I don’t understand how food orders can get messed up. You’re there at the counter giving the cashier the order. The cashier repeats your order back to you. You confirm the order. But when you go pick it up, something has gong awry. Getting from point A to point B shouldn’t be that big of a deal. So is it so hard for them to get the order right. It’s not rocket science to fulfill an order.
Every morning, after work I go to McDonald’s to grab something to eat. Usually, the night before, I didn’t eat anything so I need something before I go to sleep. I don’t feel like waiting in line inside the restaurant so I just quickly go through drive-thru. The lady on the intercom barely hears me something and I don’t know why. My car isn’t that loud and I can hear her just fine. Maybe she needs to turn up the volume on her ear piece.
I always order the same thing from the breakfast menu. Combo #4, which comes with two burrito combo, a hash brown and a drink. Sometimes I super size and get two hash browns and a large drink. When ordering over drive-thru, I can understand that some orders can be mixed up but they try to prevent that. That’s why they repeat your order back to you so you can confirm.
Intercom: Hi, welcome to McDonald’s! May I take your order?
Me: Yes! May I get the #4 with an orange juice?
Intercom: So that’s the two egg burrito combo with an orange juice to drink?
Me: That’s right.
Intercom: Would you like any ketchup for the hash brown?
Me: Yes. And may I get hot salsa as well?
Intercom: So that’s ketch, mayo and hot salsa?
Me: Mayo? Uhhh, that’s correct.
Intercom: Okay. You’re total comes to $5.59. Drive through and pay at the second window please.
Rarely do I get my ordered mixed up during drive-thru because my orders are pretty simple. Number 4, orange juice, hot salsa. I keep my talking to a minimum because it helps with the order taking. If you start to talk too much, the cashier will punch in something wrong. If you go to the drive-thru and order a hamburger with chesse, extra pick, no ketchup, light mustard and with a cherry on top, something is bound to get messed up. I’ve worked in fast food before so I know how the orders are taken. There are some people that will run their mouths as soon as the person on the intercom finishes speaking. Those people expect their orders to be correct the first time. But it’s hard to take down their orders when they’re talking faster than an auctioneer.
On the other hand, if someone is taking their time to give you their order, the likelihood of it messing up is lower. They speak slowly and clearly to ensure that you’ve received the correct information. But that’s not always the case. Occasionally, I would order from Pizza Pizza over the phone and then go pick it up from one of their locations near by. They’ve never messed up my order until today and I don’t understand how the mix up came about. I think it was the operators fault because she sounded like she was in a rush to go home. I did called rather late but there was still time before the restaurants closed. I timed it so that I would pick up my order just before the store closes.
Operator: Pizza Pizza, may I get your phone number, starting with the area code?
Me: Yup, it’s nine billion, fifty five million, four hundred fifteen thousand, six hundred ninety.
Operator: Is this for pick up or delivery?
Me: It’s for pick up, please.
Operator: Okay and which location are you picking it up at?
Me: 2500 Hurontario by Dundas and King.
Operator: Okay, and what can I get for you tonight?
Me: May I get a medium pizza with pepperoni and double cheese?
Operator: And will that be all for tonight?
Me: And also a creamy garlic and four can of pop.
Operator: Is that everything?
Me: Yes, please.
Operator: Okay. A medium pizza with regular pepperoni and extra cheese, a creamy garlic dipping sauce and four cans of pop. Your total comes to $17.86. The Pizza Pizza time is 1:35am and your order will be ready for pick up in twenty minutes or it’s free. You have yourself a good night.
Me: Thanks! You too.
It was a pretty straight forward order, nothing complicated. But the thing that confused me a little is the price. The last time that I received this order, it came out to $13 and change. I don’t know how or why the price is now $4 more now. I would have expected the last order to be more expensive since I had one more topping than I did this time. I thought nothing of it and left to go pick it up.
When I arrive at the restaurant, this one worker was on duty. He was there the last time I order from them and he has no customer service experience at all. The last time I was there and he served me, he was talking with someone on the phone. I didn’t even know he was on the phone. I thought he was talking to me.
Worker: What do you want, buddy?
Me: I’m here to pick up an order for a medium pizza.
Worker: Yeah. Batty putty batty hay large.
Me: What? No, I think it was a medium piz… oh.
Worker: Anything else, buddy?
Me: Yes. Creamy Garlic sauce and some Pepsi.
Worker: Here you go buddy.
Me: Yeah, thanks.
I paused half way through my sentence because he wasn’t talking to me when he mentioned “large.” He had a wireless ear piece on and was talking to someone on the phone. When I heard “large” I assumed he was talking about a large pizza. But as it turns out, the person whom he was speaking with on the phone must have wanted to order a pizza too.
Now, back to the present. I told the guy that I was there to pick up an order. He looked at me a little confused and asked what I had order. I gave him the same order that I gave the telephone operator. He told me that he did not receive that order and he has nothing in the oven. As I was about to speak, he turns and walks away. He went to the back of the kitchen and picked up a phone. He called the call center to inquire about my order.
Worker: Your pizza is not here. It is at the Pizza Pizza on Grand Park Drive.
Me: What’s it doing over there?
Worker: That’s where you have to go to pick it up.
Me: I never order it there. I always give this location.
Worker: I’m sorry but it’s not here.
Me: Where the hell is Grand Park Drive?
Worker: You have to head down and make a left on Burnhamthorpe and keep going until you get to the YMCA before Mavis.
Me: And how far is that from here?
Worker: It’s not far, maybe about six minutes.
Me: Okay then. Thank you.
First of all, I’d like to say that I think we’re the only people who judge our distance with time. I don’t know if any other country does that too but any other province for that matter. If someone asks me how far it is from Hamilton to Mississauga, I tell them about half an hour.
So anyway, I leave the Pizza Pizza store and head towards Burnhamthorpe. I was pissed off that they got the locations mixed up. When the operator asked where I wanted to pick it up, I specifically mentioned 2500 Hurontario. How the hell did that get mixed up with a location on Grand Park Drive? I didn’t mention anything that was remotely close to Grand Park. Hurontario, Dundas and King were all I said. Somehow that translated to Grand Park, Burnhamthorpe and Mavis.
Since I was heading back towards the office, I figured I might as well go back to work. I don’t have time to go pick up an order at some location that I didn’t specify. They inconvenienced me so I’m not paying for that order. I don’t have time to run out from store to store in order to get food. I only have thirty minutes for my lunch break. It’s takes five minutes to drive to the Pizza Pizza, another five minutes to wait for my order and then five minutes to drive back. If I have to make a stop at another store, that’s another fifteen minutes gone. So by the time I get back to the office with my food, my break is over. There was no point in going to the store on Grand Park so I just went back to the office. Now I have to starve until morning, when I can get to a McDonald’s.
