Why do fast food drive thrus so often muck something up?

Question

They either forget the straw, forget a food item (which taco h**l is notorious for), or give you the wrong food. Also, my biggest pet peeve...why do they immediately ask for your order? I NEED TIME TO LOOK AT THE MENU!!!!!

Answer 1

Well i guess, sometimes you may have an idea of what you might want, you also get clocked at how long it takes for you to respond to the customer, then if they are asked to wait it is ok. Sort of like a waitress checking on you.

And about them getting food wrong.  I HATE THIS !  This happens to me sooooo much.  Time to get it straight.

Answer 2

Everything is FAST FAST FAST. I agree that there should be a menu we could peruse BEFORE we get to the window to order. As for the mistakes, they really can't care very much because we're not likely to go back and get them to fix it.

The Muse

Answer 3

Most fast food places these days, and even not the so fast food places are using immagrants to do their food.   When the immagrant can't even speak your language, how do you think they can get your order straight.   The worst place is Toco Bell.   They have the Mexican immagrants there but none of them can speak English.  Weird thing is that Toco Bell implies that it is a Mexican restaurant.   Even though I love Chinese food, the next worst place is going to a Chinese restaurant.   When you ask your server for something, she has to go get an intrepter.

Answer 4

Yeah, I know what you mean. It seems sometimes that they are just trying to rush you to get to the next person, they almost always for get my ketchup or mayo or even napkins and I always have to go back and make sure they are in my bag.

Answer 5

I know what you mean, just the other day at McDonald's we ordered two honey mustard crispy snack wrap, and we got ranch, both of them.

We took it back, and they got it right, and then they gave us another large fries.

Why is it when you say sprite, they think you say fries.

Its fast food, it can not be that hard.

Answer 6

they try to go to fast.. muppets need to slow down

Answer 7

Think about who takes that kind of job.  There's your answer.

Answer 8

haha ..well im not being racist here at all but the majority of people who work at places like that are hispanics and they cant pronounce ther words or understand veryy well because they havent been here very long ..so yeahh hope i helped :)

Answer 9

They s***w up the food for a number of reasons. First, it's hard to hear people at the speaker. That's why a  lot of places now display the order on a screen. Second, it may be hard for the drive-thorugh workers to coordinate who gets what food. I know it's a simple job, but unfortunately some people who work in fast food don't care to try and do their job well.

As for getting your order immediately, I think it's just to speed up the process. You're usually familiar with the menu at most fast food places, ya know?

Answer 10

Have you ever worked a drive thru before.  I did for years in my youth.  It is so fast paced that stuff gets messed up all the time.  But, look in your bag before you drive away to make sure your order is complete.  Or go in & order.

Answer 11

The communication devices are not very sophisticated so it is difficult for them to hear what you want.  Also often the person taking the order does not speak the native language that well.  Emphasis on speed to get orders through not accuracy as you are not likely to turn around and drive back to get something corrected - and what proof do you have?

Answer 12

They're trying to get your food FAST to you but I agree that that shouldn't be a reason to forget a food item. What happens to me all the time is that I might ask for NO MAYO and guess what? Once I get home, my sandwich has mayo and no ketchup. My orders are consistently wrong.

Answer 13

LOL...I know. But the real problem is that there are crappy managers and employees just don't care about the satisfaction of the customer anymore....it's all about doing 'just well enough' so they can that paycheck.

Answer 14

A lot of places that have drive-thrus have a nationwide competition for "fastest drive-thru". Wendy's has one, I worked there in high school. It was h**l. We were constantly worrying about how long it would take us to get the orders ready so that we wouldn't come in last place. The competition totally drives people insane...orders get screwed up, nerves are shot. If you want your order to be complete, go inside. It takes 2 extra minutes. Also, if you think about it from the manager's perspective, you have all these cars lined up and you want your employees to work as fast as they can. Fast food is exactly that...fast, and not always accurately distributed out the window. Everyone's always complaining and ranting about the fast food industry. We demand FASTER CHEAPER FASTER CHEAPER and we're not prepared for the consequences that FASTER AND CHEAPER come with.

Also, for the person who made the comment "look at who works there", everyone has to start somewhere. It's not like working at McDonald's when we're 15 will ruin our lives...in fact, it's the opposite, it gives teenagers work ethic and teaches them how to work well in a team setting. If you don't like "who's working there", stop going. Make your own sandwich.

**Revise: Coming back to see the responses to this answer, I couldn't help but LMAO ROFL at these responses. If you're that mad, pull into a parking spot. Turn off your car. Get out of your car. This might involve a shortness of breath for some of you, it will pass. Walk inside of the building. You will find that it is not as busy as drive-thru and there is someone waiting to help you who is not in a rush (unlike drive-thru). Proceed with ordering. Take your bag (or bags) of food and walk out the door. This process doesn't involve blaming teenagers for a poor job, or hating on immigrants.