This has happened to everyone. It seems to happen a lot to me. The question of the day, what do you do?
I have heard of stories where people throw the food at the people back through the drive-thru window. While I am not condoning this, this violation calls for desperate actions and I can understand people getting upset (maybe not to the point of throwing things…). However, If they knew how much garbage that I have to deal with at work, the value of my dollar is pretty high. Fill up the cup!! Oh yeah, and not with ice.
Arby’s Jamocha Shake: $1 value menu size. Notice, this shake is un-touched. 116th and Allisonville location, Fishers.
Dairy Queen Oreo Blizzard. Zionsville, IN. The week of the $.25 BOGO promo.
As you can see, a handful of problems here.
1. The peak of the ice cream should be above the cup.
2. Where are the chunks of Oreo?
3. The attitude heavy teenage worker walked up to me and said…”Oreo Blizzard, M&M Blizzard” as she jammed the spoons in the cup cafeteria lady style and then walked away. Of course she didn’t say thank you…I will never return to this DQ.
And yes, that is Pearl Jam’s 1996 release, No Code.
So, what do you usually do? Write a letter, call a manager, just forget about it, return it right away and ask for everything to be made right, throw your fresh milkshake back at the window?
-wibia
Tags: Arby's, dairy queen, Drive Thru, Fast Food, Ice Cream, Shake
I usually punk out….unless it’s a major issue which I never encounter. One time I waited in a drive-thru line for 30min while behind only 2 cars. I waited it out and contacted the company later to complain and was sent $15 in giftcards.
One of my favorite CDs and they put on a helluva show a few weekends back.
That being said, we visited the Carmel DQ twice during the promo and both times my strawberry cheesecake looked just like yours. I got one strawberry at top and the rest was plain and bleh. I didn’t say anything but maybe it’s just the way the DQ rolls these days?
It honestly depends on my mood that day (aka how much other crap I have had to put up with). If it’s been a low crap day then I just let it go, if it has been a major crap day then it is my turn to dish out a little. HOWEVER for something like this, you get NOWHERE be being rude and angry (at first anyway). I’ll go in and ask to see a manager, or call for them and explain the situation. Usually I get a good response, they correct it and do something to encourage me to come back (coupon for a free something…). If I’m not happy with managers attitude, then I let them know it and get a owner or regional manager, I have never been unhappy about the responses I have gotten from them. (all three times I have done it.)
All the points you gained for mentioning No Code (a significant amount), you lost for not linking to the iconic rant from Leo Getz ….
Oh, and that’s definitely NSFW
I’ve started checking my order before I drive off. I never used to but a few bad experiences have forced me to. If I forget to and the order is messed up I’ll email the company and hope for the best. Happened to me yesterday. Went to Taco Bell for the new $2 special. I was almost back to work when I realized the guy didn’t give me my drink. D’oh!
Okay, I think everyone is overlooking how you can get the “opposite of screwed” at the drive thru. I generally eat pretty healthy – I avoid fried foods, and will get a grilled chicken sandwich over a fried chicken sandwich, and a smaller item (like the junior bacon cheeseburger at Wendy’s – possibly my favorite one dollar item) over a larger item. But if you order at the drive thru and they give you the less healthy variety even though you ordered the healthy one, my rule is you have carte blanche to eat that, with no guilt or shame. You did everything you could to get the healthy item, so it’s not your fault you’re eating a double-down when you asked for the leaf of lettuce between two pieces of high-fiber cardboard. This makes me look forward to when they occasionally get my order wrong. Because usually based on what I’m ordering, it can only get better.
And yes, I’m aware this makes me sound utterly crazy, but it’s small rationalizations like this that get us through the day.
Also, props for the Leo Getz reference.
@Show: Good point, how could I forget that clip. Perfect fit. No Code is not a bad album, but probably one of my least favorite Pearl Jam albums. Especially when you consider the two albums around it, Vitalogy and Yield which are both great albums.
@Andi: No ready to write off DQ yet, I have had a few good ones lately.
@Lance: I agree as well. Sometimes I just say forget it…othertimes I think it is my duty to start the revolution.
One of my biggest pet peeves. I don’t care as much when they screw up my order as I do when they do it to a kid. We always say no cheese or mayo on burgers and more times than not we end up with one or the other. We no make sure to stop and check a bag when we order from drive thru (which isn’t often) because if you go back you waste time and everything else gets cold waiting for the fix.
My recent experience was with Carrabbas take away service. We went the night before and wanted to get the soup to go the next day because it was so good. I asked the guy taking the order the oz. size of a cup and bowl. Was told 12oz cup and double that (cause they give you 2 cup containers) for a bowl, 24oz. When we got home and took the soup from the bag, the containers were all half full. I got 2 bowls and one cup, should be 60oz and enough to feed everyone. I poured it all into a quart chinese soup take out container and it all fit in that with space left over. Instead of 60oz I got 32oz for $15.50 and not enough for everyone and too far to go back and fix it. I loved the place, the night before was the first time we went there, but will never go back after that. If you offer take out service you shouldn’t screw people because they are leaving and can’t complain. You lose business that way.
BTW, I also had the same experience at DQ during the promotion. My daughter gets them often so we know how hers should be prepared. It was just ice cream, no pieces and it was terrible. Hopefully they weren’t looking for new customers from that promotion because if it was a first time we would never go back.
Oh, thank God, I was worried that I was the only one that got the rage ball in the stomach when this happens! For me, it’s usually getting a soda cup that’s 2/3 full. The anger in me wants to fling the drink at the person’s head. But I have learned (seriously, I talked to my counselor about this!) to take a deep breath, hand the cup back politely and say, “Would you mind topping this off for me? Thanks.” And I always feel like a dick, but at least I don’t sit there having Tarantino fantasies involving the window guy’s head and the window.
I had the same experience at Dairy Queen during that promotion as well (I went inside instead of the drive-thru though) and it looks like others did too. Maybe it was a corporate edict? I didn’t fuss when it happened because I figured that the 0.5 less ounces of ice cream was probably better for me in the long run. A guy can only get so fat! LOL!
Anyway, I used to just drive away like a little wuss at the drive-thru and never check my order. Finally after getting screwed enough times, I always check the bag before I pull away to make sure that I didn’t get hosed. If I did get hosed, I pull out my machine gun and threaten the worker. Okay, that part is made up…I do check the bag and if there is a mistake, I call their attention to it. That’s all I do. It’s not much, but it does save a lot of frustration.
I usually am too far down the road to spend the time to go back….
but…. the jamocha is a classic, but you have to get malts!… malts are so much superior to shakes… so much more rich…. a culver’s chocolate malt is just fantastic… and, if you can get a chocolate-banana malt… heaven……
I visit the Pizza Bell (Taco Bell/Pizza Hut combo) and get a cheese pizza/breadsticks/drink combo frequently. The pizzas are not made to order and come with a sticker that says “ask for a new product after — (time). Sometimes there is no sticker, sometimes it’s past the time, sometimes it’s not. Regardless, I simply go inside and politely ask for a newer pizza. They are always very friendly and quick.
Really I’m not so sure what the big deal is. Yes, low wage jobs run rampant with less than five star service. You get what you pay for. Fast food places are equally known for not putting up a fit if you want your food corrected/replaced. You don’t have to drive away mad. Just ask politely to have your problem rectified and 90% of the time you’ll walk away happy. I noticed no one did that at DQ.
One of my #1 pet peeves as a server is people complaining elsewhere, or leaving mad, but never telling ME about it and giving me a chance to make it better. We all make mistakes. And fast food managers will always have to employ low wage workers with not the best attitudes. Doesn’t mean they won’t make good when said workers aren’t doing their jobs.
Something to think about when it comes to throwing the food throught the window- which I hope was said at least somewhat jokingly- I know people do it because it had occured to me. I worked at Taco Bell drive thru when I was 15 and got a 10-pack of tacos chucked at me threw the window that hit me in the face because they had lettuce on them. A grown man hit a 15 yr old girl with a bag of food over some lettuce. Now I have continued working in the service industry for the past 10 years and Im not saying that its ok to screw up a guests food but pointing out the mistake in a polite manner is much more effective. In this case the manager who had a few daughters of his own refused to fix the food or refund the money and threatened to call the cops for assault. The man called corporate and they backed us up saying that customer is always right…until they assault their employees. Am I scarred over this? No, I always laugh when retelling it, but just a cautionary tale to those who have the urge to act on their angry fantasies at the drive thru, lol.
@lindsay: We were kidding about throwing the food. Specifically, we were mocking those people that somehow find that a socially acceptable response to not having the correct order given to them.
@Lindsay…yeah…totally joking. Kind of funny/sad story though…I laughed thinking about a grown man throwing food at a 15 year old girl…… people are f’ed up!!
@Indy Grub Review: Vanilla malts are my favorite. We are speaking the same language.
@Tracy: Carrabas is bad… Glad that happened so you are not tempted to go there anymore!
I’ll always remember this news story with fondness
http://business.highbeam.com/409700/article-1G1-155028418/masked-men-drop-off-taco-bell-sauce-packets
like the old joke. A guy walks into a pub. what for you ask’s the barkeep. Pint of Harps. The guy notices the glass is several inches less than full. Do ya think ya could squezze a shot or two of Jammesion’s in there asks the guy, indicating his glass? No problem, says the barkeep. Good, then how about filling the damn thing with beer, like I paid for. No matter where, I always pull one car legnth ahead, check my order. If it’s not right, I take it inside, wait patiently in line, ask to see a manager or supervisor, tell them the problem and ask for the order to be completely remade, since it is cold by then due to their negligence, and ask for something free, ( a couple of pies, ice creme etc.. ) for my trouble. that usually gets their attention. Not being a pr__k, I just expect to get what I pay for.