chain and better than most restaurant or homemade biscuits, not overbuttery or overgreasy but soft and delicious. Â KFC also has some of the best brown gravy out there (this is assuming the actual franchise is doing its job). Â Even the corn on the cob tends to be good there. Â
I should give the recipes a five star rating, but with the recent change in oil flavor, and the general crappiness in service at many of its locations (if you find a good one, keep it in business for godsake). Â KFC ends up with a four.
Remember the "kitchen fresh chicken" ad campaign that fell flat on its face? Â You don't? Â You should have been there...it was aggravating. Â
This is the closest KFC to my apartment; it's my default location. Â Everything tastes as if were prepared that day, so you'll get the right amount of crisp you want in the skins. Â Besides the mashed potatoes and gravy, their sides aren't too much to get excited about.
As thankless a job it is, the regular night manager keeps her wits about her no matter how angry people get, so customer service is delivered without much fuss. Â Be prepared for long waits if the rest of the staff isn't on the ball.