I Should Be Rich

Fast food customer service: Please be patient with me.

So I went through the drive through at Taco Bell yesterday for lunch. I hadn’t even wanted to go to Taco Bell. I generally don’t like their food. Yesterday I received some of the worst fast food customer service I’ve received yet.

Having previously worked in the fast food industry for almost a year (my first job!), I can understand both sides of the coin. I have had to take orders on drive-thru, at the front, and deliver all of the ordered meals and drinks- all at the same time. During a rush. I know how it feels to deal with aggravating customers.

On that note: Patrons of fast food joints, please be patient with the people you’re working with. Granted there are situations where you should rightly be angry, but generally… be as nice as possible. I know you only have a 30 minute lunch break and it takes 15 minutes to drive there, but the more frustrated you get, the harder you are to work with.

The difference between Memorable, Forgettable, and Never Coming Back

Memorable:

Cashier: “Hi how are you doing today?” (waits for answer) “How can I help you?”
Customer: “I’d like <food order>”
Cashier: “Will that be all?”
Customer: “Actually can I substitute the Swiss cheese for the American cheese?”
Cashier: “Sure thing! Can I help you with anything else?”

Forgettable:

Cashier: “Hi welcome to <fast food joint>, may I take your order?”
Customer: “Yeah, I’d like <food order>.”
Cashier: “Anything else?”
Customer: “Actually can I substitute the Swiss cheese for the American cheese?”
Cashier: (silently makes changes) “Mm-hm. Anything else?”

Never Coming Back (or just plain frustrating):

Cashier: “<fast food joint>, order?”
Customer: “I’d like <food order>”
Cashier: (silence)
Customer: “…I’d like <food order>”
Cashier: “I’ll get your total at the window.”
Customer: “Actually, can I get Swiss cheese instead of American?”
Cashier: (silence)
Customer: “Hello?”
Cashier: (silence)
Customer: “I’d like to substitute the cheese!”
Cashier: “Can I help you??”
Customer: “…”

What does all this mean?

The way you treat customers says a lot about you. It’s obvious when this is the job you’ve had for years, and this is probably where you’ll be your whole life. How is it obvious? Because you have no sense of professionalism. Sure, we all have our crashing moments but if your attitude is like this all the time, I can see why you’re working the register at McDonald’s and not in an A/C office doing something you enjoy (or whatever your dream job might be).

You dress for the job you want, you behave for the level of a job you’d like to eventually have.

Your opinions:

What’s the worst experience you’ve had with fast food employees? Or if you’ve worked in the fast food industry, whats the worst customer you’ve ever had?

Where is the balance between the employee and the customer? Is it worth the small extra effort to be nice?