If That's Your Hot Button Issue...

[zigcat]

The phone rings at the pizza place in the middle of a Friday rush.

ME: (Name of Pizza Place) How can I help you?
SC: How are you?
ME: Fine, thanks. What can I get for you?
SC: I'm fine too. Thanks for asking.

Here we go.

ME: That's great. What would you like?
SC: You know, you sound like you're busy. Maybe I should just call back later.
ME: We have some orders but we're getting stuff out pretty fast. Do you know what you'd like?
SC: Nah I just get the feeling I'm being a bother. I should just call back.
ME (What is this dude's problem?) Okay, thanks. (Suit yourself)

I hang up and go back to the make line. About two minutes later, the phone rings and again it falls to me to answer.

ME (Opening Spiel)
SC: Oh, YOU again
ME (Starting to get just a teensy annoyed): Uh...I was the closest to the phone.
SC: Is there someone else there I can talk to?
ME: Everyone else is on the make line trying to get pizzas made. But I'm completely capable of taking your order if that's what you want.
SC: So you're not going to let me talk to anyone else?
ME (Now fed up): Look. We really don't have time for this. If you want to order, order. If not I've got work to do.
SC: What's your name?
ME: Ziggy.
SC (cynical disbelief): Your name is Ziggy.
ME: Yep.
SC: Well, ZIGGY, what are the chances of me getting YOU again if I call back?
ME: I don't know. It depends on who's closest to the phone when it rings.
SC: That's what I'm afraid of.
ME: Look. In all this time, I could have taken your order and it would now be in the process of being made. If you want to call back, that's fine but I can't guarantee you'll get anyone else. So you might as well order if that's what you want to do.
SC: I'll take my chances (hangs up)

I go back to the make line where my co workers are inquiring about what just happened.

ME: I don't know. I guess he's pissed cause I didn't ask how HE was.
BOSS (He has a point but...) Well that IS common practice.
ME: Sure. But I did say thank you. I mean did this guy call to place an order or did he call to make sure we were following the social graces? What do you want me to do? Let this guy engage in pointless small talk when we've got a shit ton of orders to make? Like I told him. His order could have been made by now.
BOSS: Well, forget it for now. You wanna finish up these rolls?

The phone rings.

Co-Worker: I'll get it.

You guessed it. It was that guy again. This time he DID place his order. And I guess as some kind of dig at me, he placed it under the name ZIGGY. Cute.

Really? This guy gets hung up on an unintended social faux pas? I wasn't rude I just didn't follow up his inquiry to how I was in kind to as how HE was. To me it didn't mean anything. And I'll hazard that he didn't really CARE how I was. He just wanted tit for tat.

And it cost him his pizza being made on the first call...
Go figure.

[Sandiercy]

Ok, Taking bets!

2-1 odds that he phones corporate and they give him coupons for his next visit.

[zigcat]

Ok, Taking bets!

2-1 odds that he phones corporate and they give him coupons for his next visit.

Nah. We're a single mom & pop operation. Been keeping my eyes on the review sites though.

[Arwyn Q]

Sounds like he's a little ego-centric, not polite. It's pretty common, at least around my parts, to ask how someone is and have the other person say "Fine, thanks" without expecting them to ask back. It's a casual social thing everyone does, and it's almost as much of a courtesy as asking them back is. A lot of the time, someone will walk away too quickly to even respond to the "How are you" part of it, let alone give you time to ask them back.

[AnaKhouri]

I usually ask people how they are, but if I'm busy it might slip. I'm not going to throw a hissy fit and make things harder for myself just because someone was busy and forgot to ask.

[Sandiercy]

Nah. We're a single mom & pop operation. Been keeping my eyes on the review sites though.

Darn! It was a sure bet!

[Nordel]

I am a fellow co-worker at that same store who took the delivery, and as an experiment when I delivered his order I made sure that when he asked me how I was doing I just said "fine, thanks" and didn't return the question on him, and he didn't even notice or acknowledge the fact. I guess he just wanted to be an asshole for the sake of being an asshole...

[Insomnia]

IMO, if the customer is a stickler for manners then he should have had the manners to 1) not expect to chitchat about how he and a complete stranger is feeling during peak hours at a restaurant, 2) not play phone tag and annoy busy employees and 3) not act like an immature kid by using your name on the order.

To the SC: It's a pizza joint! If you want polite small talk, then go to the freakin Four Seasons!

Don't get me wrong, during slow times when nothing needs to be done, I use to chat and do all the really polite talk to customers. Especially regulars but during rush hours... hell no. I do NOT have the time to talk about how you are feeling and neither do other waiting customers. Get in. Order. Get out.

Wow I ranted. Sowwy

[XCashier]

Sounds like he's a little ego-centric, not polite got a telephone pole-sized stick up his arse.

Fixed that for you.

That guy was being petty and playing games. If I owned the store, I'd put him on the "banned" list.

[Athaelia]

To be honest, I'm not sure what the point of asking total strangers "How are you" when you know the automatic response is "Great!" "Fine!" or "Doing well!"...! I mean, who is ACTUALLY gonna answer honestly? It would be awkward as hell!

STRANGER: How are you?
YOU: Shitty! My dog ran away, (but not before tearing up my couch and crapping on my rug), I lost my job, my boyfriend ran off with the Avon lady, my favorite show was cancelled, and my interest rate went up 3 percent on my credit card! Oh, did I mention my horrible case of hemmies? But, how are YOU!?!"

IMO, the whole "how are you" pleasantry is just an empty script in which to say to someone whom you have nothing to say to. Honestly, I really don't think you did anything wrong, as you gave prompt and courteous service. And that's my 2/100th of a dollar on that one.

[Food Lady]

Whenever someone asks how I am, I actually cringe, because it's happened more than once that I gave a socially acceptable answer, such as "Fine" or "I'm alright," and was argued with about said answer. "Are you really fine?" So I answer the question and it ends right there. I don't ask back; I want no part of this fake social pleasantry.

I think maybe the next person to argue with my answer should get a "I'm fine; I didn't get shot in the stomach at the local Malwart today" or "Well, my pain level is only at a 7 today." But of course they'd get all nosey at the latter.

[EricKei]

Anybody who opens with "Oh, YOU again" doesn't get to call anyone else out for "politeness" ~_~

[Polenicus]

Oh. Yay. Another 'It's the principal of the thing' caller.

It's a phone call to order PIZZA. There ARE no principals. If you do it right, there is pepperoni, but nowhere do principals factor into this.

If I were your manager (And this is probably why I'm not a manager), after the third call I'd have advised the individual that he has called in three times now without ordering, so I am assuming this is some sort of prank call, and business is no longer welcome. AFTER asking him how he is, of course.

[AyreBiskits]

that guy must like to live on the edge. he's forgetting a major fact of life. DO NOT pick fights with people that handle your food, ever.

seriously, has he never seen "The Help"? i've had a couple of customers do that to me (surprisingly, at a pizza place) and you're stuck listening to some asshole give you a "lesson" in phone etiquette and you have a ton of work to do. he called a place of business, not his cousin or a friend to sit and chat. just order something and get off the phone!!!

[Jay 2K Winger]

I'll admit, when I'm taking calls at work, I'm angling to get their problem fixed as soon as possible, and those "niceties" with "how are you" etc. irritate me only because it slows things down.

Hence, those interactions on the phone tend to go:

J2K: "Good [time of day], you've reached the IT Service Desk. This is Jay. How can I help you?"
Them: "Hi, how are you?"
J2K: [flat] "Just fine how can I help you?"

Any other time someone gives me that "how's it going?" or "how are you?" greeting, I'm not bothered, but it's something about when I'm answering calls at work that it bugs me.