Ordering at the last possible second

[customersruinmylife]

This thread is also part Cursing Out Co-Workers

Worked a kitchen shift, and it was absolutely dead. For the last two hours I was there I didn’t have a single food order through and I had the place cleaned and closed well before my finishing time. All I had to do was wait for 9pm when the pub officially stopped serving food. I spent my time sitting on the counter swinging my legs and playing on my phone.

9pm arrived. I immediately started turning things off. I emptied the oil from the fryers into a large metal container and pulled off the grill and left it to soak in some hot soapy water for the night. I was going home.

9:02pm

SEVEN food orders came through. All burgers. One problem. No fryers to cook the fries and no grill to cook the burger. Oh, and it was past fucking closing time! I stormed out the kitchen.

Me: Who put the food through??

Useless co-worker put her hand up.

UCW: Me. Why?
Me: Uhh…it’s past 9. I’ve turned everything off and dumped the fryers. I can’t cook ANY of that food. You’re going to have to tell the customer.
UCW: Well the customer is right here-

SC jumped in.

SC: WHAT DID YOU SAY??
Me: I can’t cook that food. The kitchen has closed and I’ve turned everything off.
SC: Well I guess you’re just going to have to turn it back on again!!
Me: I can’t. The grill is currently soaking in chemicals and I can’t touch the oil for the fryers because it’s too hot. I closed it all down as soon as it hit 9pm.
SC: Well you shouldn’t have been so eager to go home!!! That’s your fault!!! Where’s the manager??!! He’ll make you do it!
Me: It’s not a question of “making me do it”. I actually CANNOT do it.

Manager appeared and just about face palmed. He had to refund all seven meals. The customer brought his six friends up to the bar. Each one of them had a go at him.

SC1: MAKE HIM DO IT!
M: I cannot make him. He can’t do it because it would be unsafe!
SC2: What’s he doing closing it all down anyway?
M: Because it was closing time.
SC3: But we were at the bar BEFORE it closed!
M: I can do nothing but apologise and give you your money back. All I can suggest is that you maybe order a little earlier.
SC4: He was at the bar at 8:59! He should have been able to get food!

This went around in circles for over five minutes. They eventually went away.

UCW: They were at the bar before the kitchen closed. I thought it would be OK.
Me: Not at 8:59! You should have come to the kitchen and told me before you rang it through. I would have been able to do it that way!
UCW: Well…you were a little too keen closing it all down.
Me: Yeah. How dare I close at the scheduled time!

[Jester]

Refunding their money was, of course, the absolute right thing to do. Since they didn't receive what they paid for.

That being said, your coworker is an idiot. Any time you work in a restaurant and it is near closing time for the kitchen, you HAVE to make sure the kitchen is still able to make your meals. And you have to warn them ahead of time if you have people ordering. AND you should tell customers that you are going to have to check with the kitchen if they try to order that close to the closing time for the kitchen.

This is all just common sense. Which clearly your coworker is lacking.

As for the customers, while I understand their anger at ordering food, paying for food, and then being told there won't be any food, they were still assholes. And stupid assholes at that, after being told WHY you couldn't make their food, and still insisting that you do it anyway.

"Okay, who had the medium rare chemical burger with a side of raw fries?"

[AccountingDrone]

Whatever happened to no orders for the last 30 minutes until close? For years that was the policy in NY, VA and CT. [I haven't been to a bar/pub/pizza place past 9 pm in a few years, Rob turns into a pumpkin around 9 PM and a falling asleep on the table date isn't very fun.]

[Jester]

Policy is determined by individual businesses, based upon what they want to do and/or what their particular region will accept or allow.

Clearly CRML's pub does not have that policy.

[Fudgethatkay]

Liek omg, how daer u kloze on scheeduld taimu.

Seriously, wtf. Your coworker is a tool and the customers are horrid.

[Marmalady]

I think I'd have told UCW "you took the orders, you go cook the food"

[sms001]

Ordering at the last possible first impossible second

Fixed.

UCW: Well…you were a little too keen closing it all down.

Ah. The crux of the matter here. UCW is aware that they were skirting the closing time, but thought they could sneak in under the wire. And so preventable, as Jester mentions. Even if they ordered off the cuff without asking for menus etc., a simple "Hey Crml, I've got a seven-top out here still" at some point near kitchen closing time might have solved the whole problem.

SC: Well you shouldn’t have been so eager to go home!!!

sigh. I SO wish that it were easier to find out where these types work, so we could pop in on them and gift them with a little "extra" workday now and then.

[LillFilly]

I think I'd have told UCW "you took the orders, you go cook the food"

AGREE! My gosh, she is useless!

[XCashier]

I SO wish that it were easier to find out where these types work, so we could pop in on them and gift them with a little "extra" workday now and then.

You know it. And wouldn't they be irritable and offended that we're keeping them overtime!

[Willowe]

That being said, your coworker is an idiot. Any time you work in a restaurant and it is near closing time for the kitchen, you HAVE to make sure the kitchen is still able to make your meals. And you have to warn them ahead of time if you have people ordering. AND you should tell customers that you are going to have to check with the kitchen if they try to order that close to the closing time for the kitchen.

Agreed. At the restaurant where I work we have to notify the kitchen of any guests that come in within 10 minutes before closing, and anyone who shows up within a minute or two of closing time is told to wait a minute while we check with the kitchen.

Anyone who tried to pull what your coworker did would NOT last long under my bosses, that's for sure!

[Jay 2K Winger]

The manager did the right thing in refunding the money, and your Useless Co-Irker is useless.

Oh, how dare you shut down the kitchen on time. For shame.

[dalesys]

... Rob turns into a pumpkin around 9 PM and a falling asleep on the table date isn't very fun.]

The Sharpie Maori tattoos are only survivable once....

Especially the Hello Kitty on each cheek.

[earl colby pottinger]

I hate

I hate the complaining that the workers wanted to leave on time.

Personally I don't mind working late, but some of my co-workers have

1) Baby-sitters who charge in one hour blocks if you are late.
2) Day-care center who really charge a lot if you are late.
3) Need to catch the GO-Train on time, miss it, wait another hour for the next one.
4) Night-school.
5) A second job.
6) A hot dinner or date that will go cold very fast.

[PepperElf]

customersruinmylife

In this case it sounds more like coworkersruinmylife
at least your manager wasn't as stupid as the SCs or the coworkers though.

Personally I don't mind working late, but some of my co-workers have

I remember one story here where someone was commenting how being forced to work the extra hour actually COST them money because the person took the bus. If they'd gotten out of work on time it would have been OK, but being forced to work late / past closing... well that meant a cab and the cost of the cab was quite a bit more than what the extra hour of pay earned.

[HotelMinion]

Anybody who orders at the last minute deserves nothing but a good kick for being so disrespectful. Yeah like the kitchen staff lingers for a few just in case there are more. They're tired, they wanna go home! Spoken as a former kitchen staff worker btw.