Monday, August 01, 2011

How businesses go under--employing morons

Much as I tend to avoid fast food joints, a few days ago I had need to make a long drive, and short on time and hungry, I pulled into the drive-thru of a local Arby's to get a sandwich for the road. The time: just before 10:30AM.

As luck would have it, a slow car in front of me held my speed down for about half a mile as I approached the restaurant, so I was already a bit cheesed when a small pick-up truck with two people in it arrived from the other direction and turned into the driveway about two seconds before I did. If not for that slow car...

But still. Two people. No one else in line. This should be ok, right? They ordered something and pulled forward, and then I placed my order: one sandwich. Just one damned sandwich.

But not knowing what was coming, I pulled forward behind the pick-up truck and waited for them to get their food and move.

And I waited.

And I waited some more. Like, seriously, WTF?

By this time, two more vehicles had pulled in behind, placed orders, and joined the line. I'd waited through two whole songs and part of a third on the radio and still nothing was being handed out the window to the pick-up truck. Finally, I blew my horn to "suggest" to the idiots in the restaurant that they needed to do something. This was ridiculous.

Then one of the vehicles behind me in line pulled out and took off. It was followed by the other one. I also pulled around the little pick-up truck, only I went back around the front of the restaurant and stormed inside--I'd already lost ten minutes and I wanted my damned sandwich.

I walked in just in time to hear the one employee exclaim: "They've all left! What do we do with their orders?"
"Dump 'em," replied the other. and before I could even say a word, I watched the first employee grab up three ready-to-go bags of food and drop them into the trash can. Those were meals for four or five people that had been sitting there growing cold while the people who ordered them were waiting in line behind the pick-up truck, which was only now being handed their bag of food.

"What the HELL?" I exclaimed. I came in to get MY food after being stuck behind that truck for ten damned minutes! And you just threw it away!"

"Well it's not our fault," the employee by the window whined. "She ordered cin-a-buns and we had to make fresh ones and that take three minutes once we put them in the oven..."

"But you had us all waiting for TEN minutes," I said. "And you finally threw all of our food in the garbage and wasted it. Would it have killed you two to have that truck pull forward and just given the rest of us our orders?"

"Well we probably could have," said the other employee. "But we didn't think of that."

"Oh, we couldn't do that," the other one rushed to exclaim. "There are only two of us here."

"What did you order?" the first one asked. "I can make you another one real quick."

"Not even if it was free," I said. Like I want these two touching my food now. So I turned around and left, but not before spotting the store owner's number on the window and punching into my phone. I called him a bit later and he wasn't there, but I left a message explaining how the Butt Sisters had just cost him several sales and wasted a fair amount of food that he'd paid for. I never heard back from him but I hope that he boots those two, because it's sorry-assed, lazy employees like that, coupled with inadequate supervision, that can ruin a business and put a lot of other people out of work.

There used to be a time when employees were grateful to have jobs and went the extra mile for customer service. But apparently those days are gone. Question I have to ask is: "Why?" When did it become unfashionable or even permissible to blow your customers off when your whole paycheck is derived from serving said customers?

Lucky for me, the Duncan Donuts across the street was quick enough to make up a toasted bagel with bacon, egg and cheese, and it was cheaper than the Arby's sandwich, to boot. Next time I'm up that way and hungry, guess which one will be getting my business. And the owner of the Arby's franchise has only himself to blame for hiring those two vapid cows and letting them work without a manager present.

9 comments:

  1. "When did it become ... permissible to blow your customers off when your whole paycheck is derived from serving said customers?"

    I don't know, but politicians do it to us all the time.

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  2. Murphy, I had to tell two employees at the grocery store today hanging out at the bottom of my checkout lane yakking to get out of my way so I could bag my stuff that was piling up on them! They got bent! I feel ya!

    Oh, and +1 on Rev. Paul!

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  3. Well I've never had THAT happen to me. Wrong orders, missing parts of orders, but delaying everyone and then throwing GOOD FOOD in the trash?

    I wonder what the Pilgrims, who starved in the winters, would think about that. Or the folks that took covered wagons across the wilderness. Or my own grandfather who made it through the Depression.

    You know, sometimes I think we do need another depression, or even a really big serious shoot'en war with some enemy who can fight, to straiten us out.

    Cause it seems so many of us just haven't learned a thing.

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  4. Anonymous10:35 PM

    This is why I avoid the drive up window of Arbys and Wendys

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  5. I don't use drive through windows. Between the crappy speakers and the mangled speech of the order takers, my lack of patience just gets me aggravated.

    A chicken place I patronize has horrible speakers. The owners and employees are native Spanish speakers. The majority of the patrons are black. Ebonics meets Spanlish rendered through bad speakers and microphones makes for some heated exchanges. Cheap amusement just sitting back and listening.

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  6. Why do I have a funny feeling that those Arby's employees will likely find jobs in congress down the road...

    Dann in Ohio

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  7. What the heck were you doing going back to that Arby's in Wilmington, Ohio?

    Oh it wasn't that one was it? It sure seems like Arby's is sourcing its employees from people who can't even qualify to ride the short bus.

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  8. Not surprised... not anymore. No donut???

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  9. It's probably a conundrum wrapped in a dilemma surrounded by a paradox and moved along by a whirling dervish, but at least they're pretending to have jobs instead of living on the dole.

    Of course, they could be collecting food stamps, as well.

    Maybe if they stay in the workforce a while, they'll actually pick up some useful skills.

    ReplyDelete