Consolidated "Burger King" thread
 

Midnight HP hub connection at LAS. The only food in the gate area is Taco Bell, and the sign there reads, "Out of tacos, burritos, quesadillas, and fountain drinks." 1/4 mile down a non-working moving walkway with my bags there is a Burger King:

"Can I have a Whopper small combo?"
"What size fries and drinks."
"Small fries, small drinks."
"We don't have small, the smallest we have is 'medium.'"
"The smallest you have is medium! Whatever happened to 'Have It Your Way?'"
"Sir, we don't have 'Have It Your Way on fries and drinks. You can have large, that would be having it your way."
"No, that would be having it YOUR way. Having it MY way would be 'small.'"
"What time is my shift over?"

Funny - I just went to a BK today for a white cherry icee. I ordered a small and to my shock - received a 20oz small beverage. As much as I hated too, I had to toss half of it. Why can't they serve smalls anymore????

I like ordering small and see what they do. Try asking for a small or medium at Starbucks. I've gotten all kinds for weird responses.

Or how about ordering tall and grande at BK... see what THEY say ;)

How can you have a medium without a small and a large? Doesn't medium have to be in reference to two other sizes?

I bet they have a "kids' size" drink.

Years ago, I had gotten very addicted to McDonald's for dinner out of shear convenience. It took me about a month, but every time I'd go through, I'd just order a Happy Meal. I would get the taste of it, but I'd still be a little hungry, and eventually I programmed myself to change my habit.

what did you do with all the toys?

My nephew was 5 at the time, so I gave them all to him.

Because you live in America.. the "land of plenty."

Its a shame.. my parter is American and remembers how small the small portions used to be in McDonalds (for example) and how much they have grown.

Come to the UK... you get a small, NO refils and pay twice the price (in dollar terms). Sound good? ;) Welcome to Britain! :D


Mark

When I visited London, I would order the 99 pence sandwich that was on sale and drink water. I rarely eat fast food anymore. (except for In-N-Out :) here in my area). The sandwich would tide me over until the dinner hour.

Medium is the new small with super, super duper, super super duper, super super duper duper sizing.

Yup, coffee places really hate it when you don't use 'coffee lingo' (which I refuse to use). Once when I ordered a 'dollar-seventy-five espresso' (that was the "double shot", but the board just listed prices, not sizes), I was asked "Have you ever had espresso before?". The guy didn't want to start a 'newbie' off with a "double shot", so it took a little while to convince him I'd actually had espresso before, and I'd be okay.

Yes, and the same sizing now applies to a$$es across America:)

Exactly. That's why this thing has gotten so ridiculous.

Somewhat related....

Ever go to the store and try to buy a "six-pack" of CANNED soda or beer?

Now, of course if you'd like TWELVE......

Yup. After "supersize me," Mcdonalds announced they were going to discontinue supersizing. Howevever, that forced its clientle to buy a spare order of fries...essentially going larger than a supersize.

We're getting fatter.

Speak for yourself--but I worry about it everday.

All fast food companies are feverishly working to come up with a plan to take the employee out of the customer experience. Punch an order in to a screen - and out it comes on a tray. Who cares who made it as long as it's tasty, cheap and safe to eat? My favorite? The staff at T1/Concourse C ORD McDonalds...we've all eaten there. Ugh!

My favorite:

"I would like a small coke with that."

"Sir, we only have medium."

"Well, if medium is as small as you have then it's small isn't it?"

And I'm sure they completely missed your logic.

It's the same as going to the grocery store and looking at meat. You'll see select, choice and prime. The food companies and the FDA don't want for people who eat low grade meat to feel bad so they call it select. Wow, mom our roast is select...we're great! Consumers get suckered in to the psychological part of marketing, so the small=medium will be around for a long time.

No, I thought it was called marketing. Who is going to buy the "dogmeat" Horsemeat or Crap part of the animal. You gotta make it sound interesting, otherwise you'd never sell it.


Ken in Phx

"Select" meat....

I posted on another thread that there's a restaurant chain in Canada, Casey's. Casey's is akin to Applebees or Fridays. Anyway, a few years back their restaurants were promoting their steak menu featuring "All USDA Select steaks".

A light bulb went on! I realized what we do with lower-grade beef we can't get rid of in this country. We pass it off to our neighbors, who in turn market the designation "Select" as if it were something special to their unsuspecting public!

Nothing is small in the USA these days, except our saving rate.

OHHH-hhhh. That's what all that nonsense is about at Safeway with their Rancher's Reserve Angus Beef marketing b*llsh*t. :mad:

Starbucks employee training actually consists of listening to recordings of customers ordering in all sorts of "improper" ways, and scoring the cashier on how accurately the orders are entered.

You should be able to order using another chain's terminology/sizing, and still get what you want - without questions or comments from the cashier.

:eek:

Sometimes, it's the little things, like a well-run Burger King
 

Just an observation. There's a Burger King near my office where I've had lunch a few times, and the employees are always quick and service is friendly. The manager is always running around behind the counter, getting orders, offering cups to customers waiting for their food so they can start getting their drinks. They've got newspapers out and it's always clean.

Today, they took a little while to get my order--not insanely long, but longer than usual. Without any prompting or complaining on my part, they gave me a coupon for a free sandwich as an apology for the delay (I thought about starting a thread: Burger King made me wait 5 minutes for my meal, compensation? ;)).

It just made me appreciate people who work hard and are good at their jobs and improved my mood for the afternoon.

Think that Burger King can send some employees to the one in the Delta terminal at JFK? I got in the line at 11:15, left at 11:40 to go to my 12:20 flight, went back up at 12:30 when my flight was officially "delayed", and the person that was in front of me in line the first time around still hadn't ordered..... sad thing was the line wasn't even long, maybe 25 people or so..... the lunch rush at my local fast food joints is much busier.

I had an eerily similar thought recently... When I drive out to the pistol club early on a Sat or Sun I generally use the drive through at one of the two local Maccas.... their breakfast products appeal to me.... sorry...:rolleyes:

ONE of them is always fast, friendly and organised.. they even make sure they wipe the outside of the drink cup before handing it over.. AND include napkins without fail...

The other place (at least up until I stopped using them) was slow, disorganised and sloppy....

Strange that two frachises so close together can be so different...

...and I'm with you anyway "in principle".. noticing the little good things makes for a nicer life IMO!

It is amazing how the little things can make a difference.... a few weeks ago I stopped in KFC.... and turned out it was going to take 5 minutes before the chicken was ready.... and the person at the counter offered me a free soda for having to wait....

I remember the little things.....

I thought Popeye's was the only place that did that.

Back on topic....it is refreshing when you go to a fast food place and the employees are friendly, on top of things, and the place is clean.

It's a sad commentary on our society when something positive like this is so rare it warrants a comment.

It is pretty amazing to me when we can really notice the difference in various fast food restaurants. The McDonalds in NYC at Broadway and 50th St is the FASTEST fast food restaurant I've ever encountered! They really make an effort to speed you though. Now I'm not an afficianodo of fast food-- but you really do notice the difference at this place. If you're on one line that's not moving, they call you over to a quicker line, and your order comes out fast and correct!-- something not seen at other McDonalds or FF places!

I know the guy that runs all the BKs in your area. Kurt is a great guy and it doesn't surprise me that it is well run. I'll send him a link to this post, he'll appreciate it.

We have two McDonald's in our area that act they like they are from different universes.

I really wanted to post about Chick-Fil-A. The first time I turned into our local Chicks drive thru, the line was around the entire store. I thought this would take forever, but I was quickly blocked in-so I was committed. I couldn't believe how fast the line went. They had a menu sign before you ordered so one could make up their mind and order quickly. At the window, one person took the money, one delivered food items and one delivered beverages. VERY efficient.

I've noticed that myself w/r/t Chick-Fil-A's. I don't think I've EVER been in a poorly run CFA.

I think a lot of it also has to do with how they treat their employees, too. My youngest son has worked at one for almost a year (he turned 17 last week), and they are just fantastic to him. He got a 2nd job and they accomadated his scheduling, they praise him all the time (as they do with all of them) and they even will help employees go to college.

Makes these kids want to do good for the store, IMO. A big ^ for Chick-Fil-A.

There's a Bob Evans outside CLE that used to offer me a free drink of my choice anytime I went in and placed a take out order. They weren't making up for any shortcomings, just building customer loyalty.

I went to McD's at lunchtime for a couple apple pies. The place was a madhouse, despite only 3 inside orders. One worker was filling orders and training a cashier at the same time. Guess how many of the 3 orders she got right? Her manager's response? - a public dressing down. My response? A call to the franchise's office in BHM (they display the number in the restaurant).

There is one McDs near where I work (also right near I-75) where the staff always smiles, are efficient, and do things right. Again, this is in contrast to all the other FF places in the area.

It is sad that such a thing is unusual. What happened to pride in your work? The attitude that 'if you must do something, do it with well?

aucarol, I've made the same observation. I've bought food at CFA in a half dozen states including airport and mall outlets and have never had bad or unfriendly service. The food is fresh, hot and fast. I think they need a better method of serving it up (call the ticket number instead of identifying the order as "8 piece nuggets").

My only real complaint is when I say thank you, the girl at the counter says "the pleasure is mine". I want her to wink or run her tongue over her lips after she says that. Then I will be a completely satisfied customer. :D

bubble bath in the kitchen sink at Burger King
 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/aug/13/8

I would imagine in a few months there will be a topic in Travel Safety/Security when as a TSA screener this guy posts a video on myspace of himself going through the x-ray machine.