In Which I Remain Unforgiven... (long, language)

[Tsiyeria]

...for the crime of being human.

Alrighty, ya'll! I've been working for two weeks now, and I finally have some stories to show for it!

[bg] I work as a cashier at <local BBQ restaurant>. My duties are: check people out when they're done, seat people when they come in, and take To-Go orders. Unless I have a To-Go cashier. Which, for the first 90 minutes of my day, I did not. [/bg]

I clock in at four. Closing shift! Whoo! I am greeted by A, who was the day cashier. She greets me by hugging me, looking like she's about to cry. (Note: A has been working at this place for a LONG TIME.) I say, "That bad?" She just nods and clocks out.

Joy.

Phone rings! Time to meet:

Ms. Bacon Bits

Cast:
Me- thoughts in italics
BB- Ms. Bacon Bits
S- Manager on duty
E- General Manager! He was also on duty.

Me- <opening spiel>
BB- I'd like to place a to go order please.
Me- Yes ma'am, what can I get you?
BB- blah blah blah three chef salads.
Me- Alrighty, will that be all for you? (I said that. I promise I did.)
BB- Yes, that's it.
Me- Alright, it'll be ready in <time>. Thank you! *click*

I continue on my business. Drop the ticket back so that JL, the line cook, can make it. Four or five minutes later...

RING RING!
Me- <opening spiel>
BB- Yes, this is Ms. Bacon Bits, I just called and placed an order for three chef salads?
Me- Yes ma'am?
BB- I need another salad.
Me- Okay, so that's four chef salads? Will there be anything else for you? (I SWEAR I SAID IT.)
BB- Yes, that's it.
Me- Okay, thanks, bye, click.

Run back into the kitchen. JL, gimme that ticket, I gotta write on it. He hasn't made it yet, it's all good. Then, I'm in the middle of taking another order (this always happens during a rush, doesn't it?) when

RING RING!
Me- <opening spiel>
BB- Yes, this is Ms. Bacon Bits again.
Me- SERIOUSLY!? WTF NOW!? What can I do for you?
BB- I want bacon bits on that salad.
Me-...Which one? The fourth one?
BB- <mumble...something that sounds like no>
Me- Do you want bacon bits on all four salads?
BB- <mumble...something that sounds like yes>
Me- Okay, will there be anything else? (There it is again!)
BB- And no onions on all four.
Me- Okay. *click*

I tally up the total (bacon bits is .79 extra) and fast forward to when she ENTERS.

BB- I had a pickup order for Bacon Bits.
Me- Yes ma'am, it's not ready yet, but here's your total...
BB- What's that 3.16 for!?
Me-...Four orders of bacon bits...
BB- I didn't WANT it on ALL my salads. Just on the LAST one.
Me- I'm pretty sure that's not what you said... Okay, well, I've already put the ticket back. I can go ask, but I think they're already making it.
BB- Then YOU need to go get a MANAGER. I AIN'T PAYIN FOR FOUR ORDERS OF BACON BITS.
Me-...Let me go ask.

JL hasn't made them yet. Yay? Whatever. I pass it on. He's pissed because this order has changed FOUR TIMES NOW. I go back out front.

Me- Okay, they hadn't started it yet, you're only getting one bacon bits.
BB- GOOD. Cuz I didn't WANT four. Well, maybe if you'd gotten your order together all at the same TIME, we wouldn't have HAD this little problem, would we?

I tell her the total and her inner mathematician pops out again.
BB- What's THAT for?
Me-...please shoot me... That's SALES TAX.
BB- And THAT?
Me- The EXTRA RANCH DRESSING YOU ASKED FOR.

Finally she pays. But is she satisfied? NO. She sits, waiting for her salads, BITCHING TO THE OTHER CUSTOMERS ABOUT ME. I'm RIGHT THERE. WTF.

That's the end of THAT one. Here's another!

I Don't Want This Anymore
[more bg] We make BBQ potatoes. They're massive. You can stuff meat in them. We make them in two lots, once in the morning and once around noon. They take several hours to cook. Once we're out, we're out. And if there's one potato left and someone orders it, by god, we're out. [/bg]
Same cast as before, only replace BB with PL, for Potato Lady.

First of all, I didn't take PL's order. She walked in with her husband, and E took their order because I was being swamped with phone calls. Seriously. I'd hang up and it would ring again. E actually took their order while I was on the phone with BB. For like the second or third time. Anyway, E gives me their ticket, I copy it over onto the book and tally it up.

Me- Your total is <total>.
PL- No one told me it was gonna be that much.
Me- You spent five minutes staring at a menu. STFU. I ignore her outwardly, as she appeared to be bitching at her husband.

Fast forward to when I'm taking her her food.

This is important. She's paid. They've waited silently (and I thought patiently) for at least fifteen minutes. I HAVE THEIR FOOD BOXED UP AND BAGGED. I hand it to her, only to hear:

PL- I don't want this anymore. I want a BBQ potato.
Me- ...I'm sorry? (No thoughts here. My brain literally screeched to a halt.)
PL- When we ordered I was told ya'll didn't have any potatoes ready and I just saw that table over there get a potato and I only ordered this because he told me ya'll didn't have any potatoes.
Me- ...(still halted. Hard reset. Rebooting...please wait...) We also serve sweet potatoes...We don't make our sweet potatoes the same way as our BBQ potatoes, it's possible that's what you saw-
PL- The waitress said it was a BBQ potato! I want you to give me a potato instead of this food!
Me- You know what? Let me go get you a manager.

Into the back!

Me- S! This lady out here is bitching that she doesn't want her food anymore, she wants a potato.
S- ...What?
Me- She says that E told her we didn't have any potatoes ready and she just saw a table get served a potato. So now she wants a BBQ potato and I can't handle this right now.

I go to get a drink for another to go order. I'm ringing out the customer for said to go order when E comes out. What do I hear?

HE GIVES HER FREE SHIT. I wasn't paying close enough attention to know the conversation, but I know she at LEAST got a gratis goddamned potato out of it! (Those things, by the way, are SIX DOLLARS and SEVENTY-NINE CENTS APIECE.)

Then, to top it all off, the icing on the SC cake, the very tip-top effing CHERRY?

PL- I knew he was gonna give it to me if I yelled loud enough. They'll always give you what you want if you yell loud enough.


I couldn't say anything to her. I don't want to get fired. I just GOT this job. But DAMN. REALLY!?
ETA: It turned out that what she saw was the last potato of the batch. Care to take a guess? Yeah. The dine-in customer had already ordered it.

Bonus Inconsiderate Teenagers!

Our restaurant closes at 9pm. Promptly at 9pm, we stop taking diners and orders. Regrettably, we are not allowed to turn people away before then, which leads to things like tonight, when a party of TWELVE PEOPLE walks in at 8:30. Our kitchen crew was PISSED. And I, who am usually the first person off the clock (around 9:30) didn't get off until 10:30pm. Why? They didn't even LEAVE until ten!

So there you go. My first stories of true SC-hood.

[BroSCFischer]

I go to get a drink for another to go order. I'm ringing out the customer for said to go order when E comes out. What do I hear?

HE GIVES HER FREE SHIT. I wasn't paying close enough attention to know the conversation, but I know she at LEAST got a gratis goddamned potato out of it! (Those things, by the way, are SIX DOLLARS and SEVENTY-NINE CENTS APIECE.)

Then, to top it all off, the icing on the SC cake, the very tip-top effing CHERRY?

PL- I knew he was gonna give it to me if I yelled loud enough. They'll always give you what you want if you yell loud enough.

I recently said to someone else in Customer Service that the key to a good place to work is a good Manager. It doesn't matter how crappy customers get, if you have a good Manager it relieves a lot of the stress.

Now, the key to a good Manager is a spine. If you can't stand up to customers, you will NEVER be a good manager.

I think you can see where I'm going...

Hope things get better,

SC

[Sunshine]

oy. and welcome!

[Nyoibo]

You know what, next time I'm touring a country, the US or otherwise, I'm going to ask everyone for their places of work so I can come in and get free crap like this, then when the question "Can I do anything else for you?" is asked I'm going to say to the manager "Yes, can you get me a complaint form, I'd like to tell corporate about their spineless managers and how they should get rid of them. "

[Gizmo]

You know what, next time I'm touring a country, the US or otherwise, I'm going to ask everyone for their places of work so I can come in and get free crap like this, then when the question "Can I do anything else for you?" is asked I'm going to say to the manager "Yes, can you get me a complaint form, I'd like to tell corporate about their spineless managers and how they should get rid of them. "

hmm... a job as a sucky customer mystery shopper. That actually wouldn't be a bad idea! (apart from the acting sucky to see how far you can push the manager bit!)

[Kristev]

What a wild idea.

[Nyoibo]

I call patent on the idea, you know, I'm pretty sure I could survive on free stuff and gift cards while in the US doing this from the stories I hear on the site.

[tropicsgoddess]

I can't believe the gall of Potato Lady and your spineless GM gave her a free potato too! Damn, too bad there's no way to charge Bacon Bits and Potato Lady the asshole tax.

[AccountingDrone]

You know what, next time I'm touring a country, the US or otherwise, I'm going to ask everyone for their places of work so I can come in and get free crap like this, then when the question "Can I do anything else for you?" is asked I'm going to say to the manager "Yes, can you get me a complaint form, I'd like to tell corporate about their spineless managers and how they should get rid of them. "

LOL.

Actually I would love a list of where people worked so when we go on road trips we could visit. The haunted hotel sounds neat, I *love* BBQ, and I am definitely going to visit Key West and drink some rum some cold winter

[TowelKing]

Either that or we should get a large group of us (like 10), go on a roadtrip, and do two things: file complaints about spineless managers or (also just as fun), SCW. We can also show them at the same time how large parties are supposed to act
Key points in a large party to make your server love you:
Act respectably
Don't make a huge mess and leave it
Tip proportionately for the service (I've tipped over 40% before for a waitress who was beyond exlempary)
Ask for a manager and COMPLIMENT her!!!! Seriously. Again, done this before. It absolutely floors waitresses, and call center CSR's when I do it.

So....roadtrip anyone?

[dalesys]

So....roadtrip anyone?

And you will know us by the trail of our dead...

[dragon_wings]

And you will know us by the trail of our dead...

*evil grin*

[Tsiyeria]

LOL.

Actually I would love a list of where people worked so when we go on road trips we could visit. The haunted hotel sounds neat, I *love* BBQ, and I am definitely going to visit Key West and drink some rum some cold winter

Call ahead and I can reserve every single BBQ potato for you.

[Ironclad Alibi]

I call patent on the idea, you know, I'm pretty sure I could survive on free stuff and gift cards while in the US doing this from the stories I hear on the site.

Sorry, no patent for you. Other people have been doing this for years, as has been reported many times in this forum.

[Jester]

PL- I knew he was gonna give it to me if I yelled loud enough. They'll always give you what you want if you yell loud enough.

[patented death stare] Lady, I DARE you to try that shit with me in my bar. I fucking DARE you. You'll hit the street so fast you'll be tasting asphalt for weeks.

ETA: It turned out that what she saw was the last potato of the batch.

So then...how did the manager give her a free one?

Our restaurant closes at 9pm. Promptly at 9pm, we stop taking diners and orders. Regrettably, we are not allowed to turn people away before then, which leads to things like tonight, when a party of TWELVE PEOPLE walks in at 8:30. Our kitchen crew was PISSED. And I, who am usually the first person off the clock (around 9:30) didn't get off until 10:30pm. Why? They didn't even LEAVE until ten!

Sorry, but I'm going to have to disagree with you here. If you stop seating at 9, people who walk in at 8:30 should reasonably expect to get served. If you work in a restaurant (as I have done for, oh, the last 25 years) you need to understand that, while you have a start time, you don't ever really have a clearly defined end time. There will be days where you manage to walk out the door at 9:05. But there will also be days like this. Does it suck? Sure, to a degree. But my friend, it is part of the job.

Welcome to the fun-filled world of food service!

I am definitely going to visit Key West and drink some rum some cold winter.

Not if you try that "let's be a sucky customer to find the spineless managers" idea. Since (A) I don't put up with that stuff, and (B) I don't have spineless managers. Other than that, come on down!

And you will know us by the trail of our dead...

And you will know my name is Jester when I lay my vengeance upon thee!