Drive-Thru speakers are *not* a brand new invention...

[FenigDurak]

They've been around for at least 20 years, and some places even longer than that.

After getting word from a client that they want their hat remade while I was at the fabric store, I decided to breeze through a drive through on my way home. Y'know, sort of a gastroenterological apology to myself (though as infrequently as I eat fast food these days, I may need a calcium carbonate apology later).

So King of Burgers it is! I'm in line behind an Impala with two older folks inside (I know this because the curve of the line allowed me to see into the car at one point). When its finally Impala's turn, she breezes right past the speaker. I get a sinking feeling.

So I order at the speaker: A single BK stacker and a medium Diet Coke. My total is $2.94 and I pull around.

Impala drives away from the first window after handing over money and I cheerily think "Oh, she just ordered at the window, cool" and pull up.
Cashier: "$4.91 please."
Me: "Uhm, no, my total was $2.94."
Cashier: "What did you have?"
Me: "A single BK stacker and a medium Diet Coke."
Cashier: "What? Hold on." and she's off to investigate.
As I wait, I realize what happened. Impala lady forgot to order. I'm staring at her car at the second window and watching her take my bag of food, look into it, then start waving her bat wing arm at the window to get attention. (My cat just burped at me, btw) I'm thinking "Well of course your food is wrong, you never ordered!"
Cashier returns: "What did you order?"
Me: "A single BK stacker and a medium Diet Coke. Let me guess, the lady ahead of me never actually ordered."
Cashier: "No, she paid for your food and is complaining now."
Me: "I had a feeling that's what happened when she blasted past the speaker." So I pay my $2.94 and proceed to the second window where the manager greets me.

Mgr: "Hi there, sorry about that. Did you have the Whopper Junior?"
Me: "No, I had a single BK stacker and a medium Diet Coke."
Mgr: "Ok, so sorry about that. The lady in front of you hadn't ordered at the speaker."
Me: "Yeah, I watched her drive past."
The manager departs and rather quickly returns with a bag of food and my drink. I'm a tad concerned.
Me: "Is this the sandwich you handed her?"
Mgr: "No, I threw that one out. This is a new one."
Me: "Cool, thanks." I take my artery clogging goodness and depart.

Sadly, at the traffic light after plunging my straw eagerly into my medium Diet Coke I discover that it's not a medium Diet Coke afterall, but a Medium Regular Coke. So I turn back into the strip mall lot, pull up to the King of Burgers, park, go inside and dump out the regular Coke and fill up with Diet Coke. They were a tad busy, so I figured I'd just let them sort out that little screw up left by the Impala and be on my way.

Back out in my car I take a second to sip gleefully on my Diet Coke before unwrapping my sandwich, eager for melty cheese and bacon. Instead I found a Whopper Junior. Well, whatever. I'll just eat it. And it was delicious, even without the bacon.

I have to wonder though, what the Impala woman was thinking when she drove right past the speaker. Was she having a brain fart moment, or had it been *that* long since she'd been through a drive-thru that she didn't realize that the little box every car ahead of her had stopped at was an important step in acquiring speedy food?

[Moirae]

rofl. I think she was just one of the stupid ones.

[chainedbarista]

They've been around for at least 20 years, and some places even longer than that.

in some cases, the sound that comes out makes them seem like that particular one has been around 20 years.

i'm going with stupid on this one; as a kinder alternate, i'll say she had a senior moment.

[MadMike]

My grandma did something like that once, but it was 30 years or so ago, when those things were new, and it was the first time we were using one. We pulled up to the window, and someone handed us a bag of food. We were confused, since we hadn't actually ordered yet. My grandma felt kind of stupid when the person at the window told us that you have to order at the speaker box before pulling up to the window.

[bainsidhe]

I also have to wonder about the BK management. You told the cashier what you had ordered. You then told the manager what you had ordered. You told him you did not have a Whopper Jr. So what does he bring you? The wrong drink and a Whopper Jr. Seriously, it's not that confusing.

[Legal Eagle]

If that were me and i suspected they could have messed the order up i would have checked before pulling away from the window, saves a lot of time later.

[Geek King]

I probably would have told the person on the speaker that the car in front of me just pulled past the speaker too. It gives the workers a bit more notice that an issue is in the works.

[CaroPhoenix]

This is why I hardly, if ever, go to Burger King anymore. And if I do go to Burger King, I don't go to the one near my house. They've not given me the toy with the kid's meal. Not given me the 6 piece chicken tenders that go with the kid's meal. They try not to give me my drinks. The list goes on and on. And I've tried leaving feedback by phone, internet, though not by interpretive dance. (Might have to try the interpretive dance along with smoke signals). FRUSTRATING!!!!!

[blas]

One day out of curiosity I got BK just for that new really big chicken sandwich. It was great.

But in general, every time I pass BK after 10:30 am (when lunch starts), all I smell for several blocks is this charbroiled nasty smell.

[dalesys]

...(Might have to try the interpretive dance along with smoke signals). FRUSTRATING!!!!!

The smoke signals only work if you actually set the idiot on fire.

And it only lasts until employee turnover/stoner memory can no longer attach a name to the grease sploth in the driveway.

[Plague*Star]

If that were me and i suspected they could have messed the order up i would have checked before pulling away from the window, saves a lot of time later.

I actually used King of Burger's "Arch" enemy's drive-thru awhile back. First time I didn't go in the lobby in.....10 years? I don't even remember why I stopped going through the DT and just went in, I think it was a few "no napkin" incidents, but might have to do with wrong items, or maybe having to figure out the bill for multiple peoples' orders.
P*S

[Ironclad Alibi]

And I've tried leaving feedback by phone, internet, though not by interpretive dance. (Might have to try the interpretive dance along with smoke signals). FRUSTRATING!!!!!

It sounds like you need the services of Omni-Lingual.

[Thatgirl71]

Sounds like Grandma was having a brain fart, and as usual blamed her mistake on everyone else but herself.

I don't think I've had BK in years, the last time I had it I got food poisoning and from then on I can't even smell their onion rings without having a bad memory lol.

[Stressball]

I wonder if your BK employees are as universally stupid as our Hungry Jack's employees in Australia. A Generalisation I know, but I'm yet to be proven wrong.

K so we have these Angus Beef burgers now, which are either Angry Angus, Grand Angus, or Classic Angus. Without fail, every. single. time. I order a classic, I get given an angry angus. I usually pull away from the window so I won't stop the traffic behind me, then check the bag. As expected, it's wrong, so I stop in the carpark and walk inside to change it.

The last time I went inside, I told them they had given me the wrong burger. She looks at me blankly for a couple of seconds, and goes "...that is a classic angus." So I say no, it's missing X and has Y on it which it shouldn't." So she gets her manager, who looks at it and says "...that's a classic angus." Once again, I explain that no, it is missing X and has Y on it, which it shouldn't." She insists. I gave up and figured they had substituted Y for X by accident. Get home, pull it out again, open it up.. It's actually missing 2 things from the original order, and has 3 things it shouldn't.

Incidentally; this is not at just one store. This is at every single store I have been to in the last 12 months, which is 3 or 4 different stores.

[EricKei]

The BK near my house (by far the best and cleanest one in town...but then, they knocked the old one down and rebuilt it from scratch a few years ago >_>) had its DT speakers malfunction recently; they were working outbound (from store to customer) only. Thus, when I had a day where I could go in and eat, I felt so sorry for the poor dude on the DT headset stopping to say "Welcome to BK, we're sorry, but the speaker is broken, please come around to the window to place your order" literally every 30 seconds or so.