Try thinking before you speak.....

[Racket_Man]

OR

Carry on ONE FREEASKIN conversation at a time

in the food delivery biz there is a bit of an urban legand about how a few "select" customers do not seem to understand that carry out (or take-away) and delivery are TWO SEPERATE AND DISTINCT functions or tasks. carryout (or take away) is where the customer comes to OUR location to pick up said order. delivery is where WE take the order to their location

there is a "story" that goes like this:

customer calls in an order.
customer is asked "Carry out or delivery??" answer is carry out.
order is taken, a total given and an ETA for pickup is given (say 15 minutes)
order then sits and sits and sits and sits for while say 90 minutes
customer calls up store yelling and screaming that they ordered delivery a LONG time ago and have not received their order yet. order is checked and lo and behold it is for carry out not delivery.
customer exclaims that the store should have known that "the order should be carried out to the drivers car, driven to their house and carried out and up to their door.

I myself have never personally encounterd this particular legend BUT tonight ....... we have a winner.

customer calls in and I answer the phone.
me - who else and why do I have any hair or an intact skull left????
SC - no cute name but still dumbass is not really paying attention to the conversation

me - <openning spiel> -- and will this be carryout or delivery
SC - (in a very distinct and clear voice) CARRYOUT
me - <explains specials and takes order>. your total is $xx.xx and pickup time is around 20 minutes
<call ends>

about 10 minutes later SC calls back and wants to add a 2-liter of soda. again I take the call
me - <openning spiel>
SC - Yeah I just called in an order and I am at 123 Moron St. and I would like adda 2-liter to my order.
me - < not sure why this person is giving me their address for a CARRYOUT order> And this order was for CARRYOUT?????
SC - YES
me - <adds soda to the order and give the new total and end the call>

now my super-duper driver spidey sense is now tingling. why would someone give me their address for a carryout order???? I mention this to the MOD as I now believe this customer really wanted an order delivered. MOD atempts to call the customer back but only gets voice mail. MOD leaves a message and says wait until they call back.

well....... you see where this is going, right?????

SC finally calls back some 40 minutes later screaming about where was her delivery order. she claims SHE TOLD the person on the phone she wanted the order DELIVERED.

This person has told me not ONCE but TWICE the order was for carryout.

[ReadyToRetire]

People at my store do that more than I'd like. They'll ask for carry-out but want it delivered.
So when they say that, I say "Do you mean pick-up or delivery?"
That usually clears things up.

[Flying Grype]

I think it's always called pickup around here, rather than carryout. Wonder if it has the same problems. :P

[thehuckster]

I think it's always called pickup around here, rather than carryout. Wonder if it has the same problems. :P

I'm sure it does.

"the order should be picked up and taken to the drivers car, driven to their house and picked up and to their door."

[SailorMan]

I think it's always called pickup around here, rather than carryout. Wonder if it has the same problems. :P

I remember that 10 or 20 years ago, I'd see the phrase 'carry out' used in the UK, Australia, etc., and 'pick up' used in the U.S. The only routine exception seemed to be Chinese food places, and I'm assuming this is from the British influence in Hong Kong. Now, I seem to see 'carry out' used more and more in the U.S.

[EricKei]

One of the only ways around this -- and it doesn't work unless they're listening (eep)....is to end "pick-up/carry-out" orders with something like "OK, you can come get your order in 20 minutes, we'll have it ready for you!"

I've heard both terms here....Usually, pick-up implies that the custy called in an order, while carry-out implies that they placed the order while standing in the store (aka a Walk-In)

[PepperElf]

only thing i could suggest is saying, "that will be $xx.xx. you can pick your order up here in 20 minutes."

but im sure even then someone with selective thinking will get it wrong and misunderstand you