I work at Wendy’s…we strive to have everything ready to order, but sometimes we run out of product, and the customer has to wait a few minutes for their food. When this happens, we apologize profusely, and make sure they get frsh fries, etc. Top of the line service.
If you had to wait, would this greatly upset you? We’re talking like 3 minutes usually…never anymore than 5.
I ask because we have this guy who comes in like every day, and orders a mandarin chicken salad. One day like 3 weeks ago we ran out of salads, and had no more lettuce in the store to make more. We very politely told him we didn’t have any salads available. He called and spoke to my manager, who offered him a free salad on his next visit. That I could understand, because we didn’t have any at all. He had a right to be angry. So Monday in a meeting, the district manage mentioned that we’d had a customer complain to Corporate that we “never have salads to sell at night”, and he felt they should know. She knew from pulling a product history he was full of shit, so she wasn’t too concerned. After that one day, we’d never told a customer a salad wasn’t available, but we do occasionally have to make them to order, and the customer has to wait like 2 minutes, if that. So he came in tonight, and was talking to my manager. Matt mentioned the complaint, and he was liek “Oh yeah, they didn’t have any premade, they had to run back and pull out the ingrediants, and make one up for me.” WTF…he went to the corporate office because he had a 3 minute max delay?
Doesn’t that seem extreme? Am I wrong to think that people wouldn’t mind waiting for a few minutes, in exchange for quality food?
Those salads are great! I guess that guy needed his fix. I don’t think 5 minutes is unreasonable, but that’s me. Maybe a sign should be posted to explain a possible delay due to the overwhelming demand of the new products.
I don’t mind waiting but then again, I don’t like conflict and am not going to argue with someone unless really pushed. For instance, if I’m eating out with friends or family and I get the wrong order, I’ll usually just eat what I’m given instead of complaining so long as it is something I’d eat.
What annoys me is when the cashier completes the transactions and then tells me to wait 5 minutes. I prefer it when they tell me beforehand; I want a chance to change my order to something that is available immediately. Not because I hate waiting, but because I usually don’t have a very strong preference and would happily eat anything that’s available.
Working at Tim Horton’s sometimes we run out of coffee (usually when a rush comes and it’s just me there, I forget to make more coffee sometimes ) That’s understandable when people get a little pissy about that though.
But when we don’t have the exact donut they want… wow they can get pissy sometimes. We make them fresh here… every night we do a turnover where we toss the old donuts and the new ones start coming out. We don’t have all our usual donuts until about 4:30/5 am. Most of the regulars know this, but you’d be amazed at the people who come in every night and expect the donuts that are never ready at that time to be ready. The definition of insanity…
Personally, I prefer waiting, if it means that I’ll get my order the moment it has been prepared (as opposed to maybe a sandwich that has been sitting there for a few minutes)
[hijack]This is just getting a little too weird. First your username is the same as the nickname I gave the woman who gave me my username/nickname. Then you turn out to be from Boston, where I live (although my pammipoo didn’t). If it turns out you work in the Wendy’s on Summer St, downtown, I’m going to be expecting Rod Serling to greet me, the next time I go there for lunch. [/hijack]
Back to OP; you’re not necessarily wrong to think that people wouldn’t mind waiting for a few minutes, in exchange for quality food. Where you go wrong is in expecting people to be reasonable. Some are; many are not. And, a lot of people don’t make any mental distinction between McD’s, with their off-the-rack burgers, and Wendy’s, with your freshly made-to-order burgers. To a lot of people, all fast food is pretty much interchangeable, and they expect to “grab it and go”.
Right or wrong doesn’t matter; it’s what they expect. And, when they don’t get it, it’s one more little annoyance that may be the last straw on a bad day. But, calling the Corporate office is way over the top. Especially, if they’re going to lie about the situation.
PS; If you do work at the one on Summer St., could you get them to cook the fries properly? I’m really sick of the greasy, soggy fries they usually give me. I’d really appreciate it.
The only time I mind waiting is when I’m at the drive-up window and they say, “Would you please pull over to that parking place over there and we’ll bring your order out to you.”
I understand that they don’t want to get everyone else in the line mad because my order isn’t ready yet, but it makes me feel like I have just been moved to the bottom of the priority list, and they’ll bring it out when they get around to it.
I’ve often been tempted to say something like, “No, if you don’t mind I’ll just wait here for my order.”
While on the road on vacation several years ago, we stopped at a Burger King, I forget where. There were a few people in front of us when we ordered our food, and then we waited like 25 minutes. Never knew what the trouble was, too meek to ask I guess. Just wait till I inherit the earth! Then I’ll really find out what the deal is! Unless, of course, it’s too much trouble. No problem really. Thank you.
I didn’t like waiting that long, but a few minutes is fine. I’ve never worked fast food, but I have wroked in the service industry, so I try to be a little understanding.
I worked at a KFC for 5 years, so I know what the fast food industry is like. No, I have no problems waiting, on the following conditions
[ul]
[li]I am told there will be a wait and for approximately how long[*]the people who work at the restaurant are not just standing around chatting or doing nothing…at least make it look like you’re doing something[/li][li]if the wait is going to be over 5 minutes and I am eating in, that the cashier offers to bring it to my table[/li][li]the food is brought or given to me as soon as it is ready, and doesn’t sit there for another 2 minutes while the cashier is buggering off doing something[/li][/ul]
Maybe I’m asking for too much, but that’s just consideration.
At KFC, we had a LOT of people rag on our head when forty-five before close on a weeknight, they’d show up wanting two twenty piece buckets and be told that it would take about half an hour. People just don’t understand how the industry works. Either that, or they’re just out to get freebies because they think the world owes them. Don’t let them get to…YOU be the one to get to THEM…they need to learn
Interesting point about the chicken that pertains to waiting in general.
Too often, people don’t realize what it takes to cook these meals, and how expensive it is to throw them away if they don’t get eaten. Fried chicken is the best example. Even the stripped down, small sized portions take more than ten minutes to cook in the fryer (KFC likely takes longer because the pieces are much larger)…and it is simply not cost effective to have two twenty piece buckets sitting out forty-five minutes before close. Furthermore, being as how I used to be certified in health, it is nearly impossible to keep fried chicken at an acceptable holding temperature for any length of time in order to comply with my states health regulations. The chicken must be kept at 140 degrees or hotter, but the bone in the middle tends to not retain heat thereby cooling the entire piece. In my state, we can only hold chicken products for 30 minutes when they are not up to temp.
These health standards exist to protect the consumer. Yes, I would rather wait ten minutes than get sick. Furthermore, I would rather wait ten minutes because of a restaurant than because of some stupid customer in line in front of me.
Now…if they would only put a sign in drive-throughs…“Vehicles with more than four passengers, please order in the lobby”. The next time I get stuck behind a family of eight in a minivan all trying to special order the restaurant to death just so I can have that hot apple pie I’ve been craving all day, I’ll go somewhere else.
I don’t mind waiting as long as it means I will get my food hot and fresh. I worked in fast food for six years and I know all too well the reasons delays happen. Some customers would get pissed at having to wait and weren’t appreciative of the fact that it would be hot and fresh (“you should have had it ready in the first place!”), but most people didn’t mind if they were told ahead of time that it would take a few minutes.
What I hate is when slow service is caused by a manager who can’t effectively run the place. I worked under a real asshole of a manager for about one year of my fast food tenure, and because he was always yelling at everyone and expecting the impossible the service at our place sucked and was notoriously slow. Once business began really dropping off this manager was fired (partly for his very poor treatment of employees).
I’m with SCR4 – tell me if you’re out of whatever BEFORE we do the paying thing, so I can change my order. Mostly when I eat fast food I’m on lunch break. What with travel time to and fro and time to actually eat…I’d much rather change from a chicken sandwich to a burger if it means I’ll have time to chew and swallow instead of inhaling.
“fast food” is supposed to be fast, “express lanes” are supposed to be express, and “convenience stores” are supposed to be convenient. It does bother me somewhat when they don’t live up to what they claim to be.
You know, that’s interesting, because (I could be wrong but) I don’t ever recall seeing Wendy’s claim to be fast food. Everyone knows it, but it’s not something you’ll see written anywhere.
Depends on how long the wait is. If I’m ordering a hamburger, I expect a wait, since I order it with just ketchup. Most pre-made burgers have all the fixings on them, so they have to make me one. I realize that takes time, and I don’t really mind since a. I’m getting what I asked for b. it’s freshly cooked. More than a 15 minute wait is usually unreasonable, though.
I guess I’m somewhat strict in these matters. Any more than a 5 minute wait, I would feel better if I was compensated somewhat in the way of free fries, drink, etc.
We strive to be under 80 seconds from the time you pull up to the speaker to the time you leave the window. All of our burgers are fresh off the grill, made to order, and the fries and fried products are within a reasonable age. Fries can be held for 5 minutes, and the chickens within an hour. More often than not, they’re even fresher. That’s just the maximum. As far as I know, we’ve never advertised our speed. Just the quality
And Davebear, no I don’t work at the Downtown Crossing one. I’m more Northshore…right now I’m working in Peabody, which is only about 15 minutes from my East Boston apartment.
As for the fries, fill out one of those comment cards, and drop it to the manager. If it’s a valid complaint (and even if it’s not…), management will look into it, and maybe you’ll get some non-soggy fries
I don’t think 5 minutes is unreasonable, but that’s me. Maybe a sign should be posted to explain a possible delay due to the overwhelming demand of the new products.
