Why Can't Fast Food Joints Ever Get Your Order Right?

You may find this hard to believe, but I've never gotten a wrong fast food order! Ever! I've gotten some bad quality ones though. As recently as my birthday back in late February. I ordered from my favorite Italian joint, a large pepperoni pie. The crust on the bottom of the pizza was burned pretty badly. I've also gotten dry burgers, and over-cooked pizza before. But never a really wrong order. Where I had to come back and say "hey, this isn't mine". Most of the joints in my area, BK, Mickey D's etc....hand out a ticket with the receipt. So if they call #89, and your ticket says #89....then you know you're getting the right order. I guess that keeps mistakes from happening.

 

I also have never encountered such. I think it depends on the region? In the city where I live, workers here value their jobs whether they are sixteen or sixty. And contrary to what you observe, here in our region, teenagers are the ones who are dependable on these things. They are aggressive in their work and keen into details, and even work beyond the nature of their jobs. That is because, these teens have to prove to themselves that they can stand in their own feet, can earn a decent income, and even can be promoted to a higher position despite their young age. To have a lot of achievements is favorable for them because it beefs up their resume or CA when they apply to bigger companies.

What I observe in fastfood joints, however, is my misfortune in always falling in line that moves really slow. I am a jinx when it comes to that. I would choose a line that has the shortest queue and for some reason, it will not move at all. I am still in line whilst the one who just came in and chose to fall in line in the counter next mine is served ahead of me.

 

I've had this problem, and it does depend on your location. I've also found that it depends on the time of day, so maybe experiment with different times of the day and maybe even different days. You need to find out when the bad employees are working and try to avoid them. It might also help to contact the franchisee, it can make a difference.

 

I have also never got an order so wrong before maybe just because I don't go to fast food places that often.
I normally just go and order simple things and I somehow never have to stand in long lines. I think the main reason that fast food places get orders mixed up is because they have so many people ordering the same thing but differently which makes it very hard for them to get it right,

 

The lines are slow because so many people who go to fast food places are unfamiliar with the menu. They go there and just kind of pussyfoot around at what they want. They just don't go in and decide or decide while they're on line. They get to the register, and then kind of ponder while the cashier is rolling their eyes. And sometimes when they have kids with them, they change their order like 3 times because there was a mis-communication or the child has changed their mind for the fourth time. Best to avoid lines with older people or anyone with kids.

 

Here at Costco, they usually get my order for pizza wrong. I specifically say I want half combo and half pepperoni, yet they give me either full combo or full cheese, which is very odd.
It tends to get annoying, but the pizza there is pretty great.

 

Oh I used to have lots of arguments with takeaway shops getting my orders wrong! I am not meant to eat mayonnaise so when I order a chicken burger I will always say "no mayonnaise" at least twice and because pretty much everyone else has mayonnaise they would still put it in. A couple of times I got so angry and hurled the burger at the person serving. Now I go to the same place who knows how I like my burger.

 

I think the people who work at fast food places like chain places? Not diners, are obligated not to do specialty orders. If they remove the mayo, or hold the mayo for you. Or the pickles, or the ketchup, cheese, etc. Then pretty soon, everyone is gonna be asking for specialty orders. And they won't be able to keep up with the orders. If you think service is slow at fast food places now, wait till the floodgates of "hold this" or "hold that" open. Then you'll have all sorts of orders for no pickles, or no mayo. And the cooks will have to remove some of this stuff themselves from the sandwich which slows them down. At diners, or mom and pop places, since their lines aren't as long. And they answer to a manager who doesn't answer to a big corporation. They can afford to remove or hold items from your sandwich.

 

I think that that depends on who is catering to your order. Not all teenagers have bad work ethics, and sometimes they just can't help but make mistakes, especially if they're overwhelmed with the number of customers. In my case, I don't remember if I have ever gotten a wrong order. My food was served/delivered the way I wanted to.

 

Fast food restaurants do just what their name implies...serve food fast. The order takers have so much to memorize and write down they have a large chance of mixing orders. It is a fast paced, stressful job, believe me.

 

It always depends on the place. There are places where there are so many people at the same time, that it's really hard for them to keep everyone good and happy. And yes, there is a lot of that problem where most of people that work there is too young and does a horrible job, but not everyone is perfect and they got to learn from somewhere.

 

I once got a bag of McDonald's that was missing the Big Mac. The reason was that the teenage girl working at the counter had another girl from her school come and confront her and make fun of her job.
They got in a heated argument. I was so uncomfortable and in such a hurry to get out of there that I just took my bag of food without checking it. When I got home, I noticed my daughter's order was there but my sandwich was missing.

By the way, I think it's pretty crappy that another girl would go out of her way to torment the cashier about working in a fast food place and I hope the cashier let her have it.

 

On the flip side Fast food places are not necessarily great places to work. The employees probably don't care that much because they are working hard for minimum wage. While I agree that it is annoying when they get your order wrong it isn't really the end of the world. I just check before I leave to make sure that it is right!

 

That's why there's a push to raise the minimum wage in America now. And some cities have done that already. Many restaurants are either understaffed, or filled with workers who don't give a crap. But if you raise their pay substantially, then more quality people apply. And most of all, more workers for a place that is severely short on them.

 

WOW! They forgot to give you your big mac lol! You should always checked before you walk away, big mistake not to. I know I always do. But didn't you notice that the bag was a little light?

 

I can't even remember a single time where my order was wrong. I usually keep it very simple though and order combos though. For example, I pretty much only ever order the Big Mac combo at McDonalds. I usually only have to order for myself as well so it isn't a lengthy order for them to remember. The only thing I can think of is when they forget to put ketchup or those kind of items in the bag.

 

Happens all the time here...even more baffling? Half the time it's wrong is when I order *plain*! How hard can that possibly be?

 

I don't like ketchup, mustard or mayonnaise at all, so I always order my food plain. About half the time it still comes out loaded with condiments. Yuck.

 

My daughter's food and part of my meal was in the bag so it had enough weight that I didn't notice it was light.

I normally check the bag, but I was so uncomfortable about being there while my cashier was about to get in a fistfight with the other girl that I just wanted to get out of there.