Retail and Restaurant Rants
Fresh when it gets here from
Julie Barrett
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Attention restaurant managers: Please require your waitstaff to use an order pad.
We
went out for lunch today. The waiter stood and nodded as he took our
order, then asked me the inevitable questions on my burger: How do you
want it cooked? Which type of fries? When the meal arrived the fries
were wrong. I said something to the guy who put the food down on the
table, but he apparently didn't hear. It's a little thing, but what if
I had a specific, food allergy-related request that never got to the
kitchen?
Is it supposed to be a sign of excellence when the
wait staff doesn't take notes? I'm sorry, but it turns out to be a sign
of incompetence. Our state lottery used to have an ad campaign with the
theme, "What are the odds?" One memorable ad showed a waitress taking
orders from a table of about 20 people. Someone asked if she shouldn't
be writing it down. "Oh, I can remember it all!" As the ad asked, what
are the odds?
We decided to see if the problem was with the
waitstaff or the kitchen. The waiter showed up to ask how everything
was and he didn't even notice that my order was wrong. When I pointed
it out, he went into abject apology, suicide with the dinner knife
mode, but I refused his offer of another side of fries. I had no plans
to finish the order I got. What did I need with a second order that
probably wouldn't be ready until I was nearly finished eating? I
appreciated the offer to make it right, but it should have been right
in the first place.
Our next stop was Fry's. I needed a longer
monitor cable. It would be nice to actually reach the computer without
having to go through contortions to do so. Fry's has two sections of
cables. If you go to the monitor cables where you'd expect, the least
expensive DVI cable in a 10-foot length is $30. If you go over to the
parts area and dig around you can get one for $18. Paul found the same
thing with a retractable audio cable to use in the car with his phone:
$15 vs. $5.
Of course, my cable was in a clamshell package
that was impossible to open without utterly destroying the package. I
used to work in retail, and I know that people will be more likely to
buy a product that's been brought back if the packaging is in good
shape. I suppose some bean counter somewhere thinks these packages
deter theft. I'm here to tell you that a determined theif can and will
take darn near anything they want. It's very simple to distract the
salesperson and have your accomplice walk out with an item. Once I
chased down a group that stole a high-end piece of electronic gear
using that method. Yeah, I shouldn't have chased them down, but they
weren't expecting to have to run off with the gear and dropped it on
the ground. I got lucky. They could have had a gun. But my point is
that very little is theft proof.
And in this day and age,
there's no reason to not make recyclable packaging. I'm just sayin'. HP
ink may be more precious than gold, but all of their packaging can go
in the recycle bin and I can take the cartridges to the office supply
store for recycling. Or, I can give them to one of the school groups
that does it for fundraising. Which reminds me: I have some extras. I
need to drop some off at the high school.
I have an audio play
that I've promisde I'd write today. And yes, I'm procrastinating. I'm
gonna hit the grocery store and then get to work. The Cowboys season
opener is tonight, and it's as good an excuse as any to step away from
the computer and look at something else.
Tags: Life
Filed under: Life
Comments are closed
lisa said:
Some restaurants think it looks more "upscale" to not use order sheets. We used them when I waited tables years ago, and they were a lifesaver for me.
If I left mine somewhere, I could remember an order. But not everyone's all the time. Some restaurants use Black berrys now, which I think is cool.
Date: 9/8/2008 9:59:26 AM
Date: 9/8/2008 9:59:26 AM
lisa said:
Some restaurants think it looks more "upscale" to not use order sheets. We used them when I waited tables years ago, and they were a lifesaver for me.
If I left mine somewhere, I could remember an order. But not everyone's all the time. Some restaurants use Black berrys now, which I think is cool.
Date: 9/8/2008 9:59:26 AM
Date: 9/8/2008 9:59:26 AM
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