No hablo Espanol and the multi-order drive thru car

[mjr]

Ok, two more SC tales...

#1: No hablo Espanol...

Ok, first, I do know how to speak some basic Spanish.

But occasionally at the food service job I used to have, I would be working in the drive-thru, and after a greeting, I would hear someone with a Spanish accent ask if I spoke Spanish (but they'd ask it in a broken-English kind of way, where it sounded like "Speeka Spanish?" or some such).

Occasionally, I would say "Si" (yes), but there would be times when I was either having a bad day, or whatever, when I would say "No", and make them order in English. Because, surprisingly enough, I was one of the few who worked there who actually knew some Spanish. Is that wrong??

SC #2: The multi-order drive-thru car.

When I worked at the burger joint, we would occasionally have people come through the drive-thru and say something like "I have two separate orders."

I would have liked for my response to have been, "No, you do not." or "We cannot accept multiple orders from the same car through the drive-thru".

I hated this, because our drive-thru was timed. They wanted the cars in and out in under 3 minutes.

One guy even threatened to sit there until we took his FOUR separate orders.

Oh, how I hated that and wanted that policy changed!

[wolfie]

When I worked at the burger joint, we would occasionally have people come through the drive-thru and say something like "I have two separate orders."

I would have liked for my response to have been, "No, you do not." or "We cannot accept multiple orders from the same car through the drive-thru".

I hated this, because our drive-thru was timed. They wanted the cars in and out in under 3 minutes.

One guy even threatened to sit there until we took his FOUR separate orders.

Too bad you didn't have another SC right behind him - specifically a highly-impatient douchenozzle driving an F-350 with a "brush bar" in front of the grille.

[mjr]

Too bad you didn't have another SC right behind him - specifically a highly-impatient douchenozzle driving an F-350 with a "brush bar" in front of the grille.

No, but we would occasionally have the guy in his giant diesel pickup who was trying to shout his order over the engine.

[sms001]

I would say "Si" (yes), but ... times when I was either having a bad day, or whatever, when I would say "No", .... Is that wrong??

Absolutely not. Without straying into Fratch territory, having multilingual service people in the U.S. is a courtesy (and often a darned good business decision). I had several deaf/ESL/illiterate customers on a regular basis at my c-store job, and it is definitely more time consuming to get through those transactions if you aren't VERY good at it. If you weren't hired based on that ability, then you should assess the situation on a case-by-case basis.

Oh, how I hated that and wanted that policy changed!

Or if you could indicate in the metrics that it was a single car, multiple order. But that would make too much sense.

[XCashier]

Too bad you didn't have another SC right behind him - specifically a highly-impatient douchenozzle driving an F-350 with a "brush bar" in front of the grille.

It's probably a good thing that guy wasn't there. He'd have taken it out on mjr instead of the SC. You know they do, even when they see the first SC misbehave right in front of them. They never blame the other customers, it's always the employee's fault.

SC #2: The multi-order drive-thru car.

...I hated this, because our drive-thru was timed. They wanted the cars in and out in under 3 minutes.

One guy even threatened to sit there until we took his FOUR separate orders.

Oh, how I hated that and wanted that policy changed!

Why, when they have multiple orders, do they not just park the car and go inside to order?! (glances up at page title) Oh, right. That would make too much sense.

[EricKei]

I second the "use <local predominant language> only" notion, unless you were specifically hired to use multiple languages with customers who request special assistance. It IS a cool and nice thing to be able to help people who speak other languages, but if you're not 100% fluent, it could very well slow things down and/or frustrate the customer.

I hated this, because our drive-thru was timed. They wanted the cars in and out in under 3 minutes..

Oh, how I hated that and wanted that policy changed!

Oh sure, 3 minutes is completely reasonable -- if there are NO other cars in line, the customer does it all as one order, they know EXACTLY what they want and convey it clearly on the first try, you don't need to stop and make something you just ran out of, and the customers inside the restaurant all have what they need, in such a way that it will not interfere with the DT service, the custy has exact change/a working credit card ready when they pull up to the payment window, etc. That's a typical situation that you have 90% of the time, right...Right?

[Geek King]

Why, when they have multiple orders, do they not just park the car and go inside to order?! (glances up at page title) Oh, right. That would make too much sense.

One burger joint near where I used to work had a policy of one order per car after 9PM. I had been sent to buy food for the rest of the crew, and did not know this at the time. When informed, I did not whinge, bellow, or bluster.

I drove around the drive through six times and placed, paid for, and picked up six different orders.

The burger joint folks were howling with laughter by my third trip around.

[AmethystSquirrel]

Ok, two more SC tales...


When I worked at the burger joint, we would occasionally have people come through the drive-thru and say something like "I have two separate orders."

I am thankful when I worked as manager at EE Donuts I was able to tell customers that and made my employees refuse multiple orders at Drive Thru.

[mjr]

He'd have taken it out on mjr instead of the SC.

I actually had an old dude yell at me once when I accidentally dropped his fifteen cents on the ground. I was handing it to him out the window, and either he moved his hand, or the money slipped out of mine, or something, and it fell to the ground. I apologized, and he basically said, "Well, an apology isn't gonna get me my change!" or something along those lines.

Why, when they have multiple orders, do they not just park the car and go inside to order?! (glances up at page title) Oh, right. That would make too much sense.

Because they think it's faster. I guess.

Another type of SC that I hated in Drive Thru was the one who just barely stuck their arm out the window to give you money...the problem is, they're not close to the DT window, so you have to lean WAY out to get their money.

[Ashaela]

One burger joint near where I used to work had a policy of one order per car after 9PM. I had been sent to buy food for the rest of the crew, and did not know this at the time. When informed, I did not whinge, bellow, or bluster.

I drove around the drive through six times and placed, paid for, and picked up six different orders.

The burger joint folks were howling with laughter by my third trip around.

Hooray for reasonability and a sense of humor!

[Brojekk]

I would love love love to be able to speak a second language. I'm too old to learn I guess. So envious of those that can.

[dalesys]

I would love love love to be able to speak a second language. I'm too old to learn I guess. So envious of those that can.

My dad learned Mandarin Chinese at 70+ ...

[Pixilated]

I second the "use <local predominant language> only" notion, unless you were specifically hired to use multiple languages with customers who request special assistance. It IS a cool and nice thing to be able to help people who speak other languages, but if you're not 100% fluent, it could very well slow things down and/or frustrate the customer.
*snip*

I will "third" this. Canada has two official languages so unless you are fluent in both, you can kiss a government job goodbye. However, that's the only real impediment here.

As someone else said, assessing it on a case-by-case basis is your best shot. And that includes those days where you feel like you can barely speak your mother tongue, never mind a second one.

One burger joint near where I used to work had a policy of one order per car after 9PM. I had been sent to buy food for the rest of the crew, and did not know this at the time. When informed, I did not whinge, bellow, or bluster.

I drove around the drive through six times and placed, paid for, and picked up six different orders.

The burger joint folks were howling with laughter by my third trip around.

And they're probably still talking about it to this day.

I would love love love to be able to speak a second language. I'm too old to learn I guess. So envious of those that can.

You are never too old! I plan to study languages until they have to haul me feet-first out of the classroom (probably during a final exam, LOL). Nobody will ever mistake me for anything other than an English speaker but that doesn't matter.

A few weeks ago I downloaded a free sample lesson from the RosettaStone.com site, and chose Chinese. By the end of it my brain was melting but I was still enjoying myself. I plan to sign on there as soon as I can afford it.