Bad Service at Fast Food Restaurants? Could Be Your Fault!
My Hometown's Fast Food Customer Service Has Sunk To A Low. Hear My Reasoning How The Customer May Be Causing The Decline Because of Social Media!
This contains really adult language and situations. Reader Discretion Advised. I am trying to help though! :)
First off, I want to thank all of you again who have signed up for Consumer Beast along with AGGregator, my NM State column. It means a lot to have an audience, an intelligent audience read my writing. All I ever wanted to do was write and have people read it. Wish is coming true, and here we are making content, and people responding to it.
As I mention with Consumer Beast, I have to be a little more rude, a little more “adult,” a little more acerbic, because as a consumer advocate and someone who has dedicated 20 years of his life into learning the nuances of how to properly help customers through my old job and social media content, I learned that you can’t make it boring.
This is not your grandaddy’s troubleshooting for better customer service, whether giving or receiving. Sometimes you need to get your feelings hurt and you mind full of a different point of view.
We are celebrating 1 year of Consumer Beast today, and I couldn’t be happier about it.
So let’s talk about fast food customer service.
Now of course, the gold standard is Chick-Fil-A. The kids are told to say, “My pleasure!” when taking your order. They are taught to smile, make eye contact, and portray the southern charm that the company was founded on.
Other places are good. Some places you know they just don’t give a shit. It’s just what it is. The thing that always gets me is the customer who gets angry at the entry-level fast food employee. Talk about low-hanging fruit to attack. When I used to see people go off on bank tellers, including when I was one, I would just think, “Dude, I am not Brian Moynihan of BofA making $30 million a year. I am following a procedure that was given to me via email or training exercise.”
When fast food places are bad, such as the oil used for French fries tastes gross because it hasn’t been changed in a while, or the ice machine broke and they cannot sell drinks (something that happens often at the Socorro, NM Sonic) then that is all on the manager, not the low-level workers.
The manager is weak, and not on top of things, and dollars to donuts, the manager is someone that only gives a shit about the title “Manager” instead of owning the responsibility that comes with it. Those are the people that are tasked with fixing what is wrong with the restaurant. They are to document the problem, make calls, try to get back to homeostasis.
If not them, the GM or regional managers above them are the ones that are the ones to identify a problem and facilitate change.
Often, in the discussions I have with people on how to get better customer service, I often tell people to look at their job, and identify how damn ridiculous their chains of command are and realize that the fast food place in question is likely as complicated as that.
I will use my hometown of Socorro, NM as the example here. I was born there in 1983 and I lived there until 2008. I visit often. My parents are there. My grandma is there. My niece and nephew are there. I love it because of who is there, not what is there.
(going to sound like an old man) This up and coming generation is fucked. Most don’t want to work. Trust me, they don’t. Most think they can be Tiktok/YouTube famous and/or “work” as a home healthcare provider for their equally lazy family members and make money to just sit around, watch movies and get high. That was what people in my high school did in the late 1990s as well. Socorro is stuck in a moment in time that passed us by and now my classmates have kids equally as lazy and vacuous.
So… the fast food workers in Socorro? For the most part, they are on the wrong side of thirty, have tattoos, making very low wages, which satisfies their lifestyle just enough that they told themselves they have a great life, instead of trying to be better than they are. 15 years at McDonald’s is possible in that town.
Now, some may see the above paragraph as a slam. I really don’t think it is. It’s a commentary on what and who they are, but I have learned a few years ago, just because I am not them doesn’t mean I need to make fun or denigrate their lifestyle. If they want to work at Sonic for 25 years, more power to them. Some people love their job, no matter how low you think it is, and we need more people like that in this country.
So why does the service suck? I thought long and hard about this for maybe a year or more. It really bothered me, because I cannot think of one restaurant of the 20 or so in Socorro that has positive things being said about it.
I’m a manager. I was told to read through the comments done about us on surveys that Bank of America commissioned and “action plan” what I could fix from those comments. Most of it was bullshit.
A lot of these restaurants have survey elements. I mean look at your receipt and 9/10 times, there will be a phone number or a website you can go and talk about your experience, but I can tell you most don’t know that, nor do they care to spend the time doing it through this channel.
Then I backtracked to COVID-times. 2020. Am I going to blame the shutdowns for the lack of customer service? Nope. Although I do believe lack of social interaction stunts people’s mental growth. I lived and died by social media, but I didn’t truly become me until I was around people in person.
No, I thought of 2020 and the fear that restaurants were going to go out of business because a lot of them didn’t have online ordering capabilities yet, and a lot of them had proprietors and managers that didn’t know shit about advertising or promoting their place of business online. In New Mexico especially, it was the wild west still with all of that. So what popped up in a lot of places were these “Restaurant Review or Restaurant Promotion” Pages on Facebook especially.
All the restaurants in the area would talk about how you can still order food from them by calling or they would link to a url and maybe they would throw a deal up to entice people to go there.
I ate so many Applebee’s boneless wings in 2020, it was ridiculous. Why? Because the local Applebee’s advertised 25 cent boneless wings for takeout due to Covid. I would buy 40 of them with my wife and eat 35 of them. It was awesome.
This is the Las Cruces Version of this page. It has 14,000 members, or about 1 in 8 when factoring in the population of this city.
Don’t believe me about the 25 cent wings? I found the post!
So, here we were, things weren’t too bad. Hell, I can tell you how much free food I got because of COVID (BK comes to mind as well) and a lot of the reason for that were these pages, which also acted as a quasi-reviewing restaurants page. I am fine with that. People sharing good or bad word of mouth is important (at times)
Much like everything else, Socorro, NM created a page similar to this during COVID. To me that was weird as hell, because Socorro is a small town of about 6,000 people. It’s not like El Paso where it’s spread out over 50 miles. It’s all encapsulated in one 3 mile stretch of road called California St, where 90 percent of the eateries are at. So to have the review page was just hilarious to me for some reason.
Socorro, NM Restaurant Review has 1,859 members in a city of 8,000. Yes, I am a part of it and I don’t live there and I am sure others who don’t live there are also on there. That’s 1 in 4 people, give or take.
But check this out: 25% of the population according to the Census are under 18, so let’s eliminate those from possibly being in this group (-2000 people)
11 percent were 65 and older (-900 people, though my parents are nearing that demographic and they are online)
Think about how many people are like “F*** Facebook” now? Maybe 25% of the town just isn’t on social media. (-2000 people)
Think about the amount of people who are “on” social media, but with joint Facebook pages. JamesNGab Baca-inez types of crap. I always made a point to not interact with pages like that, because it is like talking to a low-rent PR firm who only wants to tell you the highlights of their life while the big glaring lowlight is the weird name they are under on Facebook.
Let’s say 5% of people are underrepresented by social media like that because one half of a couple are not active (-400)
So, you take out 2000, 900, 2000, and 400 people who likely are in Socorro but aren’t in that group, and you have 2,700 potential people who COULD be in that group, and there’s 1,900 members
So if you told me that 66% of the possible people in town that could be in that group ARE in that group, that’s no drop in the bucket. That’s a shared experience with everyone in that goddamn town. It’s insane!!!!
Small town life IS everyone knows everyone’s business, and everyone who is of age and plugged into social media is likely on that page. Insane.
SO EVERYONE KNOWS THAT YOU AND YOUR PLACE OF WORK SCREWED UP TODAY AND EVERYONE PILES ON YOU EVERY SINGLE TIME IT HAPPENS!
So here’s why it’s wrong.
You are familiar with quiet quitting, right?
Where you stop giving a fuck and tuned out of your job. Summer 2017, I got that way. My niece died and I wasn’t allowed to leave work. I cried for two days at how fucking cold the bosses I considered friends, people who shared so much time with me were to me in that moment.
That same year, one day I asked what time I was going in on Monday because there was no schedule ready and I was told to go into work at 8:30 because my fill-in manager was too busy buying concert tickets to create a schedule.
I get there at 8:30 on time to a full house of employees waiting for me to unlock the vault PISSED AT ME because I was THEN told I should have been there at 8am. I got written up, and my file sent to advice and counsel for potential termination because a manager didn’t print out the schedule like she should have, somehow I was the worst person in the world, even though I asked her directly what time it was two days before because she didn’t make a schedule.
When I was told I could lose my job, I quit in my head. Fuck this, I said. I don’t care if I made $65,000 a year. That was my moment to give up.
A woman decided to hang me out to dry instead of owning a mistake. I was done. I kicked ass at work, but I wanted nothing to do with anyone at that point. I quiet quit.
Hear me out. I think the service sucks at restaurants in Socorro, NM because everyone has quiet quit because of the drubbing they are getting with every shitty post by someone who handled it the wrong way. I think they mentally checked out, because every flaw, every mistake is amplified to the 2 in 3 people in that town who get notifications in that group. How can you NOT be affected by it?
Here’s an example:
So.. was the food cold or overcooked or both? If she called, what was she going to get out of that call? I’m sorry? This Juan guy (more on him in a moment) said he would replace the food for her on this post, and she basically said “SCREW YOU, I AM DONE WITH BURGER KING!!!!”
So if they answered the phone, which is hard to do when you are in a restaurant and there’s people waiting for your order, how would that call have been different? You would have just told poor Juan to piss off just verbally.
I understand the cold food thing. I dunno why that happened, but it does suck, but the manager literally said he wanted to help and you strung his ass up in this post.
Now, if I was the guy who ran the franchise for that BK (I know who it is, because I worked with them at my bank, but won’t say here) I’d tell workers at BK not to interact with people through these channels because then it becomes unhinged like this, and serves no purpose other than to talk more shit to you.
Also, she mentioned calling “a corporate number”
Look, that’s a red herring. Don’t know what RED HERRING is? Let me dumb it down. That’s all cap, as the young people would say. It’s not a corporate restaurant, they would just refer you to the franchise owner. People throw “corporate” out there like everyone in an office wearing a men’s wearhouse suit is going to go Spacely Sprockets on people.
They may have refunded her the money… they may have given her a gift card, but it didn’t solve the problem when Juan was trying to rectify the problem.
Now, I don’t know this Juan guy. But I have seen him on this Facebook group, and if I had a restaurant, I would hire that man in two seconds. From what I see in his demeanor and poise in social media posts, he is basically the reason I wanted to write this for months.
Here’s an example of how awesome he is:
Although again, I wouldn’t recommend he post things like this on that page if I were his boss. '
I can tell he was working hard, and he cared about appearances, and yes, he cared about making sure he was not going to be yelled at by his bosses by keeping this place clean, when this person decided to shitcan their mail all over the parking lot.
When he posted that, asking for a modicum of respect:
It’s your fucking job to pick that shit up is what she is saying…
Wild-ass conspiracy theory about someone stealing mail and ripping it up at Burger King? WTF?
Lady deciding to take a shot at McDonald’s in the BK post.
Then me… I felt for the dude. I never comment on these things, but I did here.
He promotes tacos being back at BK
Not my cup of tea, but this shows his effort to care about his job.
One guy chimes in:
New menu items at BK! Juan is on it!
Comment from the Resident Know-it-all in town:
Gordon Ramsay over here… That particular guy is someone not to listen to…trust me. I run a Facebook buy and sell group for my hometown, and he tried to get people to turn on me because I was a “carpetbagger” (his words) like Hillary Clinton not from NY running for senate there. I mean he is…yeah.. not all there.
But people like Juan are unique because he puts effort into his job, or at least that’s what I get from his posts, and he is undeterred despite all the people baiting him.
People want to gauge a reaction instead of actually trying to get a better experience for themselves and others.
Let’s get back to the original “MY FOOD IS COLD! F YOU! I’M NEVER COMING BACK!” Lady, who was a business owner herself, I believe.
She says she’s done with BK after Juan’s gesture. Some other guy comes out of the woodwork to scold her, rightfully so.
He was right. He tried to make it right and she just decided to push push push.
Ugh… then…
Ok…
Food truck owner shit-talking his competition at BK
THEN PUTTING HIS MENU on the comments!!!!
My god. This is off one angry lady’s post. Unreal.
Other posts:
This guy asking a rhetorical question?
Comments just echoing problems as well. They aren’t internalizing them.. they are obviously bothered by them, but who will know about what is wrong at these places?
NO ONE EXCEPT PEOPLE IN THE REVIEW GROUP.
So, as I mentioned, 2 in 3 people who are of a certain age in Socorro are in that review group, so basically, everyone who works at these places either is in the group or works with someone who is in the group, so the word will get to those people not in the group anyway.
That is what is causing the bad service.
OK, I am going to put my point in bold, because all this other stuff is just me riffing and ranting.
So, in this world where we have to hold each other’s hand when someone tells us something we don’t want to hear, the reality is we need to hear criticisms in order to get better. Why are there coaches in sports? Players basically know how to play a game, and someone who has been playing for a long time can pretty much coach on the field if need be.
The coach is there for constructive criticism. They are the fast food general manager if you will.
So, in this society where we bitch on social media on our phone instead of addressing a mistake in person or through proper channels, we are making it worse, especially in Socorro.
So, let’s say it was McDonald’s and they gave me cold, old nuggets and the dipping sauce tasted rancid.
Which way works the best:
Facebook Group - “F McDonalds! Those dumbasses messed up my order. The chicken was frozen like a damn popsicle and the sauce tasted like ammonia because it was so old. Are those damn people there special ed and this is some sort of benevolent hiring program or wtf? I am so done with those idiots over there. Nothing but a bunch of crackheads.
or….
Take the damn survey on the back of the receipt.
Give them a 1 or a 2. In the comments of the survey (they already know the date and time btw off the codes on the receipt) act respectfully…
“When I got my order on this visit, I received my order in about 3 minutes, but when I opened the container, the nuggets were obviously not ready to be served. They were ice cold. The dipping sauce had a funny smell. It was frustrating. I wanted to speak to the manager, but they said she was gone for the day. I love McDonalds, and in the 1000 times I have been here, I have never had an experience like this. I just want to be on the record for this to make sure it never happens again. I’d appreciate someone contacting me.”
On the survey, you get a code for a free breakfast sandwich on your next visit. If you will never eat there again, it means shit, I guess… BUT you did something very important.
You gave criticism through a correct channel.
That survey company is going to log in that complaint with that store number and it goes to some other person who has to know about the 1 or 2 and then reach out to the franchisee saying, “We can’t have someone’s McDonald’s experience be ruined by this incident. Reach out to your GM.”
Yes, the franchisee might go, “WTF IS GOING ON THERE, YOU IDIOT?!?!?” to his GM, but again, it’s not going out in public. It’s a one-on-one.
With a good GM/Manager they will take that critique, never want to hear their boss mention something like that again and then say, “Ok, this happened on Thursday the 17th. Who was shift leader? James… Ok, James was shift leader the day before. Did he have someone sign off on making sure they cleaned before leaving and making sure none of the dipping sauces were opened where we keep them?”
Shoot.. James didn’t sign out for it. Doesn’t mean he did not do anything wrong, but not signing for it means that it didn’t get done.
They check the cameras. Looks like those nuggets were there for over two hours. Why were they cooked ahead of time? Why did no one clean the area where they are cooked where they would have spotted? Did anyone do their damn job? No!
So then, general manager has a meeting. “Look, we got a 1 from an angry customer saying they ate old nuggets and spoiled sauce. I don’t have anyone signing out for cleaning this area on this day, which means this person got old food. What if she got sick from it? She could sue and win! Guys, I like our team here, but you are putting this business at risk by not doing the little things. I want to see improvement. Don’t lose your job over something stupid.”
James, the shift leader gets his ass scared, so then he makes sure all the young employees are doing the job, double checking shit is clean. Breaking out the mop himself to make sure the floor looks good so no one can complain about it.
Those surveys are powerful stuff. They can lead to meetings and changes in habits at places like that.
OR YOU CAN JUST BITCH TO YOUR FRIENDS ON FACEBOOK, GET 13 LIKES AND THINK YOU ARE SOME FREAKIN’ FREEDOM FIGHTER, LIKE THE CHE GUEVARA OF CHICKEN DAMN MCNUGGETS!
I LOVE AI
Which one sounds better? The one where you make an entire business take a look at itself because of what you went through.
But that’s not where people are anymore. They are breaking out their phones, recording the interactions with people to put on Tiktok thinking they are fighting the good fight when they are really just making shit worse for everyone else. Those fast food workers may not have the best jobs, but you know it’s a job they value, and if their whole life is logging into Facebook and being told how ignorant, bitchy, or (derogatory word about their mental capacity) they are, that’s demoralizing. No one can overcome that.
Even the “I don’t give a f***” crowd still gets hurt by that, because it is someone taking a punch that you didn’t know you had to defend while trying to do what society says you should do, which is work.
Trust me though, Surveys are not infallible. I have been given 1s for my work and critiqued on things we don’t even do at the bank. I still had a goddamn meeting with my boss over it, so they are effective in creating communication, if anything.
But at least you make it personal, and if that criticism comes through the proper channels, a real manager would use that time to “Coach” the employee to be better. It puts the action plan on paper to make sure they shape up or ship out. If that person can’t improve, they will be gone, and maybe the next guy will kill it, who knows?
But you don’t get that with these Facebook groups. They have run their course. They are only there to start drama, not giving you recommendations and “review” these places. I’ve often said I don’t read reviews because I don’t trust the persons intent with their posts. I know how mean spirited I can be, so I know others can be just as bad, if not worse.
For people like Juan at Socorro Burger King, who works his butt off, and he really shines on his posts about this place he works at, even if the others don’t care as much, tells me that place will be just fine with him there! He gets it.
He doesn’t need to be a banker for 15 years like me and have hundreds of hours of training and work experience in problem handling to understand the proper way of doing things.
Don’t pile on in honor of people like him, who want to get it right. Your acerbic tones, your wanton disregard for using the proper channels to make a business better is on you, angry social media mobs.
I will leave it with this. Little Caesars closed down in Socorro permanently earlier this month. It was sad. This is the 2nd time it had permanently closed there, the first time being over 25 years ago.
People speculated stupidly that it was because it was next to Domino’s which is the stupidest thing ever. Others thought it was the fact it was in an old Taco Bell. LOL. NO! Others correctly commented that the management said it was not making money and corporate made a business decision.
But that didn’t stop people for taking the time to get their last f-ing kicks in on Little Caesars before it visited the boneyard of closed restaurants in Socorro.
Yes, the mayor is in on the conspiracy to rid the world of Pizza Pizza.
Workplace drama stories
Review with the name misspelled.
I am terrified that Lisa thinks that Little Caesars is “Authentic” anything.
It was just another reason to kick when someone was down. They don’t care about the restaurant closing, they care only to be able to give themselves another excuse to be terrible people.
I was a social media obsessed person in my 20s. I am not about that life anymore, because frankly, what you learn is that behind everything are people with emotions and desires to make their life good.
When you take cheap shots at someone for your bad experience, and you do nothing to make sure you protect yourself from future bad experiences by not addressing it properly, why should I listen to you?
If you must leave a review online, please do it through the proper channels too. You may actually save customer service in the restaurants you want to go to and you won’t be the reason bad customer service exists
Be a dick… but be a dick efficiently and officially!
James