Incorrect target, SRY
Aug. 23rd, 2007 05:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beandelphikiOne of those Fun Customer stories:
I was at work today (well, technically yesterday by now) working the till, and while I was helping these two women with the particulars of the taco salads they were ordering, I became aware of a Hoverer.
I hate Hoverers - they are some of the most nerve-wracking customers to deal with. These are the people who stand waytooclose to other customers at the till, or who try to angle themselves in front of the till from the sides, instead of waiting their turn in line. They say that everything you really need to know you learn in kindergarten, but I think these people were out with a runny nose the day they taught the rest of us how to queue up.
This particular Hoverer was male, wearing a ball cap and shorts with socks pulled up to his calfs, and licking a Dairy Queen soft-serve ice cream cone. He stared at me the entire time I dealt with the customers ahead of him, and I was dreading facing him at my till, because I got the distinct sense that he would also be picky.
(Hoverers often are, according to some diabolical natural law. But then there's also S.E.X. - Service worker Esp eXtention - which somehow allows you to just KNOW when the person in front of you confidently ordering actually has no idea what's in the food they just demanded. Or when the huge order is - oops! forgot to tell you! - to-go. Or when someone's just going to be DIFFICULT.)
He started off angling one way, and when that didn't magically teleport him in front of the people I was dealing with, he tried angling from the other direction. Licking his ice cream the whole time. He was there for a few minutes at least, you guys.
Finally, I was done with the two women, and I nodded my head towards Hoverer, who was standing at the chunk of stone which is mall property, and marks the boundary between Taco Time and Quiznos in the food court.
I didn't nod with the most enthusiasm; I really hate serving Hoverers who come in from the corners. It's just a pet peeve of mine, but I hate it when people don't look around and make enough of an effort to see where they should line up. Hoverers always come equipped with the belief that they should be served first simply because they are there.
And another thing; they don't get out of the way of other people. Which is exactly what this guy did. Normally I start people out right at my till, and then slide them (and their tray) sideways towards the hot sauce at the end of the counter. Then I can take the next person at my till, and slide their tray in beside the first one. When the first customer gets their food and leaves, the second one slides down to the hot sauce, etc. Of course, this system can get fucked up in various ways... But when it works, it's a neatly efficient way of organizing customers on the counter and making sure they're all properly lined up to get their respective turns at everything without people interfering with each other.
Hoverers - like this guy - fuck that system up by simply planting themselves in the middle of my customer "stream" and expecting everyone to work around them while they shout their order to me past the faces of other customers.
UGH.
And the conversation didn't go well, either.
"I'd like three," he said when it was his turn.
I waited, but it appeared that no more information was forthcoming. Problem is, you can't get a "three" at a Taco Time Canada location. There's no such thing as a numeral on the menu.
"Three of what?" I asked as patiently as I could manage.
"Three!" He insisted. I was about to ask three of what again, but it must have shown on my face, because he qualified his previous request. Sort of.
"A number three," he said, which might only have helped a little, because we haven't had numbered combos for at least a year. People still ask for them though, so you have to be prepared for that.
But he had more to add: "The chicken with shrimp," he said. "And a Coke."
I simply looked at him, totally at a loss for a moment. We're even a Pepsi store.
I must have had an odd expression on my face (one that clearly said, "WTF?!" is my guess) because he began to repeat his order, enunciating carefully for my feeble brain.
"A chicken. With shrimp. With teriaki chicken. And none of the noodles."
People standing in line behind him were also clearly somewhat at a loss, angling so that they could try to see his face, as if they wanted to see just what this level of crazypants looked like.
Finally gathering some wits about me, I slowly pointed upward towards our sign. (Our gigantic sign lit in bright red, which he had been standing before or beneath for several minutes.)
"Um, sir? This is...this is...Taco Time. We sell tacos. Edo's is..." And I point to my left.
And Hoverer pauses, stops licking, and backs up a step so that he can see the sign. (Nevermind the fact that our uniforms are different, the food displayed is COMPLETELY different, the counter design is different, etc. Oh, and Edo's only hires Asian workers.)
"Oh," is all he says when he realizes that he is indeed at the wrong store for Japanese takeout. And he wanders off.
No embarrassment. No nothing.
I just don't get some people.
I was at work today (well, technically yesterday by now) working the till, and while I was helping these two women with the particulars of the taco salads they were ordering, I became aware of a Hoverer.
I hate Hoverers - they are some of the most nerve-wracking customers to deal with. These are the people who stand waytooclose to other customers at the till, or who try to angle themselves in front of the till from the sides, instead of waiting their turn in line. They say that everything you really need to know you learn in kindergarten, but I think these people were out with a runny nose the day they taught the rest of us how to queue up.
This particular Hoverer was male, wearing a ball cap and shorts with socks pulled up to his calfs, and licking a Dairy Queen soft-serve ice cream cone. He stared at me the entire time I dealt with the customers ahead of him, and I was dreading facing him at my till, because I got the distinct sense that he would also be picky.
(Hoverers often are, according to some diabolical natural law. But then there's also S.E.X. - Service worker Esp eXtention - which somehow allows you to just KNOW when the person in front of you confidently ordering actually has no idea what's in the food they just demanded. Or when the huge order is - oops! forgot to tell you! - to-go. Or when someone's just going to be DIFFICULT.)
He started off angling one way, and when that didn't magically teleport him in front of the people I was dealing with, he tried angling from the other direction. Licking his ice cream the whole time. He was there for a few minutes at least, you guys.
Finally, I was done with the two women, and I nodded my head towards Hoverer, who was standing at the chunk of stone which is mall property, and marks the boundary between Taco Time and Quiznos in the food court.
I didn't nod with the most enthusiasm; I really hate serving Hoverers who come in from the corners. It's just a pet peeve of mine, but I hate it when people don't look around and make enough of an effort to see where they should line up. Hoverers always come equipped with the belief that they should be served first simply because they are there.
And another thing; they don't get out of the way of other people. Which is exactly what this guy did. Normally I start people out right at my till, and then slide them (and their tray) sideways towards the hot sauce at the end of the counter. Then I can take the next person at my till, and slide their tray in beside the first one. When the first customer gets their food and leaves, the second one slides down to the hot sauce, etc. Of course, this system can get fucked up in various ways... But when it works, it's a neatly efficient way of organizing customers on the counter and making sure they're all properly lined up to get their respective turns at everything without people interfering with each other.
Hoverers - like this guy - fuck that system up by simply planting themselves in the middle of my customer "stream" and expecting everyone to work around them while they shout their order to me past the faces of other customers.
UGH.
And the conversation didn't go well, either.
"I'd like three," he said when it was his turn.
I waited, but it appeared that no more information was forthcoming. Problem is, you can't get a "three" at a Taco Time Canada location. There's no such thing as a numeral on the menu.
"Three of what?" I asked as patiently as I could manage.
"Three!" He insisted. I was about to ask three of what again, but it must have shown on my face, because he qualified his previous request. Sort of.
"A number three," he said, which might only have helped a little, because we haven't had numbered combos for at least a year. People still ask for them though, so you have to be prepared for that.
But he had more to add: "The chicken with shrimp," he said. "And a Coke."
I simply looked at him, totally at a loss for a moment. We're even a Pepsi store.
I must have had an odd expression on my face (one that clearly said, "WTF?!" is my guess) because he began to repeat his order, enunciating carefully for my feeble brain.
"A chicken. With shrimp. With teriaki chicken. And none of the noodles."
People standing in line behind him were also clearly somewhat at a loss, angling so that they could try to see his face, as if they wanted to see just what this level of crazypants looked like.
Finally gathering some wits about me, I slowly pointed upward towards our sign. (Our gigantic sign lit in bright red, which he had been standing before or beneath for several minutes.)
"Um, sir? This is...this is...Taco Time. We sell tacos. Edo's is..." And I point to my left.
And Hoverer pauses, stops licking, and backs up a step so that he can see the sign. (Nevermind the fact that our uniforms are different, the food displayed is COMPLETELY different, the counter design is different, etc. Oh, and Edo's only hires Asian workers.)
"Oh," is all he says when he realizes that he is indeed at the wrong store for Japanese takeout. And he wanders off.
No embarrassment. No nothing.
I just don't get some people.
