For whatever reason, in the early 1990s, all of the fast food places in our town were in one short strip of the main street which, of course, got dubbed “Fast Food Alley”. I worked at a Wendy’s, directly next door to a Taco Bell. I had been working there for nearly a year and was so over their crap, and I was just counting down the days until I could start college.
One day when I was working in the drive-thru, we got a man on the speaker who was obviously trying to order Taco Bell menu items.
I turned to my coworkers as I handed out a different order.
Me: “Dude’s in the wrong drive-thru.”
Manager: “Don’t tell him that! I’ll handle it. We can’t turn away a sale.” *Over the speaker* “I’m sorry, sir, were you looking to order a taco salad?”
Confused Dude: “No, I wanted…”
I can’t remember exactly what he wanted, but they were all Taco Bell items, at least one of which was a taco.
Manager: *Over the speaker* “I’m afraid we don’t have any of those. The closest I can offer is a taco salad. Would you like to order one of those?”
This went on for what felt like ages, with the manager just offering other menu items, and the guy in the drive-thru getting more confused and agitated with each exchange. I finally lost my patience, and I had run out of other orders to hand out while I bit my tongue.
Me: *Over the speaker* “Sir, I apologize for my manager, but you’ve entered the wrong drive-thru. You’re at a Wendy’s; the Taco Bell you’re clearly looking for is next door. And again, I’m sorry for the confusion.”
The guy shouted obscenities at the speaker for a few seconds as he put his car into gear and tore out of the drive-thru.
Manager: “Why on earth did you do that? I had it handled!”
Me: “No, you absolutely did not. You were riling him up by trying to sell him something he clearly didn’t want. There was no way that was going to end well.”
Manager: “We can’t turn away a customer!”
Me: “He wasn’t our customer. And now that you’ve pissed him off, he probably never will be. What was your goal there? Piss him off so he can abuse me at the window?”
Manager: “I should write you up for this!”
Me: “You can, but I won’t sign it. Deceiving customers, even by omission, is terrible customer service. If you’d gotten into the wrong drive-thru, wouldn’t you want to be told about it rather than baited with other non-related food?”
She grumbled something at me that I didn’t catch because the chime went off indicating another customer. She never did write me up, probably because I’d butted heads with managers on frivolous write-ups before and won, and a few weeks later, I left for college.
I do not miss working in fast food.
Related:
Sir, This Is A Wendy’s…