Is 7 minutes enough time to get an order right?

[InfiniteNow]

So, I just made a run... You know, a run to the border. I don't know, I get a craving once in a while for some Taco Bell. It's cheap. It's filling. Oh, did I mention cheap?

 

 

So, I pull into the drive-through, and there is one car in front of me. I ordered two items. The car in front of me must have made a HUGE order, because I'd been waiting for more than 2 minutes already.

 

(normal turn-around time for fast food is on the order of 40 seconds)

 

So, they hand him his food, and it's just 2 tacos. I looked. Was curious.

 

 

Now, I wait for another minute and a half. They hand me a bag, and I look into it, and it's not even close to what I ordered. So, I hand it back. "This isn't mine, sorry." They go back in. Ater 30 seconds, the girl comes to the window again and asks "What'd you order?" So, I told her, and off she went.

 

Another two minutes pass, and she asks to verify what I ordered again. By now, there is a line of cars behind me about 9 back. The agitation is palettable. Another minute passes, they hand me my bag, looks about right, and I drive off.

 

Well, I just sat down, thinking "Well, it happens. No biggie. I'm in no rush today," and... guess what? They gave me the wrong thing!!!

 

 

My question is this. What is the reason for stuff like this? If you selected more than one, please put an approximate percentage on the impact of each in your post.

 

:hihi: Un-fu*king believable...

[InfiniteNow]

Recognize... I didn't bother putting the choice, "The job is really hard."

[GAHD]

50% They just don't care: we're talking employees in the grip of teen angst waiting for their next fix.

 

25% They were poorly trained: Same as above, but by the person the manager thinks is cute. Cute /= intelligent or patient.

 

20% They are passive aggressively acting out their frustration for the low wages: Because we all know these youn people dont understand the value of a dollar, everyone ants more for less.

 

 

5% The world really is going to ****: she was probably on her rag and looking to share the misery.

[TheFaithfulStone]

200% of people who voted in this poll :hihi: and no-one marked "the sytem is too hard."

 

I nominate another choice - which is "$5.25/hr just doesn't buy you me giving a damn. Dignity of work my rumpus."

 

Is it possible to be alienated from a taco?

 

TFS

[TheBigDog]

7 minutes! Why, you had it good! Let me set the scene...

 

Cleveland, OH. Summer. Popeye's Chicken. A friend and I go in to order a bucket of chicken and get back to his apartment before Survivor starts. There are 4 employees behind the counter. One person in front of us who has already ordered when we walk into the store. After about 5 minutes of waiting the girl filling the orders leaves the the building and starts arguing on her cell phone with someone. The manager goes outside to get her after about 3 minutes have passed, and comes back in with her in another minute or so. The girl serving is very distressed. She is being teased by the kid cooking chicken in the back. Nobody is paying any attention to the fact that there are customers in the store. Now you have to realize that there are probably 100 peices of chicken sitting in the warmer just waiting to be taken out. The upset girl and the manager are taling loudly about some personal problems, while picking peices of chicken from the warmer and throwing them in the garbage. Now they are not doing this quickly, they pick up a peice of chicken very absent-mindedly, and kind of wave it in the air as they talk, or hold it out to their side as they listen, and every fourth or fifth sentence they drop the peice into the garbage. After about 20 minutes the kid in the back comes forward with some biscuits and mached potatoes, and places them in front of the lady who had already ordered.

 

By this time my friend and I are completely taken in by the whole scene. We are placing bets about how long it will be until we get spoken to, much less get our chicken. It was like being in the chinese restaurant episode of Seinfeld.

 

Now, the lady in front of us says somthing to get the attention of the girl who is supposed to be serving food. Without ever looking up at the lady, she get out a box, an begins to very slowly put chicken into it. She is doing this in the same fashion that she is throwing out the chicken. After a couple of more minutes, the lady infront of use finally says something nasty to the girls filling the box, the girl runs out of the stor crying, and the manager checks the order against the food, calmly pushes the stuff toward the lady, and says... nothing. The lady leaves, the manager turns to me and m friend and for the first time speaks to us and says, "I'll be right back" and walks outside to find the girl who is supposed to be filling orders. My friend and I just look at each other is disbelief and begin to crack up. A minute later the manager comes back in, and the girl follows a bit later. She goes behind the chicken heater, and is talking to the cook kid. At this point my buddy interferes with the natural order of things and says very loudly "Is anyone every going to sell us some chicken?" The manager comes over and takes our order... and hands the order to the crying girl. Less than five minutes later we were out the door with our food. 35 minutes from when we entered the building. And they didn't need to cook a damn thing to fill our order.

 

Bill

[InfiniteNow]

Sounds like you're saying that the system setup makes it very hard to do, eh Bill?

 

:hihi:

[TheBigDog]

Sounds like you're saying that the system setup makes it very hard to do, eh Bill?

 

:hihi:

For the folks at Popeye's the answer is all of the above.

 

We went there again about a year later because the chicken is that good. This time we did the drive-thru. When we pulled up we got "Do you mind waitin' for a minute." Statement, not question. She then proceeded to shoot the **** with her friend for the next 12 minutes without ever letting off the microphone button. We sat and listened too everything she said, and she couldn't hear us because her mike was open. We finally drove away and got KFC instead. Imagine how successful they would be if they had help that could actually run the place!

 

Bill

[Racoon]

Ha ha ha, BigDog...

 

Unrelated a bit to original theme of thread,

But a while ago, a friend of mine was heavy into CB radios, and lived on a hill.

(Turtle knows who I'm talking about)

Well he could CB directly into the headphone set of the drive-through McDonalds dudes/dudettes :hihi:

Oh man did he/we pitch them some serious crap!! :angel: They HATED their job, and we made sure! They would get to the point of threatening our lives if they ever found out who it was!

We were alot more immature then.

 

Those guys simply don't make enough to give a rip! Or they're some mexican alien. :)

[InfiniteNow]

I forgot to put my own percentages:

 

Dumb as rocks (20%)

They just don't care (50%)

They are passive aggressively acting out their frustration for the low wages (20%)

The world really is going to **** (10%)

[Racoon]

InfiniteNow, there should be a 'Dumb as rocks AND don't care'

Most of them are BOTH!

[InfiniteNow]

InfiniteNow, there should be a 'Dumb as rocks AND don't care'

Most of them are BOTH!

That's why I set it up as Multiple Choice. :angel:

[Racoon]

caught that after the fact...

sometimes me no think so good! :angel:

Me is Kollege Stoodent.

another choice should be " they don't care because they're an illegal alien! "

[InfiniteNow]

caught that after the fact...

sometimes me no think so good! :angel:

Me is Kollege Stoodent.

another choice should be " they don't care because they're an illegal alien! "

No... they'd probably care the most. People who take a risk like that often want to succeed as much as possible. I live in TX, and we have 'em too, but I don't think that was a factor. This group of folks was not in that category. Sorry. :hihi:

[InfiniteNow]

I guess that's my point though...

 

People ***** and moan because they're underpaid and hate their job, yet, they are jack-offs who can't even adequately complete menial tasks. Perhaps if they worked hard, they'd be noticed for something more than being a complete fu*K up, and might advance out of that sh*t hole they hate so much. Even if you're the manager of a fast food restaurant, you make more and it may be a stepping stone for something else.

 

I ordered a burrito and a taco... I mean, it's Taco Bell for crying out loud. It's not like I was asking for a souffle and some smoked halibut with a basil remoulade.

[Racoon]

Good point Infinite! :angel:

 

I appreciate Latin culture. I was Exchange Student in Venezeula for a year, and speak pretty good Spanish, which tends to blow their mind. Maldito Gringo! El sabe demasiado,,,

 

I guess that would fall under poorly trained or poorly paid, and probably both!

[Turtle]

All drive through order customers must never receive the correct order under corporate and/or management mandate. Pissed or not, a return customer is a return customer. Fries with that |= |= u c |< u |> ?:hihi:

[Mercury]

I have not been at a drive through order before. But I think that it should be something like a fast food place. There was once when I had to wait at a relatively short queue at McDonald's up to half an hour before it's my turn to place an order. I have no idea what the staffs were doing behind the counter. Everything in a fast food restaurant should be... fast! It otherwise gives the customers a very bad impression of the company.