"Can I have a pepperoni and Pepsi?"
"Do you want fries with that for an extra 21p?"
"Yes go on then"
So I get the pizza, fries and cup on the tray. I put the order through and give her £1.01 change from a £5 note.
Then..
"I asked for pepperoni, margherita and Pepsi"
"Oh right sorry...I'll charge you for another pizza then"
"AND I DIDN'T ORDER FRIES"
"Well I asked you if you wanted fries for an extra 21p and you said yes"
"But after that I asked for a margherita" (but no cancel of the fries..!!)
I couldn't be bothered to argue, so did a refund thing and dealt with it. But she was a liar.
Thursday, 31 May 2007
Wednesday, 30 May 2007
Ordering ketchup and liars
I don't really know why this bothered me so much but, it did:
"Can I have a pizza meal and ketchup?"
I just thought - why do you put the request for ketchup in the main part of your order? Most people ask for it after...the way you asked was like it was some form of side order.
Had a bit of an issue with the vouchers. The voucher is buy a single pizza, get another single pizza free. It is not, buy a pizza meal get a single pizza free. In the voucher booklet, you get two of the BOGOF vouchers. So when someone tells you they have had a free pizza with a pizza meal, twelve times in the last few weeks and no one has ever said no, I know they are lying. Unfortunately I can't call customers liars to their face, but when say "Are you calling me a liar?" it is tempting to say yes but infact I said "I'm just telling you the facts. We have been told what the rules are for the vouchers, maybe someone did it differently for you before but I will not do it this time.". They also claimed to havebeen in at the weekend and got a free pizza with a meal and said he was served by "an Asian girl". We don't have any Asian girls.
Oh and man in a mobility scooter came up to the counter. I say came up - he crashed into the metal sign at what I think must have been full speed, reversed and rode off to McDonalds without saying a wordbut with a red face. We stood there, first shocked and then bursting out laughing so I walked off to eat the jellies from dolly mixture. That was my day!
"Can I have a pizza meal and ketchup?"
I just thought - why do you put the request for ketchup in the main part of your order? Most people ask for it after...the way you asked was like it was some form of side order.
Had a bit of an issue with the vouchers. The voucher is buy a single pizza, get another single pizza free. It is not, buy a pizza meal get a single pizza free. In the voucher booklet, you get two of the BOGOF vouchers. So when someone tells you they have had a free pizza with a pizza meal, twelve times in the last few weeks and no one has ever said no, I know they are lying. Unfortunately I can't call customers liars to their face, but when say "Are you calling me a liar?" it is tempting to say yes but infact I said "I'm just telling you the facts. We have been told what the rules are for the vouchers, maybe someone did it differently for you before but I will not do it this time.". They also claimed to havebeen in at the weekend and got a free pizza with a meal and said he was served by "an Asian girl". We don't have any Asian girls.
Oh and man in a mobility scooter came up to the counter. I say came up - he crashed into the metal sign at what I think must have been full speed, reversed and rode off to McDonalds without saying a wordbut with a red face. We stood there, first shocked and then bursting out laughing so I walked off to eat the jellies from dolly mixture. That was my day!
Thursday, 24 May 2007
I spoke too soon
I arrive at work..."Do you mind doing some potwash for a bit?" "Yeah no prob."
So I do that. The first load doesn't look too clean, so I smash the lid down again - it finishes, and the stuff is still filthy. Okay not a problem I think, I'll drain it and put it on a cleaning cycle. I pull out the huge plug thing, and wait. It wasn't draining, so I now have to get all this filthy 90 degree water out by hand. Well, with the assistance of cups and tupperware. I finally get it drained and the next stage is to pour a massive amount of bleach (it's dishwasher detergent) down it and prod with a large metal rod to get the grime out. I then see the problem, it has ran out of detergent and immediately after the person who asked me to do the potwash came over and went "Oh yeah...did I say it was blocked up and needed some more detergent?" "No you didn't" "Sorry" "It's ok you can't help it that you are special".
So I did that and it worked like a dream, in the process of that little issue, I cut my finger so I put a blue plaster on.
I then went to do 'cut' which is taking pizzas from the oven, cutting them and then putting them in the 'hot hold'...
In the previous post I mentioned about the lack of burns. Today though I burnt myself FOUR times, all on seperate occasions and in different places on my hands and forearms. I certainly spoke too soon in a similar fashion to bus driving and witnessing accidents.
So I do that. The first load doesn't look too clean, so I smash the lid down again - it finishes, and the stuff is still filthy. Okay not a problem I think, I'll drain it and put it on a cleaning cycle. I pull out the huge plug thing, and wait. It wasn't draining, so I now have to get all this filthy 90 degree water out by hand. Well, with the assistance of cups and tupperware. I finally get it drained and the next stage is to pour a massive amount of bleach (it's dishwasher detergent) down it and prod with a large metal rod to get the grime out. I then see the problem, it has ran out of detergent and immediately after the person who asked me to do the potwash came over and went "Oh yeah...did I say it was blocked up and needed some more detergent?" "No you didn't" "Sorry" "It's ok you can't help it that you are special".
So I did that and it worked like a dream, in the process of that little issue, I cut my finger so I put a blue plaster on.
I then went to do 'cut' which is taking pizzas from the oven, cutting them and then putting them in the 'hot hold'...
In the previous post I mentioned about the lack of burns. Today though I burnt myself FOUR times, all on seperate occasions and in different places on my hands and forearms. I certainly spoke too soon in a similar fashion to bus driving and witnessing accidents.
Tuesday, 22 May 2007
Whistleblower
I've just finished watching Whistleblower which was about the fresh food counters at Tesco and Sainsbury's.
Now I suppose I consider myself to be a bit of a whistleblower, but I've never had anything so terrible to report so it I'm not really much of one. I recognise a few of the situations featured in the programme, but hell fire that lot were pretty bad and a lot of it was the low down employees fault not management.
Temperatures of the fridges is one, we don't need to probe them as they have displays on them - plus we have no raw meat, but temperatures are recorded in what they call the 'Operations Checklist'. A temperature is taken from pizza, one for each deck of the oven and should be probed. In all honesty I don't often see this being done (mainly because I work afternoons/evenings) but I see the test pizzas in the fridge which must be kept and they are what I would call 'mangled'. You can tell whether or not a pizza is cooked - because if it isn't it looks crap - and again we have no raw meat products to get risky with. The ovens have temperature display on them and when it says 236C you tend to believe it, especially when you burn yourself.
We can't and won't sell out of date food. It is a rubbish idea to do that, especially at the minute because they are doing a review for the year which determines how much waste is acceptable for stores so wasting more is actually a blessing in disguise. Also - we are all fat dough boys and girls who love nothing more than to snack at least once an hour while working so we don't want OOD food either. Everything is labelled and has clearly marked dates, a PRMD label we call them. Product, Made, Ready, Discard which includes times, dates and initials. We don't change these labels to make food last longer. I know this for a fact. I'll bring one home soon and photograph it so you get an idea of what I'm on about but it isn't very exciting.
Now some of those cleaning and food handling methods were terrible - and I don't really think Tesco or Sainsbury's were to blame, it is lazy employees. It is their fault the water wasn't changed for hours on end (I think that is poor system anyway). It was their fault they decided to sell raw/cooked mince meat, if I was in their position I'd just chuck it away and f**k what the managers think because you followed procedures and they can't touch you for it.. If you don't think something is clean, then bloody clean it and make the customers wait - I do. If the floor looks a bit dirty, I'll mop it and the customers can form a queue. If I drop something on the floor I will chuck it away and no one ever queries this.
It doesn't take much work to keep our store clean, so it is infuriating to see such poor standards in the big supermarkets but I kept thinking all through the programme...if you think it is so bad, do something about it (ie - the correct way!) because that is the only way things will change and you can't be sacked for doing that. Oh well.
On a lighter note I forgot to mention that yesterday I was splashed with oil from the fryer. It is surprisingly less common than I thought it would be when I started and I'd say out of all the 100s of baskets fries I've dropped, I've only ever been splashed twice and escaped with no injuries. I wouldn't like work in a chip shop though...their fryers always look so much more uncontrollable, and we have the protection of ANSUL. which is fire suppresion system which costs a lot so I think it is good.
Now I suppose I consider myself to be a bit of a whistleblower, but I've never had anything so terrible to report so it I'm not really much of one. I recognise a few of the situations featured in the programme, but hell fire that lot were pretty bad and a lot of it was the low down employees fault not management.
Temperatures of the fridges is one, we don't need to probe them as they have displays on them - plus we have no raw meat, but temperatures are recorded in what they call the 'Operations Checklist'. A temperature is taken from pizza, one for each deck of the oven and should be probed. In all honesty I don't often see this being done (mainly because I work afternoons/evenings) but I see the test pizzas in the fridge which must be kept and they are what I would call 'mangled'. You can tell whether or not a pizza is cooked - because if it isn't it looks crap - and again we have no raw meat products to get risky with. The ovens have temperature display on them and when it says 236C you tend to believe it, especially when you burn yourself.
We can't and won't sell out of date food. It is a rubbish idea to do that, especially at the minute because they are doing a review for the year which determines how much waste is acceptable for stores so wasting more is actually a blessing in disguise. Also - we are all fat dough boys and girls who love nothing more than to snack at least once an hour while working so we don't want OOD food either. Everything is labelled and has clearly marked dates, a PRMD label we call them. Product, Made, Ready, Discard which includes times, dates and initials. We don't change these labels to make food last longer. I know this for a fact. I'll bring one home soon and photograph it so you get an idea of what I'm on about but it isn't very exciting.
Now some of those cleaning and food handling methods were terrible - and I don't really think Tesco or Sainsbury's were to blame, it is lazy employees. It is their fault the water wasn't changed for hours on end (I think that is poor system anyway). It was their fault they decided to sell raw/cooked mince meat, if I was in their position I'd just chuck it away and f**k what the managers think because you followed procedures and they can't touch you for it.. If you don't think something is clean, then bloody clean it and make the customers wait - I do. If the floor looks a bit dirty, I'll mop it and the customers can form a queue. If I drop something on the floor I will chuck it away and no one ever queries this.
It doesn't take much work to keep our store clean, so it is infuriating to see such poor standards in the big supermarkets but I kept thinking all through the programme...if you think it is so bad, do something about it (ie - the correct way!) because that is the only way things will change and you can't be sacked for doing that. Oh well.
On a lighter note I forgot to mention that yesterday I was splashed with oil from the fryer. It is surprisingly less common than I thought it would be when I started and I'd say out of all the 100s of baskets fries I've dropped, I've only ever been splashed twice and escaped with no injuries. I wouldn't like work in a chip shop though...their fryers always look so much more uncontrollable, and we have the protection of ANSUL. which is fire suppresion system which costs a lot so I think it is good.
Monday, 21 May 2007
Sarcastic - me?
Hmph, I was called sarcastic today by a girl, around 14-15 years old with her possy of 3 other girls who aspired to be like her. Now my voice tone slightly changed when she asked a stupid question, but it was not sarcastic. "Could you be anymore sarcastic?" - yes I could thanks.
Also, I saw someone skulking around - I was crouching down cleaning behind the counter. This bloke looked all round, necking into the kitchen, couldn't see anyone watching him - and proceeded to fill his McDonalds cup up on our machine. I popped up and said "Excuse me - you need a Pizza Hut cup for that" "K SORRY" and he walked off, with only a small bit of free drink.
Thanks for the comments on the kids meal, it has been suggested that it is changed by management, but, well they have just introduced the cheesy bites - and they haven't got the signage for that yet so we won't get a new sign for...years or never.
Also, I saw someone skulking around - I was crouching down cleaning behind the counter. This bloke looked all round, necking into the kitchen, couldn't see anyone watching him - and proceeded to fill his McDonalds cup up on our machine. I popped up and said "Excuse me - you need a Pizza Hut cup for that" "K SORRY" and he walked off, with only a small bit of free drink.
Thanks for the comments on the kids meal, it has been suggested that it is changed by management, but, well they have just introduced the cheesy bites - and they haven't got the signage for that yet so we won't get a new sign for...years or never.
Monday, 14 May 2007
It could be read both ways!
Ugh I had another arguement with someone today about the fries with the kids meal. Apparently it can be read 'both ways' - I understood the menu first time I read it, why can't most other people.
See what you think: click here
I was watching a colleague making the salads, and I noticed him throwing away what I call the 'heart' of a lettuce - the middle bit...and I asked him why...he said he didn't like it so he always throws it out! I always thought the heart was the nicest part.
A child was pouring his Tango, and Tango always has a huge froth/head/bubbles compared to the other drinks and his mother shouted at him "BE CAREFUL YOU IDIOT". He hadn't spilt anything until that point...but it made him jump and he made a bit of a mess on the counter and the floor. He looked at me with a 'sorry, shes the idiot' face - and she was.
Oh and I saw someone 'draining' their pizza of the moisture/fat which comes out of them when cut. This bloke had waited for a new pizza because I one I showed him he called 'too dry'...and then he was annoyed when it was too damp - not much we can do when fat comes out of the meat, and the moisture shows it is fresh.
See what you think: click here
I was watching a colleague making the salads, and I noticed him throwing away what I call the 'heart' of a lettuce - the middle bit...and I asked him why...he said he didn't like it so he always throws it out! I always thought the heart was the nicest part.
A child was pouring his Tango, and Tango always has a huge froth/head/bubbles compared to the other drinks and his mother shouted at him "BE CAREFUL YOU IDIOT". He hadn't spilt anything until that point...but it made him jump and he made a bit of a mess on the counter and the floor. He looked at me with a 'sorry, shes the idiot' face - and she was.
Oh and I saw someone 'draining' their pizza of the moisture/fat which comes out of them when cut. This bloke had waited for a new pizza because I one I showed him he called 'too dry'...and then he was annoyed when it was too damp - not much we can do when fat comes out of the meat, and the moisture shows it is fresh.
Saturday, 12 May 2007
New stuff
Well full serve and delivery and launched Cheesy Bite Fondue, which looks rubbish to be honest - it isn't a fondue, it is a dip you put in the microwave.
So to go along with this, we (Express) are launching our own Cheesy Bites, which is pretty good because it means we will tag onto the TV advertising campaign FOC and also be able to yes when someone goes "Do you do them things...I saw them on tele - like bites??" Hopefully they will replace crappy garlic dough balls. But...it means everyone has to learn how to make them - what fun that will be - a group session of moulding dough! Now from the way I've been told it already, we have medium size pan dough, use it to make some cheesy bites round the edge and then - chuck the rest away - seems a bit of a waste, but they know best.
They are also giving us two new pizzas - BBQ and Garlic Crust. How they think we can do this with limited space both front and back I don't know...maybe we can install a food lift and utilise the upstairs a bit more? Yeah right. (A food lift would be fun though, squashing inside it and just going up and down all day.."Wheres ____?" "Hes in the food lift again"
I did know when the new stuff is being launched, but I forgot the date already :-(.
So to go along with this, we (Express) are launching our own Cheesy Bites, which is pretty good because it means we will tag onto the TV advertising campaign FOC and also be able to yes when someone goes "Do you do them things...I saw them on tele - like bites??" Hopefully they will replace crappy garlic dough balls. But...it means everyone has to learn how to make them - what fun that will be - a group session of moulding dough! Now from the way I've been told it already, we have medium size pan dough, use it to make some cheesy bites round the edge and then - chuck the rest away - seems a bit of a waste, but they know best.
They are also giving us two new pizzas - BBQ and Garlic Crust. How they think we can do this with limited space both front and back I don't know...maybe we can install a food lift and utilise the upstairs a bit more? Yeah right. (A food lift would be fun though, squashing inside it and just going up and down all day.."Wheres ____?" "Hes in the food lift again"
I did know when the new stuff is being launched, but I forgot the date already :-(.
Shouting
I was cleaning the lobby (area with drinks machines, icf, condiments etc) and I heard this:
"Oi doowahahahyaahahaywaywyahaknowhyughughtheykhnareclosed?"
I'm thinking - that voice seems directed at me...was what ever he just said to me? I look round and bloody hell it is.
"Sorry I couldn't hear you - are you ok?"
His face is blank, but with staring eyes.
"WHY ARE THEY CLOSED?"
"Eh?"
"I RANG THEM AND THEY SAID THEY WERE OPEN UNTIL 8"
"You mean ____?"
"YES WHAT ELSE WOULD I BE TALKING ABOUT?!! Do you know why they are closed?"
"No...I think they normally close at this time anyway"
"WHAT"
"I think they always close at this time"
"Well come on you should bloody know - you work there!" -
"I don't work there...I work here" as I walk in the little door to the other side of the counter.
"I KNOW THAT" (Reminder: he said I worked THERE as I was cleaning PIZZA HUT) "Surely you should know why they are shut?"
"No sorry"
"Do you have the managers mobile number?"
"No...we don't"
"COME ON YOU MUST HAVE IT"
I just blinked at him.
"ARRRRRRRRRGH ANOTHER WASTED JOURNEY"
I was left thinking - what the hell just happened there, I think I just got shouted at because the neighbours closed on time.
Also...about the till - they are forever finding excuses why they can't do it - this is coming from the people who supply the equipment who I'd have thought would be more than willing to get the job done for the ££££ Pizza Hut are willing to pay.
"Oi doowahahahyaahahaywaywyahaknowhyughughtheykhnareclosed?"
I'm thinking - that voice seems directed at me...was what ever he just said to me? I look round and bloody hell it is.
"Sorry I couldn't hear you - are you ok?"
His face is blank, but with staring eyes.
"WHY ARE THEY CLOSED?"
"Eh?"
"I RANG THEM AND THEY SAID THEY WERE OPEN UNTIL 8"
"You mean ____?"
"YES WHAT ELSE WOULD I BE TALKING ABOUT?!! Do you know why they are closed?"
"No...I think they normally close at this time anyway"
"WHAT"
"I think they always close at this time"
"Well come on you should bloody know - you work there!" -
"I don't work there...I work here" as I walk in the little door to the other side of the counter.
"I KNOW THAT" (Reminder: he said I worked THERE as I was cleaning PIZZA HUT) "Surely you should know why they are shut?"
"No sorry"
"Do you have the managers mobile number?"
"No...we don't"
"COME ON YOU MUST HAVE IT"
I just blinked at him.
"ARRRRRRRRRGH ANOTHER WASTED JOURNEY"
I was left thinking - what the hell just happened there, I think I just got shouted at because the neighbours closed on time.
Also...about the till - they are forever finding excuses why they can't do it - this is coming from the people who supply the equipment who I'd have thought would be more than willing to get the job done for the ££££ Pizza Hut are willing to pay.
Tuesday, 8 May 2007
"Excuse me...."
Approx 30 year old woman,
The end of the conversation about the kids meal...
"No it does come with fries - it says pizza OR fries and dippers"
"It says pizza and fries"
"It doesn't...sorry...you can buy them extra"
Off she goes - and fetches her mother (presumably)
"EXCUSE ME - THAT MEAL DOES COME WITH FRIES"
"NO it does not - it is PIZZA OR FRIES AND DIPPERS. ONE OR THE OTHER"
"IT SAYS PIZZA AND FRIES"
"No, it says pizza OR fries and dippers" - Pointing at the word OR on the menu.
"You are wrong"
"No really, I'm not..."
"Whatever - this place is load of rubbish anyway!"
I don't care what people think of the place really, but to have with was quite a long discussion/argument about the fries which no, you don't get, with me the person who works there. I can read the menu perfectly well unlike you and speak fluent English unlike you. Grr.
The bank holiday meant we were busy busy busy and understaffed but today it was dead dead dead. A customer asked me if we'd been busy - as he looked around the empty shopping centre.
Recently we have had a lot of management, and external people coming in and going "Yeah it's perfectly clean but I can't give you 100% because, well we just don't give them - so I'll knock off 3% because you don't have any coat hooks"
Also, the hot weather has bought out the gypos and chavs for ice cream and drinks
These are some of the problems:
The end of the conversation about the kids meal...
"No it does come with fries - it says pizza OR fries and dippers"
"It says pizza and fries"
"It doesn't...sorry...you can buy them extra"
Off she goes - and fetches her mother (presumably)
"EXCUSE ME - THAT MEAL DOES COME WITH FRIES"
"NO it does not - it is PIZZA OR FRIES AND DIPPERS. ONE OR THE OTHER"
"IT SAYS PIZZA AND FRIES"
"No, it says pizza OR fries and dippers" - Pointing at the word OR on the menu.
"You are wrong"
"No really, I'm not..."
"Whatever - this place is load of rubbish anyway!"
I don't care what people think of the place really, but to have with was quite a long discussion/argument about the fries which no, you don't get, with me the person who works there. I can read the menu perfectly well unlike you and speak fluent English unlike you. Grr.
The bank holiday meant we were busy busy busy and understaffed but today it was dead dead dead. A customer asked me if we'd been busy - as he looked around the empty shopping centre.
Recently we have had a lot of management, and external people coming in and going "Yeah it's perfectly clean but I can't give you 100% because, well we just don't give them - so I'll knock off 3% because you don't have any coat hooks"
Also, the hot weather has bought out the gypos and chavs for ice cream and drinks
These are some of the problems:
- Leaving the ice cream machine jammed on so it pours everywhere
- Not buying an ice cream but using the machine anyway
- Not buying an ice cream but using the machine anyway and just dropping it on the floor
- Pouring sauce directly onto the floor
- Putting ice cream in fry bags and then using them as 'ice cream bombs'
- Using a McDonalds cup on our machine and then getting abusive when we say you can't
- Swearing at us when we say, no, you've caused problems before so we're not serving you
- Refusing to leave the store when asked - saying "It's public property I'll stay here if I want!". Yeah sure it is mate - public property Pizza Hut pay thousands of pounds a month for??
All of these problems have had to be dealt with by security who have removed people. It's so silly though, all of these problems over a 99p ice cream - but sorry if you are a prick and cause problems to us or the customers we want (ie. children using the ice cream machine not a possy of 15 year old dirty chavs) then we won't stand for it.
Sorry about my posts being about ice cream and the kids meal so often - it just happens so often!
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