How to be a better Customer: Fast Food Edition

I have worked at a fast food restaurant (that I have chosen to not name for the safety of everyone) ever since I was 14 years old. I have seen the absolute best and the absolute worst of people coming in and out of my store. There have been times where I observe a cute old couple out in the lobby sharing an ice cream cone, but then will hear about one of my old co-workers being held at gun point behind the counter on an overnight shift. Ridiculous. You may be having a rough day, but there is no need to hold someone at gun point for putting pickles on your sandwich when you didn’t want them (or whatever the case may be) I understand that we make mistakes, and we should have gotten it right the first time; but I also strongly believe that if the human interaction was better-not only from the employee but from the customer as well-you would get much better, faster, quality service.

So, after working for a fast food restaurant for almost a decade of my life, I have some helpful tips that may help YOU be a better customer for not only your well-being, but for the employees (even managers) as well.

1.  Just because we work at (enter fast food restaurant here) does NOT mean we are unintelligent, lazy, or that we are “devoting the rest of our lives flipping burgers.”

Most of the people who work at a fast food restaurant are working there to help them get through school. In fact, fast food restaurants are some, if not THE best places that will work perfectly with YOUR school schedule because they understand school comes first and will work with you (while helping you develop higher within their system) to ensure you are successful all around.

Then again, even if people aren’t going to school, it is a job. It makes money. It pays their bills and provides their families with food on the table. Show some dignity and respect that these people work extremely hard and still put a smile on their greasy faces for you. Some employees have also worked their way up without an education and then may end up making more money than you by “dedicating the rest of their lives flipping burgers”. So don’t judge.

Helpful Hint: Recognize the employees and managers for how hard they work and compliment them. They RARELY get positive things spoken to them.

2.  I don’t know how many times I have heard “It’s called FAST FOOD for a reason! I don’t understand what is taking so long!”

Okay, so there are times where we are extremely busy and can’t keep up with the high volume of orders coming in to our restaurant. There is not an item on the menu that takes more than 12 minutes to make. 12 minutes. That’s it. We do our best to ensure how long you would have to wait and ensure we give you the best quality food (and even coupons for your wait!)

Helpful Hint: The nicer you are about a little wait, or even a little mistake we made, the more the Manager and/or Employee will do for you. I guarantee it. No sandwich that is messed up is worth getting that upset about.

3. Be Nice.

One slow Sunday morning, I did an experiment on how many times a customer would acknowledge my existence and ask how I was doing after asking them how they were doing. Out of 10 customers, only 3 customers asked how I was doing back. This may sound silly to some of you, but you have no idea how many customers don’t even look up at us when we hand them their order in the drive-thru and just speed away. What are we? Chopped liver? No, we are people too.

Helpful Hint: Take a second out of your day to ask the employee getting your food and drinks together how they are doing and wish them a good day. More chances than not are you going to go on to have a better day than they are.

4. Listen.

I took an order on the drive-thru headset yesterday and I said “Okay, would you like a Coke to drink with that meal today?” and the customer replied with “No, I will have a Coke.”

WHAT?!

Another example that happened to an employee recently on the drive-thru headset where she stated “Is everything correct on your screen?” and the customer said, “No.” So the employee stated, “I apologize what do I need to correct for you?” and the customer yells “I SAID I AM DONE WITH MY ORDER!!” and speeds off to the first window. *awkward turtle hand motion*

Helpful Hint: We know the menu like we know the back of our hand. We’re just trying to help you get exactly what you need. Listen to us, please.

5. We think your kids are adorable, but please, don’t let them order through the drive-thru.

Children are hard to hear over your car, and we would much rather interact with them in person instead. That way we are sure to get the correct order and make everyone happy.

Helpful Hint: Come inside and let them order, we have more fun with them that way. I know as a kid, I LOVED going in the “d-o-o-r” Chances are they will like it better too.

6. Do a random act of kindness, and pay for the order behind you.

It makes my heart SO HAPPY when someone pays for the order behind them, and then this super awesome domino effect happens where SO MANY people after pay for the order behind them. SO cool to watch and I can assure you, it will make you feel good too!

Helpful Hint: see above.

7. Don’t use vulgar words or lose your temper.

If you take a moment to really think about it, unless you were completely and utterly disrespected and treated poorly by an employee or another customer, is anything that bad  that could happen at a fast food restaurant make you so angry to where you curse out the employee and/or manager and end up throwing things at them? I bet you the answer is always no. One evening, I was short-staffed, I was the only manager, I was getting my butt KICKED and then all of a sudden a customer stormed in, called me a b**** and literally threw a bag of food at me. You bet I cried, and none of that should have happened in the first place. There are MUCH better ways to approach human beings when you have a problem.

Helpful Hint: Count to ten and take deep breaths before coming in to have an employee and/or manager fix a mistake they made in a calm manner.

8. Excuse us when we appear grumpy (or are grumpy). 

We may have just handled a customer who just cursed us out and then you were the very next customer to help. Take in consideration the business of the store and the environment we are having to adapt to and conquer (literally). We are doing a million different things in about ten second intervals. It has taken me YEARS to not to take things personally of how a customer interacts with me, however, that may not be the case for other employees. Then again, there are times when employees and managers can be difficult when you didn’t do anything wrong, and that is not okay.

Helpful Hint: Give them the benefit of the doubt, be kind and give them a fist bump.

9. Everyone makes mistakes.

No one is perfect. Please don’t expect us to be either. We are human too!

Helpful Hint: Instead of giving the employee that disgusted look you may give, instead say: ‘You know I read this article the other day and it made me understand the common negative experiences you go through everyday. Don’t worry, we all make mistakes.’ and see how awesome they respond to you and your needs.

10. Put yourself in their shoes.

We work the shifts that you wouldn’t want to work. We are there for you when you are drunk and/or hung over and/or high and whatever else you could be to provide you with what you need at the time, no matter what time of day it is. We also clean up after you, too. We keep a calm composure when we are getting yelled at, and do our best to keep smiling and not let it ruin our day. I really do feel that everyone should work in the fast food industry for at least a year to understand what we experience and how much it helps you in your life outside of work.

Helpful Hint: Watch documentaries or observe the day in the life of a fast food employee. Chances are your opinion will change about them.

If you work for a fast food industry, comment below and let me know your thoughts! Do you think this helped you? Do you think it could help our future customers? To the rest of you, I hope you enjoyed and were able to reflect on these things. We appreciate you and your business, and would appreciate your kindness and compassion even more. 🙂

xoxo,

Carissa ♥