Perhaps Belinda Miller, a Georgia woman upset about a biscuits order at Popeyes, misunderstood the concept of “drive-thru.” Or maybe she really did think that the best way to express her anger over her Popeyes order was to crash several tons of gasoline-powered metal through a wall.
The fascinating tale of the 50-year-old woman from Augusta, Ga. who curiously defined her life story by driving through a fast-food establishment, sprung from a Feb. 18, 2023 incident. Sit a spell while we share it with you.
How did Belinda Miller end up driving her car through a Popeyes?
According to USA Today’s account, published the Thursday after the incident, the Richmond County Sheriff’s Department reported to the scene about 7:45 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 18.
The article noted, “The Popeyes manager told deputies Miller drove her SUV into the east entrance after she became upset that her order did not have any biscuits, according to the incident report. The manager told authorities Miller’s order was corrected and she received her biscuits prior to the incident, but Miller ‘was still not happy.'”
WJBF-TV’s story added Miller said she “was already on ‘Papers’ and would drive her vehicle into the building.”
It also noted a witness with Miller “told them to hurry and get their order ‘because she was coming back,’ and an 18-year-old employee was allegedly standing near the front of the building when the vehicle driven by Miller crashed through the building.” That employee was reportedly nearly hit by the SUV.
The story from the Augusta Press had a little more detail, including a still from a witness’s video showing the damage caused by her car. It also revealed this wasn’t the first time Belinda Miller has driven her Toyota RAV4 into a building.
That story noted that in May 2020, she was “drunk and upset” when she “rammed her car into the side of an apartment building – twice.” It added, “The man she was arguing with tried to calm her down after she hit the building the first time. She backed up and struck the building a second time.”
That story also reported that Miller fled the scene after crashing into the building.
USA Today added she was charged with felony aggravated assault and criminal damage to property in the first degree.
What reputation did this particular Popeyes have?
This Popeyes, located at 450 Walton Way in Augusta, has a Facebook page that includes reviews from customers. In one January 2022 review, a customer noted, “The food is good. The employees need to go to customer service classes or something.”
Another reviewer, back in December 2020, accused the employees of constant bickering, remarking, “they are ALWAYS unhappy. as if someone MADE them work there. also they need to do a training class on how to count money.” That review concluded with an all-caps, “JUST SHUT THE WHOLE STORE DOWN & REORGANIZE!!!!”
It also garnered an average rating of 1.8 on Yelp (out of five stars) and a 3-star average on TripAdvisor, though its small sample size hasn’t attracted reviews more recent than 2018.
What’s the deal with Popeyes?
According to Stacker’s compilation of customer satisfaction data via QSR in March 2023, Popeyes finished next-to-last among 23 different fast-food chains. By comparison, as the Daily Dot noted in a story about lowering your expectations if you arrive just before closing, “Other chicken competitors like KFC and Chick-fil-A ranked third and first respectively.”
Popeyes is already cognizant of how people perceive its customer service. According to a 2016 article in Delish, “The fast-food chain is despised by many for its horrid customer experience. That’s because more often than not, ordering your five-piece with cajun fries can be painstakingly rude and slow. And while the Atlanta-based chicken company has been aware of this issue for years, it’s only now acknowledging it and planning serious changes.”
The article said a Popeyes official pledged in 2007 to “step up the quality of our guest experience at the restaurants. Yet, “nearly a decade later, customer service is a still a weakness” that company leaders still sought to improve.
A review of Daily Dot stories involving Popeyes reveals a rich tapestry chronicling the desperation of the human condition. Those include a crew who put a Popeyes spread on its counter buffet-style, a customer who claimed a worker tried to “haggle” with him over an order, and a worker who was fired for recording on the job—before filming footage of roaches in the store as a final mic drop. (The worker said of one of the roaches captured on video, “That mf pregnant.”)
Certainly, it’s unusual to be host to a felony-level incident findable by typing “georgia woman popeyes biscuits” into a search engine. But some might argue there’s an aura around Popeyes that makes the Belinda Miller incident more likely to occur there than, say, at a Chick-fil-A or a Wendy’s.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Popeyes via email.