Retail Hell Underground

McSparkles Banking Adventures

Dear, sweet monkey bread, how long has it been? 9, almost 10 months since I submitted something here? I recently started a blog about My Little Pony’s main character, so even though I’m not at the Golden Arches anymore, “McSparkles” still works for my moniker.

Aside from being distracted by drawing purple ponies blogging, I’ve also not really had many reasons to write in about work. The bank that hired me has been an amazing job experience since I started here.

Let me tell you the things that I actually get to do at the bank that I couldn’t at the Arches:

-If I have to pee, I CAN.

-If we don’t have any customers, I CAN SIT DOWN.

-If I get thirsty, I CAN DRINK SOMETHING.

-If I have a question, I GET AN ANSWER.

-If I need a moment to hide in the back and cry, I CAN.

-If I need time off for a vacation, I GET PAID TIME OFF.

I also have the best co-workers I’ve ever had in my job history. I mean, we’re topping my coworkers during my time serving the Mouse, here! They’re THAT good!

This isn’t to say the job is without its flaws. I do still have the occasional customer who is a complete and utter moron.

Some smaller examples include those who get pissed because they want to withdraw money, but can’t since they don’t have their ID’s on them. I’m sorry, but I’m not going to give you money just because you SAY you’re Mr. Numbnuts. I need the plastic PROOF that you’re Mr. Numbnuts, so that I know you’re not really Mr. Cockknocker trying to steal someone else’s money.

This is especially mind-boggling when they don’t have their ID’s with them in the Drive-Up. Yeah, good luck if your brilliant ass gets pulled over.

There’s also the customers that constantly overdraft their accounts, and then get mad at us for it. Oh, yes, it’s entirely my fault that you didn’t keep track of what was in your account, and I used my Dr. Xavior powers to wipe your memory of the minimum balance requirements and service fees you were warned about when you opened the account...

Well, that’s it for now. I’ll get into the more specific, hilarious incidents I’ve built up soon!

--McSparkles

Hurricane Irene's Aftermath Causes Scary Retail Hell At One McDonalds

Hey, RHUers.

Twilight (Mc)Sparkle(s) here, with a tale of pure… nails-on-a-chalkboard levels of stress.

As you all know, the east coast recently got hit by the lovely miss Irene. While my lovely city usually doesn’t get hit too hard, we got widespread power-outages and trees down all over the place.

I had set my alarm clock to 7:30, to make sure I had enough time to assess the weather and see if I could make it in to work. I was, instead, awoken at 7 by a whole tree being pulled up by the roots and falling onto a neighbor’s house.

I JUST got my liscence, my parents had let me borrow the car to go into work that day, and I was scared about the idea of my 2^nd day driving being in the middle of falling trees, I was nervous. I called, and they said “Well, we need you to come in, we’re short.” So I go in.

A couple hours in, just before lunch starts, we lose SOME power. Not enough to close, but enough to make me stab myself in the face. We had all our food, but the freezers and coolers stopped working, and the registers stopped working.

Now, when McTwinny worked there several years ago, when the registers stopped working, they closed the store, cooked up a bunch of nuggets, and had a bit of a party. I wasn’t so lucky. We had to write out all the orders, using a calculator that only half-worked, and a list of prices that was no longer accurate.

Because we had to yell orders to the kitchen, we started directing all customers to order inside instead of in the drive-thru, so as not to overwhelm the kitchen. But for the entire lunch rush, we had both drive-thru and front counter open. I was honestly so stressed out that I angrily yelled at co-workers in order to avoid yelling at customers.

After my break, I returned to the front counter to help take orders. Since our registers weren’t working, I would occasionally yell to the customers that we couldn’t accept credit cards.

Suddenly, a man comes up to the front counter. Let’s call him the Credit Ass-Nut (CAN)

CAN: Y’know, I could sue you for this?

McS: I’m sorry, sue us for what?

CAN: If you’re open, you’re legally obligated to accept any form of currency that you’re given!

McS: But the system isn’t working…

CAN: Give me the number for your manager, the regional manager, the corporate manager, I need to know who to call about this!

McS: I would call Hurricane Irene, it’s her fault…

A girl standing next to him in line explained that, as a student in law school, we were not legally obligated to accept an impossible-to-accept form of currency, and he blurts “I don’t care if you’re in law school!”

He turns to leave, and as he does, he mutters, “This place must be run by some Jew”

My mouth is agape, my friends. A-FUCKING-GAPE. I hate racism. I’m not Jewish, but I was still offended.

But the bullshit doesn’t end there. Oh, no. Two days later, I go in, and my co-worker says to me “I wouldn’t get anything to eat here today if I were you. They’re selling the stuff that thawed out in the freezers.”

Again, A-FUCKING-GAPE.

This is a fucking HEALTH CODE VIOLATION. I don’t care if cooking it supposedly kills off the bacteria, IT IS STILL UNSAFE. I want to barge out the door, I want to stand a protest. But this is my only job, I NEED to stay. But 2 hours into my shift, I break down, I’m crying. I can’t stand knowing that I’m letting these people eat this possibly tainted food!

*phew!* Tl;dr: The Golden Arches sucks.

Luckily, I applied to a local bank branch for a part-time teller position last week. I had a phone interview two days ago, and then they set up a full interview for earlier today.

A few hours after today’s interview, they called to let me know they wanted to hire me!

I’M FREE OF THE ARCHES! (I do have one last Golden Arches tale for you, but that shall wait for another day.)

--McSparkles

 

 

Golden Arches Hell: Forced To Ask For Breaks and Then Bitched At

From McSparkles:

Sorry it's been so long since my last submission, she said under the assumption that her stories are popular. I've been a tad bit busy recently with driving lessons and work. Also, Zelda 3DS came out, and my alter-ego of Zelda Guru has been playing that when she should be sleeping. Besides, I felt I needed a little while to calm down, or my story would be filled with seething, blind rage.

It was a lovely day. The sun was shining, there was a cool breeze, and corporate was there for an inspection. And there went my beautiful day.

I was working a 5 hour shift in my back window. Not only was corporate there, but we also happened to be busier than I can remember. So when no one came to relieve me at the end of my shift, I wasn't surprised. What did surprise me was what happened when my co-worker Sweetie came to the back.

Sweetie: Hey, you're gonna just take money for a while, I'll take orders.

McSparkles: But I was supposed to clock out 10 minutes ago...

ST: Oh... *hollers up to the Store Manager* Hey, McSparkles is out!

The SM yells back something I can't hear, then Sweetie says “Can you stay until one?”

MS: I guess so, but I would be owed a break...

Sweetie relays this back to the SM, who yells back another thing I can't hear. Sweetie then turns to me and says “I guess you're staying until one”, and then walks away.

I continued working, taking people's money and being friendly while Sweetie took orders. One o'clock rolled around, and there was no sign of anyone to let me go. The line was literally non-stop, so I had no chance to go up to the Store Manager to remind her that I needed to leave or that I needed a break, and Fathead was busy kissing the asses of corporate.

So finally, 45 minutes after one, I finally was able to pull Fathead aside and quietly let him know I was supposed to have left at noon. Quietly because he was still with corporate, and I didn't want the store getting in trouble if corporate found out I had worked almost 7 hours and wasn't given a break. Not because I care about the store, but because I knew I would most likely get punished in one way or another for making the store look bad.

He sends the Store Manager back to count my drawer and send me home, and of course, she gets mad at me for telling Fathead that I needed to leave in front of corporate.

Maybe I was over-reacting, but the whole time I was stuck in my window, from 12 until 1:45, I was literally shaking with anger. I kept my happy face for my customers, but I was furious. Not because I really NEEDED a break. No, I'm a tough cookie, I'm fully capable of working an 8-hour shift without a break. But the fact is that LEGALLY, I should have gotten a break.There were a couple of times when I was tempted to throw my headset to the ground and clock out, but damn my big heart for not wanting the store to suffer.

After that, I started making a habit of asking when I was gonna go on break. I was very careful with my wording. “Hey, I'm not asking to go on break now, I was just wondering if you had an idea of when?” Of course the next time I worked with the Store Manager, she gets mad at me for asking. I explain that, well, if I don't ask, then I don't get a break. I say this because not only did I not get a break the week before, but the week before THAT, I almost didn't get a break. I had to remind Pequeño about my break, and thus didn't go until an hour before I was scheduled to go home.

So, after telling the SM that if I don't ask, I don't get breaks, she says “I always give out breaks!”

...Fuck you, no you don't.

Now, after thinking about this, I'm not too mad about it anymore. It had never happened before, and it hasn't happened since. And I also understand, we were busy as hell, and distracted by corporate. But at the time, it was the most infuriating thing to happen to me at work in a long time. I felt like a prisoner in my window, my favorite place to work!

But, to add insult to injury? A couple weeks later, I learned that it wasn't even a real inspection. Corporate was just there to let us know what the people inspecting us later would be looking for.

I have about 5 or 6 more stories to share that are in the back of my mind, but this post seems to be long enough. I will leave you with this: The homeless guy who comes in and orders Side Salads and Senior coffee's every day needs to start wearing underpants. At least if his pants are gonna have holes THAT BIG.

--McSparkles

 

From The Depths of Manager Training Hell

Well, McSparkles has been a manager-in-training for about two weeks now, and I'm already moving back down to my old Crew Trainer position.

I'm insanely depressed right now. It really felt like I was being thrown into the lions den wearing an antelope-scented bra.

Part of my quick demotion was from higher-ups sending me multi confused messages. For example, Tuesday, Fathead told me that I wasn't supposed to fill out the stock list myself; that whomever I was gonna have stock was supposed to when they were able. Then Wednesday, when Pequeño clocks in, she asks me why the stock list hasn't been done yet. I explain that I haven't had anyone clock in that was able to yet, and she tells me I'm supposed to do it.

I'm sorry, but Fathead, who is also your boss, told me otherwise.

I will admit, a good part of it is also because I'm a wee bit forgetful. Sure, I can remember how to beat all of the Legend of Zelda bosses, but not that I'm supposed to get the bank deposits ready or the baked goods sheet filled out.

To make a long story short, it was just a million times more stressful than I thought it would be, and I was sick of being brought to tears 4 out of 5 shifts. But, enough about my failings.

MY STORE IS NOW A 24 HOUR STORE.

And not just the drive-thru, oh no. The lobby is open then too.

I'm gonna start taking bets on how long until some drunk guy pees in the lobby.

Wish me luck!

--McSparkles

McSparkles Trains For Management

Its been a while, hasn't it?

Well, I've been swamped lately with 40 hour weeks, which probably seems like childsplay to you guys, but its not just my normal work. They FINALLY started training me to be a manager! How many months ago did I say they were considering me for it?

It's a lot harder than I thought it would be. I used to tell people that there were some things I knew I could do better than the current managers, and for the most part, I was right. It's the 20 billion things I didn't know about that are giving me hell.

But that's not what you wanna hear, is it? No, you wanna hear the latest on our dear friend, Creepy Lottery Ticket Guy.

HE HAS OFFICIALLY BEEN BANNED FROM THE STORE!

Cue the fireworks and parades, I am in heaven. I was sitting in the lobby when he walked in and Nike gave him the news. He was PISSED! He threatened to sue us!

Yeah, you're gonna sue us because you're not allowed to sexually harass us or get free coffee anymore. Right.

However, I have heard that he's still been showing up. Sneaking in the back and stealing soda. So he has officially evolved into a NAT. Luckily for me, a friend of mine is a cop, and he's itching to arrest this guy!

Well, my break is almost over, so that's all for now!

--McSparkles

McSparkles Boss Heaven, Milkshake Hell

McSparkles here. I would have come to talk about my goings-on sooner, but as the great Ashy-Boy pointed out, the new Pokemon games recently came out, and I have been a wee bit distracted.

First, I will start off with some good news. Fathead, who is my Store Managers boss, is back at my location! I am insanely happy, you guys!

You're probably wondering, "Hey, if you like him so much, why call him Fathead?" Well, that's just the kind of work environment it was with him. We'd joke around, insulting each other, knowing no one actually meant it, and he was just boatloads of fun.

I worked with him for a couple months before going to my internship with the mouse, and when I returned, he bumped into me at the store saying I could have my job back, no application or interview necessary! He's the best boss I've ever had, hands down.

Now, for about 5-6 months, he went to work at another location, one with a play place (God help me if I ever have to work somewhere with a play place). So, in place of Fathead, we got some Weasly Doofus. WD has just been... BLEH. I always felt like I had to be on my best behavior around him. And I'm fairly certain he was obsessed with mopping. Every time I saw him, he was mopping.

And one day, my good buddy Snake clocked in, and I gave him a big hug, as I always do. WD told me he didn't want me hugging people on his clock. Okay, I can understand telling me not to hug you, if you don't like hugs, but no one tells McSparkles she can't fucking hug other people! It's like telling a frog not to ribbit!

But, with Fathead back, everything is right with the world! Mainly because HE ACTUALLY PAYS ATTENTION TO THE SCHEDULE. I was due to clock out at 4 the other day, and when 4 rolled around, he went up to the Store Manager and asked her "Hey, isn't McSparkles out at 4?" FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MONTHS, I GOT TO CLOCK OUT ON TIME! I was in heaven.

But the part that just made my week. My sister McTwinny popped in to surprise me that day when I was getting out. She heard Fathead saying how nothing was as good as it had been before he left. She piped in "Except for McSparkles, right?" and he said "Except for McSparkles." *insert huge smiley face here*

Now... To some shit. Our Shake machine is broken. Just in time for St. Patrick's day, the day everyone will be rolling up to my speaker asking "Can I get a Shamrock Shake?"

And the weird thing is, that's the only flavor that doesn't work! We tried hosing it through the strawberry line, and after a while, that line stopped working too!

Also, the shakes have been on special. A small is $1 with any purchase. Meaning if you want it to be $1, you gotta buy some cookies or nuggets to go along with it.

A woman pulls up to my window asking for a small vanilla shake, and nothing else. I told her it would be $2 or so, and this starts:

Shake Bitch: Wait, I thought they were only a dollar?

Me: Well, it's $1 with any purchase.

SB: Oh, that's perfect, I just bought this coffee! So, can I get the shake now?

Me: (REALLY?)... Umm, no, I'm sorry, you would have had to buy the shake at the same time as the coffee.

She then pulls up to my window, demanding a manager. She starts ranting about how she hates this Golden Arches and how we can't even put creamer in her coffee for her! She holds up a bag of creamer packs she had been handed, apparently forgetting that whoever sold her that coffee had told her that the creamer dispenser was broken too.

She drove off in a huff, as my managers and I laughed it off.

Also, a quick thank you to BackHoleWhore, whose tip about the new POS really helped me out. I don't hate it anymore! It's still hell for the managers, who have to wait until there's no more orders in the drive-thru before they can switch the drawer, but my life is a million times easier!

Well, I'm off to drink root beer while the rest of my Irish brethren get drunk off their asses!

--McSparkles

McDrive Thru Hell: Entiled Crustys & Sucky Managers

I apologize for being so silent as of late, but... I've felt a bit guilty. Y'see, while many of my fellow RHU'ers had to work Christmas, I... had a four-day weekend. Well, at least they made me work New Years Day, and let me tell you, It was about as fun as drilling a hole in my kneecap.

A customer came to my speaker, and placed an order, something to the tune of 19 bucks. He pulls up to my window and says:

"I came through here earlier, and the cap wasn't secure on my sprite, and it spilled. I was so mad I threw my whole order out. Can I get my order free?"

I... I was floored... I've had my share of crustys, but they've been relatively tame. Then I'm hit with THIS? This is the kind of crusty I've only read about in storybooks. I was so surprised, I stuttered "...Lemme get my Manager."

Now, there were 3 Managers working. Thing 1, Thing 2 (they both have the same name), and Ms. Awesome. I got Thing 1, and told her the situation. I was expecting her to tell the custy "What are you, crazy?"

Nope.

SHE PROMO'D OUT HIS WHOLE ORDER.

THAT was another blow! This is usually a manager who doesn't take shit from anybody, and here she is, just... caving to the customer's fancy for no good reason! We didn't even have any proof that he had ever even BEEN THERE. I talked to Ms. Awesome about it later, and we both agreed that neither of us would have done that.

The next morning, I'm back at work. There's about 10 minutes until my shift starts, and Thing 2 is running Drive-Thru and Front Counter by herself. She asks if I can clock in early to help her.

As soon as I get behind the counter, she shoves the headset at me. Doesn't even give me a chance to clock in or put my stuff away. I rush to take the one order in line, and return to the front.

Thing 2 is nowhere to be found.

Meaning that now, I'm running DT and FC all by myself.

I see Pequeño, the next manager, show up, and I think "Oh, goody, someone to help me!" Then I remembered that she was supposed to have been there 15 minutes ago to do her pre-shift paperwork. Which means she's gonna do it now, meaning I've got about 15 more minutes of working by myself. JOY.

Lastly, a little note to all the fuck-faces who think it's a good idea to dump their milkshakes and sodas in my drive-thru.

STOP IT.

Seriously, it attracts bugs, it gets sticky and stinky, and it makes a mess. Would you dump soda in your own driveway? No? THEN DON'T DO IT HERE! ESPECIALLY WHEN THERE'S A HUGE FUCKING WINDOW, AND I CAN OBVIOUSLY SEE YOU!

*phew!* Well, that's enough blathering for today.

--McSparkles OUT!

 

McSparkles Remembers Awesome Magical Kingdom Custys

McSparkles gets a Badass Retail Slave Award for these two custy tales of where she made some very special custys days and they ended up making hers:

McSparkles is back, and as I promised last time, I have a couple heart-warming stories from my time working for the Mouse.

First, I was working at my Energy ride, and I was at Greeter position. I just stood out in the sun answering people's questions and letting them know how long until the next show, and that the maps were lying about the bathrooms being nearby.

This family went up to the door just as they were roping it off, because the next show was letting in. It would be about 10 minutes until we could let the next group in.

I notice a little girl walk away from the family, crying. So I walked up to her and gave her one of my spare Tinkerbell pins and a hug. She smiles, kisses my cheek, and goes back over to her family.

A minute or two later, she comes back with her mom, who thanks me profusely. Apparently the girl's big brother had teasingly blamed her for them missing the ride, and she didn't understand that he was just teasing, and that my actions had made their day.

So they wound up taking a picture with me and having me sign their autograph book!

I clocked out a while later, and since I knew when they'd be getting out, I waited until I saw them again to let them know that they had made MY day too.

My second story takes place on my birthday.

It was my first time celebrating without any of my family, including my twin sister, so I decided to cheer myself up by celebrating like a Princess at the park with the castle.

I got on the monorail, which was pretty darn full, so I was standing. And so was a little girl who couldn't reach the safety bar.

I didn't want her to fall down, so I just took her hand. She started clinging to my arm, and she and her family started chatting with me about the monorails.

Her family and I got off at the same park, so she kept a hold of my hand for a long time. When I went to get my birthday badge, and for a while down Main Street, she was right there.

I can almost guarantee that if I were a man, her parents would have flipped their lids. But I think I can safely say that was the best birthday experience I've ever had.

Next time you see me, I'll be back to sharing crap-tastrophies of the Golden Arches.

--McSparkles

 

Magical Kingdom Custy's Selective Hearing Shuts Down Ride

A Sleepy McSparkles here, ready to not whine about the Golden Arches for once.

These little stories come from way back in 2008, back when I did an internship for the Mouse in Florida.

Specifically, I worked in the educational park, on the least popular ride on the Future World side. It was a ride about Energy and how Ellen DeGeneris can't win at Jeopardy without Bill Nye helping her cheat.

The ride was a 45 minute long movie with cars that slowly moved through a dinosaur diorama at one point. Since my ride was so slow, people would come to it after riding say, Mission Space or Test Track, thinking "Hey, this looks like a nice, chill ride to settle my tummy!"

So about once or twice a week, we'd find a nice little pile of vomit in one of the cars or in the exit area.

SWELL.

But I didn't even care about that. What pissed me off were the ECVs. The electric cars Guest Services rented out to guests who "needed" them. I say "needed" because I only saw one girl who actually DID need it, because her leg was in a cast. One lady admitted to me that she had it because of a HANGNAIL.

Now, these ECV's were too big to fit on the handicapped ramps on my ride. They always have been, they always will be. Telling me they fit last time you were here will not get your ECV onto the ride.

There were a few people who brought their own. They were smaller, and that was fine because those actually did fit. There was one man, however, who tried backing out of the ride when it was over, and started to fall off the ramp. I somehow managed to catch his fat ass AND his ECV.

But I think the worst one was this lady about 3 months into my internship. It took us a good long time to convince her to switch to a wheelchair, which we had nearby for these ECV riders so they could still ride.

Now, it's important to note that many times during the intro part of the ride/show, the guests are informed that it gets LOUD, and it gets DARK. the Cast members say it, even Ellen DeGeneris says it once or twice.

WE LET YOU KNOW IT'S LOUD AND DARK.

We also warn them that if anyone is caught standing up, that we have to stop everything and no one gets to ride anymore. The lights start to fade and I hear that same lady start yelling

"Why's it so dark?"

The doors open to the next part of the ride, where the cars will start moving to, and from the light shining in, I see that her friend HAS LOWERED THE HANDICAPPED RAMP AND IS TRYING TO PULL HER OFF THE RIDE.

So now, for the safety of this dipshit, I have to push the big red "STOP THE RIDE" button, which kills the ride, meaning no one gets to see the whole thing and we have to evacuate everyone so we can start the hour and a half reboot cycle.

I run over to her and she's saying "I didn't know it was gonna get so dark!"

HOW MANY TIMES DID WE TELL YOU?!?

Did you just take a nap while we told you about that little tidbit?

YOU JUST IGNORED ELLEN!

But, I think those are my only complaints I have from working for the Mouse that I can remember.

I think I'll dig up my 2 super happy stories for next time. We need a good revival of our faith in humanity.

--McSparkles OUT!

 

Scheduling Hell At The Golden Arches

From McSparkles:

I think my Store Manager has forgotten how to do schedules...

Things were fine during summer vacation. Everyone was pretty much available whenever. The SM posted a sheet for everyone to write down their fall/winter availabilities. So some people are only available weekends, and others are only available after school.

The SM seems to be ignoring this.

The schedule is always posted in the back bubble, where I am 90% of the time. So I'm always there to hear people saying "4-8? But I can't get here by 4, I told her that!" or "I can't work until 3, I have to pick my kids up from school!" and so on and so forth.

The SM posted the schedule for last week, and I saw that I was scheduled to work EVERY DAY. Which, eh, I don't mind, I could use the money. But no one's supposed to work all 7 days (Besides McMama, who's worked there longer than anyone else and has nothing better to do than make awesome breakfast stuff).

So I pointed it out to the SM, and she took the schedule down and made a new one, giving me Monday and Wednesday off.

Fast forward to Sunday night. I'm about to leave when the Night Manager comes to me asking if I can come in early Monday.

Confused, I tell her I'm not scheduled to work then. She shows me the Managers copy of the schedule, and shows me that, yes, I'm supposed to come in at Noon.

So I guess the SM changed the paper schedule for us, but forgot to change it in the computer system. So, instead of being able to sleep in for the first time in days, I have to get up early enough in the morning that I can call and explain the situation to the SM, and she has enough time to find some lucky sap to cover the shift.

Not the worst thing in the world, but I'm still in the "sleep-in-till-noon-if-I-can" mindset.

*    *    *    *

Lately, I've had to stay 15-30 minutes after my 8 hour shift because when everyone is scheduled to clock out, there is no one scheduled to clock in.

Meaning, there is no one to cover my position when I'm supposed to leave. And half of the time, no one even comes to me to ask if I can stay. I wind up standing in my bubble wondering what's going on and why no one's come to change my drawer out.

Last week they put me on table to help out, and a half hour later, I was the only one on table.

I HAVE NEVER BEEN TRAINED ON TABLE, but hey, what better way to learn than just being thrown into the thick of it.

I wound up staying an hour late because the girl who joined me on table had no experience with it either, so they had me stay to help her.

But that's not the end of it.

Today, I was put on front counter, and about 10 minutes before I'm supposed to clock out, the SM asks if I can stay later.

I tell her that I don't think I can today.

She then gets upset, telling me that I never come in or stay when they need me to. Yes, if you just read everything in the last couple paragraphs, you see this isn't true.

This is also two weeks to the day that I was called in 5 hours early.

Which, by the way, I had to cancel plans with my mother in order to cover the shift.

And yet "I never come in or stay when they need me."

I explain that yes, actually, I've been staying on pretty much every day this past week, and I mention coming in 5 hours early the other day.

She says "Well, if you want to be a manager, you have to be willing to help if we need you to."

...Is it just me, or does this sound like she's trying to use my desire to become a manager to blackmail me into helping?

So since, yet again, there was no one scheduled to clock in, I wound up staying 2 more hours anyway.

By the way, during those 2 hours, a huge mob decided to come in. This was also the time when I was literally the ONLY person up front, and I literally had to balance taking orders and getting orders together by myself, which, trust me, is quite a challenge!

FUN.

--McSparkles

 

Golden Arches Hell: Drive Thru Custy Antics

Howdy, RHU! McSparkles is back!

In my first post here, I regaled you with tales of a customer who could not hear for the life of her. Well, another one has shown her face!

It was breakfast time, and I was taking ordered again. A car pulls up to the speaker and asks for 2 steak bagels. To confirm, since there was a lot of noise, I asked "Alright, you said 2 steak bagels?"

"...No, 2 steak bagels."

Okay, maybe I'm mishearing her. Steak and Bacon DO sound similar on the headset... "Ok, 2... bacon bagels?"

"...No, 2 steak bagels."

"2 steak bagels?"

"...No, 2 steak bagels."

"2 bacon bagels?"

"...No, 2 steak bagels!"

"Alright, 2 steak bagels?"

"Where are you getting bacon from? I said 2 steak bagels!!"

"Okay, 2 STEAK bagels?"

"YES!"

"That's what I said the first time."

She offered to pull up to the first window, since I was OBVIOUSLY having so much trouble hearing her, but I just asked if she was getting anything else, and went about with regular business. I mean, I'm a former Theater student, so I always speak clearly and loud enough to be heard.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OH, guess who came back yesterday?

My good friend, the demon spawned Purple P.T. Cruiser!!

You remember in my last post, when I said she makes it just in time for our breakfast menu? Well, yesterday she didn't make it in time.

The kitchen had literally JUST yelled to me that there was no more breakfast when she pulled up, asking for 2 Egg McMuffins.

"I'm sorry, but we've switched to our lunch menu."

"But it's 10:30. You sell breakfast up to 10:30, it's 10:30, so you're still selling breakfast."

"No, we switch to our lunch menu at 10:30. It's 10:30, so we are selling lunch now."

"But I drove 20 minutes to get here! You have to sell me breakfast!" Okay, I can guarantee that wherever she drove from, there was a McDonald's that was closer to where she was, and she could have gotten her precious breakfast there.

"...Just because you drove 20 minutes isn't going to make it NOT 10:30."

So she pulls up to the window, and is lucky enough to speak to the ONE manager that was willing to cave and get the kitchen to make her some breakfast.

But the SM and I both agreed that we would not have let her have breakfast.

Anyway, until next time, fellow slaves!

--McSparkles

 

McSparkles: Dumbass Custys and Asshat Managers

Hey, McSparkles is back, and for once, she's not here to rant about coworkers or management! Nope, this time, for once, I have a custy to whine about. Go figure.

My Store Manager and I just refer to her as "The Purple PT Cruiser", because that's her car. And it's gotten to a point that I can tell it's her before I even see her car turn the corner. So far, she's my only custy that I can do that with. And I have a LOT of regulars.

Firstly, she'll usually come through the drive-thru RIGHT when we're switching over from breakfast to lunch. At this point in the day, we're not going to start cooking any new breakfast items, we'll use what we've got until 10:30/11. 

And every time PPTC comes through, she insists we make everything fresh. We can't do that right at the switchover, so usually I'll just tell her "Oh, yes, it'll be fresh." She doesn't seem to notice the difference, so everyone wins there.

Also, no matter how many times she comes through, no matter how many times she sees the sign, no matter how many times we TELL HER IT'S CALLED AN EGG McMUFFIN, she always calls it "The sandwich with the egg and the ham on the muffin." 

On the off chance she comes during lunch, she'll ask for "The apple pies. They're still 2 for a dollar, right?"

UMM, YES. The 2 for a dollar apple pies are about as iconic a Golden Arches thing as the friggen' Big Mac. 

The only place you won't find them priced like that is at a highway rest stop, where there's no such thing as cheap food.

And today, when my sister came to pick me up from work, PPTC decided to come inside to order. 

But she decided to park diagonally, taking up 2 whole spaces.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

...Ok, I lied, I think I AM gonna rant about a manager. Because I'm pretty sure this is totally uncalled for.

I was working in the back bubble taking orders, while a coworker (I'll call her Ginny) was handling money. A customer came to the window after I had taken her order, and she needed to change a couple things on it. The order wound up changing too many times, so we needed a manager to do an override on it.

I couldn't leave my window, because I was in the middle of taking an order, so I hollered up to the manager, like I usually do when I need one, telling her we needed an override.

When she got back there, she told me, in front of Ginny, to "find some other way to get my attention, because your voice is annoying."

UMM...

Okay, I will admit, sometimes my voice can be a little irritating, but I think it's a big no-no for a manager to INSULT a crew member!

That night, I posted a Facebook update about it. I made sure she wasn't on my friends list so she would be unable to see it, and I didn't name any names, so really, I could have been talking about ANY of the managers. (Except for Token Male. Cuz he's the only dude and he's AMAZING)

Well, one of my coworkers, someone I thought was trustworthy, decided to TELL HER ABOUT THE POST.

She decided to tell the General Manager, and he told her she could file a Defamation of Character suit. Or so she told me.

I don't know what to make of this, Ok, sure, maybe it was dumb of me to rant about it on Facebook, but it was a really bad day. 

That same day the manager in question made me cry after claiming a customer told her I was "running my mouth and blaming the customer for having to change her order." Which I never do. I try my hardest to make the customer's experience awesome. 

I even keep as cheerful and informative as possible with PPTC, when Ginny couldn't even finish taking her order. So I've basically got a manager accusing me of being a bitch and refusing to believe when I say that it's a lie, even though she's worked with me for the past TWO YEARS, and should know me better.

Well, she hasn't said anything about it since, and considering that she was wicked nice to me yesterday after I stayed an hour late (because for some reason, half the crew decided to call in sick on a holiday weekend, even though they were specifically told doing so would get them fired), I think I'm safe. 

Especially when you also consider that the General Manager told me today that they're seriously considering me for a manager position.

Well, I've rambled long enough. Everyone cross your fingers for me!

--McSparkles

 

McSparkles: Disrespectful Store Manager

Hey there, RHU. McSparkles here, fresh from a very stressful day of work. Venting is required.

So I clocked in at 6 in the morning. Especially pleasant since I think I managed to get 20 minutes of sleep last night, so I'm running on pure adrenaline here. About 3 hours into my 8 hour shift, I get my break, and once I'm done with that, suddenly I'm out of adrenaline, and I'm waging war with my eyelids to keep from passing out in my window.

I ask the Store Manager if there's any way I could leave early, and she says she'll have to check the schedule. Ok, I'm down with that. About 30 minutes later, she hasn't given me an answer as to whether or not I can go, so I ask if she's checked the schedule yet.

I then see her turn to check the schedule. I go back to my window, since I have customers. another half hour goes by, and I've still heard nothing from her. So I ask her again if she's checked the schedule, and she finally tells me that I can't go.

So then, about an hour before I'm supposed to clock out, my Store Manager asks if I still want to leave early. I said sure, and she said as soon as I finished unloading receipt paper rolls, I could go. So I plow through that, and wait in my window for her to take my headset and send me home.

And I wait...

And wait...

And finally, it's 2 - the time I was supposed to clock out anyway. I go find the Store Manager and politely remind her that she had told me I could leave early, and ask that if in the future, if it turns out I can't go early, that she at least let me know.

She starts getting irritated and says "Well, we got busy, and I can't psychic-ly know if we're gonna get busy. Besides, you can't just leave early because you're tired."

There's 2 things wrong with what she said (at least to me). Firstly, I know she can't see the future, but when she noticed that we had become busy, she could have let me know then. Especially since she was chilling in the office while everyone else was working.

Second, It wasn't because I was tired. Because I go into work tired every Saturday and Sunday, because someone decided to screw with my sleep patterns and schedule me to work evenings/nights Monday through Friday, but ass-crack of morning on weekends. It was because I was exhausted from getting barely any sleep, which caused me to be a queasy, nervous wreck trying not to fall asleep standing.

And even if I were on my best game, it doesn't change the fact that she had told me I could go early. I can understand if she had asked me to stay, but she just ignored me.

Maybe I'm overreacting, but it made me feel like a worthless worker drone as opposed to a valued member of the company. But I'm gonna cut the Store Manager a break this time. This is the first crappy thing she's done since she had her baby. Trust me, she was a lot worse when she was pregnant, so I'm willing to let this one transgression slide.

Anyway, day after tomorrow, the coupons for free smoothies and frappe's will be expired. I'll bet anyone here $10 that I'll still get a bunch of customers saying "Wait, I have this coupon..."

Until next time

--McSparkles

 

Drive-Thru Custy With Hearing Problems

From McSparkles:

Hello, RHU!

I work for the Golden Arches, but I'm so cheerful in the Drive-Thru that I'm sure I'm forever stained by Pixie Dust from working for the Mouse in Florida.

I have a plethora of stories I could submit, but I'll start simple. Two weeks ago, a woman came up to my Drive-Thru speaker, and here's how things went down:

Custy: I'll have 2 #1's, both with Dr. Pepper.

Me: I'm sorry, we don't serve Dr. Pepper.

Custy: ...Okay, let me start over. Can I get 2 #1's, one with a Sprite, one with a Dr. Pepper?

Me: ((Okay, maybe she didn't understand me the first time)) ...I'm sorry, we don't serve Dr. Pepper.

Custy: Alright, can I get 4 Happy Meals...

Me: I'm sorry, I got the Sprite with the first #1, what did you want with the other one?

Custy: ...Dr. Pepper.

At this point, my coworker, who's handling money for me, is trying so hard like to laugh, and I'm not trying to punch my register.

Me: ...I'm sorry, we don't SERVE Dr. Pepper!

So she gets a Root Beer instead. When the woman behind her pulls up to the speaker, she goes "If that lady had said Dr. Pepper one more time... GOD, you're patient!"

In a lovely twist of irony, less than a week later, guess what we started serving...

--McSparkles