If I could make this shit up, I’d be rich. This happened just the past weekend, and I couldn’t pass up telling you all about my experience at Burger King.
The day started normal enough, aside from the fact that we had a wedding to attend and a reception afterward. A friend of the family was getting married, and so in our best dress we made our way to the chapel.
I helped the photographer take some snaps as he was also part of the wedding. It was his mother that was getting married.
It was a nice wedding. By the time it was over though, we were starving. Especially me. I don’t do well without food. I start getting weak and wobbly. Not a feeling I enjoy terribly. So during the migration from the chapel to the reception, I figure it would be best to get a little something to eat. Who knows how long it will be until we get food at the reception, I better eat now.
As it turns out, that was a mistake. At least, the establishment I chose to go to was a bad decision.
I spied a Burger King up ahead and everyone agreed, Burger King it is. I pull into the drive-thru and placed our order.
I ordered a double cheeseburger, no pickles. I don’t like pickles on my burgers, but I don’t mind the taste that pickles leave behind. Go figure. I had a soda already from a stop I made before the wedding, so I didn’t need a combo or anything like that. Just the burger please.
We made our way to the window, paid, and about 8 minutes later the disinterested employee in the window finally gave us our food. The timer in their window said 8 minutes, but I already knew that because I was quite tired of waiting.
The double-cheeseburger looked sloppily prepared and not as appealing as I was expecting. It was flattened by unseen hands and simply looked a complete mess. I didn’t like it, and I’ll be damned if I was going to stand for the long wait only to get a shitty looking burger.
Fuck that, I want it my way! This is Burger King for fucks sake!
I parked the truck and went inside, burger in hand. I approached the delivery counter to remain out of the way of people trying to give their order. I stood there for another 2 minutes and still no one acknowledged my existence. Frustrated, I grabbed the burger, threw the burger wrapper on the floor behind the counter and walked towards the exit. The lady behind the counter finally acknowledged me with something I didn’t quite catch. She said it low enough that it didn’t carry far enough for me to hear.
Before I exited, I gave up. I didn’t want this cheeseburger anymore. I was done with it. I went back to the counter where an employee was standing, looked at her and said “You eat it”, and slapped it down in front of her. It may have been enough to spread a little ketchup and mustard, as Burger King double cheeseburgers are always tasty and laden with condiment love juice. I didn’t care either way, Burger King failed me this time around, and I was quite done.
I turned and walked out the door.
By the time I was getting ready to hop in my truck, the employee of Burger King that I gave my burger back to comes bursting out the door (literally) with my burger in hand. She yells a few choice words that I no longer remember and chucks the double cheeseburger at me.
She certainly wasn’t baseball material since the ground had more to fear from her throwing arm than I or the truck did. The slider hit the ground about a foot from my truck and literally slid itself under my truck. The top bun landing squarely underneath the middle of the truck, and the remaining two meat patties, cheese and bun made it all the way to the other side.
She quickly turned and ran back inside the Burger King establishment.
I was shocked. Floored. Pissed. All in very quick succession as evidenced by the “You bitch, get back here!” that came flying out of my mouth at top volume to ensure that she heard me, as well as everyone else in the vicinity.
I went back inside and again, went to the counter to be ignored. It’s like a game with these people. They were not looking to sell burgers or provide any kind of decent restaurant experience as much as they were trying to work my last nerve it seems. This place was completely dysfunctional.
I asked for a manager, and I asked loud since there was no one to really help me up front, and there was a line of customers too! Everyone was in the back, and I could see the burger tosser looking at me and talking to someone that could only be in the office area or snack area. I don’t know, didn’t see it, but she was obviously ignoring me.
Three minutes have elapsed and still no sign of a manager!
All I wanted was the store number, but at this point Jacq had now joined me inside and had a pen and paper ready and was looking for information and wondering where the manager was as well. I knew at this point, I would be best letting her handle the rest of this, and I went back outside to wait in the truck and eat some of her fries while she left them unattended. I was still hungry, and now pissed and trying to control the rush of adrenaline coursing through me.
That isn’t always the easiest thing for me to do. When my blood boils over, I’m more than willing to do things that I’ll later regret. I’m sure I’m not alone with that.
Anyway, I was livid. If there is anything in this world that I cannot tolerate is food being thrown at me. I don’t know what it is, but it always makes me a pretty pissy person. I’ve always reacted negatively when it happens, and this time was no different, except that I laughed. She threw a f’n double cheeseburger at me!
Not long after enjoying a few of Jacq’s fries does an officer pull up and start walking towards the entrance. I’m feeling a little vocal still and yell out my window “be careful, they throw burgers at ya” and laughed. He nodded, smiled and went inside.
The next thing I see are two more units arrive on the scene. What is this a party? You can’t tell me…oh, they did. They called the cops? No shit?!?!? Wow, these guys are special. They just called the cops on themselves. That’s a really special kind of special. Can you say “Ding, Fries are done!”?
A nice lady cop comes up to my window and I go over everything with her. She kinda laughs and asks me “Really?”.
“Yeah, really.”
She took my info and went inside. I enjoyed a few more fries and waited.
Jacq came out and I could tell she was just as confused by everything that just transpired. She hopped in the truck and began to explain everything that occurred inside Burger King’s baseball league of shame. She started to say that everyone standing in line started talking to the first officer, totally backing up our side of the story as the events that occurred. In fact the “assistant manager” admitted to the events and was trying to say that the employee was off the clock, so not to incriminate Burger King at all, or trying to sweep things under the rug a bit.
The first officer came back out and walked up to my truck. I offered him a french fry which he respectfully declined.
He asked me what I wanted to do or have happen.
“Nothing”, I said. “I just wanted a double cheeseburger that looks appealing to eat, but I’m not going back into this one after all this, I ‘ll get more than a burger for sure with these people!”.
The officer laughed a bit and stated that this isn’t what he was expected when he got the call, and he couldn’t believe that a Burger King employee was out of control like she was. A first for him, and his day was just starting.
This was a first for me as well. I’ve always understood that the customer is always right, even when their wrong. It’s part of the idea behind the “Have it your way” slogan that Burger King uses, right? Am I wrong here? Really, I’m really confused about the “Have it your way” statement now. Don’t Burger King employees get a little training before they’re hired?
The officer stated he would simply notch this up to a miscellaneous complaint. I suspect that means less paperwork for him, and that’s fine. I didn’t start my day looking to take down a Burger King grease pit when I woke in the morning.
The officer gave us a case number, his card and said good day to us, and we left.
I found another Burger King (yes, I was determined to get a double cheeseburger, call me a glutton for punishment) and got my double cheeseburger. Ya know what, it was terrific! Well put together and un-flattened by heavy hands.
I quickly pounded the burger and made it to the wedding reception. We were late thanks to this bitch of a Burger King employee.
But then, perhaps I shouldn’t really be surprised at all:
The Burger King where I didn’t get anything my way:
1329 South Harbor Boulevard
Fullerton, CA 92832-3001
(714) 871-8570
Restaurant #6062
Wayne John is a health coach for people that want to lose weight, gain weight, improve athletic performance, or simply maintain a healthy lifestyle. Wayne has lost over 55 pounds and improves his current health every day by using simple, straight-forward techniques that anyone can integrate into their lives to achieve the same. Contact Wayne today to realize your own health and fitness goals, or get started now by completing and submitting the free Wellness Profile. He also has been developing websites since 1995 and programming solutions for clients even longer. He'd rather be outside having fun in the sun though.
That location has been sub-par anytime I have had the misfortune of stumbling in.
Twitter: waynejohn
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First time there. Last time as well. We’ll be calling corporate soon.
Oh my god! What a bitch! And calling the cops on you when they were the ones causing trouble? Well that kinda backfired on them!
Twitter: waynejohn
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I think that’s the funniest part of the whole thing.
When I was 18 I worked at a Wendy’s, & we had this high school kid working the front counter (this is not a joke, LMFAO!).
The kid is up at the front counter, I’m out in the dining room on break woofing down a sandwhich. It’s not really that busy, middle of the afternoon, & all of a sudden the high school kid starts yelling profanity inside Wendy’s, I’m taliking LOUD! Cussing a customer out big time, all the customers eating in the dining room turn & look at me (I just wanted to crawl under the table, lol). The kid followes the customer out to their car, still yelling profanity.
The high school kids fast food career was over less than 10 min. later, C-ya!
What I really never understood was, the customer (man) was bigger than the high school kid, I really thought it was going to be a blood bath when it all first started, but the man was as calm as can be, & never said a word from the front counter all the way to his car. Maybe he didn’t want to go to jail, lol.
Twitter: waynejohn
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Sometimes you just need to know when to fold ‘em. I quit McDonalds after working the egg shift for one day. I knew it wasn’t the place for me, nor anywhere I need to interact with people and be friendly.
I can’t stand working public facing jobs, and I’m damn glad I recognized that early on. Saved myself a bunch of grief. lol
It’s a sign. You should go vegan.
Twitter: waynejohn
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Ok, now that’s funny, and of course, will never happen.
Twitter: GritFX
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Outrageous story! The behaviour that I found most appalling, was that someone actually presented you with that burger in the first place!
.-= Manz´s last blog ..Electric Light Orchestra – Eldorado, A Symphony (1974) =-.
Twitter: ariherzog
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Wow.
@theBKLounge on Twitter was proven a fakester and I don’t know if the company is otherwise tweeting for customer service.
You should alert AdWeek.
.-= Ari Herzog´s last blog ..How to Enhance Your Blog Comment: Share Then Link =-.
That’s the funniest story I’ve heard in a month of Sundays, Wayne. Glad you finally got your burger and that it didn’t come from there.
Sorry to hear about your story, I am sure lots of us have encountered those kind of treatment maybe from another burger join. Now this kind of employees should undergo another round of customer service. I am not sure if they have the slightest idea that we, the customers, are the reason why they are still working. Without us, they won’t be there as well.
.-= custom mat board´s last blog ..Custom Size Picture Frames, Pre Cut (Precut) Mat Boards, Paper Mats, Photo Matting & Framing Supplies – Documounts =-.
You’re right, you can’t make up shit like that, it’s too funny!
Good job posting their address, I hope you went to Yelp also. People don’t need to eat food that’s being prepared by psychos.
I don’t know about going vegan, but maybe you should have found an In ‘n Out instead!
.-= Aaron´s last blog ..Freaky Friday: Site-Enhancement Oil- Too much of a Terrible thing =-.
I did my time at McDonalds and IHOP. Never, ever did I dream of treating a customer like that! At the risk of sounding like an old fart, I never heard any stories like that when I was a kid. Even though we goofed off a lot in the restaurants, we kept a respectful attitude toward the customers. These days, however, that work ethic seems to have gone out the window for a lot of restaurants. You can tell when you walk in and the place isn’t busy, yet there’s a mess on the floor, nobody at the counter and when they DO show up to take your order, they look at you as if you’re a terrible inconvenience. In all fairness, not every restaurant is like this, but a disturbing number of them are.
A few years back, I walked into a McDonalds in Tokyo. No kidding, I thought I’d stepped into a TV commercial. The kids all looked up at me, smiling, all saying Konichiwa! (Good afternoon.) The place was spotless, and even though I ordered food in my broken Japanese, they echoed it back in English just to make sure the order was correct. By the time I counted out the change, the food was already there waiting for me. I kept looking around for the hidden camera. I thought I was in a commercial. lol
At least some people get it right!
Dan
.-= Dan´s last blog ..Carrier Ethernet =-.
Twitter: waynejohn
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I added my comments and a link on Yelp: http://www.yelp.com/biz/burger-king-no-6062-fullerton#hrid:pDFdWTPmXz0TpubqM_vyYQ
I enjoyed this particular blog so much. In fact I was laughing loud while I was reading it. No, not laughing at you but at the whole situation you got into. It’s a good thing most of my fastfood store experiences always had courteous and polite employees. =D
.-= Daniel´s last blog ..Xylitol =-.
OH if you are looking for a Burger King franchise opportunity, the pages on their website are filled with how to do so, also donations for all kinds of stuff.
Michelle Obama is being sponsored by Burger King for her “Lets Move” campaign, wonder if I should send the whitehouse a copy of my letter to the CEO of BK and see how she appreciates it. aaah, just rambling, I have a bunch of useless Burger King information in my brain now and I needed a place to dump it….lol
Okay, so Jacq… I’m gonna tell you what my idol, Gary V, always says about franchise-takers: you guys are screwed. I’m not even gonna mention you.
Do something you love. But don’t go franchise, whatever you do! Just don’t.
/Kim.
The vivid description of the burger doing a slide under your truck made me laugh so hard. The situation was really absurd, I’m glad you got your burger anyway.
But I would think that after Falling Down, they would be more careful about how their burgers looked. Maybe they were all too young to have seen it.
Twitter: waynejohn
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Unfortunately, I do remember that movie. Thankfully, life wasn’t so bad to get upset with the whole ordeal. Imagine if it was! oy!
Twitter: www.twitter.com/easysongs2strum
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WOW! I can’t believe such a terrible experience you had!! I’d be so pissed!!!
As frustrating as your experience was, I couldn’t help myself laughing as I read your post, but that was till I watched the last video. Now that kind of behavior is F**King outrageous. Sure that guy has been fired, but what’s going to stop the next idiot from doing the same or worse
.-= Dermot @ Ladder Rack Truck´s last undefined ..Response cached until Sun 21 @ 15:36 GMT (Refreshes in 23.71 Hours) =-.
To think Burger King spends millions every month advertising to get customers through the door and then they hire a psycho like this chick is almost unbelievable. Sound like BK is going to have to start doing background checks!
I agree with you about the funny part: calling the cops on yourself is just plain old stupid. It is probably a good thing that you didn’t go off too.
I am glad it wasn’t me. I would have been too pissed to eat. You did great getting over it that quick. You could probably see a blog post coming the whole time, couldn’t you?
.-= Keith@Norman Rockwell Art´s last blog ..Apr 14, Girl at Mirror, Norman Rockwell Saturday Evening Post Cover 1954 =-.
Twitter: waynejohn
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Thankfully Jacq was there to intervene…things might have gone a bit differently if she weren’t so close by.
Hilarious story! She had obviously had a bad day stuck in that lil’ kitchen with all those other psychos.
I guess it’s not easy. Don’t know, I’ve never tried it
.-= Mike´s last blog ..McDonald’s franchise owner has spent 50 years in fast food =-.
Even i do not have this kind of experience, but i feel pity to u. here malaysia more worst, they totally dont give a shit to u. less choice and expensive some more( i am not taking about burger king or m.donald ^^ but you can guess you self). anyway , i enjoy pork burger, which extremely rare in malaysia.
Twitter: fendza
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I was just about to write a complaint as well about the employees at this BK.. until I ran across this thread on Google, man… describes everything!!!
Wow, what a funny story.. almost sounds like a sign to go vegetarian?
Twitter: waynejohn
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Not a chance! Meat. It’s what’s for dinner.
Hey Wayne!
Man…I read this post avidly, you had me hooked…you did tell the story well.
I cant believe she threw the burger at you! This is just a despicable display, like you, I would have found it very hard to have kept my cool, I would have picked the burger up and rubbed it in her face!
This leaves me feeling a little dubious as to how much time Burger King spend going over the basic fundamentals of customer service….Jeez. I have watched plenty of things on the tube about workers in the fast food industry which don’t exactly take good care of their hygiene. Think I may just opt out of all fast food all together.
I hope you have taken appropriate steps to work this up their asses!
Thanks again.
Daryl
This is the funniest post I’ve read in a long time. I’ve never had food thrown at me…but I did see a guy get his lunch sandwich tossed down the counter. I think the lady that made it was a little frustrated with the order.
Haha OMG. Burger King employees does not make the experience better
Hehe fun story! Although I was not a big fan of Burger King before I read this. More of a Mc Donalds dude.
Hahah!! Yes really fun reading
Now this is rediculous. I would have gone to corporate and sued those clowns. There is no excuse for that kind of behavior and that women should be fired and Burger King should be sued. What happened to the customer is always right? Sounds like you held your temper in tact, I myself would have freaked the heck out.