have it 'their' way...

[duder]

i took off work this morning to take my pregnant wife to the doctor. we had a bit of time before the appointment and she was hungry, so we decided to stop by burger king to get some food. when we got there, noone was in line, so i thought, "hey, this will be nice and quick". wrong. we stood at the counter for at least 3 minutes (very long time when you're just standing in front of a cash register) while the manager was jaw-jacking with one of the employees. they weren't talking about work, or anything like that, i think they were talking about a movie or something. all this time, another girl stood just past them... doing nothing, just standing there daydreaming. she looked over at me a couple of times, we made eye contact (you know, the 'i'm ready to order' look), and then she would just look back off into space. finally, the girl came over. i said, "oh, we get to order now?".. not in a totally sarcastic asshole way, but just enough to show that i was bit bothered by standing there while the whole crew just jerked off. she said, "what?" and i repeated what i'd just said. she then says, "are you trying to be smart?" in the same tone that my mom might have used when i was a young teenager. now, keep in mind that this girl looks to be about 17 and i'm 24 (quickly moving toward 25). anyway, i managed to keep my cool and say, "well, kinda, yeah.. we have been waiting here for a while.". she replied with a sarcastic "oh" and rolled her eyes. i still kept my cool. i didn't lash out and ask to speak to her manager or anything, after all, she does work at burger king, not exactly a very glamorous job, and probably isn't very happy about it for which i can't totally blame her. i went on and ordered all our food. she told me the total. i handed her my credit card (don't carry much cash) and my drivers license. she flicks the drivers license back at me and says, "I don't need that." i say, "uh, yeah, you do". she replies," NO, i don't". now i'm pissed off. i said,"look, you're gonna run this as a credit transaction, not debit, correct? so, you'll need to see my license. and beyond that, if you look at where the signature is supposed to be on the back, you'll see that it says 'CHECK ID', so, YES, you will need it." she finished running the transaction without looking at my drivers license.

at this point, i am just totally shocked at what's going on and decide to think about what to do next. i stood by and made sure nobody spit in our food and then took our food over to the table. a few seconds after we sit down, i overhear, "what an asshole..." and "i feel sorry for the wife...." now i'm totally pissed off. i march back to the counter and ask if they have any of the quality of service cards. i'm told that "no, we do not." so i ask who the manager is. turns out, that the manager was the one i overheard saying she felt sorry for my wife. so, i know that the staff doesn't give a shit and the manager is compromised, so i need to go higher. i demand to know who her boss is and how to contact him/her. now the manager writes down a telephone number (very non-chalantly) and flicks the phone number at me. now the manager is acting just like her very stubborn little employee.

i went back to our table and we ate and promptly left.

to me, it seems like although i might have kinda started the altercation, the staff should not have acted in such a manner. now, here's my question. was i just being a huge asshole or were they wrong, or possibly a combonation of both? what do you guys think?

oh, by the way, my decision on whether or not to call the managers boss kinda hinges on what you all have to say, so be honest, please.

peace,

duder

[Pneumonic]

As I opened the reply to this message I understood what the title meant. Clever. In no way shape or form was it your fault. Check it out.

You show up to a business meeting with your boss, but you're a few minutes late. You're boss is forgiving and he lets it go. You go to start the meeting and realize you don't have all your materials. Now though your boss is forgiving, you've begun to try his patience. Your boss asks you in a firm and not welcoming tone, "Where's the rest of the materials?" You jaw off at him with an attitude, "It's at my house. Geez." and then you roll your eyes. Congratulations. You've been fired.

Call the boss and ask for their higher ups number. If the manager of the store is inclined to act as the burger flipper does, you might want to think about where they got trained to do that from. I'd go to the head of the area. I wouldn't even bother with the store. Don't forget to mention your wife being pregnant, though, as well as all the comments they made. Disrespecting a customer is downright ignorant.

[Rikku]

Damn right you wern't in the wrong, I'd have done the same in your position...and then I would call the higher ups and then see whos laughing!

[Kitz E Kat]

People in these job's do get paid real crap wages , so you can expect some bad service, but manners really do cost nothin.

I have worked in some crap jobs paying crap money , but always tried to be nice , why not , makes the day go quick :-)

I would say that there is an "issue" in that particular outlet , and yeah id ring the next in command and complain ,will wake that complacent fucker up a bit .

I could excuse the staff, they should be trained , and motivated to do , and wan't to do a good job , "ok the money sucks , but let's try do a good job here and be happy doin it" , should be the job of the manager.

If he/she can't do that then fuck him/her ( not in the biblical meaning of the word !) , go back with an uzi :-)
See that mofucker dance !!!!!

(Eh, can you use words like that here !! )

PS : good luck with the nipper ( baby ) hope all goes well :-)

[SyntaxHeir]

Two things:

1] Many of my family members have worked or still work in retail and calling the district manager WILL get results. I feel using a Marine Corps analogy will fit well with this crowd so picture the District Manager as the Staff NCO and the store manager as the boot corporal. There really is that big of a difference.

2] I say choose your battles. Decide just how angry you are at these people and balance how much time/effort/grief it will cost you to get involved then make your decision.

[relik]

Syntax you were in the Corps too eh? Are you still in or did you get out? ..I'm out in August :P

ReL

[Cra58cker]

Being a punk azz 19 year old teenager I would have just done exactly what you did duder and just kept my cool and be the "Bigger man" but if I heard that cheeky little Bitch or those disgrunted employees run their mouth about my Girlfriend I'd cause a scene (Believe me)
I'd probably start a fight or start effing and blinding and probably throw a few death threats their way as well...

I'm glad you didn't ;-) Least one of us is all mature.

P.s I'm not a negative person :-P

[ph0t0k]

I'd also contact your credit card company and report the store number as not having confirmed your ID. That should really start a few fires.

Ages ago when working retail I had a customer that hadn't signed the back of his credit card. I asked for a driver's license, which was refused, and for the customer to sign the card, which was also refused. I didn't return the card to the customer, instead calling Visa. The forwarded me up the ladder a couple of times until a credit manager came on and asked to speak to the customer. An argument ensued after which the phone was handed back to me. The credit manager instructed me to destroy the card. That was fun.

If you go through the credit card company, they'll inflict rightous vengence upon the store for you via BK corporate. Someone should loose their job over it anyway.

[relik]

In all honesty, what would calling the boss solve? They probably already know the situation of their employees, and finding someone to work for minimum wage is hard enough as it is.

I would be as pissed as you though, you probably kept your cool more then I would have in a situation like that.

If you want though, call the boss if you hear the same reply from them as you would the punk kids, well you have already done your part then.

ReL

[SyntaxHeir]

@ Relik:

Yeah I was a grunt back in 95-99. I'm better now though thanks. ;)