Lately, it seems whenever I get takeout food, they get my order wrong like 50% of the time.
At this Burger King drive-thru I use a lot, they were getting my order wrong close to 100% of the time for a while. It was almost a good thing, because I was expecting it, so I'd always check before driving away and catch any mistakes. I even opened every wrapper because sometimes they wrapped the wrong sandwich in the right wrapper. Then they hired some new, more competent people, but they still sometimes get the order wrong. I went there yesterday and the girl at the window gave me kind of a dirty look when I was rifling through the bag to make sure everything was there, but sure enough, she forgot one of the burgers.
I've also had issues with a local Panera Bread. The last two times I've gotten takeout there, they forgot part of my order or got it wrong. Like once they gave me the wrong kind of soup. And another time, they forgot the kids mac and cheese. I was so angry when I noticed that and had to go back and wait for the part they forgot. I said to them, "I'm taking two apples." They didn't try to stop me.
But the worst thing is when you don't check and notice when you get home that part of your order is wrong or missing.
Recently I got takeout from a fairly expensive Thai restaurant, spending close to $100 for a meal for my dad's birthday. When I got home from picking it up, I discovered they had forgotten the seafood salad, which was the main entree for my father. I was so angry that I spent all that money and they couldn't even get my order right. Then I drove back to get the salad, and they gave us the wrong salad.
Doesn't anyone care about quality control anymore??? Is that it? Have all restaurants just given up on trying to please the customers?
I have to admit that I don't have this problem very often... but I will say that it drives me crazy when I'm at Chipotle and I have to hover over the people making the burritos to make sure that they don't assemble them with the wrong ingredients. I think the most annoying part is when they give me attitude when I make them fix it.
ReplyDeleteSince writing this a few weeks ago, I've gotten takeout maybe 3-4 more times, and every single one of those times, the order has been wrong. Panera forgot the mac and cheese AGAIN. BK forgot our fries. I went to a sub place and they gave me a chicken instead of a steak sub. I mean, WTF? At this point, I'm more surprised when I actually get the right food.
DeleteI don't know what to do when this happens. It makes me SO angry. Even angrier than the rice thing.
Old MD Girl, that reminds me of the biggest crime committed by my local Chipotle. When you ask for the guacamole, even though they charge you EXTRA for it, they put such a miniscule amount on your food that you can barely see it. Then, when you say you want to at least have enough put on your food so you can, oh, say, TASTE it, they roll their eyes at you and make you out to be greedy. Drives me insane.
DeleteThen there is the neighborhood deli that INSISTS that you describe everything you want on your grinder up front. They do not like you rattling off the toppings a few at at time as they assemble the grinder, so you have some assurance that they are remembering everything you ask for. In fact, they insist that you not do it. Nosiree, please provide all of your desired toppings up front, m'am. So the employees stand there while you rattle off 12 different things, then spin around on their heels and assemble your sandwich, forgetting to put on at least 4 of the 10 items you listed. I only order grinders when I'm absolutely famished, so when I get home, unwrap the grinder, and then find out it's missing the cheese, olives, and oil/vinegar. Gah!
Haha so true on the guacamole. I get veggie tacos to avoid this problem since the guac is included in the price, and so it's on top so you can actually taste it. But you're right -- the amount varies tremendously. I actually choose which Chipotle I go to based on the portion of guac I am served. The one that routinely gives me 1 teaspoon I try to avoid.
DeleteI love to visit again , I find this blog after a long time , But now I ma very happy , I wish to visit again for more fun , Thanks a Lot
ReplyDeleteI live in the middle of nowhere, and the only fast food is a locally-owned taco place, a locally-owned pizza place, and a Dairy Queen where we sometimes get ice cream, and we frequently know the employees. They have never once made a mistake on our order. So I think part of it is in the big cities, they don't know you, and it's not their business, so they really don't care.
ReplyDeleteI don't live in a big city. Although I have in the past and they usually got my orders right.
DeleteI mean, don't they care about losing business or getting bad reviews online?
The person handing you the burger from the fast food window? Nah, they wouldn't lose sleep over their restaurant getting a bad review. They probably aren't planning on sticking around there anyway.
DeleteYes, but the manager cares. And if they dock pay for incorrect orders, that's motivation right there.
DeleteI don't think is would be legal to dock a minimum wage employee for forgetting the fries ;)
DeleteI don't know what's legal. If an employee dropped someone's order on the floor, wouldn't that come out of their paycheck? So if they screw up an order in some other way, seems like the same rules should apply.
DeleteI don't think that anyone's pay gets docked if a BK worker drops an order on the floor. Pretty sure that's not legal. Perhaps this is something that goes on at nicer restaurants with actual waitresses though.
DeleteWell, what motivation does anyone then have to even attempt to get any order correct? Why don't they just give me any food the feel like?
DeleteBecause eventually they'll get yelled at. But basically you've just hit upon why they get your order wrong so often.
DeleteHmmmm, are you sure it's not just because they see you coming????
ReplyDeleteWell, one time they gave me someone else's food and gave them my food. So at least once, they screwed over a second person.
DeleteI doubt that if this trend is universal anyone could stay open for business. I myself have experienced occasional mistakes, but nowhere near 50%. Could it be something YOU are doing? Otherwise you are the unluckiest food orderer in the world!
ReplyDeleteI don't know how I could be "ordering wrong". The receipt is always correct. They just don't give me the food that's on the receipt.
DeleteOn one occasion, BK got it wrong on the drive-thru and I didn't notice till I had driven away from the window. There was a huge line to get back to the window, so I stormed in with my two kids, shaking mad. I yelled at the manager, and when I said what I had to say, he turned to the drive-thru guy and said, "See?" So it sounds like the guy had been messing up a lot. And for a long time after that, they got all the orders right. But now it's back to baseline.
I have the same experience at the Wendy's in my town. I've lived here since 1978 and EVERY time I order a chicken sandwich they get it wrong. I've even blogged about it, like you. http://jillgoes.blogspot.com/2012/09/epic-fail-at-wendys-again.html
ReplyDeleteI don't know what to attribute this to, other than employees that just don't care about doing a good job and achieving customer satisfaction. It is truly frustrating.
I have to say you have an inordinate amount of bad service across several places. The only fast food place that I eat at is Subway but they make it in front of me so they can't get it wrong. I also frequent Baja Fresh and they've never gotten it wrong. I've never gotten home,opened my bag from Baja Fresh and have my order missing anything, prepared wrong. I am a very picky eater and I always order "off the menu" so to speak (i.e. add this, don't add this, only a little of this, etc). They always get it right. I honestly can say I can't remember when they got my order wrong. I've never known anyone that has had as many mistakes made in their order as you have experienced. I guess in your neck of the woods, these restaurants need a better pool of young folks to hire from. Where ever you live, that's really bad service on a large scale.
ReplyDeleteIt's terrible! I feel the same way about service. One thing I like to reward myself with (as a poor med student) is Starbucks. For the god-awful amount I spend on my drink, I expect it to be 1) correct, and 2) made well. A lot of times, this isn't the case. And I hate the attitude I get from workers when I explain that my drink was not made as I ordered it. How is it my fault that you failed to do your job correctly? (To be fair: I used to work at Starbucks, so I do order somewhat complicated drinks. However, I do know how to order it properly.)
ReplyDeletethis never happens to me.
ReplyDeleteHAHA "I'm taking two apples" ... not just one, but TWO! Love that!
ReplyDeletewww.yelp.com. pick better restaurants.
ReplyDeleteAHAHAHA...yup. Fizzy keeps going to all the wrong places. I already mentioned Yelp before, but maybe it's a young-people thing.
DeleteSee my response below. Will Yelp help me find another drive-thru that's on the 10 minute drive from daycare to home? Because I'm fairly sure none exist.
DeleteAnd the Thai restaurant I mentioned above got excellent reviews online.
By continuing to frequent business that provide poor customer service you're not giving them any incentive to do better. Why bother taking the time/effort/expense to make you a happy customer when you're spending your money there already?
ReplyDeleteMost of the time I don't do that. But there are only a limited number of fast, easy places to get food on my commute home. And BK is the ONLY place that's a drive-thru. So if I want a quick easy meal without getting out of the car, it's my only option. Everything is not equal.
DeleteI don't get fast food very often, just pizza occasionally, and they always screw it up. Several times my vegetarian pizzas have had meat on them, which I feel is an extra level of screwed up. I usually just make my own pizzas now.
ReplyDeleteI worked at a fast food restaurant for 11 months. They had a very high turnover for employees. Most of the employees who took orders and made sandwiches were stupid or stoned stupid.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you. We just expect our order to be wrong. This happens nearly every time we eat at fast food places, and I feel like it's starting to happen more frequently at sit down restaurants as well. Seriously.
ReplyDeleteI have had this happen a few times, though not nearly as frequently as you, and never at Panera. I never, ever know that the order is wrong until I get home and then I have to do the yelling, screaming war dance. Once I calm down, I call the restaurant and ask to speak to the manager. I explain what happened and they usually tell me to come back for the correct item. That is not going to happen, I'm home now. Invariably, they ask what I would like them to do about it. I tell them that I want a message left for all employees that my next entree is free. Amazingly, not only does the manager agree to this, but from then forward, the restaurant will get my order correct! (I never bother with going back to BK, though. I just do the war dance and let it go.) It is somewhat odd that this happens so frequently with you. Methinks you have an unusually ignorant/ uncaring/stoned bunch of people at your favorite take-outs. Tricia
ReplyDeleteThis happens ALL THE TIME... but, since my husband picks up the food, I just get to deal with the aftermath. Last week, he went to a fancy bakery/cafe to pick up bread for the week + a "THANK GOD my wife just finished a set of med-school exams" treat.... he came home to find the bag with the bread - the treats. We were all quite cranky.
ReplyDelete