Stop giving me free cheese

[Smapti]

I don't like cheese on hamburgers.

I feel like this is an entirely reasonable opinion to have. I don't like the texture of melting cheese on a beef patty, especially if it's processed cheese. It throws off the entire flavor of the burger in a way I don't care for. Some, if not all, burger places seem to agree that my opinion is valid; their basic burger comes without cheese, and cheese costs extra.

So why can't they stop giving me cheese I don't want?

If I order a Big Mac with no cheese on it, I'll get home and discover it has cheese. I can go to Wendy's and order a double without cheese - this, mind you, is a sandwich that by default comes with cheese, and I am specifically asking them to omit it - and I'll get home and find cheese on it. I can go to Jack in the Box and order a Jumbo Jack - a sandwich that by default does not have cheese and costs extra if you want cheese on it - and get home and find cheese on it. These days, if I'm getting a burger in a drive-thru, I don't leave the window until I've fished my burger out of the bag and confirmed for myself that it's cheeseless.

This evening, I ordered a burger and fries delivered from Five Guys (which you can do now thanks to Ubereats). If you've eaten at Five Guys, you know their gimmick is that you specify exactly what toppings and condiments you want on your burger, and they're all free except for bacon and cheese which cost extra.

I ordered my usual - a burger with bacon, barbeque sauce, mustard, pickles, tomato, grilled onion, and grilled jalapenos.

I received a burger with bacon, barbeque sauce, mustard, pickles, tomato, grilled onion, and grilled jalapenos - and cheese, which I believe is a $2 upcharge.

I've learned from experience how to scrape melted American cheese off of burger patties so that (almost) all of the disgusting flavor is gone. On rare occasions, I've gone so far as to rinse the patty under the faucet and then microwave it to warm it up again. I didn't have to do that tonight, fortunately.

I get that special orders can throw a fast-food cook off. I was one once. But seriously - is it that hard to not give someone something they didn't pay for?

[KuariKaydrith]

I know with McD's that it is entirely possible to order a Big Mac without cheese. The tricky part comes when the person putting together your order isn't paying attention to the grill slips that are supposed to be stuck on all custom ordered sandwiches. Or they just can't read for shit. I dealt with that during my short time at McD's recently and it was incredibly frustrating because as a front counter person I was the one who often got the brunt of the customer's anger over their order being wrong yet again. And there were certain staff who were famous for handing out the wrong food so I knew as soon as I saw them that I was in for a particularly rough shift.

[Monterey Jack]

This is why I always open the bag and examine the burger/sausage McMuffin before I leave, so no unwanted condiments are included.

[Food Lady]

I think in some cases it's force of habit. I used to order a cheeseburger no meat at McD's and get a patty every time. They're on auto-bot mode back there. It's not an excuse but I don't think we can stop it from happening.

[RealUnimportant]

I'd be sorely tempted to ask for a manager and discuss the Allergy situation - not that I'd lie and say I was allergic, but point out that if someone has specifically asked not to have something then there's usually a damn good reason for that, and if something's not meant to be added then don't add it without checking it's alright. Sure, maybe someone thinks they're doing customers a favour or putting one over on The Man by giving out free cheese instead of charging for it, but there's every chance they could end up costing the company way more than the couple of bucks upcharge...

[Catwoman2965]

[QUOTE=Smapti;1372473]I don't like cheese on hamburgers.
QUOTE]


OMG I have found my TWIN! I will say i DO like cheese on burgers. BUT real cheese. NOT processed American. While I'm not knocking it, as I know many love and worship it, I am not one of them. I think the mindset is since 99.9% or whatever of the population DOES like it, when someone orders something it DOES throw them off.

I get it with other sandwiches too; mainly breakfast. If I go to my local bagel or small coffee shop, and can customize my bacon egg and cheese, yes. But fast food, nope. So I'll order with no cheese. or the item that HAS NO CHEESE to begin with. and so many times i get it with cheese. and the looks i get when i go back in to get what I ordered are priceless.

[morgana]

I think in some cases it's force of habit.

Can be. I once watched a guy have to remake my burger three times (yes, four burgers total). I wanted ketchup only. Dude kept putting everything on. Couldn't get it until his manager yelled at him as he reached for the mustard on the final try.

Granted they were busy, but I never saw dude there again.

[MadMike]

Can be. I once watched a guy have to remake my burger three times (yes, four burgers total).

I was just going to say mistakes happen, and it's easy to do something out of habit. But when the replacement is wrong, or in this case the replacement of the replacement and so on, then someone just isn't giving a shit. One time, not only did my replacement sandwich have the wrong condiments, it wasn't even the right sandwich. It went from a burger with all the stuff I didn't want, to a fish sandwich, and then finally the correct burger, but only after the manager yelled at the guy.

[notalwaysright]

Crazy. I don't eat out very much but I learned a long time ago, unless absolutely necessary, don't try to alter the menu item at all. For example, I don't like tomatoes on burgers. You'd think "no tomato" would be easy but pretty much every burger would come with a slice of tomato. Now, in this case it's easy to pick it off, though I get irritated when half of the condiments end up going too. Anyway, I don't even try to ask for no tomato, I just pick it off.

But wow, so many cases of adding something that should be there in the first place! Sometimes I have the opposite problem at Green Mermaid. I order an iced drink, it should come with whipped cream. That's part of the drink. Yet I go to pick it up (this tends to happen when I order on the app) there's no whip. I always ask them to put it on and they're like "oh I didn't know you wanted it." Look, I get that many people forget to say that they DON'T want it, but please just make it according to the standard, I actually do know what I want and I did order it properly.

[Blue Ginger]

This is how i feel with mayo on food. It looks gross, tastes, gross and sets of my gag reflex. I will puke if I eat it. Don't know if it's a full allergy or just an involuntary reaction at this point, but I do not like.

I've ranted on here a few times about it and people's inability to not put mayo in/on my food. Just like RealUnimportant, I usually do the allergy speech at them. While it's unlikely to kill me, it may have serious consequences for others.

I actually have a limit on how many things I will ask to not be on my food. So if my burger is supposed to come with 3 things I can't/don't eat, I will ask them to leave off the most objectionable ones. I my case one of my favourite burgers is supposed to have mayo, avocado and tomato on it. Mayo and avocado can't be pulled out easy, so I ask for it not to have them and then I just pull out the slice of tomato myself.

[Food Lady]

I was just going to say mistakes happen, and it's easy to do something out of habit. But when the replacement is wrong, or in this case the replacement of the replacement and so on, then someone just isn't giving a shit. One time, not only did my replacement sandwich have the wrong condiments, it wasn't even the right sandwich. It went from a burger with all the stuff I didn't want, to a fish sandwich, and then finally the correct burger, but only after the manager yelled at the guy.

I think this is employees on drugs. Or severe sleep deprivation. I do really stupid things when I'm overtired. I imagine it's what I'd be like if I were ever drunk.

[Nashida]

I have a dairy allergy so I totally get the no cheese thing. Except of course...allergy.

There's been several cases where I've had to have a burger remade 3 or 4 times because I had asked for no cheese and stated my allergy, and each time they kept putting cheese on. After the fourth I was told to "just scrape it off" - allergies don't work that way!

Thankfully my local Golden Arches gets it so when I do have that craving hit, they're extra good about putting exactly what I ask for, and nothing I didn't.

[Monterey Jack]

It doesn't matter if you have an allergy, or else just don't like a particular topping...if you request a sandwich or burger without it, you should receive what you (didn't) ask for.

[gerund]

One time in the way of the sub I was asked about 8 times (I wasn't really counting) if I wanted it toasted. I replied "No thanks" the first time and just "No" the following times, then had to stop her as she was attempting to put my sub into the toaster.

"I said 'NOT TOASTED'" repeated four times as she walked away with my sub until something finally happened inside her head. The solitary neuron fired and she stopped and looked back at me.

"Not toasted?" she said rather wistfully.
"NOT TOASTED" I replied for about the 10th time.

I should have just walked out, but I was hungry and I didn't think it would penetrate. I could imagine her looking at her cow-irker saying "What was wrong with him? I was just making him a toasted sub and he walked out."

[Lurking Sockpuppet]

I too am in the no cheese camp. I just really dont care for cheese on meat. The only exception are tacos. But, only if the cheese is well insulated from the meat by the other cold toppings.

My husband once had to yell across the counter at an employee who was about to put cheese on the fourth attempt at making my burger.