Sub-Par Service

Are Thursday evenings the melting point for many customer service reps? Or are people just so underpaid that they have little respect for their bosses, their jobs, and even their customers? Last week I was slapped in the face with a vicious case of pisspoor customer service that left me reeling and contemplating the very nature of the fastfood industry.

The nightmare began at Subway on Dundas and Elizabeth St. The young employee made my friend's sub but for some strange reason decided to completely ignore me! He helped the guy who walked in after me. I looked at him helplessly. "I'd like a chicken teriyaki sub on whole wheat..." I said when he finished ringing the guy out. Maybe he somehow overlooked me and wasn't purposely denying my existence? He looked right at me, then decided to help another woman who came in 15 minutes after I had. Out of sheer principle, I decided NOT to order a sub from this sub-par Subway. I told him I felt neglected and he said, "Maybe next time!" There is no next time in cases such as this.

My friend was horrified to find that the employee had put everything on her BLT sub - green olives, black olives, onions, peppers, miscellaneous sauces! Who eats black olives on their BLTs??

We called to try to resolve the situation but were met with lies and denial. First he said he "didn't remember us" and then he tried to tell us we (or rather 4-1-1) had called the wrong number because he worked at the subway at "uhhhh... Toronto General Hospital". I couldn't believe the audacity!

Of course that was just one example of an unhappy employee snapping. Later on that night at Scruffy Murphy's near Yonge & Eglinton, we had a craving for nachos. When the waitress stopped at our table, we asked if we could place an order when she's not too busy. She snapped, "The kit-chen is cl-o-hosed!" The menu said the kitchen was open from 11 till close. It was 1 AM. I let it go. Fifteen minutes later, an enormous order of nachos comes out of the kitchen to go to another table. Absolutely apalling!

Even at the Mcdonald's drive-through early morning, I was left sitting in the car waiting for my food for over ten minutes! The girl who took my money walked by and was windexing the drive through window. She said, "You still didn't get your food yet??" I continued to wait and wait. The other girl denied that it took that long and claimed that the food just needed to be cooked all the way. Is that why my fries were cold?

I wondered if Thursdays had suddenly transmogrified into "Everyone-Hate-Jennn" days... Or if this seeping out of horrific customer service was evidence of a deeper issue within the food industry. Maybe that $6.50/hr just wasn't worth the smile or the effort. Maybe the weekend just isn't coming soon enough. Maybe their bosses are drunk on power and their brutish ways trickle down to the worker bees.

I could wonder about this all day. But I guess the point is, If you hate your job so much that customers have to witness your attitude leaking out of your pores, then perhaps you should consider a career move... like, tomorrow.