An order of hamburger with exactly five extra pickles, an order of small french fries (well done) and a side of big mac sauce. Then every detail printed out in the receipt. Yes! this was an extra credit assignment for my management class.
It might sound an interesting task, but trust me it was not so interesting to actually do it. I had been slacking till the last moment to do this because I so didn’t want to go bug people. However, I went to a McDonald in Astoria, place where I live. In the beginning, I was hesitating to go near my place, but then last Friday, November 12, I happened to pass that store, and just walked in to give it a shot because I hardly go there to eat. So I cared less about the location. Anyways, here comes my turn to order. A lady named Ruby takes my order politely. As soon as I told her that I want exactly 5 pickles she stares at me and tells the lady behind her to pass the message “EXACTLY 5 PICKLES” to the cook. The situation gets worse when I said, “Can I also have an order of small French fries, well done, with a side order of big mac sauce and it would be great if you could print it out in the receipt, please!”. Her politeness vanishes immediately. She told me that she cannot print pickles in the receipt, but she will put those five pickles in my hamburger and that all the French fries they sell are well done. When I told her kindly that I have done it before and I need it printed in the receipt- she called her manager. Unfortunately, she didn’t know how to do it either and she told me the same thing as Ruby did. I even told her that I will pay extra for those pickles if needed, but she answered me in a very bad tone that they don’t charge for pickles and that there is no way to charge it either.
Moreover, I could tell that all the workers in the store were from India and I understood what they were saying. I heard a lady from another register saying in hindi, “What kind of person is this?“, while Ruby said, “Why does she have to eat up our head for one dollar order?” I cannot explain how awkward it was for me to stand there and listen to them talk about me. For a moment, I kind of wanted to answer in Hindi too, but it would be my loss because I had to get my order completed anyhow. So I just overlooked and politely dealt with them. Then another manager who just finished taking a customer came to help me out. This lady treated me very nicely, unlike the previous two ladies. She told me that they had never taken this kind of order before and consoled me by saying that she will try her best to figure it out. She then started to press buttons for a while and printed a sample receipt and showed it to me if that was okay. She missed out big mac sauce, but everything else was in the receipt. I happily smiled at her and told her, “That’s great, just the side order of the sauce is missing”. Hearing that she also smiled back and told me, “It’s not a problem , I will print it right now!”. I was so happy that I was finally done. “Here comes your order, Mam!”, she says. I took my burger and checked it right away if everything was correct. There you go one pickle was missing. “Oh my god!”, I said it to myself. I talked to the same manager who was helping me out at the end and with out any hesitation she took my burger, added one more pickle and handed it to me. I couldn’t thank her enough! In addition, I even thanked other ladies even though they were not that helpful. Finally, after like 15 minutes of order, I came home and took pictures as required and I didn't want to eat that burger so instead of wasting it I gave the food to a homeless person.
After observing everything, I started to think what I could do if I was hired as a management consultant. First of all, I will fire the manager who was helping me in the beginning, I thought that they did not have any manners to talk to a customer and they did not even try to figure out where the pickles are in the register. Hence, due to all these circumstances, I would rate the first two employees 3 out of ten. However, the lady at the end was very patient and knew how to deal a customer. So I would give her a 9 out of 10. I think that this particular McDonald needs a lot of improvement in their management. I think they can take easy orders smoothly because there were two managers in front, three cashiers and couple of cooks at the back. It seemed like everything they printed comes at a screen at the back to the cooks which might be easy for them to process and communication was good too, but when something complicated comes up everyone tends to involve for one customer which delays the order of other customers and that creates a chaos. Moreover, I had a feeling that there were not a lot of people in that store who were not well trained, if they were trained well, I wouldn’t have any problem getting my order. They were lacking in their manners, there was no politeness in the way they talked. After this experience, I don’t think that I would ever want to go back to this store. No matter what situation comes, I feel like its their job to make their customers happy. Even if one customer is unhappy, it’s their loss for their business. So I felt like the employees were lacking this quality and that they just wanted to move the line without giving a quality service. However, the manager at the end took the initiative and helped me get what I wanted. She was a true leader for me because she was very polite and respectful to me. On the other hand, I think the manager who helped me in the beginning does not deserve to be a manager. First of all, she was rude. Secondly, I know that it might have been complicated, but without even trying she rejected to take my order. So that really disappointed me.
Today, I was trying to put all the materials together, and guess what? My sister said she trashed the receipt that was on the table. I sighed and got mad at my sister. “It was my fault anyway, I should have put it in a proper place”, I thought. So immediately, I emailed professor to see if he could accept it without the original copy of the receipt. His reply was not positive, so I got disappointed because I did not want to go bug the people at McDonald again. With a little bit of hope, I started to search it everywhere and luckily found it under the table mat. It was the other receipt that my sister trashed it. I was so relieved!
Therefore, I also learned a lesson that I need to be more responsible and take care of my stuff. Moreover, I think this task was something that I had never done it before nor would I ever do it in future (unless there is another extra credit assignment). :) So it was quite an experience for me!
It might sound an interesting task, but trust me it was not so interesting to actually do it. I had been slacking till the last moment to do this because I so didn’t want to go bug people. However, I went to a McDonald in Astoria, place where I live. In the beginning, I was hesitating to go near my place, but then last Friday, November 12, I happened to pass that store, and just walked in to give it a shot because I hardly go there to eat. So I cared less about the location. Anyways, here comes my turn to order. A lady named Ruby takes my order politely. As soon as I told her that I want exactly 5 pickles she stares at me and tells the lady behind her to pass the message “EXACTLY 5 PICKLES” to the cook. The situation gets worse when I said, “Can I also have an order of small French fries, well done, with a side order of big mac sauce and it would be great if you could print it out in the receipt, please!”. Her politeness vanishes immediately. She told me that she cannot print pickles in the receipt, but she will put those five pickles in my hamburger and that all the French fries they sell are well done. When I told her kindly that I have done it before and I need it printed in the receipt- she called her manager. Unfortunately, she didn’t know how to do it either and she told me the same thing as Ruby did. I even told her that I will pay extra for those pickles if needed, but she answered me in a very bad tone that they don’t charge for pickles and that there is no way to charge it either. 
Moreover, I could tell that all the workers in the store were from India and I understood what they were saying. I heard a lady from another register saying in hindi, “What kind of person is this?“, while Ruby said, “Why does she have to eat up our head for one dollar order?” I cannot explain how awkward it was for me to stand there and listen to them talk about me. For a moment, I kind of wanted to answer in Hindi too, but it would be my loss because I had to get my order completed anyhow. So I just overlooked and politely dealt with them. Then another manager who just finished taking a customer came to help me out. This lady treated me very nicely, unlike the previous two ladies. She told me that they had never taken this kind of order before and consoled me by saying that she will try her best to figure it out. She then started to press buttons for a while and printed a sample receipt and showed it to me if that was okay. She missed out big mac sauce, but everything else was in the receipt. I happily smiled at her and told her, “That’s great, just the side order of the sauce is missing”. Hearing that she also smiled back and told me, “It’s not a problem , I will print it right now!”. I was so happy that I was finally done. “Here comes your order, Mam!”, she says. I took my burger and checked it right away if everything was correct. There you go one pickle was missing. “Oh my god!”, I said it to myself. I talked to the same manager who was helping me out at the end and with out any hesitation she took my burger, added one more pickle and handed it to me. I couldn’t thank her enough! In addition, I even thanked other ladies even though they were not that helpful. Finally, after like 15 minutes of order, I came home and took pictures as required and I didn't want to eat that burger so instead of wasting it I gave the food to a homeless person.
After observing everything, I started to think what I could do if I was hired as a management consultant. First of all, I will fire the manager who was helping me in the beginning, I thought that they did not have any manners to talk to a customer and they did not even try to figure out where the pickles are in the register. Hence, due to all these circumstances, I would rate the first two employees 3 out of ten. However, the lady at the end was very patient and knew how to deal a customer. So I would give her a 9 out of 10. I think that this particular McDonald needs a lot of improvement in their management. I think they can take easy orders smoothly because there were two managers in front, three cashiers and couple of cooks at the back. It seemed like everything they printed comes at a screen at the back to the cooks which might be easy for them to process and communication was good too, but when something complicated comes up everyone tends to involve for one customer which delays the order of other customers and that creates a chaos. Moreover, I had a feeling that there were not a lot of people in that store who were not well trained, if they were trained well, I wouldn’t have any problem getting my order. They were lacking in their manners, there was no politeness in the way they talked. After this experience, I don’t think that I would ever want to go back to this store. No matter what situation comes, I feel like its their job to make their customers happy. Even if one customer is unhappy, it’s their loss for their business. So I felt like the employees were lacking this quality and that they just wanted to move the line without giving a quality service. However, the manager at the end took the initiative and helped me get what I wanted. She was a true leader for me because she was very polite and respectful to me. On the other hand, I think the manager who helped me in the beginning does not deserve to be a manager. First of all, she was rude. Secondly, I know that it might have been complicated, but without even trying she rejected to take my order. So that really disappointed me.Today, I was trying to put all the materials together, and guess what? My sister said she trashed the receipt that was on the table. I sighed and got mad at my sister. “It was my fault anyway, I should have put it in a proper place”, I thought. So immediately, I emailed professor to see if he could accept it without the original copy of the receipt. His reply was not positive, so I got disappointed because I did not want to go bug the people at McDonald again. With a little bit of hope, I started to search it everywhere and luckily found it under the table mat. It was the other receipt that my sister trashed it. I was so relieved!
Therefore, I also learned a lesson that I need to be more responsible and take care of my stuff. Moreover, I think this task was something that I had never done it before nor would I ever do it in future (unless there is another extra credit assignment). :) So it was quite an experience for me!
No comments:
Post a Comment