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A fast food rant

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Richard S.

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A fast food rant

by Richard S. » Thu Feb 04, 2021 11:43 pm

As someone who does food delivery part time (and worked for many years in the restaurant industry) I'd have to say that the way most fast food restaurants are run these days is downright embarrassing. A chicken place opened a year or two ago near where I live in Fern Creek and I got called there for a delivery tonight. I stood at the counter for more than 5 minutes before anyone acknowledged my presence, then waited another 20 minutes for my order. During that time I heard the person working the window tell a drive-thru customer "It'll be 7 minutes on apple pies." When the counter person handed me the bag, I asked, "Did you get the pie in there?" At that point he walked to the freezer, threw a few pies in the oven and came back and told me "It'll be 7 minutes on the pie." Mind you, this was 15 minutes after I heard someone else tell a customer that. At that point I cancelled the order and walked out in disgust.

I see something like this repeated in fast food places nearly every day. I went to a burger place not long ago (one with a king as a mascot) and was told they were out of fried items (fries, chicken sandwiches, etc.). I see some places close in the middle of the day for lack of staff, or others that turn off the outside lights and don't answer the speaker even though it's an hour before closing time. When a delivery from a fast food place pops up on the app, it's often accompanied with a note that says "customers have reported incorrect or missing items from this location in the past." (the bag is usually sealed so you're unable to check). I know most of these places are franchises, and I can't for the life of me understand why someone would invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in a restaurant and leave it in the hands of a bunch of teenagers who'd rather be anywhere else.

Although I disagree strongly with the politics of upper management, I have to say that there's one brand where this sort of stuff rarely if ever happens, and that's Chik-fil-A. Pretty much every Chik-fil-A in Louisville that I've seen has a continuous line from open to close, and it always moves quickly. The staff is friendly and efficient. They have a separate parking area for delivery drivers so we don't have to wait in line.

On that note, I noticed one of the locations had on their sign that they were hiring, with wages starting at $15/hr. I know many small business owners are of the mind that raising the minimum wage to that level will kill them, but Chik-Fil-A doesn't seem to be hurting. Actually, I heard those same dire predictions when the minimum wage went from $2.10 to $2.35/hr. Maybe there's something to be learned there.

Rant over. Thanks for listening
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Robin Garr

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Re: A fast food rant

by Robin Garr » Fri Feb 05, 2021 6:32 am

Well ranted, Richard. Thanks for the insight!
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Jeff Cavanaugh

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Re: A fast food rant

by Jeff Cavanaugh » Fri Feb 05, 2021 10:44 am

I have to agree, in almost every particular. Since the pandemic started, we've done dozens of takeout and drive-through orders, and I can almost certainly count on one hand the number of times something wasn't messed up - items missing, prepared incorrectly, etc. And it's not just the fast food chains -- we've had order mistakes from quality local places, too. And it makes it particularly aggravating to discover the errors after you've driven home with your food and it's impossible or unrealistic to drive back and get it fixed.
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Nathaniel C

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Re: A fast food rant

by Nathaniel C » Fri Feb 05, 2021 7:38 pm

I've had a few hiccups with carry-out as well, and several with fast food chains.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but when I've done online ordering with the Havana Rumba quintuplets (and I've done so frequently), they've knocked it out of the park 100% of the time, and it's usually ready 5-10 minutes before the quoted time.
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Carla G

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Re: A fast food rant

by Carla G » Fri Feb 05, 2021 7:43 pm

I realize that with the pandemic some things are going to be a bit off and I’m always willing to cut some slack, still, some locations manage to do a good job while others are consistently waaaay off.
-The KFC on 146 at the Gene Snyder always manages to be out of chicken thighs at 5pm. How does that happen? Right at the beginning of dinner time when everything should be primed for a dinner rush.
-The MickyDs in St Matthews there by the RR tracks has yet to get my orders correct either in content or how it’s rung up. Wrong every single time. It’s a running joke. I stop there to pick up breakfast for the people I work for and every time we laugh and say “Well, let’s see what we got for our $10! Oh look! 2 hash browns and a fried pie. Too bad! Be sure to come back and play again tomorrow!” I’ve stopped calling to let them know because I think they quite caring months ago.
Maybe in the middle of this horrific pandemic we should all just be grateful we have food at all. It could be worse.
"She did not so much cook as assassinate food." - Storm Jameson

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