I had never thought of doing this myself. But, now that I have seen it done, I am wondering why it has not been done before. Or, if it has been done before, why I have not read about it. And, having worked in the fast food and restaurant industry in a previous incarnation of this life of mine, I have heard some really weird and wonderfully nasty customer service stories.
The beauty of modern cash registers and computer technology is that you can put any old message on a receipt for purchases made. Most fast food restaurants use the technology to place standard information on the receipt, such as the name of the server, the store manager, the store contact details or even to up-sell other products.
However, a Burger King store in Sacremento, California, added the classic "show me the love" message and symbol for world peace, "Fuck You". Unfortunately for the manager and the employee involved they scored the unhappy customer who was so traumatized by reading such filth that they just had to complain. Oops! The manager and the employee are now sans of a job.
To be fair to the customer, when you buy a Double Whopper with Cheese, a serve of Onion Rings, and a small drink, you probably are not expecting to be greeted with "FUCK YOU" when you go back and check your receipt. Yes, it was in capital letters. As a matter of interest, when was the last time you checked your receipt?
The customer, Francisco Perez, claims that it was one of the most humiliating experiences he has had to endure. The point Perez makes is that he only bought a burger and end up with a "fuck you burger" instead. To ease some of the humiliation, Burger King has offered all manner of vouchers to Perez. But, the trauma is too real and too recent. Perez has knocked back all offers to rebuild the business / customer relationship. Perez will not be eating at Burger King again.
Copy cats, anyone?
3 comments:
Rob,
I am at a complete loss to understand why it even crossed the mind of Burger King employee / manager, to do such a thing, given that, anybody with some decency, should know that such a phrase is highly insulting to a large percentage of humanity. When a student tells me, their teacher, 'F**K You!', I don't mess about. If it's not immediate suspension,even if the kid reckons it was a joke, then my principal isn't doing the job properly. There is a time and place for such expression, although, 99.999% of the time, its use demonstrates a complete lack of imagination on the part of the user, but in the context of professional customer relations, it is completely unnecessary. If I was the franchise owner, I too would immediately sack anyone under my employ. It goes hand in hand with the old, perhaps cliched, but nonetheless obvious erosion of respect for others in our increasingly self-indulgent society. The fact that the report says the two involved where in essence, nice people, and were just joking around highlights just how desensitized (or ignorant) people are becoming to the notion of respect.
@ David...
I am going to have to work on my "tongue in cheek" and "sarcasm" skills a little bit, me thinks!
I am not at the same loss. I can appreciate the frustration that some managers and employees feel when working in a restaurant. This might go some way to how it was rationalised that the two involved in this incident were, in essence, nice people. But, as I said, despite that, I have never thought to do such a thing myself.
On the de-sensitised front. I agree. We have, and will continue to be de-sensitised with respect to this phrase and others from the same family of phrases.
In a school setting. Yes, I have limited choices. The conduct gets passed through the chain of command and dealt with in accordance with school (and if applicable departmental) policies.
Back to this case. I was not suggesting that it was an acceptable joke or that it was funny. But, because I am somewhat de-sensitised to the word and phrase it really would have been water off a duck's back.
Now, that is not to say that I would not have brought it to the attention of the restaurant. Maybe, I would have done this to milk some vouchers and other freebies for the harm and trauma.
So, why am I explaining myself again? :)
Hope you have had a relaxing weekend and are ready for the weekly grind from tomorrow.
And, if you here of anyone looking for a NSW educated and qualified teacher for some work between now and the end of the year, I am looking ;)
Very effective material, thanks so much for this post.
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