More Drive-thru Woes at Burger King

i am an assistant manager at a burgerking in canada, and i would love
to comment on this issue.. first off, bernice while i sympathize that
you were hungry for a small fries and a cold beverage you have to
realize that in any area, whether it is in a bad area of town or even
in a good area of town, the chance for robberies to occur even after
hours are very great, ..our drive thrus in the city i work in have a
bit of a policy that at the moment have been left up to the late night
managers running the restaurant after hours and that it is up to them
if they have to park a car or not especially if there is a bit of a
wait...but, about 10 years ago when i first started the city police
kind of wanted us to be real strict in the neighbourhood that i was
working in like..no walkthrus after hours for security reasons,
(easier to catch a would be robber in a vehicle as you can get the
license plate than one who is walking), keeping the doors locked
afterhours (no exceptions..yes that would be you), and having at
minimal 3 people in the restaurant at all times....and i will let you
in on something (some restaurant actually got robbed at 1pm in the
afternoon because one of their employees opened up the back door to
take out the garbage,.. so what do you think the manager did at your
burgerking after you left....if it was me, i would have suspended that
employee for a week and knew to trust my manager as she was obviously
following bk policy and regulations! Since i dont know the area you
are referring too, i am assuming its not in a very bad part of the
city you live in?

Bernice,

How would you feel if you were at your job trying to close down for
the night and someone came in who had shown up after closing before
and began pestering you to PLEASE let them in for one last transaction
or item or whatever it is they do where you work? You'd be pretty
peeved, huh?

Then you see why the manager was upset. You manipulated the employee
to let you into the dining room after they closed, AGAINST POLICY, and
then insisted that you needed to be served. She had already started
closing down the drawer and, technically speaking, as you were inside
the store after the posted closing time, you could be considered to be
trespassing.

As much as I want to feel bad for you, I can't help but think that you
took advantage of people's kindness without any regard for anyone
else's needs or safety but your own.

The manager does not need any coaching. She followed company policy
and you writing to BK complaining about her actually following policy
and telling them that she should be re-trained to BREAK their policies
makes no sense.

Oh & before I forget, here in Cleveland, we have had a rash of people
committing robberies and rapes who were dressed up as City Water Meter
Readers and police officers. The fact that you were wearing a uniform
or carried an ID/name badge is irrelevant. They still don't know you
from Adam or Eve.

Yes, the dining room was closed, but according to the original post,
the employee INVITED her in. It was a mistake by the Burger King
associate, but the manager did not help the situation. There was a
working register since the drive thru was still open. The kitchen was
still operating. The manager could have easily said 'The dining room
closes at (whatever time) so in the future please come before we
close, or use the drive-thru', and still filled the order for a bag of
fries and soda. Then after all is done, counsel the associate for
allowing the person in after the dining room was closed. All of this
non-sense about registers being counted is baloney. Registers are
counted and money is passed around all day long at Burger King during
regular operating hours. This should be happening in the back of the
house, so it makes no difference who is in the dining room.

A BK employee should go pounding on the door at her place of business
right at closing time. If Bernice expects special service then she
must be willing to provide it as well.

Looks like someone didn't have the brains to realize that the
employees of Burger King were PREPARING to close the store, hmmm?

the twisted logic a person uses when they complain about someone's
behavior/actions, when it's the complainer who is 100% at fault.
(Well, she shares the blame with the BK employee who let in a customer
after the store was closed.)

Bernice: You were totally wrong. No business has any obligation of
any kind to let you in after hours so you can conduct business, and
one of the MAIN reasons would be for the security and safety of the
employees.

The restuarant is in no way responsible for ffeding you after they are
closed.
However, something that bothers me about this letter is the manager
"got very upset with her and said to her in spanish "why did you let
her in we are closed and i am counting the draw"

First, the manager should have politely dealt with the patron and
could have said something nice like "I am sorry, we are currently
closed and I am counting the drawer. It is our policy to not allow
patrons in at this time."
Instead the manager in spanish chewed out the employee in front of the
patron. That is not professional.

process the order and bring it to the door? Then the liability aspect
is negated. The customer is not going through the drive-through, and
is not in the closed section of the restaurant.

I know it's a bit of a stretch, but technically the place WAS still
open if you could order through the drive-through.

This would mean the employee had to do a bit extra for a customer and
we all know that doesn't happen very often. Man, I miss the good ol'
days!

For safety and insurance and common sense reasons, stores MUST lock
the door before counting the tills and processing the day's
transactions. Spanish, Swahili, Uzbekistani, British, Italian,
Serbo-Croatian or American it don't matter. The employee was wrong and
the manager was correct.
Your uniform and close proximity of employment have nothing to do with
BK's store policy. Id have popped over earlier and enjoyed my soda and
cold fries or found some way to warm them up. Better yet...plan ahead
for the 10:30 pm munchies and brown bag something.

As management myself I know that you should never have been allowed
into the restaurant after hours, and if you do not have a car you can
be denied service from drive up.
It is store policy, and it is put forth for the safety and the
security of the workers, as well as liability.

If you were that hungry I suggest in the future you pack a lunch, or
eat at home, you obviously live closeby if you have no car.

They were not rude to you, they were following the rules.

Next time pack a lunch. You being hungry does not constitute an
emergency on Burger King's part.

Once the doors are locked, nobody is supposed to be allowed in.

I have worked in fast food before. They will let you walk through a
drive thru. I've seen it happen. They weren't refusing you service.
They can only refuse you service if they are open and turn you away.
However, business have the right to refuse service to anyone.

I just wanted to say "BRAVO!" To Nicky for his comment - it was right
on point.

But furthermore to Bernice, while I sympathize getting off work so
late and really wanting a snack before going home, weren't you at all
concerned for your OWN safety wandering around that late in the
evening?

If it had been me, I'd have been on my bus or in a friend's car headed
home and fixed myself a bowl of cereal or a PB&J sandwich when I got
there. It's not worth MY safety just to get a small fry and a Pepsi.

You should be thankful to work where you do. In my city, a lot of the
restaurants and stores in the worst parts of the city close at 5:00 or
6:00 p.m. - even when its still light outside! God forbid if you had
worked in one of those neighborhoods. There wouldn't have even been a
staff member or manager for you to have pleaded your case to that late
at night because they would have been long since gone.

There is a reason why companies close at night; sometimes it's just
not safe to be there. For you or them!

Bernice, let me share this story in hopes it will better explain why
Burger King wouldn't let you in after the dining room closed.

I worked for my local Blockbuster a few years ago, and my very first
day my manager strictly enforced the rule that all doors would be
closed and locked right at midnight, and no customers would be allowed
in after that for any reason.....no buts about it. If someone was
still inside, we'd have to politely remind them the store was closing,
and offer to help them find whatever they were looking for to expedite
the process.

This was actually a rule headquarters had for all Blockbusters (I'm
not sure if they still do). The reason is because a year or so before
I worked there, three employees at another Blockbuster closed at
midnight, and were cleaning and counting cash when the unthinkable
occurred. It wasn't even 12:05 a.m. when a "customer" knocked on the
door saying he didn't realize they closed at midnight, and begged them
to let him come in and grab a movie real quick. Said "customer" had a
gun, and killed two of the employees while injuring the third.

I understand the BK employees knew you, and I'm sure you are a
perfectly harmless person, but that's beside the point. Like others
have mentioned, if they bend the rules for you they have to do so for
everyone to be fair. And someone amongst that "everyone" could be a
rapist, murderer, or whatever.

I usually would agree with you, because it is a catch 22-Dining room
closed for customers walking in-but walking customers dont get to
through the drive through.
Ive never worked in fast food-but it makes sense to me that the reason
they close the dining room is probably a cost saving measure. Some guy
at corporate probabably calculated a statistic that said that it was
not profitable to open the dining room doors after a certain hour.
It could be that after a certain hour, there is a safety issue for the
employees. I think the "walk-ups not allowed" in the drive through
window is also a safety issue. BK may not be the best place to work or
eat-but at the very least they try to make money, give service
after-hours, and keep their employees safe.

Imagine this:
You in your uniform just finish up a 12 hour shift and your store is
closed, and you are incredibly hungry and can't wait to eat. A
customer comes walking up and says, "hey I just want a few things,
open up and let me in."
1. For legality (when money is being counted it is a big no-no) you
cannot have customers there after you have closed. Their insurance
won't cover things after hours in most cases and the employees could
be fired.
2. You will have to wait until the customer leaves leave before you
can eat -remember how hungry you are?
3. The customer 90% of the time will get in by saying, "I only want a
small fry and a cup of water, and i will thank you forever"
As soon as they are in they will order four #5 combos, 3 shakes, argue
about what toy is available with a Kids meal, need change for $100,
then get the order and sit down at an already cleaned table like it is
the middle of the day. They will dirty up a table and when they go to
leave, they will tell the manager, "the fries were soggy, I should get
a coupon for free fries."
Next time at work, pack a lunch.

Bernice,
You were wearing your uniform? Unless it's a law enforcement uniform
you had no business being in a closed business.
As for your threat to abscound with ten customers..Have at it.
That door was locked for a reason. Drop the issue.
Bill R.

You're lucky she didn't call the cops when she saw you in the
building. Having a till out of a register when a non employee is
nearby could have gotten that manager fired. If you work next door,
you should be aware of their hours of operation. I am sure (if you
work for a retailer) that you don't like when a customer comes in at
closing to "just look", not to mention if it happened after you know
the front doors were locked. Eat a bigger dinner, pack a snack or go
to a 24 hour convenience store next time.

Why did they refuse you service before? Because you did the same
thing? If you do it a third time, I hope they have you arrested.

I don't see how you think it is relevant that you work right next door
to this particular establishment, nor, exactly, what it is you are
complaining about. In fact, you should be writing a letter that says
"even though it wasn't appropriate, the employee took pity on me and
tried to help". I see no fashion here in which the manager was out of
line. The dining room was closed. End of story. The employee, while
apparently trying to help (and I don't agree with the poster who said
she should be fired for this), was in the wrong and regardless of your
Oliver Twist-like pleadings of imminent starvation, the manager was
not out of line in refusing service to someone who had shown up after
hours.

"This is the second time you refused me service, meanwhile I work next
door to you". Again, ROTFLMAO! I work across the street from a
rather nice restaurant. I think I'll go in there right at closing
time and demand a gourmet meal and say that it's my right, given the
location of my workplace, and all.

"The manager should be coached". No - you should learn to pack a meal
so you don't run into these situations.

"She knew I could not go to the drive thru" - well, that was the only
part of the establishment which was open, was it not? I honestly
don't understand why you think they should have reopened a register
and inconvenienced themselves just for you.

If I were the person in corporate reading this letter, I'd be
guffawing right about now. I'd also, as someone else mentioned, be
congratulating the manager.

This letter may have just gotten that manager a raise (and possibly
the employee that allowed a customer into the dining area at night
while the drawer was being counted fired).

And again with the petty threats: "I may be one customer but I could
take away ten customers"



All this over a small bag of fries and a drink...and for the BK
manager following the rules.

I am sure you get lunch breaks go to the restaurant then, they don't
let you in for safety reasons. They are closed and if they let in a
customer they are in danger of being robbed since the place is more
empty.

The manager was right. The employee who let you in while cash was
exposed and being counted is the one who needs further training.

When you go to work tomorrow, go read BK's business hours. Then
abide by them like the rest of the world does.

Kudos to the manager for standing her ground! You knew the dining area
was closed, yet you still went with the guilt trip. You say this is
the second time this has happened... meaning they told you NO before,
and you thought that just because you work next door and don't have a
car they should make an exception for you? Nope!

Hopefully this won't happen a third time. Try taking a snack or
something to work with you so you won't be so hungry for those fries
and soda when you get off :o)

"but i am here now why cant you serve me please i am so hungry"

You're laying it on a little thick there, don't you think? Sounds to
me like you were trying to "guilt-trip" the employees.

The fact that you work next door to Burger King is beside the point -
- if the dining room is closed, the dining room is closed. And the
fact you don't have a car which prevents you from using the drive thru
is quite frankly not their problem. The employee who let you into the
dining room when it was closed was wrong and the manager was right to
refuse you service. Fast food restaurants have routines and schedules
and when the dining room closes they are required to count the draw.
Besides that - - if they let you in then in all fairness they would
have to do the same for anyone else who came by and they have to draw
the line somewhere and that is why they have posted closing times.
Would it have been nice of them to throw the rules out the window just
for you because you work next door and were wearing your uniform and
serve you even though the dining room was closed? Sure - - but that's
just not how they run their business and they have the right to refuse
service. This is not a customer service issue - - this is a matter
that you were asking them to keep the dining room open past their
closing time and their answer was "no".