Thursday, October 18, 2012

Things That Annoy Me Thursday: Not Opening

The sign on the doors of Panda Express said it opened at 1030. Awesome. It was 1032 and I was starving and could use some Chinese food. I walked in and…nothing was ready! There was a guy waiting at the front of the line rolling his eyes.

“The sign on the door did say it opened at 1030, right?” he asked.

I nodded.

It looked like the worker in charge of making everything JUST arrived. He was slowly tying on an apron and shooting us annoyed looks. Hey, don’t blame us for coming in. The sign said 1030!

Another worker, a female, smiled at us and said, “It’ll be a few.”

“Then why,” the guy said, “does your sign say that you’re open at 1030? Doesn’t that mean the food should be ready at 1030?”

She looked a little nervous. I felt bad for her because really, she’s not the cook. “Yes but…well, it depends on when the cook shows up.”

I didn’t want the man to keep whining about it because hello, the cook could SPIT into the food. You never know these days. Did he not see the video taken at Dominos where the workers spit in a sub? And didn’t one guy wipe his ass on the toppings?

Another guy walked in the store and sighed. “Not again!” he grumbled.

The guy at the front of the line went, “Oh, this happens a lot?”

“Yup. I should know by now that nothing is ready until 11. They need to change the sign!”

I did agree with that. If you aren’t going to be ready to serve customers by the time it says on the door, move up the opening time.

We waited in line until 1050, maybe longer. The cook was slowly getting everything out. And even by 1050, everything wasn’t there. I wanted chow mein but was told it would be “another ten minutes,” so I got the rice.

Grrr.

I’m finding that businesses need to figure out their REAL opening times.

For instance, I took the kids to the book fair at the school Monday. They got fliers saying that it would be open on the 15th at 835. We showed up at 840 and…there was hardly anything set up! Why say you’re going to be ready and then not be? Some other parents had showed up with their kids and they were like, “Uh? I thought it said it would be open at 835?”

Natalie found a book and I went to pay and the register wasn’t even set up yet.

I would think that if the flier said 835, that people would start setting up an hour before—not when it said it was meant to open.

So yes. If you own a business, make sure that things are ready to go at the said opening time. Don’t annoy customers.

And please don’t spit into the food.

17 comments:

  1. I used to work on the Domino's account for my old ad agency...I even had to spend a week in Ann Arbor going to Pizza Prep School and then working the night shift in one of their local stores. I never heard the story of someone wiping his ass on the toppings and spitting into a sub though. Glad I don't order their food any more.

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  2. I knew something didn't taste right with my last Domino's order!!!!

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  3. It's employees who don't care, and managers that don't manage.

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  4. I haven't come across that situation much but it would annoy me so much as well. Being late for anything is one of my biggest annoyances.

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  5. Annoying! This is one of my biggest pet peeves for sure.

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  6. If the sign said 11:00, they wouldn't have their shit together until 11:20. People are lazy.

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  7. We were going to a local pizza joint after church on some Sundays, and they didn't open until 11. We get out of church a little before then, so we would sit out in the parking until opening time. Usually, we walked in the door with the employees and had to wait a while on pizza. Thankfully though, the salad bar isn't that hard to set up so we had something to much on. But I think they should be there at least an hour before opening to get everything heated up and going!

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  8. I was just visiting Winston Salem, NC last week and our whole family very excitedly went to a local BBQ place. We got there at 9:05 and were happy to see that the sign in the window said they were open until 10. We unloaded into the car, went in the restaurant, then were informed that they were closed. We thought they were kidding and I laughingly pointed out that the large sign in the window assured us that they were open for another hour. The man just said, "Oh we close at 9 now." ???? Really? Then change your sign! There were a lot of disappointed Ohioans that night.

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  9. You wonder why the hell they are in business. I hate waiting and I hate to keep people waiting. In these tough times it is service that will keep a business viable. Grrrrrrrr!

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  10. And companies wonder why they aren't doing well in these economic times. It's because customers leave and go somewhere else due to THEIR bad service.

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  11. I'm always too terrified of retribution to complain in take away places and restaurants. You're right, they could spit in it, or do almost anything to get back at you and you'd never know! That's why I like the online reviewing sites so much, it's very theraputic to trash them online once you've gotten home :D

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  12. Unfortunately, so many places nowadays don't want to pay for the extra 30-60 minutes to prep while they're closed. Stupid, if you ask me!

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  13. So enjoy your blog! I am giving you the Sunshine Award because you deserve it!

    http://michellemossey.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-sunshine-award.html

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  14. I couldn't agree more! I can't stand when you show up somewhere on time/when they say they are open and they aren't ready. Ugh.
    Where I work I am the opener so I have to make sure that I am there early enough that as soon as that open sign comes on I am ready!

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