Just ask me once, goddammit! (fast-food rant)

The BBQ Pit
21

My strategy is to just go with the flow… I know that they’re following a script, instead of just rattling off an order, I’ll let them ask me the questions. It also let’s the process seem a bit more like talking to a person instead of a machine.

“Would you like fries with that?”
“No, thank you.”
“What kind of drink would you like?”
“Coke, please.”
“For here or to-go?”
etc.

If they ALWAYS interrupt you with the same questions, just wait until they ask and then answer. It’s only a couple extra seconds, why beat yourself up over it? On top of it, since they’re ready to enter that piece of info, there’s less chance they will forget or flat out screw it up. I know it’s Fast Food, but slow down just a little and it will go more smoothly.

22

My favorite conversation goes like this:

ME: I’d like a Big Mac, Chocolate Shake, and Large Fries to go, please.
MAC: Would you like something to drink with that?
ME: Well, I was planning on drinking the shake.
MAC: Oh. Would you like fries with that?
ME: Let me start again. I’d like a Big Mac, Chocolate Shake, and Large Fries to go, please.
MAC: OK. Is that for here?
ME: Sigh.

23

RAWDuke, what they’re probably hearing is:

“I’dlikeaBigMacChocolateShakeandLargeFriestogo”

YOU have been thinking about what you want to eat for the last 5min. THEY only know what you want from what you tell them, and they’ve been told 60 different orders in the last 60min. If you insist on dumping 5 separate pieces of information on them in 5 seconds, expect them to miss something. Take a breath, slow down, and let them go through their script. Believe me, they won’t finish your order until you tell them it’s done, and it won’t take any more time than the conversation you described, AND neither of you will be exasperated by the process.

24

I humbly beg to differ. I try to make a habit of speaking slowly and clearly when I place an order at a FF place.
Besides, these were the marqee items at Macs. It wasn’t like I was ordering an elephant tusk on a bun, hold the cannibal sauce.:wink:

25

Well first, the straws are covered in paper at my McDonalds, so I don’t see how this would make a difference.

Second, I don’t think putting everything in the world behind lock and key because someone might have licked it is a rather irrational solution to a trivial problem.

26

Seriously? Your manager actually instructed you to ask “here or to go?” 3 times? That’s fucking nuts.

Yeah, I realize that’s not the order-taker’s fault. It’s some retarded corporate policy of greed. As if I’m gonna say: “Yeah, now that you mention it, I WOULD like to try your Oreo McSplooge that I had no intention of ordering; In fact, give me 3 of them.”

Oh, cry me a river. I did my stint of fast-food work back in high school, but I wasn’t even lucky enough to get to work the counter like you. I had the wonderful job of cleaning the grease out of the broiler hood with a toxic cleaner in an enclosed area. (I hadn’t heard of OSHA yet).

I don’t change my order. I would just like to say it ONCE and have you ring it up. Why is that so difficult?

Awww… did snoogums poor widdew brain get all confused having to remember the long, complicated phrase “to go” for all of the 2 seconds of time it took to push the “Honey Mustard” button? If you would actually LISTEN to the person instead of thinking you’re John Ashcroft interrogating an Al Qaeda agent, you wouldn’t have a problem.

Actually, that’s one thing that DOESN’T bother me - I like the value pricing. You get a major discount if you order the value meals; what’s the problem with that?

Well, the fact that we’re going to McDougal’s in the first place isn’t exactly a good sign.:wink: McNuggets aren’t exactly health food, y’know.

27

Okay, my first scenario seems to be what you are talking about, in that case complain away about them, it’s just I’ve known order takers to get indignant to being corrected when they are the ones who made the mistake (As opposed to the customer making the mistake of ordering before they decided what they wanted).

28

Because they have to listen to 300 different orders a day, that’s why. Have a little freekin’ patience and don’t force them to remember your whole order verbatim from the one time you blurt it out. Just because you have no problem remembering it doesn’t mean that they don’t. You already know what you want.

I never have a problem with fast food employees asking me the same question over and over. I don’t have to repeat my selections, or explain things ad nauseum. Why??? because I wait for them to be ready to take the information. I don’t tell them I want a coke until they ask. I don’t tell them here or to-go until they ask. They always ask.

You are falling into a classic problem. You expect the workers to mold their process to your particular way of ordering. Guess what, everybody orders in a different way, and they don’t know how you’re going to order until you open your mouth. If this problem is so irritating to you that you have to start a Pit thread, take a little personal action to fix it. Change the way you order to match the way they take orders, it’s really not that hard.

29

Uhh, yeah. I love me some fast food…

McDonalds

I’ll probably stop there on my way to work today.

30

Bullshit. I’m talking about workers who ASK ME THE SAME QUESTION SEVERAL TIMES. I started this thread right after I got back from Subway, where they asked me TWICE if I wanted chips and a drink with my sandwich, to which I politely replied “No, thank you”, twice. (O.K., I did exaggerate on that one, but I have on occasion been asked the same question 3 times). I am ALWAYS polite and patient with the order taker, no matter how inept s/he may be. If I want to rant about it a little, how is that any skin off YOUR nose?

I can see how you may have been confused by my response to baltotop, who conflated the two seperate issues of 1) the order-taker asking the same question repeatedly, and 2) the customer giving information before the order-taker is ready. Although I did point out to him that it should not be that difficult for the order-taker to remember the information, I nevertheless always try to make allowance for the restrictions of the cash-register when I am ordering. My original rant was about issue #1.

Why should I have to answer the exact same question 2 or 3 times, just because that’s “the way they take orders”? It would seem to me that the precise number of times you need to ask a question would be ONE. If the cash-register isn’t ready for that step, THEN DON’T FUCKING ASK ME YET. It’s really pretty simple.

And by the way, I work in an office, and I have a very easy method to POLITELY ask a person the same question again when I have forgotten their original answer. It’s called: “I’m sorry”. As in “I’m sorry, could you repeat your name for me please?”, or “I’m sorry, did you say that was for here or to go?” If you say it that way instead of having an attitude, it will be very difficult for anyone to be angry with you.

31

Blowero, I have no issue whatsoever with your OP, you are right, if they ask, and you answer, that should be the end of it.

The followups and your response to baltotop brought up related issue #2, which was really what I meant to address.

32

Okay, I’ll weigh in. I love Taco Bell – craptacular food of the gods. But I almost always order the same thing: No. 10 with an extra taco. (No. 10 is a grilled stuffed burrito with a side of “nachos” – “nachos” are a little packet of chips and a little cup of cheese, which is not my idea of nachos, which is why the word is in quotes, but anyway.) So here’s my order:

Can I have a No. 10 please, chicken instead of beef, and no tomatoes, with an extra hard-shell taco and a diet Pepsi.

Here’s what I hear:

“You want chicken and beef?” “No, I want chicken instead of beef.” (Why don’t I just say “chicken,” you ask? Because then they tell me it’s made with beef. Yes, I know it’s generally made with beef; I want it with chicken.)

“The grilled stuffed burrito doesn’t come with tomatoes.” “Yes, it does.” “No, it has pico sauce on it.” “And what’s pico sauce?” “A mixture of chopped onions, tomatoes, and cilantro.” “Well, then that would be tomatoes, wouldn’t it?” “So you don’t want pico sauce?” “No.” (Why don’t I just say “no pico sauce,” you ask? Because it’s also made with “Santa Fe sauce,” which is a spicy mayonnaise-y sauce that I do want, and if you introduce the concept of “leaving the sauce off” into the conversation, you get the burrito with no spicy sauce, but with tomatoes.)

“You want two hard-shell tacos, right?” “No, just one.” “But they’re two for 99 cents or one for 89 cents.” “Yes, I realize that, but I’ll only eat one.” “But you get a second one for a dime more.” “Yes, I know, but I ONLY WANT ONE.” Even if it’s only a dime, it’s not a big bargain if I throw it away, now is it?

This is also inevitably followed by, “and what do you want to drink?” “Diet Pepsi [sub]like I said[/sub].” And ONCE (though I must admit only once) was followed by “And is that for here or to go?” “Well, I guess I’ll take it to go, seeing as how I’m out here in the drive-thru, in my car.”

All this done in an Indian accent, as if I’m giving my order to Apu (“Get out of my store and come again!”). Which doesn’t bother me, I just find it kind of amusing: “We are thanking you for choosing Taco Bell; may we be taking your order?”

Actually, once you get past the agony of ordering, they almost always get the order right. Mmmmm . . . Taco Bell.

33

Well, it was no biggie, but this is what happened last night. And no, McD guy’s nametag did not say “In training.”

I go in, wanting the chicken strips and a couple of cheeseburgers. I look at the menu. All I can see that includes chicken strips are the trios. I scan the menu. Nowhere do I see chicken strips on their own.

I go up to the cash.

Me: Yeah, hi, I want four chicken strips, but not the trio. I can’t seem to find the price for the chicken strips alone on the menu. Can you tell me how much it is for just four chicken strips, no trio?

Him: Umm, about $6.

Me: Isn’t that a bit much? I don’t want the trio. I just want the chicken strips. Four. Can you tell me how much they are?

Him: :confused: {{goes to ask someone, comes back}} Around three dollars.

Me: :rolleyes: Around $3?

Him: Yes.

Me: So just somewhere around $3?

Him: See, I have to punch it in…

Me: {{To myself: I am aware of that, shitwit. You have to punch everything in.}} OK, I’ll have four chicken strips and two cheeseburgers to go.

{{Somehow, there’s a key for just four chicken strips, with an actual price attached to it! Wonder of wonders!}}

Him: That’ll be $9-(something).

Me: Isn’t that a bit much?

Him: You wanted one cheeseburger, right?

Me: I wanted two cheeseburgers and four chicken strips. That’s all.

{{He punches away at his little console.}} That’ll be $6-(something).

Me: I’ll take the plum sauce for the chicken.

Him: The what?

Me: The plum sauce.

Him: :confused:

Me: La sauce aux prunes.

Him: OK.

Let me note here that he was not francophone.

I get my order. I steal a ton of napkins and packets of salt and pepper on the way out.

:rolleyes:

34

Sorry to say this, but I don’t blame them for being confused. I’m not even sure what you’re asking for. Did you want them to individually pick the tomatoes out of the pico sauce?

Look, I just want them to stop asking me the same question over and over. I’m not out to make things difficult for anyone.

Hmmm…gotta disagree on this, too. I WANT them to inform me if I am overlooking a special deal that might save me money. If I don’t want the deal, I will politely decline. Here’s the difference: “Do you want desert with that?” - makes THEM money.:frowning: “Do you want the special deal?” - saves ME money.:slight_smile:

35

BLOWERO –

No, I want them to leave the tomatoes off. This is a relish of almost half-and-half onions and tomatoes. I have never had anyone offer to pick the tomatoes out for me, so I’ll settle for having them leave it off entirely. It seems to me that if you’re serving a condiment that has the offending food as a major component, then when a person orders the item without the offending food, you leave the condiment off. But maybe, as others have said, this only is not confusing to me because it’s my order and of course I know what I mean.

And I’m happy to have them tell me about the two-taco bargain; I only wish they were able to grasp that I’m not interested in it the first time I say “no thanks.”

36

I’d like to offer a slight defense of fast food workers.

I did my share of this work when I was just out of high school and drifting aimlessly through life. For those who haven’t done it, fast food work is like one of Dante’s rings of hell. You wear a stupid uniform. you wear a stupid hat. You take orders from a sixteen year old Star Trek geek. You get paid nothing. You are constantly lectured about “smiling.” You are told by asshole assistant managers that “if you have time to lean, you have time to clean.” You get a 15 minute break, during which time you are allowed your choice of a happy meal or a six piece McNugget meal. It’s like a prison sentence.

I found the only way I could get through a shift was to get stoned to the gills before I started. This did occasionally create some short-term memory problems with taking orders, especially when taking 50 or 60 orders in a row. Your brain just turns to oatmeal after a while. You also have (as has been pointed out) supervisors up your ass at all times telling you to “suggestive sell” and counting how many times you ask those bullshit questions.

Also many, many customers are assholes. maybe not YOU. But chances are you have been preceded by someone who wanted four of every kind of dipping sauce for a six-piece McNugget meal, or who gave you a ten and then tried to tell you they gave you a twenty, or was drunk off their ass, or who had some idiotic special order (like picking the tomatoes out of the salsa).

Fast food workers tend to stop giving a fuck rather quickly, and there is really no incentive to START giving a fuck. It’s practically impossible to get fired because FF restauraunts are always understaffed, and even if you DO get fired you don’t care.

If some people at the corporate level wanted to treat their workers like human beings, pay them decently, and stop imposing inane regulations about order-taking procedures. You might get better service.

Having said all that, I will absolutely acknowledge that the Burger Kings and Wendys of the world are filled to capacity with genuine nimrods. But I would submit that this is a function of the low wages and lack of dignity that such jobs provide.

37

Not necessarily true about the “impossible to get fired” part. Just last week I was written up because my cash drawer was short (due to error in counting back change rather than theft, I can assure you); I should have been fired, but because I am a good worker, my boss “let” me stay. If it had been one of the other employees who had not proven themself as a good worker, they would have been fired on the spot.

Now, as far as the reptition of “for here or to go?” is concerned, that can definitely become a problem. I ask twice - once before I take the order, and again before getting either a tray or a bag (and that is just a double-check, as people change their minds frequently; I ask, “You said this was for here, right?”) and leave it at that. Anything other than that and it shows a lack of competence or attention by the employee. So while I agree with you 100% about your complaints, I just thought I’d weigh in with a fast-food workers perspective on the whole issue.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled ranting.

-Dirty

38

Um, if you’re showing up for work stoned, that’s not MY problem. And I hope to hell you were kidding.

39

Oh yeah, you really need to be focussed like a laser to work at a fast food joint. Getting high before work would be the only way to deal with that crap. It’s not like he was drooling on the food or anything. And I don’t think he was making the case for any PROBLEM with getting high before work.

40

Exactly so J-Kat:

It’s not like I was flying a plane, guinastasia. I was putting Big Macs in styrofoam boxes. I’d guess about 60% of the people I worked with were baked on a regular basis. Don’t tell me you’re shocked to hear this. The odds are pretty good that you, yourself have ordered burgers from totally stoned individuals.