Comments on: Local: Yes, Miss Hardee’s manager, I’m the one who told you to shut up and take my order

By: Peoria Pundit » Blog Archive » Local: Drive-thru service revisited

Peoria Pundit » Blog Archive » Local: Drive-thru service revisited — Wed, 21 May 2008 17:43:47 +0000

[...] Consistently, the folks at McDonald’s on North University near Pioneer Parkway have been providing the cooly efficient and quick service I have been seeking. [...]

By: Billy Dennis

Billy Dennis — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 01:45:04 +0000

I chewed out no one. I simply stated what I wanted, paying no head to the noise coming out of her mouth.

By: mla65

mla65 — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 01:25:58 +0000

As someone in retail, I can assure you that in my location, we are forced to recite spiel to our customers when checking out no matter if the customer is in a hurry or not. The “powers that be” think this is a great way to put some extra money in their pocket when it actually just iritates the customer (and some don’t come back). Chewing out the workers doesn’t do a bit of good since we don’t make the rules. Whether I am tring to upsale you or offer something is not my choice.

By: Local: Drive-thru service revisited : Peoria Pundit

Local: Drive-thru service revisited : Peoria Pundit — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 02:40:33 +0000

[...] Consistently, the folks at McDonald’s on North University near Pioneer Parkway have been providing the cooly efficient and quick service I have been seeking. [...]

By: kris seklur

kris seklur — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 14:07:26 +0000

No matter how bad the service, it’s always a risk to complain BEFORE you get your food, lest you end up with a snot sandwich!

By: AnotherExJSer

AnotherExJSer — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:56:04 +0000

I can so relate to this “ridiculously short lunch just give me my food” story. (Funny how daysiders always seemed to have plenty of time for lunch.) Thanks for reminding me how nice it is not to be doing that anymore.

Regarding the two McDonald’s and one Hardees within a mile of the Journal Star, I found the Hardees on Adams to be consistently the fastest. The Adams Street McDonald’s varied from extremely slow to “am I in hell?” slow.

It’s sometimes faster to get out of the car and go inside at a fast-food joint if there are more than two cars ahead of you. I found this often was true at the Prospect-War Memorial McDonald’s.

By: Mahkno

Mahkno — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:07:27 +0000

You can bitch all you like Bill but in this case I would tune you out. The standard is set by corporate or the franchise owner. There is nothing the guy on the box can do, except lose his job. Take up your furor with them, not the guy in the store.

By: Billy Dennis

Billy Dennis — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 17:58:09 +0000

Mahkno: As a consumer, I have the right to bitch and moan about bad service whether the bad service is caused by malingering employees or employees who are doing what management tells them to do. Bad service is bad service, whatever the cause.

By: 11Bravo

11Bravo — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 16:49:48 +0000

Is anyone else annoyed that Taco Bell has changed its Drive-Thru greeting??

I have been to a couple locations that now begin the ordering process with a “Hello, how are you today?” which immediately requires me to respond “Not too bad, how about you?” and then their response followed by silence. Now I would prefer that they just dispatch pleasantries and skip right to a “Hi, can I take you order?” If I wanted fantastic service I’d go to a nice sit down restaurant, instead I have chosen to not even take my lazy a$$ out of my vehicle and pull up to a window to get food thats been sitting under a heat lamp for God knows how long…

I cannot wait for the day when we can just pull up to a touch screen and place our order and then pull around to the credit card/ cash machine a la Kroger’s Uscan and insert my own payment, then all you need is someone to hand me the food…

By: maubs

maubs — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 16:05:35 +0000

It’s annoying as all get-out to have the squawk-box voice ask you to order the product of the month when you’re trying to remember the orders of everyone in the car (and I just have two other family members). It’s just a non-sequitur when you’re trying to hold on to short-term memory.
“No, I do not want to order the fried jalapeno-poppers topped with cherry-pie pastries and mozzerella sticks with au jus. What I DO want is… Oh, hell, what do I want again?”
It’s why I always refused to answer the phone at Kinko’s with the studid question of the month. Nobody listens to it; it just adds a further annoyance to the conversation. Quit annoying your customers and ask them what they really want. And no, I do not want to mega-jumbo-quadruple size it for 79 cents.

By: Mahkno

Mahkno — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 15:14:35 +0000

And here I was expecting you to have run into someone blathering on about personal stuff to co-workers and not serving you. The poor drive thru person was just doing what they are told to do. Yeah it sucks for you but they worker isn’t happy about it either. Nothing like being bitched at for doing your job.

By: SuperJ

SuperJ — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 14:30:45 +0000

Over here in Bloomington, there’s a Hardees on College Avenue that sits right next to a Taco Bell. On any given day, you’ll see ten cars (literally) in the drive-thru for Taco Bell and nary a one in the Hardee’s drive-thru.

There have been times when I’ve been asked to pull forward into one of the waiting spaces (like they do at Culvers). This is the kiss of doom at Hardees. Pretty much guarantees that you’re going to have to get out of your car and go inside to get your order after sitting in your car and waiting 15 minutes.

I agree with DV, Wendy’s is better.

By: Anon E. Mouse

Anon E. Mouse — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 03:53:37 +0000

As James mentioned, it is hard to call Hardees “fast food”.
They have a sign saying that int he drive-thru lanes I have seen, lately.
Note that I have only seen those signs as I am walking in. I almost never use the drive-thru. If there is ANY kind of a line, I will walk past the same car in line going in and out of the place.

By: Billy Dennis

Billy Dennis — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 02:19:58 +0000

… And unfortunately, too far away to do me any good during lunch breaks. Gonna have to brown-bag it, which is what I should be doing anyway.

By: Diane Vespa

Diane Vespa — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 02:13:13 +0000

The Wendys in front of Cubs and Target off War Memorial Drive is consistantly fast… plus their food is so much better than Burger King, AND, they have removed trans-fats from their food. Its the tri-fecta of fast food!

By: Chef Kevin

Chef Kevin — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 01:36:35 +0000

Eh, I feel your pain Billy. I hate it too. However, at my job I’m pretty much forced into it. We have “secret shoppers”. I don’t offer an additional product or service and there goes the bonus money. Since I like bonus money and don’t want fellow employees beating the hell out of me by costing them bonus money, too, you, the customer, gets the “spiel”.

By: Billy Dennis

Billy Dennis — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 01:04:26 +0000

I try to NOT use fast-food drive-thrus — except when time is very limited.

There are dozens of great locally-owned joints in Peoria.

One of these days, I’m going to write a story listing all the joints only locals know about.

By: james3v1

james3v1 — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 00:48:04 +0000

I would mention, though, that since the advent of the “Six Dollar Burger” Hardees is not really the quick service restaurant you’d think–it’s like going through drive through at Steak N Shake.

I wouldn’t try to do any drive through on a short lunch in the Peoria area except the McDonald’s at Prospect & War or the one on North University near Pioneer. Every other drive thru in Peoria is abominably slow.

By: BeanCounter

BeanCounter — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 00:39:10 +0000

People don’t attempt to upsale because they love the thrill of it, they do it because someone higher up has told them to (unless they are on commission which I am guess the Hardees’ employees are not).