INTERESTING/ANNOYING HIGHLIGHTS FROM TODAY:
(because for such a not-busy day, there were an unusually high number of highlights.)
Number of times Diet Mountain Dew was ordered: 1. This is a big deal because we don't have diet mountain dew in the fountain at the drive through, so we have to go out into the lobby to fill those particular cups. Also, taking either the sugar or the caffeine out of mountain dew completely defeats the purpose, and I judge people who do that. (annoying)
Number of people I served that I knew: 3, 2 of which will be described later, and the other one is a lady who lives on my street and has 2 Chihuahuas, which is worth noting, because she has chihuahuas. (interesting)
Number of people who turned their car on in the drive thru right next to the microphone, sending the sound of screaming engine straight through to my ears: 2. Screw the both of you. (annoying)
A woman ordered a sandwich and fries, so I used my awesome suggestive selling skills and made a suggestion.
Me: Would you like the combo with that, or just the sandwich and the fries?
Her: Just the sandwich and the fries, thanks.
So I pulled her through to the window, she pays, I give her the food, thank her and tell her to have a nice day, and then start walking to the back of the store to grab a sip of mountain dew while nobody else is in the drive thru, when all of a sudden, I hear banging on the drive thru window. PROTIP: never do that. ever. They're on a track, a lot of them are electric these days, and they're glass. There are three different ways to break those things by banging on them. So I go over, open the window and ask if there's a problem.
Her: Where's my Pepsi?
Me: Sorry?
Her: The combo comes with a Pepsi, doesn't it?
Me: You didn't ask for-
Her: I want my Pepsi! Where's my Pepsi!?
Me:
Me:
Me:
Me: Let me get that for you.
So I got her a Pepsi, and the lady left begrudgingly with her free drink.
Early on in my shift, a guy came through the drive through and I recognized him as somebody that one of my friends was dating a couple years back. So I said hey, smiled like I knew him, because I do, or I did, and went about my "script" a bit more casually. It wasn't until he was driving away that I realized he didn't recognize me.
A man was ordering at the speaker.
Me: And what would you like to drink with that?
Him: Uhh, it's a number 5!
Me:
Me:
Me: Yup. And to drink with that?
It's a good thing he understood the second time, because I usually just hit Pepsi when that happens, but he wanted tea, which is kind of exotic compared to Pepsi, so that that would have been bad.
Similarly, through the speaker:
Me: Your total is $6.24, please pull around!
Them: Wait, you never told me my total!
Me:
Me:
Me: It's $6.24, please pull around.
A man pulled up to the drive thru window.
Me: Hi, how are you?
Him: I'm doing pretty well, good day, especially now that I can see you.
And then he smiled, really, really big.
Me:
Me:
Me:
Me:
Me: That'll be eight dollars and eighty eight cents
A man accidentally dropped his credit card under his car, so he backed his car up in the (thankfully) empty drive thru lane, walked over to pick it up, and then stood at the window waiting for his food for a full minute.
The second time we made a "mistake" tonight, where somebody want to get our attention through the closed drive thru window,
Him: HEY! HEY YOU! HEY! HAAAAAAAAY!
note that this was in a very angry voice. Like batman, after Rachel dies. This guy was PISSED. So I go over, bracing myself to like, get something thrown at me, or like, dodge a flamethrower, and the guy looks at me and holds out his now-open sandwich.
Him: There's no cheese on this!
note: there was cheese on the sandwich. Not only was there cheese on the sandwich, it was dripping out of the sandwich, doing that stringy, stuck to the wrapping paper thing that melted cheese does sometimes. Unfortunately for me, the customer is always right. So I apologize, take the sandwich, walk back to the food prep counter for a few seconds, tell the girl who's making sandwiches what happened, we laugh for a second, and then I take the same sandwich back to the guy. Icing on the cake- He checks, thanks me, and leaves.
I don't remember the exact wording of this one, but an elderly man got angry at me when he tried to pay exact change but didn't realize he had given me an extra dime. He wouldn't take his change.
A girl pulls up to the drive thru speaker.
Her: What kind of brfjdakls; do you have?
note: I can not understand the fourth word of her sentence.
Me: I'm sorry, one more time please?
Her: What kind of brla;sjdfk;jfa;dlkfja;ofjla do you have?
Now I can't really tell what she's saying, but it sort of sounds like "burgers," so I get the idea that this is one of those people that thinks we rename and rehash McDonalds' menu, and react accordingly.
Me: We don't serve burgers here, sorry. Could I interest you in-
Her: No! What kind of BFLKQWJR?
Me: Sorry?
Her: BRJALKS;DFJ;! Like, to drink?
So I'm like, ohhh, she's saying brands, isn't she?
Me: We have Pepsi products here.
Her: No, no, no! What kind of BRLKDSAJF;IAF!
Bricks? Did she say bricks? It sounded like she said bricks. Was she asking about the architecture? Like, what was the restaurant made out of? Are you kidding me? How do you expect me to know that kind of
Me: I'm sorry, I'm having trouble understanding you, please pull through to the window and I'll help you there.
So she pulls through, and, low and behold, it's somebody who I've known since the sixth grade. I still haven't decided whether that makes this more or less embarrassing.
Me: Hey! Sorry about that, what were you asking?
Her: BRISK.
Me:
Me:
Me (thoughts): she was asking about the freaking tea.
Me: ...Peach-green
This one, though. This one takes the cake. This lady was unsure that she had enough money to get both her sandwich and her drink. I don't remember her exact wording, but she basically told me that if she didn't have the entire $6.35, to take the drink off. So she counts her money, out loud, with me listening, and winds up at a whopping $5.95. Both of us know that she's 40 cents short of getting her drink, so I take the drink off of the order and charge the remaining $5.29. Then I give back the other 66 cents and apologize that she didn't have enough for the drink.
Her: Well how much would it have been?
I'm a little dumbfounded by this, considering I already told her, but whatever.
Me: $6.35
Her: And how much did I give you?
I'm a little more dumbfounded by that, because she was counting out loud earlier. We both knew that she had given
Me: $5.95, so I only charged you for the-
Her: Oh, well that's only 40 cents short!
Me: Yeah, I'm sorry. Your new total was-
Her: I can pay for that!
So she looks down in her hand at the 66 cents that I just gave back to her, seperates 40 cents, and holds it out to me.
Me:
Me:
Me: Well, your new total was $5.29, so I charged you for that and gave the other 66 cents back to you, so it's going to be a full $1.06 now.
Her: But you said that I gave you $5.95.
Me: You did, and I just gave back the extra change from that, so the drink will be $1.06.
Her: But you said I only needed 40 more cents.
Me: From $5.95 yeah, but I gave back 66-
Her: $5.95 plus $.40 is $6.35!
This went on for longer than I care to describe. Long enough, that I eventually found myself saying
Me: Here's your drink.
And she drove away without giving me anything.
Now, I understand fast food employees make mistakes all the time. A couple of the things on this list were, in fact, due to my mistake. The moral of the story, however, is as follows: The customer is NOT always right. Even though we're going to respond as though you are, it's extremely annoying, so no matter how much you think you're right, or if you actually are right, don't noticeably project the blame on the employee. Your drive thru experience is NOT GOING TO BE PERFECT. Why? because, as "convenient" as it may be, it is inefficient, frustrating for all involved, and actually takes longer than going inside. You know what? Here's the real moral of the story: Never use the drive thru. Ever. Just go inside. Some interpersonal communication will be good for you.
Thank you very much, have a nice evening.
Me: And what would you like to drink with that?
Him: Uhh, it's a number 5!
Me:
Me:
Me: Yup. And to drink with that?
It's a good thing he understood the second time, because I usually just hit Pepsi when that happens, but he wanted tea, which is kind of exotic compared to Pepsi, so that that would have been bad.
Similarly, through the speaker:
Me: Your total is $6.24, please pull around!
Them: Wait, you never told me my total!
Me:
Me:
Me: It's $6.24, please pull around.
A man pulled up to the drive thru window.
Me: Hi, how are you?
Him: I'm doing pretty well, good day, especially now that I can see you.
And then he smiled, really, really big.
Me:
Me:
Me:
Me:
Me: That'll be eight dollars and eighty eight cents
A man accidentally dropped his credit card under his car, so he backed his car up in the (thankfully) empty drive thru lane, walked over to pick it up, and then stood at the window waiting for his food for a full minute.
The second time we made a "mistake" tonight, where somebody want to get our attention through the closed drive thru window,
Him: HEY! HEY YOU! HEY! HAAAAAAAAY!
note that this was in a very angry voice. Like batman, after Rachel dies. This guy was PISSED. So I go over, bracing myself to like, get something thrown at me, or like, dodge a flamethrower, and the guy looks at me and holds out his now-open sandwich.
Him: There's no cheese on this!
note: there was cheese on the sandwich. Not only was there cheese on the sandwich, it was dripping out of the sandwich, doing that stringy, stuck to the wrapping paper thing that melted cheese does sometimes. Unfortunately for me, the customer is always right. So I apologize, take the sandwich, walk back to the food prep counter for a few seconds, tell the girl who's making sandwiches what happened, we laugh for a second, and then I take the same sandwich back to the guy. Icing on the cake- He checks, thanks me, and leaves.
I don't remember the exact wording of this one, but an elderly man got angry at me when he tried to pay exact change but didn't realize he had given me an extra dime. He wouldn't take his change.
A girl pulls up to the drive thru speaker.
Her: What kind of brfjdakls; do you have?
note: I can not understand the fourth word of her sentence.
Me: I'm sorry, one more time please?
Her: What kind of brla;sjdfk;jfa;dlkfja;ofjla do you have?
Now I can't really tell what she's saying, but it sort of sounds like "burgers," so I get the idea that this is one of those people that thinks we rename and rehash McDonalds' menu, and react accordingly.
Me: We don't serve burgers here, sorry. Could I interest you in-
Her: No! What kind of BFLKQWJR?
Me: Sorry?
Her: BRJALKS;DFJ;! Like, to drink?
So I'm like, ohhh, she's saying brands, isn't she?
Me: We have Pepsi products here.
Her: No, no, no! What kind of BRLKDSAJF;IAF!
Bricks? Did she say bricks? It sounded like she said bricks. Was she asking about the architecture? Like, what was the restaurant made out of? Are you kidding me? How do you expect me to know that kind of
Me: I'm sorry, I'm having trouble understanding you, please pull through to the window and I'll help you there.
So she pulls through, and, low and behold, it's somebody who I've known since the sixth grade. I still haven't decided whether that makes this more or less embarrassing.
Me: Hey! Sorry about that, what were you asking?
Her: BRISK.
Me:
Me:
Me (thoughts): she was asking about the freaking tea.
Me: ...Peach-green
This one, though. This one takes the cake. This lady was unsure that she had enough money to get both her sandwich and her drink. I don't remember her exact wording, but she basically told me that if she didn't have the entire $6.35, to take the drink off. So she counts her money, out loud, with me listening, and winds up at a whopping $5.95. Both of us know that she's 40 cents short of getting her drink, so I take the drink off of the order and charge the remaining $5.29. Then I give back the other 66 cents and apologize that she didn't have enough for the drink.
Her: Well how much would it have been?
I'm a little dumbfounded by this, considering I already told her, but whatever.
Me: $6.35
Her: And how much did I give you?
I'm a little more dumbfounded by that, because she was counting out loud earlier. We both knew that she had given
Me: $5.95, so I only charged you for the-
Her: Oh, well that's only 40 cents short!
Me: Yeah, I'm sorry. Your new total was-
Her: I can pay for that!
So she looks down in her hand at the 66 cents that I just gave back to her, seperates 40 cents, and holds it out to me.
Me:
Me:
Me: Well, your new total was $5.29, so I charged you for that and gave the other 66 cents back to you, so it's going to be a full $1.06 now.
Her: But you said that I gave you $5.95.
Me: You did, and I just gave back the extra change from that, so the drink will be $1.06.
Her: But you said I only needed 40 more cents.
Me: From $5.95 yeah, but I gave back 66-
Her: $5.95 plus $.40 is $6.35!
This went on for longer than I care to describe. Long enough, that I eventually found myself saying
Me: Here's your drink.
And she drove away without giving me anything.
Now, I understand fast food employees make mistakes all the time. A couple of the things on this list were, in fact, due to my mistake. The moral of the story, however, is as follows: The customer is NOT always right. Even though we're going to respond as though you are, it's extremely annoying, so no matter how much you think you're right, or if you actually are right, don't noticeably project the blame on the employee. Your drive thru experience is NOT GOING TO BE PERFECT. Why? because, as "convenient" as it may be, it is inefficient, frustrating for all involved, and actually takes longer than going inside. You know what? Here's the real moral of the story: Never use the drive thru. Ever. Just go inside. Some interpersonal communication will be good for you.
Thank you very much, have a nice evening.
