I remember (when I was a little girl) one particular day when I was out with my dad. We decided to run through a drive-thru, and when we had given our order, the girl cheerily chirped "Would you like a hot apple pie with that?"
My father, in an imposing stentorian voice, said "Well, miss, if we wanted a hot apple pie, don't you think we would've ordered one?"
There was an awkward silence, and then the girl said, "Uh..."
"No," my father said crisply. "We do not want a hot apple pie with that." I hate to think what she did to the burgers.
Drive-thru service has not improved. We continue to get asked if we want things we didn't order (but the power of suggestion on weak minds is great! Imagine how many people think "Hmmm, yeah, maybe I do want some fries with that!")
We also get the annoying "Please wait a minute" and then you wait, and wait, and wait. When you finally screw up your courage to ask "Er, hey! Is anyone there?" they answer crossly "Yes, of course, please go ahead with your order!"
Or is it different in your neck of the woods?
Remember my I Hate Starbucks rant? I continue to go there, despite the rotten service, because it's still more convenient than finding a sub-standard cup of coffee at a nearby gas station.
The other day I took my boyfriend's daughter through there. She loves something called a caramel macchioto. I think. I ordered a sugar-free vanilla latte and we each got a scone. When we got up to the window, a sweaty and unwashed looking girl handed us our coffees. I was devoutly thankful she had gloves on, until I realized she was handling both the food and money with gloves on, so it made no difference at all.
She disappeared for a moment, and a thin looking girl with a perpetually startled look took her place. "What are you waiting for?" she asked me, startled.
"Two scones," I answered.
"Oh!" she said, startled, and rabbitted off like she'd already had four espressos too many.
A minute later the unwashed girl was back. "What are you waiting for?" she asked.
"Two scones," I answered, in robotic perfection.
"Oh!" she said, and went off to find the scones she had originally known about from the beginning.
We finally got the scones and the coffee, and I am merely thankful they didn't spit in it.
About Me
- Saur♥Kraut
- Saur♥Kraut has been called The Mouth of the South.
This blog was repeatedly named one of the best blogs in the area by the (then) St. Pete Times and Tampa Tribune. After a hiatus of a little over 3 years, she has recently returned to blogging and generally annoying everyone.
Saur♥Kraut grew up in the Tampa Bay Area and, after a brief period of roaming, settled there for good... just as a tick settles on a dog. She now lives in uneasy symbiosis with the most densely populated area within the State of Florida.
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25 comments:
I used to say the same thing as your father everytime I was posed that question... up until I first read about food tampering at places like that. Now I just bite my tongue and say that no, what I ordered would be just fine.
Customer service has long disappeared and I blame it on Wal-Mart and the big box store mentality where low prices trumps service.
Good customer service is a lost art. But thankfully I rarely do drive-thru's...I'm not big on fast food...and I'm not a coffee drinker.
Once again, lack of civility rears its ugly head! We have lost civility in most all phases of our lives. We can't go anywhere and receive the service of years gone by. I am sure that is what every generation says, but frankly it is true. For instance, it wasn't that long ago that the F bomb was actually a bomb.;0)
See, its retards like those that give the rest of us bad reps.
My first job was in a drive thru...And this is my only defense of those kids: They have to ask if you want a pie with that (or fries, or whatever). It's called upselling and usually its a certain promotion and if you dont ask & your manager is there, you get in trouble. So, even tho most people in drive thru places really do suck, some of the things they ask you, they have to. I always hated asking "would you like that supersized?". IF they wanted it f***ing supersized they would have said so--but my boss would be there so i would have to. It sucked. Anyway, no more drive thru for me. ;)
4 Scones and Seven Caramel Macchioto's ago our Fathers brought forth a new coffee franchise conceived by latte's...........
You have to have been a good service person to even know what good service is. If you have never seen good service or have been taught anything you just look at service work as just another job to just get by. Like school but no tests. Some people have a motivating drive to serve others and do great in this field but it does seem to be rare these days.
I don't give the order takers a hard time for the suggestion because I know management tells them to do it. If it really bothered me, I'd file a complaint with them (not that it would make much difference). I still remember my days working fast food and retail, and it always made me mad when somebody gave me a hard time about something that wasn't my fault. That's why I hate customer care positions. You're expected to take the abuse that should go to those responsible.
Having been a good service person I really HATE poor service.
I don't mind the upselling but I hate the fact that I can't get an order completed without an error at most ff places.
I agree with kristied on this one... but that's because I was in the food service/wait staff industry as well. She is so right about the fact that managers are leering down your neck over up-selling the restaurant products. In some cases, the store averages are what make up the managers bonus pay, so of course they want you to sell any and everything to keep those averages up.
Up-selling by the wait staff becomes a requirement of the job.
It sucks, and I hated it, but sometimes it was effective in bringing your check average up, and bringing up the tip as well.
In your case, you had one of the worst cafe servers (ever).... if she couldn't even remember your scones,that you reminded her about twice. No more coffee for her!
Uncle Joe~ you are too funny with your Starbucks Address!
I foget the movie but basically the line was "They eff you at the drive through every time"
Truer words were never spoken.
Scott
Leathal Weapon 2 I believe Scott from Joe Pesci's character.
Believe it or not, we have friendly drive-thru personnel here in NH. But I spent 6 years in Atlanta and it was a totally different case. I would literally have to wait for service while the cashier answered a personal phone call or had a discussion with a co-worker while I stood at the register. Like THEY were doing ME a favor by taking my order!
Maybe illegal immigrants would give better service?
At least if they did not you could have em deported. That ought to give some incentive to be better workers.
When I go to a drive through, I just figure that bad service is the price I have to pay for being too lazy to get my ass out of the car.
Lazy Iguana, There's no doubt that most illegal immigrants work hard, and many Americans do not. :P You're right; it's the price we pay for convenience.
Notsocranky, maybe it's the New England personality? Perhaps they're more pleasant as a whole. I have some business colleagues up there, and I always enjoy working with them.
Mike & Scott, now, if every customer was like Joe Pesci, maybe we'd get better customer service. Or we'd whack 'em over the head wit' a baseball bat...
Ellen & KristiD, True, I know that they're told they must upsell. But that still gives us lousy customer service, whether it's through the company or the individual employee. It's highly annoying. However, it's also highly effective so I can't really fault them from doing it. It probably only offends a minority of people.
Valerie & Ted, you know, that's just it! I was always excellent in customer service, and famous for that. In fact, that's what eventually allowed me to get my own business. And I'm not always perfect, of course. But I would NEVER give the service that I USUALLY get at these places.
Susie, well, there's no doubt we're a lot alike. Our writing styles are different, but we actually have more in common with each other than almost anyone else I know! Anyway, market those boobs! Why not? Anna Nicole Smith did, and look where SHE ended up! If there's a Hooters near you, you should apply. I see that as Truth In Advertising. ;o)
Grant, yes. That's why I always grit my teeth and try to be nice. First, what's being nasty going to get me (outside of spit in my sandwich)? Second, they're getting paid HOW much to do this job? Third, most of their ignorance is unintentional. They were just raised and trained poorly.
Uncle Joe, Ah, the famous Coffee Klatch Speech by Abraham Lincoln, who was well known to take a little nip of the brew now and then...
Kathleen, so true! Now the C-word is getting to be pretty common. The first time I heard it was about 10 yrs ago (I know, I know, I guess I led a sheltered life). When I heard it was supposed to be offensive, I was offended when I heard it. For a short time. But once you get used to it, and even women are now using the term, it loses its power. We might as well move on to a new cussword. I recommend occipital.
Mike, NO COFFEE? Oh my word (as SaurKid would say). How do you do it? My entire body lives for caffeine!
Ed, an excellent point. We are willing to be abused as long as we get low prices. But notice how the high-end stores kiss your fanny. I went to a designer shop a year ago (St. Johns) which has pants that sell for thousands of dollars. I got MINE at an outlet store at outlet prices (they had been worn once by models, then put on the rack for $25). But the saleswomen fell all over themselves to help. ;o)
high end stores kiss your fanny because the sales people work on commission only in many jobs. In affecting my bottom line in a positive way, I'll deal with poor customer service if I have to. Adequate customer service would do nicely.
Do you have Dunkin' Donuts in Florida? I understand their coffee is good. My parents live on the stuff. I however do not drink coffee. I get my caffeine thru Mountain Dew.
Mr. Fabulous, Me too. I always tip 20% and it takes a lot to whittle that down, but I was sorely tempted to leave NO tip a couple of weeks ago, but SaurKid begged for tolerance, saying that the waiter must've been having a bad day but still needed money.
Green, Yeah, and Dunkin Donuts has awesome coffee, donuts, and breakfast sandwiches! Much better than Krispy Kreme, IMHO. You're right; commission seems to help a great deal.
I posted a cartoon about this on March 4. I've been trying to sell that cartoon for quite some time, and am kind of surprised no one's bought it yet, because everyone can relate to that rubber glove situation.
Saur,
I wish I had a dollar for every time I beat up a hostess for trying to sit me near the bathroom.
I find the safest place to eat is the Times cafeteria. Any slip-ups by the Pickle Nazi Sandwich Maker would certainly make it in the taste section of the paper.
This is one of the great parts of living in New York city: I never have to deal with fast food or any other chain and all their crap. Sure people love starbuck$ but I dont need that crap in my body or to spend that kind of money on aforementioned crap.
How do you know she didn't spit in your coffee?
Seems like every time I go through a drive-through, I start ordering and they immediately say "Is that all?" and I reply, no, I'm just getting started.
And I've learned you must check every order BEFORE pulling away from the window. If I don't half the time I'll have to park and go in to correct it.
Customer service disappeared? Since when does customer service mean you have to put up with people's bullshit attitudes just because you are at work and they aren't...People who act like that towards customer service oriented jobs are going way beyond rude. They know they can't say anything back and it is part of their job to ask those questions...so why act like that towards someone doing their job?
haha, been there, done that. Just the other day I was at subway and a girl was fixing a sub with gloves on and did the same thing! Yuck!
Live, Love, Laugh and Jenn, how can they do that? It just makes me turn green, thinking about it! And where are the health inspectors? I know, there aren't many to go around. But why aren't the customers saying something or the managers noticing? Bleah!
Nihilistic, which part are you referring to, hon? You're right, no one should ever take advantage of someone who can't strike back. In my dad's case, he hadn't really intended to be rude - he truly thought that she was trying to push him in a certain direction. I know he never gave it a thought that she might be under corporate direction. This was just at the beginning of the upsell technique they all use now.
Thomas, tag!
Miss C, well... I hoped I'd given her no reason to. Bleah. And you made a good pt. about checking everything before you leave. It's wrong about 50% of the time.
Alex, you're right, I'm sure. I know that's one thing my mom has always missed about NY City - the great food and the ease of getting it.
Mr. Gator, you know, I don't know why they have tables near bathrooms. That kinda grosses me out too... (though I'd never beat anyone up about it).
seems like you should've got the scone for free.
drive-thru's are always an interesting experience for me.
i'm the product of childhood cotillion classes at the country club and customer service jobs most of my life. i'm the quintessential polite and helpful worker. no wonder i'm an executive secretary.
starbucks has the best orange cranberry scones. here, one person handles the cash and the other does the food stuff.
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