Say a prayer for the late shift fast food employees of the world.

The BBQ Pit
81

I agree with your premise, Tengu, but the problem I see is that even AFTER the lady acted like such a snot, her order STILL wasn’t right. Somebody cost that particular fast-food joint:

Two sandwiches;
One customer (I seriously doubt the customer will go back);
Anyone in the restaurant who disapproves of how the customer was treated (regardless of the customer’s actions);
Anyone the customer can convince not to go back to that restaurant.

All because somebody didn’t check an order right after a customer made such a fuss about it. Something is out of whack there.

82

Did you read my whole post? She made direct racist insults at someone with 17 years of pizza experience as her justification as to why her order was in her opinion incorrect. I have seen a few upset customers in my days but none that went straight for the throat like this bitch did. Would you blame an incorrect order on a white cook in a mexican restaraunt because “obviously he dosent know shit about mexican cooking, hes white”.

Racist insults are at best distasteful, expecting someone to serve you politely after you have directed such at them sounds like someone who has little grasp on reality. Let me guess you like to bitch alot to try and get free stuff.

6-7 years? Where at?

Anyone out there need a recovering from CS feel good job? Try amusement park security, you get to boot the asshole customers who are fucking with everyone elses good time. You rarely have to be polite or gentle about it. As a bonus, people thank you for cuffing and dragging forementioned asshole out of the park.

83

That could quit possibly be the stupidest thing I’ve ever read.

And that “she hates everyone” remark? That sounds like a junior high school student insult. I hate pricks, not everyone. I like diabetics, but not diabetic pricks.

Why not find out why that stupid bitch that threw a sandwich on the counter and screamed and cried was pissed? Would you?! Who are you the patron saint of pissy customers? I don’t give a fuck what’s wrong with her after she threw shit around and yelled.

84

Maybe there’s a multitude of reasons as to why she got that angry. I’d be angry after 2 wrong orders… I wouldn’t go to those lengths, I’d just ask for another replacement. Yea, she’s a pain in the ass, but if you are calm and cool with her, then your manager will be a lot more understanding if she makes a complaint.

Patron saint? Check my first reply in this thread. I’ve been abused many, many times. I had coins thrown at me when I accidentally short changed someone. I know what its like to be on the other end of an asshole (;)).

85

As I respond to this, keep in mind that I don’t mean to sound pessimistic or condescending; if I start to do that, somebody slap me.

I work in a professional setting. I’ve been a management-level employee for 14 years now in various marketing and public relations roles. And people still throw things, yell and scream, and get pissed over absolutely nothing at all. They look remarkably childish to me when they do this, but since the vast majority of them have been above me on the corporate food chain, I’ve had to calm them down as best I could and handle their problem.

In other words, it’s not the setting; people will still overreact to a situation, whether it’s the corporate world or the counter-service world. Jerks do not restrict their movements to one particular work milieu. Now, having said that, I’ve never been offered oral ministrations by customers or supervisors, so I can’t say how that would affect my outlook.

Do not assume that just because you stop working in fast-food that you’ll never have to deal with jerks again. They may overreact to a situation, but it’s YOUR responsibility to handle their concerns.

In answer to your question “Would I have found out why the stupid bitch was pissed?” the answer is definitely YES. Usually (not always, but usually) people have a reason for complaining. If the reason for their complaint is the fault of the establishment, then it’s the responsibility of everyone at the establishment (or at least, those with the power to help) to make the situation right.

I don’t know if the initial sandwich order was specified by the customer as “no-mayonnaise.” But once she came back and made it clear that she didn’t want mayonnaise on her sandwich (regardless of how snidely, rudely, or confrontationally that request was made), then it was up to you and the rest of the team working there to make sure her sandwich didn’t get mayonnaise on it. Anything less is piss-poor customer service. Just because she was a piss-poor customer doesn’t mean your obligation to give good service has been rescinded.

And, in my experience, if you stop “giving a fuck” about somebody once they’ve yelled and thrown things, you’ll have a difficult time finding a job that will make you happy. Not saying that such behavior is the norm, but it happens often enough that it can break your spirit if you don’t know how to handle it. It doesn’t just happen with retail or food service.

This is the job you have now. My advice would be to do it to the very best of your ability, regardless of the hassles it brings. Someone once said something to the effect of “There are no small jobs, only small people.” Give outstanding service, no matter what you’re doing, and people will notice, I promise.

86

Sorry, this is my favorite line here. I may have to frame it…
:smiley:
inkblot

87

I’m not suggesting for one second that the customer did not seem to be acting badly. I’m just saying that I think Lois was as well. That’s all.

88

I once saw a situation like this diffused very well by the store manager.
I arrived to pick up my pizza at a local pizza place. When I stepped up to the counter, the man in front of me was having a word with the manger. The manager said, “My worker tells me that you threw the pizza back at him because it was not what you ordered. Now, I know you wouldn’t throw something at one of my employees, right? Because then we’d have a problem.” The man nodded. The manager continued, “We’ll get your order right, but you’ll just have to be patient.”
Problem solved. Trying to guess what motivates an abusive customer doesn’t work. I think Lois’ manager should have entered the picture earlier than he did.

89

When the woman came to the counter with the sandwich, did she say she had ordered it without mayo and wanted a new one without, or did she simply demand a new sandwich? If she did not specify that she ordered it without mayo, I can understand how the order would come back incorrecly made the second time; after all, busy fast food employees cannot be expected to remember the specifics of every order throughout the day, and the service industry requires that a shockingly low number of its employees have fully-developed ESP skills.

If, however, she did specify that the sandwich should not have mayo on it when she came to the counter, my sympathy for the OP wanes. Yes, the woman was overreacting and yes, she was being an asshole, but the restaurant is now in the wrong for providing a second bemayoed sandwich.

And low points for style for laughing at the woman while she was in the restaurant. I have worked many retail and service jobs over the years, and I know from experience that the proper way to deal with a situation like this is to apologize profusely (and smile the whole time, goddamn it), complete the order, wait until the customer leaves, and then bitch about her in the breakroom. Add unflattering imitations of said customer if possible. Get the anger out, then plaster that “I’m-so-happy-I-could-take-a-bullet-to-the-head” smile back on your face and get back to the register.

90

Learn to live with it or get out of it. What a novel concept. Wish I’d said it first.

I fully understand the suckiness of working in any CS position, through experience. I also know that there are other jobs out there that do not require any formal education beyond a high school diploma, or a GED for that matter. If you do not seek out these jobs and remain in a CS position, knowing full well that you will be used and abused, no, you do not have a right to complain.

Ah I see, you allude to the Constitution and the right of all to speak freely. Perhaps “you have no right” is not the proper phrase. Alright, keeping it as tactful as possible: if you willfully remain in the industry, with other options open to you, you are a moron and therefore should not speak lest you reveal to others the unfathomable depth of your stupidity.

But since you do have that right to voice your complaints, go for it. It’s all you. While you’re seething in your paper hat and name tag, cursing the day the mere idea of McDonalds was ever conceived, just remember that you are there of your own volition.

91

< ahem >

I work at a casino. We are all about guest service there, keeping the guests happy and, if they aren’t, figuring out what we can do to make them happy and so on. For the most part, I really like my job. Honest, I do. I once got tipped $5 for bringing a guest a cup of coffee (I’m not a beverage server) and I got tipped another $5 from a different guest because I watched his machine while he used the restroom. The guests (Notice I’m saying “guests”. These people are not “customers”. In fact, my co-workers aren’t even co-workers, but “in-house guests”) are generally fairly generous and friendly. And so I am as well.

I am not a slot associate, which basically means that it’s not up to me to get your jackpot/hopper fill in a timely manner. That’s not my job. In fact, I don’t even know how to get your jackpot/hopper fill because I don’t know how/have the proper tools to work the SDS/open the machine, whatever. So when it’s 11 o’clock on a FRIDAY night and it takes half an hour for your $50 nickel jackpot to get there, just be happy that it ONLY took a half an hour. And don’t come bitching to me either, because it’s not my problem.

I had a woman come to my window one night bitching because she had to wait an hour and a half (that’s a lie right there… I hate how these people have NO sense of time) for her hopper fill and, while she waited, she lost $40 in ANOTHER machine. I was all ready to get fired, simply because I didn’t give a fuck anymore. I went off. I was all, “Lady, this is a casino. They call it “gambling” for a reason. Don’t come here expecting to win all the time, because it ain’t fucking happening. And don’t cry to me that you’re losing all your damn money, unless of course I’M the one holding a fucking GUN to your head and forcing you to play.”

And guess what, assholes? I have absolutely ZERO control over how “loose” our slots are. No, I don’t give a damn that we have the “worst fucking slot machines in the country”. No, I don’t care that you just lost $15/$108/your life savings. It’s a CASINO, for fuck’s sake. If you don’t go there EXPECTING to lose, you’re fucked. Plain and simple, black and fucking white.

Oh, and when I ask you how you’re doing, I’m asking because I HAVE TO, not because I want to hear how much you HATE coming here because you always lose all your money and the associates don’t know how to do their jobs anyway, and how our dealers are cheats. If you don’t like it, leave. Honestly, our electric bill costs more money than you’ll ever see in your lifetime, so don’t think that your handful of dollar tokens makes any difference to us. And when I tell you that you have $49.75 in quarters, that means I will give you $49.75 in cash. No, I won’t give you the extra quarter because I will get fired for that. No, I won’t call a supervisor for you because they’ll tell you the same thing. See that big long line? I don’t have time to deal with your silly bullshit, write the SINGLE QUARTER up as a loss and get on with your wasted life.

No really. I love my job.

92

(First I’d like to say, that I’m SORRY to be posting here at school, but my computer died yesterday. Fuck. I don’t need this. Don’t worry mods, I WILL log out after I post this).

I’d like to say, that perhaps the best response for Lois should have been: “Excuse me, but, if you are going to THROW FOOD at the counter and SCREAM at me, I WILL NOT and CANNOT help you. I want to help you, but ONLY if you can calm down and NOT THROW THINGS. Now, take a deep breath, and please tell me what is wrong.”

And soulmurk-you ridicule the “put up or get out” approach, but did you not say the same thing in regards to not liking a job in customer service? Trust me, I’ve LOOKED for better jobs. Why do you assume I haven’t? And oh, how I’ve TRIED. But no one hired me.
And what about the fact that yes, were it not for customers, I would not have a job, but that if it were not for sales clerks and store workers, customers would not be able to shop?

Look, right now, I’m looking for a new job. BUT…I have yet to FIND one. And for you to come in and say, “Oh well, you’re just not looking hard enough,” is an insult. Because some of us DO look elsewhere. But who is gonna pay the bills in the meantime?

93

True story:

Last week a customer returned some fresh yellow squash to our store. She said she’d been cooking squash for years, and this squash had gritty dirt inside when she cut it open. I couldn’t find anything wrong with the other squash she brought back. I gave her the money back though. Hell, it was only 50 cents.

Then as she’s leaving she says, furrowing her brow, “It might have been glass.”

Glass inside a squash??!! She’s making out like it’s a good thing we gave her money back or she’d be suing us. Damn!

The world has many many more crazy people in it then you’d ever believe. Furthermore, retail and fast food shopping brings out the worst in a lot of otherwise decent people. Who’s to say why?

You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family or your retail customers. Appreciate the nice customers, sure. But if you can’t absolutely get off on the absurdity of it all, then quit.

94

I agree with this, however, the actions taken by your manager were still wrong. There is never a reason to spit on, or otherwise tamper with, someone’s food.

What your manager should have done was given the racist bitch her money back and told her to take her business elsewhere. Sending her off without her food at all because of something she herself had said …that might actually teach her a lesson. Maybe the next time she won’t be so quick with the derogatory comments. That seems a better thing than any momentary satisfacion gained by spitting on the woman’s food.

95

::wild applause::

96

When I was a waiter (about 13 years ago), one of the waitresses wore a pin that said ‘Thou Shalt Not Hassle’. This was what she wore when greeting her customers. She ended up getting hassled and under-tipped more than anyone else. This was a person who had no idea what her place was in the customer/waiter continuum.

Whenever a waiter/waitress asks me ‘do you want salt on your margarita’, I always say no, but get salt 9 out of 10 times. I don’t complain, but I did ask a waitress once why she’s asking when she’s going to salt the glass anyway. She promised me a no-salt margarita. Got salt anyway. Whatever. There’s no point in flying off the handle - poor customer service is a way of life in this country. Be patient, and if you run out of patience and you have other options, just leave and don’t come back. If you don’t have other options, then learn to be more patient.

I think customer service will eventually go the way of air-rage and school shootings. When our societal fringe reaches its breaking point, there will be a domino effect of violent backlash in restaurants, shops, etc. CSR’s will learn the hard way that the customer is always right, after all.

97

This is why people overreact: When people get stiffed or receive bad service from a business, they usually let it slide. There are many reasons for this … perhaps it would be more trouble than it’s worth, or they’re short on time, or they don’t realise they were stiffed and are too far away to do anything about it, or they’re high on weed and not in a confrontational mood, etc. So, when they finally do decide to say something, they’re thinking back to the dozen times previous that they’ve been stiffed and are reacting to all of them in one fell swoop. So, the CSR is actually making out pretty well … for every dozen or so screw ups, there is only one overreacting complaint.

Judging by what you said about your job, loislane, i can postulate with a high degree of confidence that yours is probably one of the most incompetent businesses ever run … the customer service employees are incompetent, the food makers are incompetent, and the management is incompetent. Let’s look at this situation from the mayo-lady’s perspective …

*Damn, i’m hungry … i woke up late this morning, didn’t have time for breakfast, the other secretary screwed up so i had to spend all morning on that report and didn’t even have time for a break … now all i want is a fucking roast beef sandwich … they better hold mayo this time, unlike last time when i asked … i fuckin’ hate mayo.

I can’t believe they put FUCKING mayo on my sandwich again! … fuck this, i’m not scraping it off again like last time … where the hell do they do their hiring, at the Special Olympics? … two weeks ago they gave me a Diet Coke instead of regular Coke … do i look fucking fat? … and they never remember to give me napkins … screw it, i’m gonna get a fucking sandwich with no mayo if it kills me.

Ok, this bitch behind the counter is acting like it’s my fault that there’s mayo on the sandwich … jesus, if you didn’t screw up my order ever damn time, i wouldn’t have to complain … i’ve had a hard day, and all i want is a fucking sandwich with no mayo … plus there’s these damn kids in a car at the drive thru yelling that they want to consume someone’s genitals … it’s a strange world!

OK, finally got my sandwich again … geez, i gotta jump through hoops just to get some shoddy service around here … wait, i better check to make sure they made my sandwich correctly this time … wouldn’t that be funny if they screwed it up again … no, that would be virtually impossible … just let me get the wrapper off … OH … MY … FUCKING … GOD … devolution is here, my friends, and it starts with fast food employees …*

For every one vocal unhappy customer, there are dozens more that aren’t so vocal. I bet your restaurant is barely making ends meet … the first thing they do is cut employees’ pay, maybe that would give you some incentive to stop fucking up peoples’ orders.

Well, she wouldn’t have smeared the mayo all over the counter if there wasn’t any on the fucking sandwich in the first place! Her reaction was fairly laid back … if i got pissed off enough to complain the first time, then got my re-order screwed up again, plus a bitchy cashier, i would have taken the sandwich, removed the top bun and fling it at the ceiling above the cash registers, hoping the mayo would seal the roast beef up there forever.

And don’t think i’m being unsympathetic to CSRs. I worked in customer service for about 8 years, from supermarket to fast food to mini-market. I’ve had very, very few asshole customers who rudely overreact. If you’re wrong (the CS employee), then you apologise and do the best you can to fix the situation. This will diffuse 99% of rude customers … they realise that they’ll look like idiots if they continue being rude. If a customer is wrong, you calmy, but firmly, tell them why. If they continue, politely tell them to speak with supervisor management if they have a problem with it … if you’re right, you have nothing to worry about.

If you can’t handle rude customers politely in a customer service job then you have no business having one. Unfortunately, there is such a high demand for low-pay CS employees that you’d probably have to stab a few customers to get fired.

98

This whole mayonnaise discussion reminds me of that Geico (?) commercial where the waitress brings the guy his sandwich, he mentions that he requested “no mayo” and she picks up the bread and scrapes the mayo off on the edge of the table.
Cracks me up every time!

99

Actually, I ridiculed someone else for contradicting their own argument by using a statement I had already made.

Well, if your interpretation skills are any indication, I wouldn’t hire you either. Perhaps it isn’t that you aren’t looking hard enough, but rather aren’t looking in the right industries.

100

Oh no, a threat. I tremble in my boots. I’d better start acting like the customer’s slave, or mighty zwaldd will come down to KMart and inflict violence on me. Give me a break.

The only customers who pretend they’re going to get violent are dumbass motherfucker little kids who come in trying to act all tough to impress their friends. If you’re in a good mood, you just say “Kid, Ralph Wiggum could beat the crap out of you.” If you’re in a bad mood, you grab them by their arm, walk them to the nearest phone, and tell them that you’re going to call their parents, and they start crying. “Please don’t call my mommy. Please don’t tell my mommy. I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry I did it. Please don’t tell my mommy.” Then you kick em out and tell them never to come back. I’ve seen it happen.

Your comparisons confuse me to no end. In the cases of “air rage” (a non-existent phenomenon coined by journalists desparate for a story), have things gotten any better? Or have a few assholes just gotten hauled off to jail because they decided to try inflating their nonexistent egos by acting all tough on somebody.

Maybe you were using the same logical thought processes foul-smelling, inbred rednecks employ when they decide that they have a right to jump to the fron of the line in front of other customers.

“The customers is always right.” Wah wah wah. In your case, the customers is an irrational, blathering moron. I have no trouble believing that CS reps are deliberately rude to you.