It's a 'little' hot.

Some people are idiots.

We have three cups c-c-c-cool, h-h-h-hot cups (that's what they say on them) and some branded coffee ones. Wow it is simple but some people don't get it.

I'm round the back. I stick my go and stand out on the front to see if I need to serve. I spot this woman. Looking sheepish.

This is what she said:

"Erm...can I have another cup - this one is a little hot"

What I wish I could have said:

"Yeah it will be you twirp, you've used a c-c-c-cold cup for hot chocolate, and because you are greedy pressed hot chocolate again after the first time it wasn't full up. Then the hot liquid you so desperately needed was spilt all over you, the machine and the floor. So here is the mop and blue roll - clean it up. And NO you can't have another cup. Moron."

What I had to say if I wanted to keep my job:

"Oh thats no problem. Let me just get you another cup - would you like a hot or cold drink?....Here you go - no problem!"

Oh. And the couple who I swear to god I didn't serve came storming up to the counter going

"ERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR EXCUSE ME! This is chicken and I ordered veg because I am VEGETARIAN. I AM VEGETARIAN AND I'VE JUST EATEN CHICKEN. BUT I DON'T KNOW IF IT IS CHICKEN BECAUSE I'VE NEVER TASTED IT!" *stares at me*

Funny thing was.....she had NONE of the pizza left, just a tiny bit of spat out chicken.

Apologies all round, offers of free food, giving out of free food. They left looking reasonably happy, so hopefully they won't take it any further. It might have been my fault, it might not have been. I don't know.

We have been getting very busy recently. Every day seems busier the closer we get to Christmas. There has been some excellent team work though on the past few shifts, and it really helps speed up things and build confidence in each other. Yeah. Something like that.

My feet feel like they may drop off at any minute, so I'm off to read some blogs in bed! Have a nice weekend readers (if any..!)

:-)

McDonalds

People seem to have difficulty in understanding what exactly Pizza Hut serve. Now the company name is a bit of a clue.

In the past week I have been asked for the following:

• A chicken nugget happy meal
• A Big Mac meal - LARGE
• Strawberry milkshake

Now those are the McDonalds ones...then are the just totally random ones:

• Tomato soup
• Sausage rolls
• A cheese and onion sandwich
• Vinegar

Ok the vinegar one is in there...as who has vinegar on pizza...or even fries?

Thanks to Argos employee for commenting!! I love comments.

Seeing red again

Now this time it was me seeing red, but not literally. Sorry I didn't jump over the counter and headbutt someone or anything exciting but I was angry.

This family came up to the counter. They took ages looking at the menu, while standing in the way of 3 tills. I was about to serve them, when this lady popped along and knew exactly what she wanted. In the meantime a colleague was now serving the family. They were a young family, I mean... young children, young parents. Now I could hear and see how long the order was taking and I tend to laugh when this happens to this particular colleague because he is so patient but I know he hates it. Anyway, they finally ordered their meals. It was quite a big order - more than £10. Then they went to get their drinks etc. They made a nice mess over there - lids everywhere, the usual. Then they went and sat down. Then I was serving another customer - but I saw out the corner of my eye someone fall off their chair. Ha!! It was the woman from the slow family. I had to control my laughter in front of another customer, but as soon as I was done with her, I went round the back and laughed. For a long time.

Anyway - that wasn't the last of them. When they had finished their meal, instead of doing what 1000s of other people do everyday, putting their rubbish into the nearest bin, the family decided they would bring their rubbish up to our counter and leave it in the corner. I was round the front, my colleague serving, so I stormed over to the rubbish and crashed it into the bin not in our store, but in the seating area. Great - he had split milk all over the floor. The great thing was - they were sitting right next to the bin. Now this really doesn't sound very exciting...but my immediate reaction to his mess, and fetching the mop, cleaning sign and huge mop bucket I think must have made him think...at least something.

I just needed to tell you how much mess people make.

I really fancy some pizza today - but I'm not working..! Weird.

Seeing red

I thought I had a bleed in my eye or something today. A mother and daughter came in - wearing all red. It wasn't a going out kind of outfit or a uniform. The outfits were also slightly different, but it was all just plain red. Weird.

I gave a cup of hot water today against the rules. The baby though - just looked so innocent and hungry, I couldn't resist. Hope he enjoyed the milk. :-)

A lady who has been in before came in today - a very jolly happy person. Nice customers cheer you up.

Oh there was the couple who are possibly tramps as well - they are amusing, mainly because of their crazy hair.

Now I've noticed this for a while but only just come round to writing it. The pair of ladies who come to the counter and order their meals together. They both have their purses out, and they look like their both willing to pay. They both get the money out, but at the last second - one of them reaches my hand before the other - and is quite delibrate. Then the one whos money I didn't take looks a little shocked and goes "It's alright I'll get this!!" "No no you got me that ..." Basically what I'm trying to say - one of the pair always knows they weren't going to pay, they were just making out they were willing to pay.

Statistics

I almost forgot about Statcounter...so just checked it out.

Here is how people have found my blog - it really is quite interesting seeing what people search for.

			pizza hut team member
			team member back of house pizza hut salary
			order pizza from pizza hut prices
			how much does pizza hut employees get paid
			what are the ways to order pizza from pizza hut
			pizza hut seasoned chips
			how many customers do pizza hut get a day
			pizza hut blog
			pizza hut head office(complaints)

I hope the last one is not about our store!!

pizza hut seasoned chips

I can answer any questions on those if you want me to.

I'd love to get some questions!!

I must thank bus driving again for providing me with many hits each day.

Training

Whoo. I've been training someone, even though I've not been fully trained myself. I have had a few occasions recently where me, a relatively new team member has been the most experienced person in store. Which is nice and/or a bit scary. I know pretty much everything there is to know - but my official training on certain areas hasn't been done, and when they it is done, it will be a quick 10 minute job - because I know it anyway.

But you don't stop learning things. I discovered how to turn off the friers today. Clever hey.

A colleague commented today on how good I was at cutting the pizzas and how good I was compared to another member who had been there a lot longer. I know this person can cut pizzas properly, but they think they can go faster than they actually can. Then they end up with 3 huge slices and one mini chunk.

There are some lovely notices ranting on at the team because of a few mishaps recently. We have had a few bad mystery shopper experiences so management are upset.

I've been thinking about the pay. Now while I think the wage is pretty decent compared to other jobs around, I really don't like the fact if you are older you get paid more. I'm not keen on how someone can be doing the same job but because they are older - gets paid more. Yes they have families etc to support so need the money, but maybe I might too? I don't but it is possible.

Oh well. I've woken up to the problems in the world of work.

On a personal note....I was getting ready for work and had laptop on the desk. I walked away from it, and tripped on the power cable. The laptop fell flat on its front/face, and was literally a millimetre away from a 3 pin plug, which would have definitely knackered the screen if it had hit it. I couldn't believe how lucky I was, the laptop escaped with no injuries. I must be more tidy from now on.

Packaging

I think someone at headquarters has changed packaging suppliers.

Things which have happened with latest deliveries of packaging:

• The larger fry bags - not like the old ones
• Pizza boxes which fall apart in your hands
  
• Napkins which have either just the red hut or black Pizza Hut name on - not both

Oh well.

A man came in the other day and drank around 5 of the little plastic cartons of UHT milk, right in front of me. Not only is it taking the mick a bit, but it tastes terrible on its own.

Oh and then there was the man who didn't carry £1.50 in cash, and so wanted to pay by card. No problem except he came in around 3 minutes to close and the machine had its daily report printed off. He ran off and was charged £1.75 for getting some cash out the nearest cash machine, which unfortunately for him was the 1 out of 7 at the shopping centre which charges for withdrawals. Boo hoo.

Apologies for the lack of posts - the ignorance and rudeness of customers has now become expected.

Spam and other things

I thought I was lucky not having post verification on and getting no spam, so now I'm turning it on. I don't know if it helps, but I hope it does.

Also a few things I have remembered from the week -

The respectable man who then came in with a cap on, so lost my respect has now had his entire head shaved. He looked a right plonker.

The man who filled his cold drink cup with hot water to warm up a babys bottle. He had a lucky escape not to get burnt seriously. We apparently can't give out hot water to warm bottles up because of the old 'health and safety' tag - which is added to any conversation to give it an apparently official reason. I watched the poor little baby have cold milk - not my rules :-(

Someone at the packaging factory has increased the size of fry bags very sneakily, they look the same, but are slightly wider. The customer now gets more for the same price. Fantastic.

Syrup

I went to get a drink, and the pouring speed seemed a bit slow. I wasn't too sure what was wrong, and I had just had a mint so couldn't really taste whether the drink was right. I stood round the machine for a bit, and then asked this girl and mother whether it tasted ok.

They both said yes.

I later discovered that there was a fault with the water supply, so they were drinking approx 75% syrup and 25% water. How could that possibly taste 'ok'? It would be so sickly, its like drinking extreme cordial. It is syrup - thick and sticky. The fault was fixed and normal service resumed - the daughter and mother didn't return - they obviously liked their syrup.

Front of House

I am on front of house again, as I have mastered the art of pot wash and other tasks. I seem to have forgotten certain prices and details, but I think I recovered them after a few customers. I have also taken to drinking TEA constantly, like I work in an office or something...I used the last of the milk portions, which left a small problem, I hope they come in a delivery soon.

We've been fully stocked up the last few days, which means maximum upsell potential. Shame there were NO customers. I have had the slowest few nights I can remember, and a manager who has been there a few years, agreed. I think everyone's run out of money and/or is saving up Christmas.

Now there are two customers who stick out recently.

The first is a priest/vicar - I'm not sure which is which. But anyway he pops along. He buys a portion of "chips". I'm always suspicious of this, as they are FRIES. When ever someone buys a portion of fries by themselves, I tend to give them the bigger portions, as they have paid individually for them. I'd like to give everyone bigger portions but they fall out the bags so it is difficult on busy days. I give him his fries. The next bit was:

"Would you like any sauces with those?"
"Is that it!" "£1.09 for that!"
"Erm...we only do one size I'm afraid"- I didn't really know what to say
"What is it - 10p a chip!"
"Well not quite, they are Pizza Hut special seasoned fries...would you like any sauces?"
Now the priest was looking round for some spectators to this conversation.
"I can't believe it - look at that portion!" and other phrases were pouring out.

He probably actually said around 5 times more than what is above, but it was very repetitive. He seemed quite joking/jolly about the situation. I offered him another portion free of charge. He declined. Argh! Other customers were laughing with/at him - weird/funny I don't know.

The other featured customer was the mother and two children.

We are close to a Full Serve Restaurant, but very often people come to us, then go there after, because we don't offer what they want. These people wanted sweetcorn and tuna. These two are about the most requested toppings, but we don't do them - as they aren't that popular. They had the choice of making do with something from our store or going to the FSR only a mile or so away. But how long could this decision possibly take. FIFTEEN MINUTES. This was reached by putting an order through, them paying then wanted to cancel it. Refunds are difficult, but possible. Even after they had got their refund - there were still hanging round deciding what to do. I could be doing far more useful things than just standing there glaring at them, just in case they want to order.

Oh and I think I have mentioned this breed of customer before, or at least a sub breed of them. They are the ones who bring their parents who speak no English whatsoever, but they do. So the customer will make their order - then talk to their parents about what they want ordering, hopefully so they can tell me. But no, they get the parents to tell me. Sorry, I can't understand what you are saying. Then they are offended when I ask them to repeat what they said, or repeat 'Veggie' instead of 'Supreme' or similar. I don't know how people manage to get them to sound the same, but they do. GET THE FLUENT ENGLISH SPEAKING PERSON TO GIVE ME YOUR ORDER.

Demotivator

Ugh I've received a bit of a demotivator, but in a way it could motivate me. I won't say much more about it, because the details are very branch specific - sorry to keep saying that...

Anyway, it seems to be only me who is bothered about it.

We've had a few odd bods recently.

Someone who thought they could take their food then come back to pay for it. They were offended when a manager went over to them to ask for payment, claiming they didn't know - yeah right - after a team member had asked them about 4 times for payment, they still walked off.

Another woman who flipped out over having no side salads, walked off in a total huff, shouting, then came back to order some food - with fries!

I have been round the back recently, so there are no detailed accounts. Bye for now.