Taco Bell

[EeyoresButterfly]

The town where I am attending University is a very small, rural town. Being a grad student I frequently eat dinner at ten pm or later, so my choices are typically Taco Bell or a local establishment affectionately referred to as Shitty's. I tend to go the TB for lunch when I am in a hurry and during the daytime they show exemplary service, but nighttime is another matter...

I have noticed the less than stellar standards but have declined to do anything about it until now. I know that the employees are at the end of a long day and are probably tired so I have held my tongue, but last night finally caused me to speak up.

It is not uncommon for them to give me my order on dirty trays with food stuck to them (a health department violation I'm sure) or for there to be groups of teenagers being loud, obnoxious, and vulgar. It's frustrating enough that nobody steps in to ask them to stop swearing at the top of their lungs, but what's worse the employees frequently join in! Like I said, I've pretty much held my tongue, but then I went there for a late night meal last night. There was a group of three teenagers sitting there eating and swearing up a storm. As I'm waiting for my food (which they had apparently forgotten to make) I can hear one of the guys in the group telling the others at the top of his voice how he won't date "fat" girls, and how he can say that because he used to be fat but then got his a** up and how all fat people are lazy. Now, I'm overweight and this made me decidedly uncomfortable. I very nearly asked for my money back and left, and might have had I not paid with a card. Plus, I did not wish to make a scene. Nobody asked this particular group to quiet down even a bit, and at least one of the employees was joining in on the conversation (and the swearing) from the kitchen! The kicker is that one of the people in that group is applying for a job! I called the customer service hotline today and politely outlined the issues with the night shift and told them that if this particular girl (whose first name I overheard) happened to get the job, I doubt I will be patronizing their restaurant when she is there.

That to me is just common sense: if you are going to be applying for a job with a business, you need be on your best behavior and make a good impression- not drive the customers away with your presence!

[vixen101485]

You must live in my town in PA...LOL I had the teenage manager from hell last week.

Told him the speaker wasnt working properly.
"well What do you want me to do about it?" Head bop attitude and all
(ok, you do not want to mess with me-I had a rough day)
May I speak to your manager?
"I am the manager"
OK, then, what is your name?
"what's YOUR name?" Yes he did ask mine

Oh little boy, bad thing to do.
Told Donnie to pull around front and I went in and gave him the what for. I was a good girl and didnt swear or yell or even raise my usually loud voice. I told him it was unacceptable and unprofessional, etc. how he handled things and I want the number for corporate and his name. Duh on my part, the # is printed on the bag. But I still wanted his name. When I asked for the number he just kinda stood there staring.
ME-Dont just stand there like an idiot, give me the number and your name.
HIM-indignent shocked look..."did you just call me an idiot?'
ME--No I said you were standing there like an idiot. Just give me the # and your name
HIM--"please leave the store"
ME--NO, not until you give me your name and corporates number.
HIM--"I will call the police"
ME--Go right ahead. (see the cop on duty that night is a good customer of Donnie's and likes us) Plus I wanted it on record that he was calling the police cause he refused to give his name and a phone number. (well granted I wouldnt leave when asked but the kid was and idiot)
Soooo, the whole staff goes in the back room to call the police.
Of course I have to be a smart butt and yell back, "oh when you get Officer ******* on the phone tell him Donnie and GF are waiting to talk to him"

Still standing there waiting....la la la la. At least give me the name of your head store manager. (I dealt with her before, I just couldnt remember it) "well he is the manager" NOoooo...I want the head store manager, and I know it is a female so give me her name.
The So-called teen twit sends out an underling to give me a name. Still no corporate number. "we cant find the number" I swear they were back there consoling him or something. So I go outside to wait for the cops.

Meantime Donnie is livid about the customer service..(not a normal occurence for him) We wait...no cops. This time Donnie goes in.
"well where are the police"
Oh, we thot you left
"no we are waiting for the police"
Well we didnt call them cause we couldnt find the number (umm 911)
So Donnie rattles off both 911 and the local direct number, "call em we are waiting"
Meghyn had to go Potty a few minutes later and we ran over to Burger King so we didnt see if the cops came or not. (need to ask our buddy if a call ever went thru or not)
I came home and called corporate and even the guy on the phone said all he had to say about the speaker was "thank you for letting us know, we will take care of it"

Now mind you this is the TB that runs out of ground meat on a regular basis and at dinner hour, runs out of cups, mops right next to customers in the dining room and has a constant huge lake (talking-at least an inch deep and over 5 sq feet large) next to the ice machine cause the drain is clogged. The guy from corporate was funny on that one "how hard is it to blow out the drain" Some of those things are not to mention bad management but also dangerous and unhealthy.

Still waiting for that call back on this. SOrry so long

[EeyoresButterfly]

LOL, now mine doesn't sound so bad! I think the worst ever is the TB Express at the mall in my hometown. They have the slowest service, and now I know why! My mother was standing outside smoking one day and she heard the teenage workers talking about the district manager coming over the next day and in all seriousness one of them said, "I wonder if they found that we are selling drugs out of here". This was years ago and I have not eaten there since.

[vixen101485]

Maybe they were trying to create some "special" taco.??

[hobie16]

"I wonder if they found that we are selling drugs out of here".

Gives a whole new meaning to, "Run for the border!"

[felinefan]

Makes you wonder what "Yo quiero Taco Bell" REALLY means! Especially when the dog said it--with all those costumes!

[DisneyMom]

*Sigh*
Some places' employees are unable to take my order because the people there are of "normal" intelligence- (but still idiots)-some don't speak a word of English, including the items on their own menu.... I hate ordering even coffee at Starbuck's sometimes because I worry that my sugar-free frappucino will be made with sugar- I've had a few surprise flavors added in previous encounters.

[Ms. Matterhorn]

I agree...it's often hard to communicate with Non-native-English speakers in a drive-through. I'd say about 25% of the time the order is wrong. This is part of living in Southern California.

[Ms. Matterhorn]

Fun with Taco Bell:
http://www.tacobell.com/dsp

Dress a sauce packet! It's fun!

[joanna71985]

Wow. That's pretty sad. Makes me kinda happy that there is no TB nearby here.