Saw this on Quora and had to repost it!
by Ariel Williams
A customer complained at us that he never gets extra pickles when he asks for them. He went on and on about his pickle woes while in front of the menu board in our drive-through. His rant went on for what seemed like forever. This held up other customers and our order taker. He insisted that we put a lot of pickles on his burger. Not extra not double but a lot.
In the kitchen we can hear everything said on the drive-through via our own speaker (this is true in most fast food places). So me and the other cook that night Eric looked at each other and the perfectly made Carl's Jr. Famous star with mayo, lettuce, tomato, onion, extra pickle pickle, meat, special sauce and mayo. Traditionally and according to the exact rules, a famous star gets two-three pickle slices and extra is five. I like pickles myself and when someone asks for extra I normally put like six+. But this guy was just rude and really abusive. I reached into the pickle container and grabbed a handful of pickles and Eric lifted the meat and bun.
I then promptly added about 3 times more pickles than meat to the customer's burger. We wrapped it and told Drive-through to bag the order. We said, "One pickle-burger with a side of meat is up".
That customer never complained again. Nor did he ask for a lot of extra pickles...
He got what he asked for and the customer is always right...
EDIT: To clarify..
I worked there for 3 years almost every day of the week and I can guarantee you our standards were high. We always give extra pickles or other stuff when asked and even moreso Carls Jr. doesn't charge for extra like some burger places do. We do this free of charge!
He actually came back the next day and wasn't upset at all, he even apologized for being so mean to the drive through rep. He understood the message we were giving him. And that was WE ARE committed to giving you what you want even if we have to give you a handful of free pickles to do that.
From that point on he just ordered a side of pickles on his orders so then he would get a bunch of pickles more than normal and could add as many of those as he likes.
So things are not quite as cut and dry as some critics tried to make them seem. We taught a rude customer a lesson and really we didn't mess up his food in any way we did what he wanted he insisted on a lot of pickles not extra not double not triple but "I want you to put a whole lot of pickles on there!" He asked and he received.
That is the closest to tampering with an order I ever came to. I would never mess up someones order just because they were mean.
I'll give you another story from the same restraunt(sic)...
We had a guy that refused to accept his order because the drive through girl was black! I am serious. Blew my mind that this could happen in this day and age.
So our shift manager (white) said to the guy politely and smiling through gritted teeth, "okay sir." He then went back into the kitchen had me and the other cooks step back and watch as he proceeded to make a new burger without saying a word. I watched him, he did nothing to it. It was an absolutely perfect burger in every way. Right out of the book.
He then came back to the window and told the guy. "I am the manager. Here is a new burger I made myself and not a single black hand has touched it per your instructions. Oh and by the way I am gay." He then gave the man whom had already paid his option of the burger made by a white gay man or the original burger not even made by the black woman but bagged by her.
Instead he drove off. A valuable lesson was learned and taught that day. Our manager taught us it is never okay to tamper with someones food and we always try to give people what they ask for even if it is unreasonable, that is customer service. If there is an error beyond that and we did our best to accommodate the customer wishes then at least we know we did our best and are not at fault.
FYI I am going to add this one to my answer cause it is such a good story and totally in the same vein. That manager was the coolest guy on Earth in my eyes forever that day. He turned racism into a lesson and moreso he made it into a unique lesson. No none would be tampering in any way with food even for despicable scum like the racist in the drive through that day. He got a standing and clapping ovation from all of the staff that day.
by Ariel Williams
A customer complained at us that he never gets extra pickles when he asks for them. He went on and on about his pickle woes while in front of the menu board in our drive-through. His rant went on for what seemed like forever. This held up other customers and our order taker. He insisted that we put a lot of pickles on his burger. Not extra not double but a lot.
In the kitchen we can hear everything said on the drive-through via our own speaker (this is true in most fast food places). So me and the other cook that night Eric looked at each other and the perfectly made Carl's Jr. Famous star with mayo, lettuce, tomato, onion, extra pickle pickle, meat, special sauce and mayo. Traditionally and according to the exact rules, a famous star gets two-three pickle slices and extra is five. I like pickles myself and when someone asks for extra I normally put like six+. But this guy was just rude and really abusive. I reached into the pickle container and grabbed a handful of pickles and Eric lifted the meat and bun.
I then promptly added about 3 times more pickles than meat to the customer's burger. We wrapped it and told Drive-through to bag the order. We said, "One pickle-burger with a side of meat is up".
 |
| (Mock-up image I made for illustrative purposes. Source image Carl's Jr.) |
He got what he asked for and the customer is always right...
EDIT: To clarify..
I worked there for 3 years almost every day of the week and I can guarantee you our standards were high. We always give extra pickles or other stuff when asked and even moreso Carls Jr. doesn't charge for extra like some burger places do. We do this free of charge!
He actually came back the next day and wasn't upset at all, he even apologized for being so mean to the drive through rep. He understood the message we were giving him. And that was WE ARE committed to giving you what you want even if we have to give you a handful of free pickles to do that.
From that point on he just ordered a side of pickles on his orders so then he would get a bunch of pickles more than normal and could add as many of those as he likes.
So things are not quite as cut and dry as some critics tried to make them seem. We taught a rude customer a lesson and really we didn't mess up his food in any way we did what he wanted he insisted on a lot of pickles not extra not double not triple but "I want you to put a whole lot of pickles on there!" He asked and he received.
That is the closest to tampering with an order I ever came to. I would never mess up someones order just because they were mean.
I'll give you another story from the same restraunt(sic)...
We had a guy that refused to accept his order because the drive through girl was black! I am serious. Blew my mind that this could happen in this day and age.
So our shift manager (white) said to the guy politely and smiling through gritted teeth, "okay sir." He then went back into the kitchen had me and the other cooks step back and watch as he proceeded to make a new burger without saying a word. I watched him, he did nothing to it. It was an absolutely perfect burger in every way. Right out of the book.
He then came back to the window and told the guy. "I am the manager. Here is a new burger I made myself and not a single black hand has touched it per your instructions. Oh and by the way I am gay." He then gave the man whom had already paid his option of the burger made by a white gay man or the original burger not even made by the black woman but bagged by her.
Instead he drove off. A valuable lesson was learned and taught that day. Our manager taught us it is never okay to tamper with someones food and we always try to give people what they ask for even if it is unreasonable, that is customer service. If there is an error beyond that and we did our best to accommodate the customer wishes then at least we know we did our best and are not at fault.
FYI I am going to add this one to my answer cause it is such a good story and totally in the same vein. That manager was the coolest guy on Earth in my eyes forever that day. He turned racism into a lesson and moreso he made it into a unique lesson. No none would be tampering in any way with food even for despicable scum like the racist in the drive through that day. He got a standing and clapping ovation from all of the staff that day.
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