11 Common Customer Complaints About KFC

Everyone has their favorite fast food chain, and for many chicken lovers, KFC hits the spot. With now more than 30,000 restaurants worldwide, KFC has become synonymous with moist chicken coated in a tasty, crunchy batter.

Not every experience lives up to the ideal, of course, and there are many complaints online from customers who left the chain feeling disappointed. While a solitary negative review doesn't mean much, when multiple customers over numerous locations complain of the same issue, potential diners will begin to take note.

For this list, we evaluated customer complaints across the United States to see which aspects of KFC received the most negative feedback. From dirty restaurants to watery mash, certain complaints appeared too often to be one-offs, suggesting more concerning issues. If you're considering the Colonel for your next takeout, here's a roundup of the most common complaints from KFC customers.

One of the reasons that many of us enjoy eating at a chain restaurant rather than an independent one is familiarity. You know that whether you go into the KFC in your town or while you are in a different state on a trip, you will get the same experience — in theory. According to several disappointed KFC customers, though, quality varies significantly between locations.

An article in Business Insider reported that in three separate locations within California, the quality of the food ranged from soggy and disappointing to crispy and delicious. There was also a huge discrepancy between the restaurants themselves, with the best quality food coming from the branch that looked more modern and fresh. These sentiments are shared on online platforms too. One Reddit user stated: "From my experience, it depends on the location. Some are delicious, others are beyond terrible!" 

Analysis by Fast Company showed that the best KFC in the country, according to Google reviews, is in Brazil, Indiana, with a weighted score of 11.12. In contrast, the worst in the country is at LAX in Los Angeles, California, with a weighted score of -8.60. The difference in these two scores is further evidence that consistency is not great across different branches, leaving customers frustrated when they want a familiar meal. While the reason is likely down to the difference in management styles across franchises, this does little to appease customers who enjoy their KFC in one location, only to be shocked and let down when ordering the same meal elsewhere.

Fries are an important part of any fast food chain, since the majority of diners order them as part of their meal. While chicken should be the star of the show in KFC, the fries play a crucial supporting role, and customers are quick to speak up when the fries don't live up to expectations. There are many different complaints about KFC fries, but some criticisms come up more than others. One review, which compared the fries at eight different fast food chains, described the fries at KFC as mealy and stale, even though they were eaten immediately.

Across multiple platforms and forums, KFC customers express their dissatisfaction with the fries, often describing them as soggy or cold. There are numerous Reddit threads discussing them, with one user commenting: "now you get old, overcooked fries with no seasoning and a weird chemical taste."

While many diners focus on the main component of the dish and may put up with sub-par fries, there are enough bad reviews across multiple platforms to suggest that KFC is letting the quality of its fries slip. Many Reddit users also comment that they want the former side dish of potato wedges to be brought back, such is the low quality of the fries.

If there is one item you would expect KFC to get spot-on, it would be the chicken. Given that it is literally in the chain's name, customers have high expectations that the chicken will be deliciously crispy and moist, but sadly this is often not the case.

Dozens of Trustpilot reviews complain of overcooked chicken, and the criticism isn't restricted to only one menu item. Crispy sandwiches, buckets of bone-in chicken legs, and chicken nuggets all fall short of expectations, with one reviewer describing their meal as: "globby, gooey, overcooked rubber pieces of chicken." Other critical phrases include burnt, dry, and tough, but in all cases they are referring to their disappointment of the main part of the meal being badly cooked. While overcooked chicken is preferable to undercooked in terms of food safety, there is plenty of room to leave a chicken moist and tasty without bordering on raw, and KFC customers feel it isn't too much to expect a chicken-based fast food chain to be able to correctly cook a piece of chicken.

We all know that fast food isn't supposed to fill you up for long, and feeling hungry an hour or two later is to be expected. But KFC customers are expressing their dissatisfaction about the size of their portions, which seem to be small even for a fast food joint.

The term "shrinkflation" is used to describe a situation where the price of something doesn't change, or can sometimes even increase, and the size of the serving is reduced, creating poor value without the customer even being aware of it. One customer on Trustpilot said: "KFC used to be great but the shrinkflation is getting ridiculous. The sides now come in these tiny little cups that are gone in two bites, and the chicken pieces are half the size they used to be."

The complaints are across multiple items on the menu, with customers complaining that portion sizes have become ridiculously small. Then there is the separate issue of buckets, which are supposed to be a fixed size containing significantly less than what has been paid for. While the increasing prices of wholesale goods will be affecting KFC and potentially making its portions smaller, the same economical issues are affecting its customers, who are feeling short-changed by the gradual decrease in the size of the food.

Fast food used to be a cheaper alternative to eating out, but over the last few years prices have increased across the industry. While customers are aware of this and know that putting in a family order isn't going to come cheap, a huge number of them are frustrated at the lack of value for money. Several customers talk about returning to KFC after a long absence, and being shocked and disappointed at how poor the food is for the price they pay. One reviewer had a money off coupon, and still felt that the order represented poor value for money.

One thread in the KFC Reddit asks if the restaurant is the most overpriced of all the fast food chains, and while some people offered suggestions of brands that are more deserving of the title, many customers agreed. One user described KFC's prices as "highway robbery," while another described paying $80 to feed their family and not being impressed.

Some customers defended the chain, pointing out that the chicken is much better quality than other chains, which explains the discrepancy in price. However, many customers felt that better value could be had elsewhere, including buying from the supermarket. The complaints aren't simply that KFC is expensive, though it is, but there is a feeling that paying the increased price would be more acceptable if the food was of a higher quality overall.

Fast food apps are supposed to make life easier, allowing you to tuck into your favorite takeout without driving for miles and queuing endlessly. However, KFC customers have complained that using apps such as Doordash and the KFC app itself can be more frustrating than giving up the time to go to the restaurant in person.

Numerous customers describe ordering food through the KFC app to pick up in store, and the staff having no record of the order when they arrive. This means even more time is wasted as the customers wait for the meal to be prepared from scratch. One person even described ordering more than $30 worth of food through the app, then arriving to find the restaurant had no stock of the ingredients. No refund or alternatives were offered since the app had already processed the payment. Even orders that were fulfilled on time were often missing items or contained incorrect sizes or versions.

Third-party fast food apps proved even more problematic, with one angry customer complaining that the Doordash driver phoned to report that the order of more than $130 would not be delivered due to lack of stock, then KFC refused to refund as the order had been marked as received. While allowances can be made for the occasional technology glitch, the sheer volume of customer complaints about ordering KFC through apps indicates that they are worsening the customer experience rather than enhancing it.

It is not unreasonable to expect fried chicken from a chain that used to have a name containing both of those words to be moist and crispy, but greasy chicken is mentioned in a surprisingly high number of customer reviews. The balance between beautifully deep fried and swimming in grease seems to be harder to get right than you would expect from a fried chicken chain, with one customer commenting on Trustpilot: "the chicken was so greasy as to be inedible." This is clearly not location dependent, with similar complaints coming from various states.

The biggest disappointment for many customers is the decline in the quality of the chicken, with customers admitting that they used to love the chicken at KFC, but that they now find it to be far too greasy. Even more galling is when the Extra Crispy chicken proves to be a greasy mess too. KFC customers obviously understand that cooking in oil is not a fat-free cooking method, but the lack of crispy coating and presence of greasy batter instead is a big disappointment from the world famous fried chicken chain.

KFC's mashed potatoes are one of the most iconic dishes from the fried chicken chain, topped with rich, savory gravy. Unfortunately, they are not always the smooth, creamy mash that customers are expecting, with plenty of complaints about both the texture and flavor.

One customer on Reddit described the potatoes as "slimy and oozy," commenting that "mashed potatoes should be something where if you turn the bowl upside down, the potatoes stay in place." Plenty of other customers agreed, with the mash frequently being described as "watery." Since the gravy on top of the potatoes is often described in the same way by customers, it leads to a pretty unsatisfying side dish that does not live up to the creamy, fluffy expectations.

One possibility for the disappointing spuds could be the way that KFC makes its mashed potatoes. Rather than using fresh potatoes, the mash is made from an instant packet, making it quick and easy for staff to prepare. Judging by the complaints, however, the results are not always as delicious as they could be.

No matter what your favorite fast food dish, the one thing most people can agree on is that cleanliness in a restaurant is a must. If the front of the restaurant is a mess, it can be assumed that the food preparation area may be in a similar state, and most people are put off eating in a dirty space. According to reviews, some KFC restaurants have a lot to work on in the hygiene department.

One customer on Trustpilot told how they enjoyed the food, but were horrified at the state of the restaurant, saying: "the tables were all dirty and we had to clean it ourselves." They then discovered that there was no soap or towels in the bathroom, adding to an already disgusting experience. This was not an isolated incident, with complaints across multiple locations about grimy tables and repulsive toilets. One reviewer even claimed to have thrown their shoes away after visiting the bathroom. 

As with the food, there seems to be a lack of consistency across locations, as there are many reviews commenting on clean restaurants and the hard work of the staff to keep it that way. But for so many people, hygiene is non-negotiable when it comes to food, and some restaurants in the chain are seriously lacking.

Even when the food is good, poor customer service can ruin a meal, and there are plenty of complaints regarding the service at certain KFC restaurants. While issues can arise that are outside of the control of staff, how they handle them is key and will affect whether customers return or not.

Many reviews mention staff being disengaged or standing around chatting instead of serving, which can be frustrating, especially when customers are in a hurry and have ordered ahead on the app to save time. Staff at multiple locations are also described as being rude, particularly when customers have raised issues with them. Another issue is wait time, particularly when customers are given a rough estimation which turns out to be widely inaccurate. One reviewer stated on Trustpilot: "Had several wait times of 45-60 minutes after saying it would be 10 and asking us to park. NEVER again." While customers can sometimes accept things going wrong with their order, staff that are either unable or unwilling to put things right can be enough to force people to take their business elsewhere.

Is there anything more frustrating than ordering from your favorite fast food restaurant, excitedly opening the bag at home, and finding out that something is missing from your order? This is a common occurrence, and KFC is guilty of it happening regularly. As well as missing items for in-restaurant orders, which can at least be remedied quickly, there are many instances of home delivery meals missing sides or coming up short in the chicken buckets.

To add insult to injury, a common complaint is the reaction of the staff when customers return to query their incomplete order. One reviewer on Trustpilot explained: "We had missing items and when I called they would not honor online orders. We can get our missing items with the next order. As if." Surely the absolute minimum that customers can expect is to receive the food they have paid for?

According to Moneywise, content creator Atticus paid for a 50-piece popcorn chicken bucket, only to find that it was missing 15 pieces — a reduction of 30% on the order he paid for. The fact that he had bought extra chicken on the side in anticipation of being short-changed says a lot about his faith in the chain. Similar complaints appear online from customers whose chicken buckets were far from full, with drink, sauces, and sides also being overlooked by staff. For home delivery customers, this means the frustrating process of phoning the branch, often to be ignored, then driving to the restaurant to pick up food that they hadn't planned to leave the house for in the first place.

To compile this list of the most common KFC complaints, we looked at numerous online sources where customers reviewed their experiences. Only complaints at U.S. restaurants were considered, and complaints needed to come from various people at multiple locations to make it onto our list. Sources included Reddit discussions, professional reviews, and reviews left by customers on Trustpilot.