Be kind to fast-food employees...after what I witnessed last night

[TK421]

A friend of mine and myself went to the Burger King last night before going to see Iron Man 2. We placed our order and waited in line and this guy comes storming to the front counter yelling at the poor girl ( whom I guessing never even TOOK that order ) that he re-ordered a burger that had too much sauce on it, and the second burger they gave him wasn't even the right one...these poor people looked flabbergasted..totally caught off guard as he continued to make a big scene at that counter...some excerpts I caught from it

"Is THIS what you call customer service"? I order another sandwich that they fuck up a SECOND time, and this isn't what I even ordered"!

"Look at this slop...this is what they gave me...look at it"! ( I'm guessing he was referring to the second burger, but who know..the guy was LOUD and obnoxious about it ) I saw the burger and while it looked like it may have been put together in a hurry, it was not THAT bad

"Oh..no, I want my money back, too...I want my money back for this..we won't be back..this is fucking ridiculous " The manager that was there just put his head down and issued the refund. I wanted to punch this fucker in his teeth for how obnoxious he was being with everyone there ( including the ones who weren't even involved in it ).

How would you handle a situation like this? this customer was out of line, in my opinion

[kayakjohnny]

1. Try to let it blow over.

No good way out of these predicaments I'm afraid.

Oh, and arm yourself heavily.

[TK421]

3. I just felt sorry for the people at the counter who had to deal with this shit!

fuck, most of the time they're just ringing up your order but then you get this psycho and....

well, I probably would have knocked his fucking teeth out...this is why I can't take a fast-food job

[Initech]

2. Rule of the streets: don't be a dick to people who serve you food.

Seriously I've had several friends who have worked food service jobs and they've all told me the same thing.

[TK421]

4. Is this the whole "they'll spit in your food" stuff? or do other nasty things?

as I understand it, they are under constant supervision for shit like that...or I could be mistaken

[Initech]

5. It's much worse from the stories my friends have told me.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

55. There used to be one of those "Old Spaghetti Factory"-style Italian Restaurants in Redwood City...

...terrible place, all of the money went into decor with Prohibition-era lacquered newspaper reprints on the walls and the typical cartoony red checkered tablecloths, strategically placed antique kitchen items, etc.

ANYWAY...a friend of mine worked there as a janitor. When the place was busy, he and the busboys and basically anyone in the kitchen area would "help" with things like salads. They would reach into the big mixing bowl that held the green dinner salad and grab a portion with their bare hands and plop it onto the salad plates. This would be within moments of mopping the floors or cleaning the restrooms or some other such activity and would never be preceded by their washing their hands.

And this was the kind of stuff that happened WITHOUT the customers being rude.

The place lasted a little less than a year...just long enough for the local curiosity seekers to go in and have one meal and find out how half-assed the place was and spread the word.

[Initech]

58. One of my good friends used to work at a Sizzler. Talk about half-assed.

Seriously after hearing those horror stories, their all-you-can-eat salad bar is forever ruined for me. :scared:

[WolverineDG]

15. "oops, the hamburger fell on the floor, can I still serve it?"

I never saw or did anything like that, but I certainly felt like doing it. I do know sometimes the guys on the grill would add jalepeno juice to the meat patties though.

dg

[TK421]

17. I wouldn't have minded the jalapeno juice...I like a spicy burger!

[flvegan]

6. Imagine this douchebag in rush hour traffic...

I think you see what I'm saying here.

[TK421]

7. Well...yeah! that's what is wrong with this fucking society right now!

he would have gotten out of his car and probably bashed in some windows or something like that!

this is getting fucking insane!

[flvegan]

42. Oh, that really depends.

An attempt at bashing in my windows would result in a Black Talon .45 blowing the back of his head out like a barn door.

What's wrong with society is that I had to honestly reply to what you said that way.

[Mutley]

8. It's like this throughout the entire service industry.

Hotels, restaurants, retail stores, any kind of call center... it's all the same. People who work in the service industry are treated like crap.

[TK421]

10. I've been in the service industry all of my "working" life, that is 19 years

and I've met plenty of assholes then..and I used to be the confrontational type but I gave up on that...you just need to mellow out at some time

I've even gone off on other customers who are out of line...it is quite fun when you are just another customer, and we have had plenty of jokes about that, too!

[quakerboy]

43. It can be hard for the hotblooded too

I have an inclination toward temper, but I reign it in. I will not let myself yell at some poor guy or gal who isn't at fault, who is just doing their job. Ive been on the other side on occasion, and its just not cool

On the other hand, it is very frustrating sometimes. Receiving a poor product/service is bad enough. But its gonna happen in our mass manufactured society. But sometimes you get such a run around that its insane. For instance, I had to deal with T-mobile for a work related issue. I was on the phone for over 2 hours. I did not raise my voice, swear, or do anything else. I was superbly zen. And the reps I talked too seemed to take that to mean that they could push me around and try to verbally bully me into accepting the unacceptable. Toward the end of the conversation, it became abundantly clear that the last rep I talked to was actively trying to get me to yell, swear, something, in order to be able to justifiably disconnect me. I refused to take the bait, and she couldn't hang up without justification. It was a seemingly endless stalemate.

So.. If you get angry, you sometimes get hung up on. And often you get what you want. If you are even tempered, sometimes you get ignored or at least stuck in a holding pattern, and sometimes you get what you want. If one is naturally a bit hot blooded, its hard to find a practical(note, not moral) reason to reign in your inclinations.

[SeattleGirl]

9. I used to work in fast food years ago. Many of the customers

acted like I was supposed to be their own personal punching bag for whatever was going wrong in their lives. Yeah, sometimes orders get screwed up, but this guy's reaction was completely over the top and uncalled for.

[TK421]

12. Our order was just fine...for what it's worth, and everyone else who was

there when the hissy-fit was pitched seemed almost embarrassed to be there

go figure...you got to be a strong person to take that job, but I would have killed that fucking person I guarantee it

You don't cause a scene like this

[dana_b]

11. I used to manage a Wendys

bite my tongue, say "sorry sir" and give him his $$ back. There's not much else you can do. If they are really abusive (threatening, racist statements, etc.) then we would tell them to leave and give them the corporate office phone #. We then would forewarn the corporate office of the situation. There was always the police too.

[TK421]

16. In that position the police are probably your best friends!

and, as I stated above, I had the same kiss-ass attitude the job required but lasted for only so long.....people just GET to you in one way or another, they just do...you know...I really think it's in their nature to do so!



When I worked for Sears, I covered many areas of the Mens Department...and that included suits. I used to have to measure guys for their suit sizes and such, and we placed special orders for them. We called these suit seperates ( you would sell the matching suit and pants and anything else you could ) It was a time when you actually HAD to approach customers and SELL them something...and back up your sale with your words and personality. Try going through a Sears nowadays..they have checkout lines like K-mart...you can't find anyone to help you with anything, and you have to wander around the store just to find a fucking CHECK OUT COUNTER!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's how it is with the fucking mall here, anyways....

[Blue-Jay]

13. Handle it? Why should you handle it?

The guy was a dick. Then he left. That's all.

[TK421]

19. I was talking about the perspective of the employee...I thought that was clear

and judging by the previous responses, it was clear

[Blue-Jay]

25. Oh. I see.

From the employee's standpoint: Watch the guy act like a dick. Offer a refund. Watch him leave. Make fun of him in front of the other customers.

[TK421]

30. They didn't even have the opportunity to make fun of the guy even after he left

maybe at the end of their shift, but I have to hand it to them, they weren't phased after that

we got our order, sat down and ate without incident

[TK421]

32. After reading your reply a second time, I can't help but wonder where your

sympathies lie...is it with this disgruntled customer? They really CAN be dicks, sometimes, but this one was really out of line here. Comments ( positive, negative ) are made about customers all the time...christ, I spent most of my working life in retail...we had very few people there who we had positive things to say about.

[Blue-Jay]

40. I have no sympathies for the customer whatsoever.

The guy was a dick. It's just that I spent so many years in various customer service jobs, that asshole customers/clients don't really bother me. I let them throw their shitty tantrums until they burn themselves out. Then I usually say something like "Are you finished? Here's what we can do..." I learned quickly to take the abuse without EVER letting on like they're getting under my skin. I suppose that's why my matter-of-fact replies may have been misunderstood by you.

I've been on the receiving end of that sort of infantile behavior so many times that it almost became fun for me.

[WolverineDG]

14. I got yelled at once for selling an apple pie to a kid

who came up to the counter alone & paid for it. A few minutes later, a man came up & demanded that I show him the box the apple pies came from & yelled at me for selling the pie & didn't I know this kid was allergic to (whatever it was) & why the hell didn't I use my brain before selling poison to kids? I was so shocked, I couldn't say anything; yes my dad would yell at me from time to time, but I had never been spoken to like that & called all kinds of vulgar names! The other customers looked at me like I was a murderer or worse (of course this would happen when we were having a rush). I tried to explain that my job was to take orders & receive payment, the kid ordered an apple pie & paid for it. I couldn't NOT give it to him. My manager came out & tried to calm the guy down & when he didn't, opened the register & gave him the money back. All the while, everyone is blaming *me* for trying to kill the stupid kid.

About an hour later, the man showed up again. He must have seen the look on my face & couldn't help but notice that I jumped about 10 feet in the air, & prepared to run the fuck away from him, so he said he came to say he was sorry, that he lost control (no shit sherlock), he was worried about his nephew who had all kinds of food allergies & of course there was no way for me to know that & I was just doing my job. Naturally, there was no one around to see this, except my manager. Since I was still on the clock, I couldn't tell him what an fucking asshole he was to yell at a 16 year old trying to earn money for college, so I said I understood. But whenever this family showed up in the place, I would find it necessary to have someone else cover the front while I cleaned the women's room.

The people working really can't do more than damage control & give the fuckwits what they want & get them the fuck out of the store. For this reason, I never speak to servers or fast food joint workers like I was spoken to that day. It doesn't accomplish much anyway.

dg

[BuelahWitch]

18. I'm sorry that happened to you

Idiot should have been watching his stupid kid in the first place. It's times like that in customer service when I want to say, "Sir, if I had the psychic ability to know that your little darling was allergic to apple pie, I'd be making $4.99 a minute!" I've worked in customer service for years and just once would like to give back to the idiots, maybe a fucking taser or an electronic jolt through the phone.

[WolverineDG]

21. Well, thanks, I came out of it relatively unscathed

I still wonder who it was that took him aside & clued him in to just what a fuckwit he'd been. I hope he never did it to anyone else again & kept a closer eye on the nitwit kid.

dg

[TK421]

23. Do you SEE how fucking insane that situation is? It makes me question if

people who are working these positions are even PAID enough, let alone get adequate medical benefits....if any are available

I would love to be someone who fights for workers rights....this kind of shit has always been a sore point with me!

[WolverineDG]

48. I was making $2.37 1/2 an hour at the time

the law at that time allowed companies to hire teenagers who could only work 20 hour a week during the school year for what the minimum wage was the previous year. We all looked forward to January 1 because that's when we got a "raise." I also got a temporary "raise" to the current minimum wage during summer breaks when I could work more than 20 hours per week.

So yeah, takes a big person to go completely apeshit at a teenager making diddly-squat at a burger joint. But as an employee, I couldn't get confrontational & if another customer had confronted the asshat, who knows what would have happened. Best thing in those scenarios (provided the asshat isn't threatening to hurt or kill anyone) is to just give it its money back & get them the hell out of the place.

dg

[TK421]

34. That is just fucked up....don't know what else to say

[struggle4progress]

20. I'd just be as pleasant as possible to the staff myself afterwards

Some people are jerks who take out their problems on other people

I was in a Chinese take-out a few months back, where the food is prepared order by order. Pay up front: preparation generally takes about ten minutes. A lady before me ordered, waited about four minutes, then started screaming about how long it took and demanded her money back, claiming the staff was rude and unnecessarily slow. They aren't rude: they're professional and unobtrusive in my view. Take-out really didn't want to refund since they'd started to prepare the order. Anyway, the customer fumed for about a minute, then called the police. When the police came, she said she couldn't trust the order because she thought they'd try to poison her or something, and they were essentially robbing her. Police defused the situation a bit, told the clerk she wasn't obligated to refund the money but that it would probably be good business practice, clerk refunded the money, and customer left

:shrug: What can ya do?

I was just as pleasant as I could be when I got to the front of the line. Said something nice about their food to them. People appreciate it

[TK421]

24. why did she call the fucking police?

[struggle4progress]

37. It was her point of view that she was being robbed: she'd given

them the money for the food and hadn't gotten the food in (say) four minutes, while they were essentially taking the point of view that she'd contracted for the food with her payment, that they had started to prepare it, and she could take the food. I think the police thought the take-out place was on firm legal ground, since they told the take-out it wasn't really necessary to refund the money, but with the woman standing there shouting that she thought the food would be poisoned, the police probably imagined something like a series of vandalism calls for broken windows and so gently encouraged the take-out to refund anyway

[SoxFan]

22. Give him his money plus this picture

[TK421]

That says it all, doesn't it? I'm the customer with the tiny dick that's going

to give you trouble tonight....no matter how much power you don't have over the situation or you have nothing to do with it..yeah, that sounds just about right!!! Because I'm gonna scream and yell and eventually get my fucking way because I'm gonna scream and yell...FUCK YEAH!!!!!

And while I'm at it, I'm gonna ask for the number for the president of Wendys ( because, if I want anything done, I'm too fucking stupid to try to get in touch with the DISTRICT MANAGER ) and I'm gonna walk away with this feeling that I talked down a PUBLIC SERVANT and got away with it!!!!! OH YEAH!!!!!!!! because, after all..the only purpose you serve in life is to take my order THE WAY I WANT IT BEE-YOTCH!!!!!!!!!!!

and you're gonna take it just like one, too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SQUEAL LIKE A PIG, BOY!!!!!!!!!!

[Lil Missy]

26. I'd give him his money back so he'd leave.

[TK421]

28. Oh, they did n/t

[MiddleFingerMom]

27. I was in a grocery store once...

.
...and this asshole was bullying and tormenting and abusing the
poor woman behind the counter, who may very well have been
thinking of her kids and how much she needed that job.
.
I'm convinced the asshole was thinking that very same thing.
.
I have this look.
.
It's a good look.
.
A long time ago, I looked at my look in the mirror...
.
...and I fine-tuned it just a LITTLE bit. The fine-tuning takes just
the SLIGHTEST tightening of a few specific facial muscles.
.
Then I have this FUCKING LOOK.
.
Kali THINKS she saw the effects of me using it one night on a Board
member who was being extremely rude. According to the rules, she
was not supposed to address me directly... and I could not respond.
She addressed me VERY directly and VERY rudely. I did not respond.
.
Except... I turned my FUCKING LOOK in her direction at around
75% of its total power. And I stayed focused for the rest of the
meeting. I wanted to let her know that I was very displeased with
her behavior and that I did not want her to ever repeat it.
.
That week, the Board apparently discussed taking out a restraining
order against me... because my FUCKING LOOK had made her "very
uncomfortable".
.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
.
Meanwhile... back at the grocery store, this asshole was bullying the
poor clerk behind the counter and KNEW that she could not fight back
in the slightest.
.
Bullies piss me off. Cowardly bullies SHIT me off (that's my upgrade
for that phrase -- but y'all feel free to use it).
.
I walked between him and the clerk behind the counter 'til I was
face-to-face with him, turned my FUCKING LOOK on full-force,
(nobody else could see it) and VERY quietly, VERY calmly said,
"Go... right now."
.
He was wound up and he took in a breath to say something, but in
that moment he saw my FUCKING LOOK.
.
He gulped (he actually GULPED HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!).
.
And he went... right then. NO, not in his pants. Just... elsewhere.
.
I turned, winked at the clerk, and ordered a pound of snow crab.
She was still compelled by her job not to say anything. Nothing
needed to be said. But I certainly liked her great big smile.
.
And people used to say that drama class I took in college would
never amount to anything.
.
.
.
.
I will not show you my look. Ever.
.
Unless, you know... you shit me off.
.
.
.
.
OH!!!!! That Board member never repeated that behavior.
.
(tee-hee-hee)
.

[TK421]

29. that's how you do it, to a fucking T

edited to add: my mistake, I meant to put this in the reply...don't know what happened

I don't back down from anyone...I come from a long line of people who don't take shit from others..it's just how I am, and I won't change. I certainly won't take it from idiots in a fast-food line, that's for damn sure, but more especially when it comes down to someone just doing their fucking job...

there just isn't any excuse there, no matter how hard anyone tries to fish for one

[JanMichael]

39. That sounds like something out of Men who Stare at Goats!

A mind fuck. nice!

[BlueJazz]

31. All fast-food places should have Trap-Doors in front of the counter.

Rude, nasty and abusive to the poor server ?? Click..down you go. A chute whisks you on your way to the rear grease trap.
:) :)

[TK421]

33. NOBODY wants to go to the grease trap!!

MWUAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[TK421]

35. I had some great responses here, thank you...I need to go to bed now

there is something I need to do in the morning

[TreasonousBastard]

36. I used to see it at airline baggage and cargo counters a lot, sometimes at ticket counters...

Part of the job was picking up expensive stuff rushed as air cargo. The airlines would misplace about the same percentage of cargo as baggage, so I ended up hanging around the counter a lot waiting for the next (or delayed) flight.

Invariably, some asshole would take out his missing or torn bag on the poor woman behind the counter, screaming at her as if she deliberately did whatever it was he thought was wrong just to spite him. the women who were so pissed were fewer in number, but ofter viler.

Once in a while I found it possible, and indeed gratifying, to ask these people if they were as big an asshole elsewhere as they were at the moment. Gawd, were they ever pissed when they found out I wasn't an airline employee and couldn't complain about me.

When I flew a lot, sometimes I'd see the same behavior at checkin, and occasionally ask "If I'm on the same flight as that jerk, can I change it?" Loudly.

Violence at checkin, btw, was covered up by the airlines as bad for their image, even if it was one of their employees getting beat up, so you never heard that story about the couple late for an international flight jumping over a counter at Newark and beating the poor girl senseless before they could be stopped.

[Lucian]

38. When I worked in the food industry many years ago...

and I had someone act that way towards me, they got an extra gift in their food. I don't put up with that shit.

[whistler162]

45. You are proud of being the cause of the problem?

weird people!!!!

[Lucian]

49. I wasn't the cause of the problem.

Sometimes we made mistakes. It's human. But for a customer to go and bitch at you, yelling and screaming because of it, then they got a little extra gift in their food.

[Odin2005]

41. Wow, what a self-centered ASSHOLE!

[whistler162]

44. Thanks for reminding me to write a comment to Wendy's

Milk shakes in a open container to go!

Idea failure.

Did get a little vocal about the cup when I saw what the idea person and executives came up with. Had to to get a cup that wouldn't spill all over the car if joggled.

[Mopar151]

46. There are people out there

who need a 90 day involuntary comitment.
The Jerky Boys have obviously met him - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqI7kcfcSqk

[Maine-ah]

47. well, as a restaurant worker (bar tender and manager)

I would have given his money back and told him never to come back, and that we don't need people like him coming in and treating our employees like that. Buh-bye

[Forkboy]

50. The motto "The Customer Is Always Right" is a joke and cost me two jobs.

I would have punched the fucker in the teeth.

Probably best that I don't work in public service anymore lol. :)

[hippywife]

51. If it weren't for the fact that

my dad doesn't eat at Burger King, I would have thought you had just met him. :eyes:

We are all wary of going out to dinner with my parents for very good reason. :scared:

[BarbaRosa]

54. That was my Dad's story also.

He just had to give the wait person a ration, no matter what, or where.

[GoCubsGo]

52. He was too stupid to just scrape off the excess sauce???

What a lazy, self-centered ninny! If he wanted something other than "slop", he shouldn't have gone to a fast food restaurant in the first place. Some people are just born assholes, and if I was the manager, I would have asked regarding his threat to never come back: "You promise?"

[keroro gunsou]

53. quite out of line

i've been there, and fortunately for me i've always had a decent mananger support system in place where they'd handle the unruly customers. if i didn't have that, i'd probably be seriously hurt. i don't take crap from anyone. if it's my fault, i'll own up to it, if not and i can prove it, your ass will be mine, or my managers....

if a customer wants to be a dick to me, i'll just make him by more food. that's what i did at taco bell. i was able to talk anyone into buying just about anything. my former gm and i still laugh about some of the customers who were complete douchnozzles to me that ending up spending way more than they wanted to.

[BreweryYardRat]

56. That's why I always try to be nice to retail employees.

I know they get a ton of crap from assholes like that.

[proteus_lives]

57. I had to toss a couple of douchebags last night from where I work.

Some people are assholes. Can't escape it, part of the job.

[datasuspect]

59. people nowadays are prone to express themselves in spontaneous mass murder

always use the drive thru