Uh, yeah, what the title says. If Phone Lady was the baptism, then this is the fucking Confirmation. I work for Burger King if it makes the story make any more sense. It was past 10 at night, and two guys were insisting we stiffed them a Whopper Junior. But the other girl up front and I both remembered giving it to them, the two guys in the back both remembered making it, and there weren’t any burgers left on the heat chute. At such a slow time it could only mean they got their food.
The guys get into an argument with the lads in the back anyway. Voices are raised. The manager comes out. Uh, about the manager. I think she’s only an assistant manager. She’s petite, blonde and in her early twenties. Not that that’s bad or anything but man, if only Woman Hitler was here today. After determining that yes, they are scabs, she tells them to leave. They don’t leave. Security Guy starts slowly herding them out the door. Manager follows them. They are swearing at her and calling her a bitch, and she is yelling at them to get out. Cleaning Guy, caught between them and the door, says something to them. One of the customer guys spits at him and the manager. He misses Cleaning Guy but hits the manager on the arm. Then he grabs a chair off the table and throws it at her :eek:
Fortunately, he wasn’t throwing very hard and she deflects it. “GET OUT!!!” she screams. It’s rather impressive. Eventually they get pushed out the door, swearing and fighting all the way. We lock the doors to keep them out. Alas, a hapless customer has wandered in during the kerfuffle. We unlock the door to let him out, then lock them again. And so we close the store, 10 minutes early. The manager calls the police while we squeegee the floors. The two guys are now banned from our store. If we see them again, we’re to call the police.
I’ve never understood why people can be abusive to those who make and serve them their food. Before that food can get into a customer’s stomach, who knows where it has been or what has been done to it.
8.6211 AUD. No, I don’t know why it’s calculated to 4 digits. Minimum wage in Australia is $12.50 and only applies to full-time adult workers. So, perfectly legal.
Ditto. In my days of being a fast-food underling, this was unwritten policy…we also gave the extra taco to the lady who’d order ten tacos on a semi-weekly basis and then routinely complain that she’d only received nine, even though we knew she was lying. The customer is always right, even when they’re wrong. Can’t say I agree wholly, but it did seem to deflect impressive fits of rage (from customers!), so…meh.
All of which is not to say that that mustn’t have been a very frightening experience…having to deal with the goodies, baddies, and wackos of the general public is a scary prospect, I know. Hope you and your workmates are faring okay, FlyingRamenMonster.
He should have kept out of it. For that matter, the manager should have stayed behind the counter. No offense; just saying that’s what security people are for. Anyway, glad you’re okay.
I’ve worked in a Burger King, and I promise you that you don’t want to piss off the people making your food. You do not want to know some of the things I’ve seen done. In fact, if you knew half the things that went on back in the prep area, you would swear off fast food for life. I swear I’ve seen employees pick up food that they have dropped on the floor and would have served if I hadn’t prevented it. And they weren’t pissed at anyone, just lazy. It’s a lousy job, low-wage and demeaning, and most people working it don’t give a rat’s ass if they get fired. Still, I seem to remember mostly just giving people food if they made a claim of being shorted, unless they seemed like really bad liars trying to rip us off.
Yeah, that’s pretty much what Security Guy said afterwards. Manager, you stay behind the counter, and Cleaning Guy, you get out of the way. Astro, the security guy comes after 8pm and at night in the city, I think he’s pretty good to have around. You want to leave the beating away dodgy characters to a bunch of teenage girls, what?
XaMcQ, I’ve worked in the back, the only bad thing that happens with any regularity is that sometimes the chicken and beef tongs get crossed. We’re serious enough about our job to keep the food, you know, edible. But morale probably varies widely from store to store and if you’re really concerned about what you eat you should just stay at home, and I say that for all restaurants, not just fast food.
ratatoskK - I’d have given it to them too, but the manager and one of the burger guys weren’t willing to let it go. All up I’m pretty glad we didn’t let them, though. Can’t have the customers walking all over you.
Me, too. Even if I was absolutely convinced that they were lying out their asses, at the end of the day it’s a dollar. My sanity and personal safety, not to mention the safety of the customers, is worth at least that.
Now, if they were REPEAT customers who lied (aka stole from me), then I’d make the cashier bag the food right in front of them, “Here’s ONE Whopper Junior and here is TWO Whopper Juniors” to let them know that I was on to them.
After working and managing a McDonald’s for a total of 5 years, I can’t say that I have ever seen this happen, and if it had, the person would have been fired on the spot. And most of this time was spent at the run-down store in town, staffed mostly by highschoolers.
Can’t say I agree wholly, but it did seem to deflect impressive fits of rage (from customers!), so…meh.
