"Classy" interactions at mehtizens favorite eating holes
12Per @MEHcus request!
I guess I can get the ball rolling.
At Taco Bell
Customer in front of me:What comes on the Gordita?
Employee (looks at picture on the menu) A shell,
(looks at picture on the menu) some kind of sauce, some kind of meat
(looks at picture on the menu) some veggies, and uhh (looking at menu picture again)
Customer: sounds good, I'll get one.
We all had a good laugh at "some kind of sauce, Some kind of meat" and the customer thinking Mystery sauce and meat sounded good, clearly getting nothing more from the employee than what the picture already showed them... And no, this wasn't a new person working there. It's actually one of the Taco Bell/KFC
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ok... What is the forum saying... I shared a link? @mehcus is a link? or does it get the HR tag as a link?
@sohmageek Yep it counts it as a link because tagging a name takes you to their meh.com/@username page
i used to work at Hardee's many moons ago. the customers were not always the brightest star in the sky.
customer: this salad you gave me is wilted. i want a new one.
(she hands me the salad)
me: i can't believe someone actually gave you a salad that looked like this.
customer: oh, it was fine when i got it. but, i left it in my car for a couple hours and now it's like this.
(note: chicago, middle of summer, close to 90 outside)
me: so, you left your salad in the car?
customer: yes
me: what would you like me to do?
customer: i want a new salad.
me: i'm sorry, our policy does not cover leaving food in blistering hot cars for hours at a time.
customer: but i paid for a fresh salad! i can't eat this!
me: sure you can. it just might not taste very good.
at this point, the shift manager came running over and gave the lady a new salad. luckily, after i relayed the whole story, he was cool about it and told me to not be such a smartass. sadly, his words did not stick.
@carl669 "Sadly, his words did not stick"? Sadly?
@joelmw well... sadly for him. i really did push the limits of smartassedness at that place.
we had a soft serve machine that i was quite adept at using. a customer once came in and said "i want an ice cream cone. last time i came in here, you idiots barely put any ice cream in there so you better make it right."
so, i created a soft serve cone about a foot high. took it back to the customer and handed it to him. instead of being impressed, he says "how the hell am i going to eat this while i'm driving??"
i looked him square in the eyes, "very carefully and very quickly".
@carl669 hmm... carl... hardees... carl's jr.. did you change their name without them noticing?
@thismyusername dammit man! i told you to never talk about this in public!
@thismyusername Yeah, I woulda thought that'd be where he worked.
@carl669 best customer service story ever
At a part-time job when I was in high school:
Phone rings...
Woman on phone: What time do you close?
Me: We're open 24 hours ma'am.
Woman on phone: ...pause... Um, so what time is that?
@macromeh I always answered with an exact time... When do you close? 3 PM December 24th and reopen at 6 AM on the 27th.
When asked for our location or address I always made sure to include.... CA, United States of America. People were generally not amused.
@connorbush I love that. I hate that people in this state (Vermont) automatically drop the area code for phone numbers as all of Vermont is 802, but with cell phones if you don't put the area code sometimes you call the wrong number... SO... I always put the area code. When people give me their phone number and leave off the 802 I say what's the rest of it. Then read it back to them 999-999-9 what are the last 3? Then they get pissed off cause We both know its the area code, but I don't know if it's a Vermont phone or other area code. I mean the major town just about doubles in size when college is in session...
@sohmageek I had a similar problem when I moved to STL. In Dallas, we had multiple area codes and had been dialing 10 digits for over a decade, I think. In St. Louis, everyone still had 314 area code until you got to the East Side (which is in another state anyway). It took me a few months to get used to people only giving me 7 digits, and I was way more amused than I should have been every time I used our land line and didn't have to dial a "whole" phone number
@Kleineleh @sohmageek When we moved to this rural community 26 years ago, everyone had the same exchange number (first three digits following the area code) and all you had to dial to get anyone in the exchange were the last 4 digits. I was just getting used to the quirk of our new acquaintances giving us 4-digit phone numbers when the phone company started requiring us to dial the whole 7-digit number in preparation for adding another exchange. It was quaintly fun while it lasted.
@gio I still remember growing up that we had two exchange numbers (2 & 5) and all we had to do was dial those and the last four digits. I also remember how pissed everyone was when that changed and we started having to dial the entire 7 digit number. The simpler days were better in many ways. Don't even get me going on the point that I would leave in the morning as a kid and come back for dinner that evening (roaming God knows where) - and now I won't even let my children roam 50 yards from my property w/o supervision.
@mfladd I hear ya. I grew up with a big family in a small house, so we were of necessity free-range kids. Living in the country, we were able to give our children some of the freedoms we knew growing up, but there were enough ominous events that we always felt on alert.
@gio My aunt and uncle live in such a small town that their address was "name / town, state zip", no street address necessary. The Post Office changed that just a couple of years ago, and now they're at "name / #7 / town, state zip". Cracks me up.
@emilyap My great aunts' address is the same way. I have no idea what street they live on, but I know it's on Route 2
I used to work at a Carl's Jr way back in the day and there are 2 customers that take the magical cake.
Customer 1)
This woman came in with a standard plastic grocery bag, walked up to our soda/ice machine, and proceeded to fill that bag. She was on the phone with someone who asked what she was doing and she answered, "Oh, just gettin' some ice." Like this was the normal way one acquires a bag of ice. We were to surprised to say anything and she left with a full grocery bag of ice.
Customer 2)
A man came in with his 3 daughters, ages toddler to teen. I politely greeted him took his order and rang him up, at which point this dude UNLOADED on me for lacking manners. Like, the entire place stopped and jaw dropped stared at this guy for screaming at me that he, "Is trying to raise his daughters to treat people with respect and people like you are making that job harder!" I asked him how he thought I'd been rude and he said, "You need better manners."
To answer the next question, no, my 17 year old self was not capable of taking that without comment. "Well sir, I'm sure teaching them to scream at the people making their food is sure going to help." He gathered his flock of red-faced, horrified daughters and walked out, only to remember that he'd already paid and sent his mortified teenage daughter back in for a refund.
My manager bought me lunch for not cursing at him.
There are more, but these are the 2 I remember off the top of my head. People are crazy.
@Thumperchick I made a vow to myself a few years back that if I ever see a customer/shopper/etc. going apeshit on a poor, defenseless employee that I know cannot properly respond that I'm going to step in and tell them how insane they're being and tell them off. I haven't had the chance yet, but I hope when the time comes that I am ready.
Not a restaurant but while I was working at Borders (hey remember how book stores used to exist?) one of our employees was being berated and cussed out over the stupidest thing and our store manager told the would-be customer to get the hell out of our store because nobody talks to his employees that way. I gained immense respect for him after that.
@Thumperchick my wife works in retail. She's got some unbelievable stories. There is a small portion of the population that are complete idiots.
A couple good ones.... do you remember the national news coverage about people buying clothing, wearing it with the tags on, and then returning it? She had more than a dozen memorable confrontations with those quality humans. Second one. ... father standing in the store while his daughter and wife shop, comes over to her to complain that the music lyrics are offensive. She apologizes, offers a discount, turns down the volume. He continues to rant about the decline of society. ... Never dawns on him to remedy his situation by walking out the front door. She finally hag to ask security to escort him outside.
@JonT I worked at Borders also. One time at the CS desk a woman asked for a book but couldn't give me enough details and I didn't have my ESP working at the time. She turned to leave and I asked the next customer 'How can I help you?" The first woman said "She can't help you, she doesn't know what she's doing" I unleashed my wrath. Everybody stood there looking at me with open mouths. I turned back to the next customer again, calm as can be, and very politely asked "How can I help you?"
@JonT Somehow I imagine your opportunity will come via a lunch with @moose. That just seems like a @moose thing to do.
@MEHcus it's true that @Moose is a curmudgeon, but he's mostly a benevolent curmudgeon and I don't think he would go off on anyone in public…even if they don't understand when he's just asking for a regular iced tea instead of a flavored one.
@JonT Don't mention his otherkin self though, it's a very sensitive subject.
You'd be surprised (or maybe not) how many people moon you while working the drive thru at BK.
caveat: It was HS. Hard to tell if I knew them or not.
@ceagee When I'm on a BK run, I'm in favour of the "pressed ham", an advanced mooning technique whereby buttocks are not merely displayed but pressed against the window-glass for extra impact. One does need to be careful with the waistline though, I don't want them seeing my whopper while I'm getting a Whopper.
@Starblind
Why did the Dairy Queen get pregnant?
The Burger King forgot to wrap his whopper.
Your post about mystery taco bell ingredients reminded me of this*:
*A Mediocre Corporation and its employees do not condone the use of illegal substances of any kind unless use of said substances is legal in your state/country or it's the weekend, or you're at a killer party.
@JonT have you seen this amazing taco bell bacon commercial???
@thismyusername I like the "Mad World" cover
I went to a Burger King drive-thru once, and was greeted with:
"We ain't got no meat."
I said "beg your pardon?"
"We ain't got no meat."
I said "so you are out of chicken and fish?"
A pause of several seconds goes by, "Yea we have chicken and fish".
I decided to leave instead of getting anything. Most likely a good decision.
@thismyusername WHAAAT, you missed the opportunity to tell the people at Burger King "Where's the beef?!" That chance may never come 'round again!!
I shamefully admit, I once managed a Taco Bell for about 9 months. Not a particularly proud part of my life but I did thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to make my own concoctions and eat whatever the hell I wanted. Ever had a Mexi-Melt? Imagine a giant sized one on a burrito tortilla loaded with a ton of beef, cheese, pico, etc. Pop that into the steamer for 30 seconds so the cheese melts and you have near perfection.
As for the quality of the food, believe it or not it's actually pretty good. The beef is just really finely ground, hence the reason it seems like such a mystery meat. It came pre-cooked in boil bags that just had to be heated. The beans came dry and were reconstituted with hot water. They had to sit for a while to thicken. Knowing what I know, I actually feel better eating at Taco Bell than some other fast food restaurants. One of the unique aspects we were sometimes questioned about was that at the time we didn't wear gloves. There were hand washing sinks within clear view of the customers and the crew was surprisingly good about using them. When people complained I always responded with, "If an employee is going to touch something that's unsanitary, what's the difference if they do it with their just washed hands or with a glove? Either way they could touch your food." From my experience, especially now that I work in healthcare, employees are more apt to wash their hands often than to use safe practices by changing gloves often. I think there's a subconscious aspect to actually feeling a contaminant on your hands.
So go forth Mehricans and enjoy your tacos, burritos, gorditas, and whatever other crazy ass shit that's the special of the month. It's not nearly as bad as you thought.
@cinoclav mexican pizza hold meat hold pizza sauce plus green sauce plus pico plus chicken (ahh the good old days when they still had green sauce and pico)
@cinoclav I worked at Taco Bell in the stone age.
The beef was cooked in house and the seasonings added. He must have cooked 20-30 lbs at a time.
We spent our breaks in the back sorting beans that arrived in huge sacks.
We shredded lettuce & cheese with a shredder attached to the wall.
As I recall, we even fried the taco shells in house.
That was some fresh fast food.
@mamawoot and when the beans were cooking you would mix them in the giant pot with a drill wouldn't ya? they were great back then... Taco Bueno still does it like this around here.
@thismyusername Wait... no more green sauce? This is a serious indication of the decline of civilization.
@cinoclav love the meximelt and the chili-cheese-burrito aka chilito.i now live about 20 miles from the nearest taco bell. ...depressing
@mamawoot When was this? It was mid 90's for me. Lettuce and cheese came in already prepped in bags that were simply emptied into the pans on the line.
@cinoclav - And if you're in Chicago, you can enjoy them even more with wine or beer. (No, not drive-thru).
@cinoclav 1979-1980
@mamawoot They had tacos then? ;)
@cinoclav In the earlier 70s my dad would go to Taco Bell & buy a big bag of broken taco shells for a quarter.
@mamawoot Aren't broken taco shells considered chips at that point?
When I got married the first time, twenty years ago, we were really broke and splurged on a ring that cost $50. We were also childish and silly and were playing in the BK ball pit a few days after our wedding. My wedding ring flew off (it was the smallest adult ring we could find, my fingers are really skinny) in the playground and we couldn't find it anywhere. After trying for a long time to no avail, I gave up and went in to ask the manager for a few plastic bags to put the balls into so that we could search better. There was a bit of a language barrier, and he began berating me about trying to steal his balls. We went around and around, I tried explaining that I'd lost my ring, he yelled at me, "No! My balls, you cannot have!" and, "These are my balls, I will not assist you to take them from me". I finally convinced him that I had no intention on depriving him of his precious balls. He defended them with honor and glory. He ended up giving me the bags, but I never found the ring. I did bring him out with me when I was done to show him that his balls were still lovingly in their nest.
So in this case, I suppose I was the nutty customer that provided the story for the employees.
@jaremelz Did you at least take a ball with you? After that much fuss from the guy, I don't think I could resist taking one of the balls.
@metaphore I didn't. Apparently his concern over the balls was contagious.
@jaremelz You are to be placing your hands off of my balls!
I'll try not to make this too long, but be forewarned, it's going to be. But it's a super classy story. You'll want to stick it out. (Teaser: The words "You can smell 'em!" are yelled at me by an employee.)
A couple of months ago I went to a Whataburger near one of my offices at the edge of town about 1pm for a quick late lunch. This one is in kind of a ghetto part of town, although it's surprisingly not another Whataburger in my town featured on YouTube last year.
I order a burger that is supposed to be topped with delicious grilled peppers, onions, cheese and whatnot and proceed to my seat. The customer behind me in line orders some other kind of burger but then demands it just be meat and cheese. The cashier just yells back to the kitchen, "Hey, on that burger, don't put nothin' on it!"
Of course, when they bring out my food, my fancypants burger is but a piece of meat between some bread, with "nothin'" on it. I take it up to the counter and have this exchange with the cashier:
"Excuse me, my burger isn't right."
"What's wrong with it?"
"I ordered that one, with the peppers and stuff (pointing at the large photo on the menu)"
"So what you want? Some veggies? I'll get you some veggies."
"I'd like the peppers, the onions, the sauce, the cheese, everything that is on that delicious looking picture and not on this dry piece of meat and bread, please."
"I'll get another one made for you".
I see the customer who ordered behind me bringing his apparently not-plain-enough burger back as I'm walking away.
I sit at my seat for way too long and eat all the fries on my tray. I notice that it has been 30 minutes since the time printed on my receipt, and the lunch rush has been over for a long while. I go back up and the cashier says "Oh they must have forgot" and yells at the kitchen to make another burger.
Minutes later the cashier personally brings me my burger. As I take it, she's asking me if it's to my liking (still wrapped in paper). I kind of nod in a "go the hell away" reluctant assent and mumble something to the effect that I'm sure it will be fine.
Before she will leave she starts saying "I personally had then make it extra good for you" and before I can do anything she has unwrapped my burger and spread it apart for me to show me all the delicious toppings she has personally insured were included with my burger. With her BARE FUCKING HANDS. IN MY BURGER.
She sees me looking at her in shock, and immediately says "Oh, my hands is[sic] clean. I just washed em. Just eat it and if you don't like it I'll give you your money back" and walks back to the counter.
I sit in shock for a moment, staring at the now spread open burger in front of me. I have gone from starving to not slightly hungry in a split second. I'm staring at the burger when another employee, possibly the manager, walks by and asks the casual "how is everything?" question.
I tell her not good, because her cashier has had her hands all up inside my burger. She asks if I want another one made, and I tell her no thanks, this is the second replacement burger I've requested, my lunch hour is nearly up, and I'm not hungry any more. I'll just go get my money back from the cashier.
The manager says "Oh no, I'll have them make you another one, it's no trouble" and takes off for the kitchen. I go get in line behind two other customers at the register.
The cashier looks up and yells over the customer she is serving "What, you didn't like it?"
"Ma'am, you had your hands all inside my burger. I've lost my appetite, I'd just like my money back like you said."
"But sir, my hands are clean! I just washed them!" (Holds up hands) "You can smell them!"
"Ma'am, I do not want to smell your hands." (the customers in line are trying to contain laughter at this point) "I would like my money back and to get back to work." (I've also now got Riskay's mid-00's R&B smash hit "Let Me Smell Yo Dick" playing in my head at this point. What good does smelling some cashier's hands prove?)
They end up giving me my money back and forcing me to take a fresh burger with me on the way out. The manager had a quick word with the cashier and they both sucked up to me so bad, basically begging me not to call corporate or take my complaint any farther. I didn't complain to anyone, but I will never set foot in that ghetto Whataburger again.
@djslack Whatastory in Whataghetto.
One election day, we left to take our mail in ballots to a local voting precinct (so they'd get counted, they'd just kinda sat on our desks for a while - as I stated in another thread, I don't like paperwork). After the ballots were dropped off, we headed to the local Taco Bell for dinner.
They had no taco shells. None.
I used to work for a waste management company before I got married. My job was to set up and manage accounts for the dumpsters that you see behind businesses and apartments in a couple of the east county areas of San Diego and also the large roll off construction containers (they "roll off" the back of the trucks) in all of our San Diego areas.
The construction guys could be pretty funny. My favorite one was the guy who had put off ordering the roll off and was begging me to get one out as soon as possible, like the next day if not that afternoon. He then told me that his boss would hang him if it wasn't there.
When I was writing up the order and he told me his name, I lost it. Tom Longnecker.
Jezebel has a steady stream of restaurant workers' stories. Because sometimes I can just be too subtle for my own good, each of those words links to another of their posts.
@editorkid I LOVE Behind Closed Ovens!
@editorkid Thanks for the link! I used to love "Kiss My Bitter Ass," but they disappeared a few years ago. This site is great!
@Trillian It's a great series -- not every story works for me, but the ones that connect are great. (Which is probably the point, that every story will find its audience.)
Today- Dominos, Delivery:
Ordered:
Pizza (got exactly what I ordered there), Wings (got them correctly), STUFFED CHEESY BREAD WITH BACON & JALAPEÑO With NO Jalapeño. (incorrect, got Jalapeños on it.), Ordered but missing from the order (AKA didn't come. side Parmesan Cheese, Side Red Peppers (I like to sprinkle it on.) Chicken Parm Sandwich
Ok... So.. The delivery driver was a little late... 20 minutes to go 3 blocks MAX(!)... IF I were in NYC GREAT time... (maybe) 1/2 block has some traffic. (even a freaking light to turn at.) The other 2.5 blocks were in my development... which has no traffic. The driver also seemed confused about what my order was but he was REALLY nice. I felt bad for only giving a $3 tip... but I was also pissed that it took 20 minutes to deliver in a vehicle that I could get there 1/2 the time by foot.
So... I wrote a review on their little app...
Here it is:
The manager has refunded the order due to gross incompetence. I am writing this just to let corporate know. The manager did right by us by refunding the order, but we won't be back. One of the items the sandwich was missing. The cheese and peppers while offered by the driver We called the store to get the sandwich, and my wife was met with attitude and "what do you want me to do about it?" At that point my wife was in a rage for being treated that way, She's had over 23 years in customer service and would never treat a customer that way. The manager agreed to do a credit, however after hanging up the phone, we went to give the breadstick to my 1 year old son... Just before it hit his mouth we realized it had Jalapeños which we selected the NONE option online for Jalapeño. I called back and at that point the manager canceled the order in the system. This is not the first time we've had issues but it is the last. The tracker also states that the driver left Domino's at 5:35 and arrived at 5:50. We're about 2-3 blocks away. After the first 1/2 block there is no traffic. I will say todays was hot, and the pizza & wings were correct. But the customer service and the rest of the order wasn't worth the hassle.
@sohmageek
fwiw, when food delivery places are busy, a driver or food carrier might have more than on order on board, and you might not be the first delivery.
Also corporate tracks speed on the making of orders, and the store can get behind during rush (half time on game days, dinner on weekends, etc). During those times a store who is short of cooks or drivers might mark an order as out of the oven or as being delivered while it is still being prepared, in order to make store on-time stats look good to corp.
None of this excuses the mess-up, or the rudeness.
@f00l very true. We've lived her for almost 2 years now. And we ordered from dominoes maybe a dozen times. Of that, it's been right twice. Exactly twice. The issue we have is there are 4 pizza places that deliver: Pizza Hut, dominoes, ramuntos, and Rocky's. Rocky's changed management and went from amazing to shit, also cash only on delivery. Pizza Hutt is across town but shows up just as fast as dominoes, pizza Hutt also has about the same track record of screwing things up. However they are usually quick to apologize and offer a credit without asking. (Last time we ordered they forgot the cheese. Wtf!) Ramuntos is amazing, they take 1-1.5 hours to deliver (different town but closer than Pizza Hut) and are pricey. We don't eat pizza that often. Maybe once every 2-3 weeks.
My wife and I moved to from Florida to Idaho in 2006. At that time, it seamed like no one in this state had any idea what buffalo wings were. Not too long after, Papa Johns started selling them, and we were excited. What could possibly be better than buffalo wings delivered right to our door?! So, I called up and ordered some "traditional" wings with the medium sauce. The person taking my order sorta stumbled over herself, but didn't ask any questions.
45(ish) minutes later our pizza and wings arrive. I tip and pay, go sit down on the couch and open everything up. We got a Pepperoni pizza with 8 wings on the top and sauce dumped all over the pizza. So like.. as a topping. I love buffalo sauce, but there was simply too much.
I can't imagine what that shop though as they made that poor pizza.
So, I called the shop, asked to speak to a manager. Since I paid in cash, I was still out a pizza and calmly explained the situation. He apologize, and send out a correct pizza and wings order.
45(ish) minutes later same delivery guy shows up. Looks at me and goes "I remember you... they must have screwed up the order" turns around and leaves, while I follow saying it's my order and explaining what happened. The driver refuses to give me the order as he would get fired for giving away other peoples orders.
So, I call the shop again, talk to the manager who laughs, apologizes and said when the driver gets back he will send him out again. I requested that I have a fresh food made, as I didn't want a cold pizza (At this time they didn't have those nifty heating bag thingies, just the ones that keep warmth in). He says fine.
45(ish) minutes later and a total of about 3 hours since I first placed order, a new driver shows up and gives me the pizza. I don't tip (as I tipped the first driver), and he mouths off as he walks away. Finally, we sit down to food. Pizza - Correct. Wings? Boneless with no sauce :(
We ate the pizza, and didn't order from them again until maybe a year ago.
Was I the crazy customer?