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Thread: The official "Bad customer service" thread

  1. #1

    The official "Bad customer service" thread

    Saw a few folks sharing horror stories over on the Cafe Rio thread, so I wanted to break this out and share our best customer service nightmares.

    I mentioned this briefly over there, but one of my favorites is a trip I took through the taco bell drive thru. This was back in my single days when my friends and I had very little to do on weekends. We were watching sports one night, got hungry, decided to go to taco bell (not uncommon: our taco bell is notorious for horrendous service and we went there usually for a good laugh). We ordered. nothing major, just the usual stuff. There were probably five cars in front of us. After an hour and only a few of the cars moving forward, we got tired of waiting. The car in front of us was not happy at all. the driver kept banging on the window, to no avail. the little kids in back started throwing stuff at the window, again to no avail. The woman finally got out of the passenger seat, went inside the store and we could see her just ripping into these guys. Finally, she got back in the car and they just drove off with no food. We pulled up to the window and the worker just lit into me right away......."ARE YOU EVEN GOING TO GET YOUR FOOD, OR ARE YOU JUST GOING TO DRIVE AWAY? IM SICK OF THIS!!!!!!!!!!!"

    Yeah, I just had to laugh. An hour and twenty minutes waiting, not only does he not apologize profusely, but he yells at me before I can even say anything at all?

    So anyway, what are your best customer service experiences?

  2. #2
    I love Taco Bell drive-thru stories. We had a similarly notoriously bad one near our high school. It never mattered how simple, how clear, or how many times we went over our order, it was never correct and someone was always getting shafted. In the end, we just started telling them that we needed enough food for x number of people in the car. "Surprise us."

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Dwight Schr-Ute View Post
    I love Taco Bell drive-thru stories. We had a similarly notoriously bad one near our high school. It never mattered how simple, how clear, or how many times we went over our order, it was never correct and someone was always getting shafted. In the end, we just started telling them that we needed enough food for x number of people in the car. "Surprise us."
    Taco Bell's food is subpar even by fast food standards, but what really pisses me off is that every single taco I've ever ordered from them was filled with roughly 75% lettuce, 15% tomatoes and/or cheese, and 10% meat. It's bad enough that they use a meat separator that makes the beef slightly more consistent than soup.

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by sancho View Post
    I used to love the comedy of the 7 layer burrito. The 7 layers would be great if laid out on top of each other. Instead, they always put them together in clumps from one end of the burrito to the other. First bite? All sour cream. Then all meat. All lettuce. All guacamole. And so on.
    That's funny 'cause yesterday I ordered a burrito from El Pollo Loco, and it was half lettuce (more like cabbage), and half chicken, perfectly split down the middle. That wouldn't be so bad if the burritos were smaller, but they make them so big that you have to bite each side one at a time. If you're familiar with El Pollo Loco then you know that they're basically a better version of taco bell, but with chicken dishes. They're also more expensive, so it really irks me when they can't get the simplest things right. I make burritos maybe once a year at home, and I seem to be able to figure it out. These people do it for a living, and still mess mine up. Rant over.
    Last edited by 480ute; 04-11-2013 at 11:55 AM.

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by 480ute View Post
    Taco Bell's food is subpar even by fast food standards, but what really pisses me off is that every single taco I've ever ordered from them was filled with roughly 75% lettuce, 15% tomatoes and/or cheese, and 10% meat. It's bad enough that they use a meat separator that makes the beef slightly more consistent than soup.
    Taco Bell is truly awful. I have no idea how they thrive the way they do in San Diego. There are plentiful options for quality, cheap Mexican joints within a stone's throw of most Taco Smell stores. It makes no sense to me why people would pay the same money for dog food.
    Desse jeito, não tem jeito.

  6. #6
    Back in 1982, a few friends and I were on our way to Palm Springs to celebrate graduating from high school. We decided to stop at the McDonald's in Payson to get some food. We ordered our food and waited at the window for over an hour. It was a Sunday afternoon and not only were we the only car in the drive-thru, we could see no customers inside the restaurant. Finally, our food arrived and we asked why it took so long to get us our food. The lady at the window - who I learned later was the manager - told us that it was policy to not cook single items - the four of us had ordered different items from the menu - and that they had to wait until they got orders from other customers for the same food before they could cook it. I didn't notice that there was a rather long line of cars behind me until she mentioned having to wait for other customers.

    Rather than get upset at the stupidity, I just thanked her for the explanation and told my friends that we were going to stay in my car and eat everything before I started the engine and drove away. People behind us started to get upset and were leaning on their horns. This manager came to the window and told me that I had to move out of the way so the other customers could get their orders. I told her that it was my policy to not eat while driving, so I was going to eat first, then I would move out of the way.

    About 5 minutes later, the cops arrived and told us to leave the premises. I told the officer the entire story of our wait and that I was trying to give the manager a taste of her own medicine. He kind of chuckled and said that he didn't ever go through that drive-thru because it was so slow and said that while he thought it was amusing, I needed to be more considerate of the other customers and told me to go on my way.

    Because I had finished eating, it was safe to drive, so I complied, waved to the manager and went on my way.
    "Ninety feet between home plate and first base may be the closest man has ever come to perfection." - Red Smith

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by GarthUte View Post
    Back in 1982, a few friends and I were on our way to Palm Springs to celebrate graduating from high school. We decided to stop at the McDonald's in Payson to get some food. We ordered our food and waited at the window for over an hour. It was a Sunday afternoon and not only were we the only car in the drive-thru, we could see no customers inside the restaurant. Finally, our food arrived and we asked why it took so long to get us our food. The lady at the window - who I learned later was the manager - told us that it was policy to not cook single items - the four of us had ordered different items from the menu - and that they had to wait until they got orders from other customers for the same food before they could cook it. I didn't notice that there was a rather long line of cars behind me until she mentioned having to wait for other customers.

    Rather than get upset at the stupidity, I just thanked her for the explanation and told my friends that we were going to stay in my car and eat everything before I started the engine and drove away. People behind us started to get upset and were leaning on their horns. This manager came to the window and told me that I had to move out of the way so the other customers could get their orders. I told her that it was my policy to not eat while driving, so I was going to eat first, then I would move out of the way.

    About 5 minutes later, the cops arrived and told us to leave the premises. I told the officer the entire story of our wait and that I was trying to give the manager a taste of her own medicine. He kind of chuckled and said that he didn't ever go through that drive-thru because it was so slow and said that while he thought it was amusing, I needed to be more considerate of the other customers and told me to go on my way.

    Because I had finished eating, it was safe to drive, so I complied, waved to the manager and went on my way.
    Awesome!

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by sancho View Post
    I used to love the comedy of the 7 layer burrito. The 7 layers would be great if laid out on top of each other. Instead, they always put them together in clumps from one end of the burrito to the other. First bite? All sour cream. Then all meat. All lettuce. All guacamole. And so on.
    one of the best pranks i ever pulled on taco bell was to order the seven layer burrito, but without layers 2 and 5. when i got it, a buddy of mine took it back and said that he had asked for layers 2 and 5 to be excluded, but they had excluded 3 and 5 and that three was one of his favorite layers. I dont know of a faster way to infuriate a fast food worker.

  9. #9
    Sam the Sheepdog LA Ute's Avatar
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    I think Garth may have already won the thread.

    "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
    --Antoine de Saint-Exupery

    "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
    --Yeats

    “True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”

    --John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell

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  11. #11
    Educating Cyrus wuapinmon's Avatar
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    Garth was guilty of trespassing on private property when he refused to leave.
    "This culture doesn't sell modesty. It sells "I am more modest than you" modesty." -- Two Utes

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by wuapinmon View Post
    Garth was guilty of trespassing on private property when he refused to leave.
    So?
    "Ninety feet between home plate and first base may be the closest man has ever come to perfection." - Red Smith

  13. #13
    Educating Cyrus wuapinmon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GarthUte View Post
    So?
    What would you do if someone refused to leave your property after having been instructed by you to do so?
    "This culture doesn't sell modesty. It sells "I am more modest than you" modesty." -- Two Utes

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