Did I Miss Something Here?

[Sliceanddice]

Ok here is my general work procedure when I take an order.
1- Say hi and get the order.
2- If they order a drink i pull it out of its hold and put in front of the customer
3- Say total and collect change.

I always check inside the cup because ive had complaints about stuff being in them in the past, and i like to make sure an SC can't use it against me.

Today my throat has been a bit dry and my voice has been crackily when i talked normal so ive been talking lower and ive had to clear my throat alot.

This man came in and ordered a drink and two tacos.
I pick up his drink check it and put in front of him opened my mouth to tell him the total but my throat was dry and my voice cracked so i closed my mouth turned away cleared my throat and tried again.

The guy gave me a funny look. He then stares at his cup and looked at the kids cups and asked if they where the small cups.
I currected and told him no they where our kids size the cup in front of him was a small.
He then asked if he could get one of them instead.
I said 'Well it cost less, so if you want the smaller size i could refund your origanal drink and give you the difference' He assured me he didnt care and just didnt want a big cup. I just shrug and switch the cups.

Right then I see the fry cook taking his tacos over to the fry station so i grab a tray and hand it to him.
The fry cook then walks over to the fountain station behind the counter (by the drive thru window) grabs a kids drink blows in it to make sure there no dust, and get her self a glass of water.

The guy freakes out. He DEMANDS A REFUND.
I can't figure out why, and am not in the mood to argue so i do it.
He grabs his money and says
"You know coughing in someones cup and not even saying sorry is disgusting"
And storms out.

Im sorry what??? When did this happen???
I pick up cup, glance inside, place in front of you THEN when im no where near the cup i clear my throat....

WHEN DID I COUGH????

[bigjimaz]

You didn't cough.

The customer thought the fry cook did. Right before this he saw and heard you clear your throat.

If he didn't actually hear the cough/blow, and considering the two motions are similar, especially from a distance, I would think he coughed too.

First, do whatever you need to do to make sure the cups don't get anything in them like moving them, storing them upside down.

Being truthful, if I had seen this happen, I wouldn't want to drink them either. There is no way to blow something without spreading some DNA.

Sorry, but I have to side with the customer on this one and ask for a refund as well, but without the freaking out part.

[Sliceanddice]

But it was her cup and she didnt do it until about a minute after i cleared my throat. and we do store them upsides down but i still check.

it wasn't simutanulous, it all took place over a two minute period or so.

[bigjimaz]

I know you didn't do anything wrong. As a matter of fact, you did everything right. The customer shouldn't have went off. But if you put yourself in his shoes for a second this is what you saw and heard. You're with your kids. You hear your server seemingly with laryngitis or at least a sore throat clear their throat right after you put a kids cup in front of him. Then, almost simultaneously, you see another employee either blow in, spit in, cough in or sneeze in one of the very same cups that your kids, and now you, are drinking from. Then take into consideration all of the scares with diseases spreading all over the world (The guy with Tuberculosis on the plane, for example) and, well, there ya go.

[Broomjockey]

The guy's a fruitcake, plain and simple.

The cook is handling a cup that SHE is using for water. It's not going anywhere near a customer. And you're spreading DNA just by talking, so freaking out about someone blowing in a cup a couple feet away is overzealous, to put it in generous terms.

[justZu]

I guess he thought the cook was randomly coughing in all of the cups.

When I was a teenager working in McD's I had a pair of glasses that didn't fit right, they were constantly sliding down, I'd push them up,etc...
I had a customer demand a refund because it was unsanitary how I kept touching my face while waiting on customers.
Um...no, I never touched my face, just my glasses, and the money I was constantly handling was way dirtier than my glasses could ever be.

Some customers are germ-o-phobic, if they really thought about how dirty their cash was, they'd pass out from shock and fear.

[Andara Bledin]

Forget your car or your cash. The most germ-infested thing you commonly come in contact with these days is a shopping cart.

Not only does nearly everyone in a grocerty store handle one of these, but you often also have baby butts parked in the upper area, and there is absolutely no telling what that does to them.

Personally, I don't give a rat's patootie about all that. If it was going to make me sick, it would have done so decades ago. But people are stupid and they're going to freak out, so now stores are starting to have to offer disinfectant wipes for their carts, just like places with restrooms have to offer those wasteful seat covers.

^-.-^