Sucky manager at BK

[thegiraffe]

I was supposed to work at 4 today, but got called to come in an hour early. I only had a half-hour break, so I asked to take an extra 10. We weren't busy, no big deal. I headed to the other side of town (kinda...) to the closest BK - I REALLY wanted a whopper. The drive thru had like 4 or 5 cars in it, and the lobby was empty, so I went in the lobby. There was a guy waiting to be served, and no help. We stood there and waited for like 4 or 5 minutes, and the manager had told us like 2 minutes before that she'd be with us in a minute. After another two minutes or so, I was looking around to see that there were like 4 or 5 employees doing NOTHING - including the manager. There's a Wendy's in the same parking lot, I decided to go there. However, I wanted to make sure that the manager knew WHY I was leaving (BTW - I was in my work clothes, and I work for a very well-known grocery store down here known for its customer service). I said "Ma'am", and she looked, and continued: "I just wanted to let you know that I'm leaving and going to Wendy's because I'm on break from work. I don't have time to sit around for 10 minutes to be waited on. Thank you and have a nice night!" Her response baffled me: "Whatever!" in an incredibly snotty tone.

Guess we know where I won't be going for whoppers anymore...

[MMATM]

I don't know. Sounds a little SC-ish if you ask me.

Granted, employees standing around doing nothing is ridiculous, particularly at a "fast" food restaurant. But calling the manager or someone out on their slow service is a bit harsh, especially if there was some legit reason for it.

I would've turned to the other person waiting and said something like "I'm not waiting around any longer. Wanna grab Wendy's instead?" That way you deprive them of two people who were left waiting and it sounds less like you're picking on the BK employees (even if they were slow and deserved it).

[sarahj]

I went to Hungry Jack's last night. It's exactly like BK, except the name is different for some reason.

Anyway, when I work, I take an order and have the customer step to the side while I take another order if they have to wait. Then I can even take a third order (omg 3!!!). But my orders stay on my screen up to 3 at a time, so I can easily grab things when they're ready.

There was only one register open, and one person in line (who we stood behind). He had to wait a few minutes for his burgers to be made, but instead of taking the next order (ours), the server just stands in front of the burger warmer waiting. Then he gets them and we order. All three of our burgers need to be made, but she doesn't ask us to move aside, she just stands near the warmer again, chatting to another server who doesn't appear to be doing anything.

Last time I went to that HJ's, something similar happened. My food was on my tray, but the server was getting my drinks and chatting away. Then when she had them, she held onto them over by the drinks area and just kept talking for another minute or two. Seriously. I was in disbelief.

[FastFoodFlunky]

I'd have to agree with MMATM when it comes to being somewhat SCish about what you did. Indeed, it may not have been a well-operated fast food establishment, but believe me, as a worker in the industry myself, the environment can get stressful really fast. They already know they aren't doing a good job, and to have somebody call you out on it is adding fuel to an already raging fire. It's equivalent to me coming through your grocery store express lane with 50 items, knowing that you can't refuse my service, when you're already in a not-so-great mood (just an analogy to show the annoying circumstances).

The best thing would have been to call their corporate office and inform them of the problem. Trust me..fast food restaurants set REALLY high standards, and they WILL investigate what the problem was.

[powerboy]

I have done the samething as thegiraffe. You only get so long on a break. Once, when I was working at Walmart, I had an hour lunch, since I was working 9 hours, as a cart guy. So at lunch I went over to a chinnese place, just down the street. They had some booths and tables open. So while I was waiting to be seated, a bunch of other people started to come in, and get seated fast. When I mentioned to them, that I was there along time, they said, oh I thought you were waiting for someone. I said no. I waisted about 30 minutes, at that point, pretty much just sitting. Now it was a buffett, which was good. I didn't have to wait for my food to cook. I need to back there again. The food is the only thing that is worth going back for. The service just depends on who is working that day.

[jnd4rusty]

I think that the OP made the right decision, I don't think that she was being a SC, she was matter of fact to the management about why they were losing a sale and it seems like she did it in a polite way. The manager was definately in the wrong. Any business should have good customer service and the management should lead by example. If there were people standing around and there sounds like there were several then there is no excuse to not take the order. If there was something wrong to which they could not take the order immdiately or shortly there after then it should have been the manager's responsibility to keep the customer well informed. I know there are tons of SC out there, I get my fair share of them but just because there is bad customers it should not be an excuse to give out bad service or to be rude. I know from my own experience that this site and working the food business for a long time helps me keep things into perspective. I go out of my way to treat the employees with the utmost respect but I will not tolerate bad behavior and will let the employee or their manager know when the behavior is sub-standard. Those of us who work in any customer related field knows how they want to be treated and knows how employees should conduct themselves in the public eye. As long as you are polite and not an ass about it then there should not be anything wrong with letting them know that you are disappointed and why.

[Gawdzillers]

Wow.
Telling her of your intentions to go to another place because of their service is a little SCesque.
It's not like they care, either.

[Boozy]

I can see why some of you may have the opinion that the OP was being SCish. But I respectfully disagree, for the following reasons.
1) She didn't complain to some overworked and under-paid part timer who wouldn't care - she complained to the MANAGER, who's job (presumably) is to keep customers happy. Does the manager not need to know if something about the way they're doing things is losing them business?
2) She didn't yell. She didn't swear. She didn't DEMAND SERVICE NOW. She didn't use that horrible line, "The customer is always right". She just expressed her opinion, announced her intention to eat elsewhere, and left quietly.
3) I can think of a hundred legitimate reasons why service was poor that day. But it was really in the best interest of BK to let the customer know WHY there was a wait. If the OP had been informed of these circumstances, she would probably have still left (due to time constraints), but I have a feeling that she would have been understanding.
I apologize for writing so much in response, but bad customer service is a pet peeve of mine, BECAUSE I work with the public. So many of my most difficult customers come in with a chip on their shoulder before I've even said anything to them, because they've seen so much bad service that they've come to expect it. They've got their backs up already, making our jobs so much more difficult. A few bad apples ruin the job for the rest of us.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I agree. In my opinion, she was not an SC. An SC would have demanded a free meal for being made to wait, and would have threatened to ring corporate and get the manager sacked. Remember, there are sucky employees too.

[thegiraffe]

If the manager had made a point to say when I walked in "hang on a second, I'll be with you shortly", that would have been fine. No, she saw us standing there for like 5 minutes staring at the burger warmer, THEN said she'd "be with us in a minute". I've also worked fast food on a university campus (and college kids are the WORST because they're on such thin time constraints), so I'm completely aware of how busy it can be. But it WASN'T. There was 1 family in the lobby, and myself and the other guy in line. There were, like I said, about 4 cars in the drive thru. The thing that really got me is that she was doing something that seemed menial - like paperwork or whatever. I work with the public - things can wait if there are customers waiting. Granted, there are a few exceptions, but I always tell them I'll be with them in a minute and stick to it. She seemed in no hurry to get to us, and I saw an employee ask her if she could take our orders, and the manager barked "no, go back to [insert non-important job here]". I've been on the front lines of customer service for 4.5 years, and I'm only 21, so that's all of my working career. I KNOW how stressful it gets, and if they were slammed, I would understand. But there is NO excuse for that.

And no, I didn't say it in a whiney, demanding fashion or anything. I simply let her know she had lost a customer and a sale due to her apathy.

*ALSO*, we pretty much recognize the uniforms of the surrounding retail establishments. I'm always extra kind to those who work with the public because I know how sucky people can be. I was in my work uniform - vest and all - because I was too lazy to take my vest off. It's blatantly obvious where I work. I guess some people don't feel the same way...

[AirHostess]

I don't think you were an SC

[Rahmota]

I personally do not feel TG was anywhere within the same zip code of being a SC. She handled it a lot better than I would have probably in similar conditions. If I'm on a lunch break and a time limit then I don't like it when people are just standing around with their thumbs up and ignoring me.

Sounds to me like the BK manager was either A on a all expense paid power trip or B extremely angry at the world and taking it out on everyone else.

[AFpheonix]

Nope, that wasn't sucky in the least. We have a limited amount of time to snarf our food down before going to back to our jobs, I'd rather not spend it sitting around watching someone else NOT work. Sure, if it was busy and they were racing around, no big deal, but that obviously wasn't the case.

Our SCs have to make money somewhere to be able to come spend with us, remember.

[CaroPhoenix]

I'm with the others - TG was NOT an SC. I should know as:

Hi, I'm IDrinkaRum, and I'm a former Fast Food Employee.

Really, when I worked Fast Food, especially the last 6 months of my stay at Roy Rogers, there was only me, the SM and the backline guy. 3 people during the day, and we were busy. Because we were in the middle of a strip mall, there was no drive thru.

I took all the orders. we had lines out the double doors, they were practically out on the sidewalk in front of the store. I was the front line extraordinaire. All those people would have ordered, had trays with drinks or drink carriers with drinks in front of them and then all I had to do was put their food on trays or bags. Typical lunch rush was 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours in length, but we never had a complaint about the wait times.

There was no excuse for a MANAGER to disregard a customer's valid statement.

[Becks]

I don't think you were an SC, either. I'm sure that if you'd had more time in which to take your break, it would have been easier to wait.