Creative Solutions For Combative Customers

I am standing in line at a fast food restaurant. The restaurant is very empty; the only people immediately visible to me are the cashier and one customer in front of me in line. It’s a far cry from busy.

The customer in front of me places her order and then goes to sit at a nearby table.

Then, my turn comes up to order. I just so happen to be ordering the exact same thing as the previous customer, right down to the drink and side. I, too, find a table and seat myself.

After a few minutes, the cashier walks into the kitchen, and comes back out with a tray of food. She then calls out the order.

Cashier: “Sir, your order is ready!”

I am literally the only male in the restaurant. The other customer is a woman. Going by the process of elimination, I walk over to the counter to pick up my order. The other customer comes following.

Customer: “Hey! What’s the big idea?!”

Cashier: “I’m sorry, ma’am?”

Customer: “I ordered before he did! Why is he getting his food first?!”

The cashier stammers for a bit and then comes up with this gem.

Cashier: “His order is different from yours.”

Customer: “No, it isn’t! He ordered the exact same thing as I did!”

At this point, I’m actually willing to relinquish my order to placate this customer. Even though it’s technically not my business, I have to admit that it’s a little weird that I’m getting my food before she is. Before I can intervene, the cashier decides to roll the dice yet again with her damage control.

Cashier: “Actually, ma’am, he ordered the spicy version of the combo. You got the regular.”

Customer: “Oh. Okay.” 

Crisis averted, just like that. That was unbelievable, for two reasons. First, there is no spicy option for this particular combo; our orders were literally the exact same. Secondly, the fact that the cashier was able to come up with such a bald-faced lie in spite of all the evidence (one look at the menu and you’d know there was no spicy option) and having it work was just amazing.