(I work at a semi-fast food restaurant that has a drive-thru. Someone has just come to the speaker box.)

Me: “Hi! Go ahead and order when you’re ready!”

(Silence for about three minutes as I finish handing out orders.)

Me: “Did you have any questions?”

(Silence. The car then pulls forward to my window.)

Customer: “Can I get a 34 with a Pepsi?”

(Thinking something might be wrong with our speaker.)

Me: “Sure! May I ask why you didn’t order at the speaker box? Could you not hear me?”

Customer: “Oh! I order back there?! I didn’t know that! I had my window up the whole time so, no, I didn’t hear you! I’m new to this.”

Me: “Oh… okay… Well, when you go through a drive-thru it’s best to roll your window down at the menu as that’s where you normally order.”

(I still wonder what she meant by saying she’s “new to this.”)

(I am in the car with my mother and brother, and we stop by the drive-thru of a popular chain coffee and donut shop.)

Employee: “Welcome to [Restaurant], how may I help you?”

Mom: “Could I have a small white hot chocolate and a small plain hot chocolate, please?”

Employee: “Okay, so, two large hot chocolates?”

Mom: “No. A small white hot chocolate and a small plain hot chocolate.”

Employee: “So, a small white hot chocolate and a large plain hot chocolate?”

Mom: “No! A small white hot chocolate and a small plain hot chocolate.”

Employee: “Two small plain hot chocolates?”

Mom: “NO! A small white hot chocolate and a small plain hot chocolate, please!”

(Much to our alarm/amusement, the employee begins laughing!)

Employee: “Okay, a small white hot chocolate and a small plain hot chocolate?”

Mom: “YES. Thank you!”

(To this day I still have no idea what was going through that employee’s mind. I sure do know what was going through my mom’s!)

(My dad, brother, and I offer to pick up a quick dinner for my mom, who is home and has to go to work soon. My dad pulls up to the speaker of a fast food restaurant. My mom has a very severe milk allergy [not just lactose intolerance], so she only gets plain hamburgers, no cheese.)

Dad: *into the speaker* “Hi, can I get a #1 combo, just ketchup? And no cheese on the burger.”

Worker #1: “No problem. A hamburger combo, plain just ketchup?”

Dad: “Yes, and no cheese. My wife is allergic.”

Worker #1: “Okay. Your total is [total]. Please pull forward.”

(We get up to the window to pay, and [Worker #1] hands my dad the receipt. He double checks it and it says “#1 combo-ketchup and cheese”. He gets [Worker #1’s] attention.)

Dad: “The receipt says cheese on the burger. I need it to be plain with just ketchup.”

Worker #1: “Uh… yeah. It’ll be without cheese.” *slams window shut*

(When the worker returns, he gives us the bag. My dad pulls ahead a bit and asks my brother to check the sandwich. Sure enough, it has ketchup and what appears to be cheese that was hastily scraped off. No one is behind him, so he reverses back to the pick up window. [Worker #1] is speaking with someone at the speaker, so we wait. After taking the other order, he looks at my dad, rolls his eyes and ignores him. My dad takes the burger from the bag, and holds it out the window, waving it around. Finally [Worker #1] opens the window.)

Dad: “You said it wouldn’t have cheese, but this clearly has cheese you just scraped off.”

([Worker #1] takes the burger, throws it at an inside trash can, hard, and walks away without a word. After a moment, [Worker #2] comes back with a new burger.)

Worker #2: “Here you go, sir. Sorry about that. This one has no cheese.” *My dad starts to unwrap it to check.* “Oh, you don’t need to check, I made that myself. No cheese.”

Dad: “Yeah, that’s what the last guy said. My wife is extremely allergic to milk, so if this had cheese your restaurant would have a real problem on your hands.”

Worker #2: “Well, this one has no cheese. Good night.” *She shuts the window and walks away.*

(My dad is known to ask for a manager and rightfully complain when situations like this happen [and unfortunately these happen to him an a regular basis, and he is not one to suffer fools]. But because my mom was working soon he decided against it this time. Later, he did the customer survey explaining what happened, and was offered a free combo. His response to them: “I’ll vote for [despised president] before I eat at your restaurant again.”)

(The way our tills used to be set up, we had to ring in a side order before it would let us ring in the drink for any given combo. We are also trained to ask which side a customer would like. This particular day, I’m taking drive thru orders.)

Me: “Welcome to [Restaurant]. ow may I help you?”

Customer: “[Combo #1] with [drink], [Combo #6] with a large [drink]…”

Me: “I’m sorry, could you tell me what the sides are with those combos? I can’t ring anything else in before the sides.”

Customer: “Just whatever it comes with. Then a [Combo #2] with [drink] and a [Combo #5] with [drink]. You got all that?”

Me: “I’m sorry, I don’t. I still need the side for the first combo in order to proceed with the others.”

Customer: “God, just give me whatever it normally comes with.”

Me: “We actually offer a few different options. We have [lists sides].”

Customer: “Yes, that’s fine.”

Me: “Sorry, but which one would you like? I still can’t get past your first combo without knowing; then I’ll still need it for the others as well.”

Customer: “FRIES. Your combos come with FRIES and that’s what I want.”

Me: “Thank you, but as I said, we offer several options, which is why I asked. I didn’t want to ring in the wrong items. Are the others going to be with fries as well, then?”

Customer: “YES! Why is it so hard for you to know what your own food comes with?”

(Sadly, this happens far too often…)

(We only have three staff on at this point in the evening. I’m the only cashier, and, as such, I’m working the front and drive-thru. I have just taken a couple orders in drive-thru and am now taking orders for the front counter. Halfway through taking a front order, my headset goes off. Note, the other two staff members are unable to help, as they are also busy.)

Me: “Welcome to [Restaurant], I’ll be with you in just one moment.”

Customer: *clearly not listening* “Can I please have a—”

Me: “I’m sorry; I’ll just be with you in one moment.”

(I turn the volume down so I can pay attention to the customer I’m already dealing with. I finish with them and go back to the drive-thru.)

Me: “Thank you for waiting. How may I help you?”

Customer: “…with a large fry. Did you get all that?”

Me: “I’m sorry, I didn’t. I was with another guest, but I’m free to take your order now.”

Customer: “Then why did you say you were going to take my order if you weren’t going to listen?”

Me: “With all due respect, I politely informed you that I’d be with you shortly, twice. But now that I’m free, I’ll be more than happy to take your order.”

Customer: “Well, I shouldn’t have to repeat myself. You should have been paying attention like you said you were.”

(She ended up repeating her order, but she wasn’t happy about it.)