Now, the first thing I learned in my brief experiences working in fast food (McDonalds, Taco Time) is that you do NOT argue with the customer. You would think that would be taught to the employees their very first day on the job or as part of their training BEFORE throwing them on the line……but obviously it isn’t, at least not at the SE 3rd and Reed Market Road Burger King here in Bend.
For 25 years or more I have ordered my Whoppers and Double Whoppers a very specific way. I order a Whopper or a Double Whopper with cheese, no lettuce, no ketchup, easy mayo (sometimes no mayo), heavy onion, heavy pickle. Recently (within the last 6 months or so) I’ve taken to ordering the same way only adding bacon.
So on Friday evening after stacking firewood all day, I am thinking I will reward myself with dinner: a Double Whopper with cheese and bacon, no lettuce, no ketchup, easy mayo, heavy onion, and heavy pickle.
I go through the drive through lane, order my Double Whopper with cheese and bacon, no lettuce, no ketchup, easy mayo, heavy onion and heavy pickle. I am always careful to pause between changes/additions to the normal sandwich as I’ve had numerous experiences with the drive through staff at every Burger King in the state of Oregon getting my orders wrong.
I notice on the reader board the drive through person has missed the bacon and I mention that. “Oh yeah I forgot the bacon” was the response.
Then I also notice EASY KETCHUP and NO MAYO on the reader board. I say that I ordered NO KETCHUP and the drive through person starts arguing with me that I ordered EASY KETCHUP and NO MAYO.
Now, if you’ve already admitted to me that you forgot the bacon–the very first change/addition that was made–who are you to argue with me about what I ordered?
Who are YOU to say that YOU got the order right at all when you messed up the very first addition that was made to the order?
And even if you thought (assumed more like it and we all know what assuming does) that you got the order right, arguing with the customer is NOT the way to deal with the situation.
Now, in this case its just that I do NOT like ketchup at all, never have, never will. I eat it about twice a year when I have french fries (which by the way I did NOT order since I don’t like them very well either).
But would this intelligence-challenged and extremely rude drive through person have some way of knowing the difference between a customer just not liking ketchup and a customer who is actually allergic to (or sensitive) to ketchup?
Does she have some sort of mind-reading ability to tell WHY the customer said NO KETCHUP? Or NO TARTAR SAUCE on a fish sandwich? (I am allergic to tartar sauce!)
It’s obvious she thinks that ANY changes/additions to the normal Whopper–or any other order–are done solely to inconvenience her and the kitchen staff, even though the motto of Burger King has been “Have it Your Way” for at least 25 years now.
Obviously HER motto is HAVE IT MY WAY ……. because its clearly way too much work to have to listen to you and to have to punch your order in correctly.
Is she even smart enough to know that some people ARE allergic to ketchup? Does she even care?
After a few minutes of arguing with the intelligence-challenged rude drive through person at Burger King, I went to Del Taco for dinner.
Del Taco drive through staff actually LISTEN to what you order, they verify your order by repeating it back to you and they don’t argue with you if they make a mistake. They correct their mistakes quickly, and I would say they make very few mistakes in the first place, unlike Burger King.
Did the intelligence-challenged, rude, and incompetent drive through person at Burger King learn one thing from losing an order ($5.00+) through her own rudeness and incompetence? I DON’T THINK SO!!