Would you like fries with that?

[Pezzle]

I like the places that have a menu set-up before you reach the speaker.

Absofrickinlutely agree. Our Wendy's here has 2 Menu Boards. The smaller/value items aren't on it but all of the combos and such with side substitution options are on that board. After seeing those it isn't so hard to find "Small Chili" on the main menu, and you're g2g.

[jerkface11]

I like the places that have a menu set-up before you reach the speaker.

Yeah we have one of those. People sit there screaming their order at IT for 5 minutes tying up the drive thru. Then pull up to the real speaker in a pissy mood because of it.

[Alpha Strike]

To be fair, a lot of people don't know that you're on a timer.

You make a good point; I worked at McDonald's on and off for several years (finally quit when I was a crew-trainer and pseudo-manager) and I think it's fair to say that the vast majority of fast-food customers don't have any idea what sort of time-driven quotas we operate under.

That being said, indecisive customers, especially those in drive-thru, drove me up the wall. And by indecisive I mean those folks that would get to the head of the line, or the drive-thru speaker, and hem and haw for a couple minutes or argue with their family/friend about what to get - regardless of how much time they had to look at the menu and not sparing a thought for all the other customers who were waiting for their turn to order.


I think what was the most frustrating aspect of doing a fast-food job was the customer perceptions of we the employees really had a negative impact on our interaction with them. Take the typical SC attitude towards customer service employees, add in a healthy dose of disdain for anyone in fast-food, multiply that by the number of employees who really did act like that uneducated, useless slackers we were all supposed to be and combine that with food-driven concerns and you had a recipe for some bad situations.

[LadyAndreca]

What I don't understand is why with so many fast food places, you can't see the menu board until you pull up to the speaker. How are people supposed to be ready with their order if they can't see the menu until the exact second they're supposed to order??

I don't eat much fast food anymore, and so if I am at a drive-thru it's because I'm in a car with someone else who is stopping there. You pull up to the speaker and are asked for your order before you can even see what they have to offer. I like the places that have a menu set-up before you reach the speaker.

Actually, this is the reason why I never use a drive-through unless ONLY the drive-through is open. It's usually sooooooo much less hassle to park, hop inside, decide what I want, and get in line then. I like to take some time to decide what I want, and I hate both being honked at at the speaker, and waiting long enough behind someone that I know I could have been in-and-out in that amount of time.

[Pezzle]

Yeah we have one of those. People sit there screaming their order at IT for 5 minutes tying up the drive thru. Then pull up to the real speaker in a pissy mood because of it.

Is your drive thru like blocked in with curbs? Our drive thrus are mostly marked open parking lot so if someone does that we have this magical invention called the steering wheel and go around them.

[Sableonblonde]

Yeah we have one of those. People sit there screaming their order at IT for 5 minutes tying up the drive thru. Then pull up to the real speaker in a pissy mood because of it.

LOL I never considered that possibility. But isn't it really obvious that it's just a menu and there is no speaker?? Eh...I guess it isn't! Maybe it would be better to have a menu that doesn't look like the traditional fast-food-menu-with-a-speaker. Like a posterboard or something? So as not to confuse people? But I guess that would still probably tie up the drive-thru, unless you could place it to where anyway stopped to gawk at it wouldn't be holding up the line or blocking traffic.

[jerkface11]

Is your drive thru like blocked in with curbs? Our drive thrus are mostly marked open parking lot so if someone does that we have this magical invention called the steering wheel and go around them.

Ours is open but the first menu is right at the corner. So if you're behind the guy yelling at the menu you can't see that there's no one in front of him.

LOL I never considered that possibility. But isn't it really obvious that it's just a menu and there is no speaker?? Eh...I guess it isn't! Maybe it would be better to have a menu that doesn't look like the traditional fast-food-menu-with-a-speaker. Like a posterboard or something? So as not to confuse people? But I guess that would still probably tie up the drive-thru, unless you could place it to where anyway stopped to gawk at it wouldn't be holding up the line or blocking traffic.

Well it isn't an entire menu board. It's a single section of one maybe 2 feet wide and 6 feet tall. The whole thing is pictures of value meals nothing else. No room for a speaker on it anywhere. However people tend to be stupid.

[smileyeagle1021]

Oh, and another one of my favorites (happened again today). Kid walks in past the giant golden glowing "m", through the door with the "McDonald's is now hiring" sign, past the giant big mac sign and the McChicken posters, comes up to the register marked with the McDonald's logo, and asks... for a Whopper.
Me: *facepalm*

oh I got that so often at Carls Jr...

my favorite was when a person walked up to a register that just happened to be manned by the manager (none of us could have gotten away with this)

sc- I need a whopper.
manager- then you need to walk out those doors, get back in your car, turn right out of the parking lot and there is a Burger King on the right hand side of the road about 2 miles down.
sc- *looks around*
sc- oh, I'll have a superstar.

[otakuneko]

What I don't understand is why with so many fast food places, you can't see the menu board until you pull up to the speaker. How are people supposed to be ready with their order if they can't see the menu until the exact second they're supposed to order??

Not to be mean but, unless it's someone's first time going to a particular fast food joint, and also don't watch any tv, they should have a pretty good idea what's on the menu. I don't get people who stare at the drive-thru menu at one of the big fast food chains. Go inside to do that.

More often than not though I end up waiting on the employee running the drive thru. I'll pull up and get no greeting or a "just a minute." Generally that's enough time for me to choose between Jumbo Jack and Big Texas cheeseburger, if I'm debating the issue.

The only place around here with a timer where a customer can see it is at my closest Taco Bell's drive-thru. It starts as soon as you stop in front of the window to pay and get your food. I usually get it before it reaches 60. I go there when I want food right now gimme food I wanna eat dammit!. I never touch the McD's. I have plenty of cardboard to eat at home, thanks, and better bread to put it on!

[Lioness Blackfire]

sc- I need a whopper.
manager- then you need to walk out those doors, get back in your car, turn right out of the parking lot and there is a Burger King on the right hand side of the road about 2 miles down.
sc- *looks around*
sc- oh, I'll have a superstar.

Yes, I am on a timer, but don't worry - taking fifteen minutes will only cost me my job.

Sorry to always (and looking back at my posts, I am always ) be the proverbial turd in the punchbowl, but I have to defend the fraction of customers who can't see that freaking menu. Why, I ask, do the feel the need to post it so high and far behind the counter? With my extremely substandard eyes I can never see that thing unless I get all the way to the counter, and a lot of the time not even then, so I'm stuck hemming and hawing, trying to make out the shiny, blurry writing.

EDIT: Oh yes, and, criminy, I didn't know there was a time limit! I'll be more careful from now on.