You should know that behind my "Service Sucks" postings beats the heart of an ex-restaurant manager. Before I was a techie, before I was a music teacher, I was a restaurant manager. I learned from some of the best. Our restaurant ran smoothly and with a high level of service and expectation of our employees.
It is because of this history that I find myself "compelled" to share my experiences.
It should be noted, however, that I will also post about "Awesome Service" (or even really GOOD service), when it is applicable.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Out of Iced Coffee? (Service Sucks)
Tonight, I needed to run into work for a few hours to do some updating on our SIS, and I decided that I would run through McDs for an iced coffee. I have really come to enjoy these in the evenings, even though I know I can create something similar at home for about $.02 - I think the $2.13 for the large vanilla or hazelnut version from McDs is okay.
[Aside: Yesterday, gas went over $4/gal where I live for the first time, and so now I'm adding the cost of going to a drive-through to my actual cost of the purchase itself. Having said that, I'm guessing the $2.13 iced coffee is now worth about $4.50 with gas added on.]
Back to my story...
So I'm sitting in the McDs drive-through, I've ordered my large hazelnut iced coffee, and I'm now waiting in what's got to be the slowest Sunday night drive-through I've experienced in a LONG time! (Doesn't McDs pride itself on getting each order through the drive-through in under 90 seconds or something like that?) I'm guessing that instead of the six cars in front of me having ordered HUGE orders, that actually the staff inside the building is what I might term "the D squad". Bummer.
Going back to my worries about the cost of gas, now I'm also thinking about how much money I'm wasting by my car idling while I wait. Should I turn it off? I'm sure that as soon as I do, I'll get the chance to move forward...so I keep the engine running. (Sucker.)
Now, I'm finally to the first window, where I hand the disheveled high school sophomore (I'm being generous - he was probably a freshman or an 8th grader at best) my $2.13. Not only does he look at me and NOT thank me for my money, but I think he was disappointed that I had exact change and he didn't get the chance to grab the "clinky money" out of the little spiral coin dispenser that they have. Bummer - again.
Now I'm waiting some more to move to the window where my yummy, cold iced coffee will be waiting for me.
Ha, ha! I thought too fast!
I get to the second window, and slightly more put-together high school junior (girl) looks at me and says (almost politely), "Um, sir - I'm sorry but we're out of iced coffee." (If she had stopped here, I would have been less ticked off, but she continued.) "He should have told you that when you first ordered, or at least when you got to the first window. Would you like something else to drink or a refund?"
WHAT??? OUT OF ICED COFFEE!!!!???
Seriously - how can this be? Iced coffee, at McDs, is made of coffee syrup (I'd be more happy if it was actually made with chilled, strongly-brewed coffee), milk, ice, and flavoring syrup. That's it - nothing else! I should have actually asked which ingredient they were "out of" - I'm guessing it wasn't ice, or milk, or flavoring ('cause I could see the flavoring pumps) - I'm guessing it was the coffee syrup.
Like a chump - I just told the girl I'd take my money back. I should have asked to speak with the manager because of the LEVEL of inconvenience I had been put through: the wait time in the drive-through, the wasted gas, and the stupidity of the high school kids that this manager was supposed to be overseeing.
Now, let's get something straight - I don't anticipate a "free-anything" when something like this happens, but a little more courtesy (most likely on the part of the manager) would have been worth it. Tonight, this crew did NOT make a "Raving Fan" (http://tinyurl.com/26s4ra) out of me!
Lastly, let me point out that the first girl who helped me (second window) went and got my refund quickly, but, when she came back she handed it off to another girl, who, in turn, handed it to me. The second girl gave no apology, no "We're very sorry sir, we hope you have a nice night, and give McDonalds a try again in the near future" - NOTHING.
Let me just say that I don't blame the high school kids working the drive-throughs for these break-downs in service. I COMPLETELY blame the store managers. Restaurant management is the prime problem in service-related problems these days. When "Service Sucks", management should be blamed first, and foremost. This will be the topic of my next blog posting. Thanks for reading.
P.S. So, you might ask, what became of my need for a coffee - luckily less than 2 blocks from McDs is Starbucks. Tonight, they got my money.
[Aside: Yesterday, gas went over $4/gal where I live for the first time, and so now I'm adding the cost of going to a drive-through to my actual cost of the purchase itself. Having said that, I'm guessing the $2.13 iced coffee is now worth about $4.50 with gas added on.]
Back to my story...
So I'm sitting in the McDs drive-through, I've ordered my large hazelnut iced coffee, and I'm now waiting in what's got to be the slowest Sunday night drive-through I've experienced in a LONG time! (Doesn't McDs pride itself on getting each order through the drive-through in under 90 seconds or something like that?) I'm guessing that instead of the six cars in front of me having ordered HUGE orders, that actually the staff inside the building is what I might term "the D squad". Bummer.
Going back to my worries about the cost of gas, now I'm also thinking about how much money I'm wasting by my car idling while I wait. Should I turn it off? I'm sure that as soon as I do, I'll get the chance to move forward...so I keep the engine running. (Sucker.)
Now, I'm finally to the first window, where I hand the disheveled high school sophomore (I'm being generous - he was probably a freshman or an 8th grader at best) my $2.13. Not only does he look at me and NOT thank me for my money, but I think he was disappointed that I had exact change and he didn't get the chance to grab the "clinky money" out of the little spiral coin dispenser that they have. Bummer - again.
Now I'm waiting some more to move to the window where my yummy, cold iced coffee will be waiting for me.
Ha, ha! I thought too fast!
I get to the second window, and slightly more put-together high school junior (girl) looks at me and says (almost politely), "Um, sir - I'm sorry but we're out of iced coffee." (If she had stopped here, I would have been less ticked off, but she continued.) "He should have told you that when you first ordered, or at least when you got to the first window. Would you like something else to drink or a refund?"
WHAT??? OUT OF ICED COFFEE!!!!???
Seriously - how can this be? Iced coffee, at McDs, is made of coffee syrup (I'd be more happy if it was actually made with chilled, strongly-brewed coffee), milk, ice, and flavoring syrup. That's it - nothing else! I should have actually asked which ingredient they were "out of" - I'm guessing it wasn't ice, or milk, or flavoring ('cause I could see the flavoring pumps) - I'm guessing it was the coffee syrup.
Like a chump - I just told the girl I'd take my money back. I should have asked to speak with the manager because of the LEVEL of inconvenience I had been put through: the wait time in the drive-through, the wasted gas, and the stupidity of the high school kids that this manager was supposed to be overseeing.
Now, let's get something straight - I don't anticipate a "free-anything" when something like this happens, but a little more courtesy (most likely on the part of the manager) would have been worth it. Tonight, this crew did NOT make a "Raving Fan" (http://tinyurl.com/26s4ra) out of me!
Lastly, let me point out that the first girl who helped me (second window) went and got my refund quickly, but, when she came back she handed it off to another girl, who, in turn, handed it to me. The second girl gave no apology, no "We're very sorry sir, we hope you have a nice night, and give McDonalds a try again in the near future" - NOTHING.
Let me just say that I don't blame the high school kids working the drive-throughs for these break-downs in service. I COMPLETELY blame the store managers. Restaurant management is the prime problem in service-related problems these days. When "Service Sucks", management should be blamed first, and foremost. This will be the topic of my next blog posting. Thanks for reading.
P.S. So, you might ask, what became of my need for a coffee - luckily less than 2 blocks from McDs is Starbucks. Tonight, they got my money.
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