drive through sighting

[Rine]

I don't know if this is really a SC.

I was in the drive through at a fast food joint and there's a van in front of me. The woman seems very distracted because she takes so long to pull up when the line starts to move.

She gets to the speak box and starts to place her order. But all I hear is a screaming kid.

We go around and she's the second in line to the window. Quite suddenly, she whips out of line, *nearly* hitting another car and takes off for the exit.

I pull up to the window and they think *I* am the lady.

Worker: Hi! Your total is 7-something.
Me: Err...no. Mine was like 14 and some change.
Worker: Oh. You didn't have a kids meal and a number one...
Me: No...no, she just drove off.
Worker: What? *looks behind her* We had a drive off, darn it!
Other CWs: Oh, that lady with the screaming kid?
Worker: Yeah...

Then the window worker thanks me and I get my meal and go on my happy way.

I guess that kid really got in some deep trouble, but it would have been nice for the woman to at least pay for the meal she had the employees make. This place is so fast that by the time you get to the window to pay, the next thing they do is hand you your food. So they wasted food thanks to that lady.

[MergedLoki]

and knowing the 'great' rules most fast food joints have. if any employee ate the food, as oppose to throwing it in the trash as the 'rules' state, they'd have been fired for 'stealing'.

[Spork4pedro]

and knowing the 'great' rules most fast food joints have. if any employee ate the food, as oppose to throwing it in the trash as the 'rules' state, they'd have been fired for 'stealing'.

ooh..i hate this policy. Yes I do understand why it is in place (people will "waste" food just to eat it) but c'mon! If it is legitimately wasted why toss it when it could actually help out someone? I know that alot of my employees are strapped for cash (aren't we all?) and not having to buy a lunch really helps them out! Of course I would NEVER allow my employees to do that since I'm now the boss. *sigh*

[Primer]

When I managed a sandwich/burger place, I actually encouraged several of my employees to "waste" a sandwich just so they would have something to eat that day! We had a rather limited menu, and after a few months you got tired of eating that stuff anyway, but it certainly helped many an employee get through the day. I also paid for eggs out of pocket so that the opening shift (including me!) could have breakfast before starting the day.

[bainsidhe]

ooh..i hate this policy. Yes I do understand why it is in place (people will "waste" food just to eat it) but c'mon! If it is legitimately wasted why toss it when it could actually help out someone? I know that alot of my employees are strapped for cash (aren't we all?) and not having to buy a lunch really helps them out! Of course I would NEVER allow my employees to do that since I'm now the boss. *sigh*

This really makes me . My old fast food place used to let employees make a free sandwich. The store didn't have to, it was a courtesy. We could also take home old wasted food. That is, until a couple employees were caught "wasting" freshly-made buckets of fried chicken and handing them to family out the back door. We immediately went back to paying for any food we ate, wasted or not.

[greensinestro]

You know, there is one major thing wrong with this fast food restaurant. Why don't they first make people pay, and then they hand the food to the customer? That's how it works where I live because of drive offs, and more than half of them are teenagers.

[MaggieTheCat]

You know, there is one major thing wrong with this fast food restaurant. Why don't they first make people pay, and then they hand the food to the customer? That's how it works where I live because of drive offs, and more than half of them are teenagers.

If I read the OP correctly, the woman in question didn't even get her meal -- she left the line and drove off before getting to the window. Although if the fast food place did give out food, then take payment, yeah, I can see that kind of thing happening all the time.

[PepperElf]

they should perhaps do it like japan does in the beef bowl place

you put your money in the machine, pick out what you want, and it prints out a slip you give to the chef.


the fast food version could be similar... put your money in, press buttons for what you want. and then the order gets printed up inside.

[Rine]

If I read the OP correctly, the woman in question didn't even get her meal -- she left the line and drove off before getting to the window. Although if the fast food place did give out food, then take payment, yeah, I can see that kind of thing happening all the time.

She only placed her order. This is a drive through with just one window. You pay and get your food from the same window. She placed her order and then right before she paid for it, pulled out of line and left. They already had all of her food ready because they tried to hand me her drinks. XD

I've never been to a joint that has just one window, but this place makes it work.

I've been to one place with three windows--you place your order at the first, pay at the second, and then get your food at the third. They finally installed a speaker system a couple of years ago, though. But I thought it was weird, however...I guess that's how they used to do it before speaker systems...

[MadMike]

and knowing the 'great' rules most fast food joints have. if any employee ate the food, as oppose to throwing it in the trash as the 'rules' state, they'd have been fired for 'stealing'.

That's what I liked about the DQ I worked at one summer. It was run by this nice couple, and one or both of them were usually there working alongside the rest of us. We were allowed to eat any "mistakes." The owners also didn't care if we grabbed a fry or two every so often. In fact, they said that was the best way to see if they were still good, or if they needed to be tossed and a fresh batch needed to be made. They also let us have a small "courtesy cup", which we could fill with soda throughout the day.

The only thing they cautioned us on was not to let the customers see us doing any of that. I didn't understand at the time, but now I know that customers tend to get upset if they see the help eating like we're real people or something.

[greensinestro]

If I read the OP correctly, the woman in question didn't even get her meal -- she left the line and drove off before getting to the window. Although if the fast food place did give out food, then take payment, yeah, I can see that kind of thing happening all the time.

Sorry, I guess I read that wrong. It sounded like she was a drive off, as in drove off with her food but didn't pay. I guess wasting their time making food she did not take is better than her taking it and not paying.

[KitterCat]

Rine
I've been to one place with three windows--you place your order at the first, pay at the second, and then get your food at the third. They finally installed a speaker system a couple of years ago, though. But I thought it was weird, however...I guess that's how they used to do it before speaker systems...

Completely off subject

We’ve got a couple of McD’s in the area that have gone back to doing the 3 window thing. I have to admit I much prefer ordering from a real person than the speakers. All I could hear from the speakers they had was “and to ;alkfja;oweirhj or;alkjf that was a;lfj with ;alkfjsoda total $a;dfksj;” I’d just say “yes” most of the time rather than fight with the mike. Now the person is maybe 5 feet away and I can hear them. If this is how people use to order I can understand why it could make a comeback.

[bean]

I've been to one place with three windows--you place your order at the first, pay at the second, and then get your food at the third. They finally installed a speaker system a couple of years ago, though. But I thought it was weird, however...I guess that's how they used to do it before speaker systems...

There's actually a (rather modern) McDonalds nearby that does this. No speaker at the menu at all. They claim this makes customers feel a little more special.

I call bullshit. The food is still a turd, you can't polish turds much.

[Andara Bledin]

There's actually a (rather modern) McDonalds nearby that does this. No speaker at the menu at all. They claim this makes customers feel a little more special.

I call bullshit. The food is still a turd, you can't polish turds much.

No, no, they're right. It does make the customer feel more special.

Sure, it doesn't make the food any more edible, but that's obviously not a huge concern with them.

^-.-^

[Green_Fairy]

i work near a bunch of military bases. with all the jets flying over, we can't hear the customers half the time through the drive thru headsets. we just tell them to please wait until the jets have passed before they order. if we could do away with the speakers all together, i'd be all kinds of happy.