No time for a "thank you"???

It's called progress. The companies have a hard time finding someone
to work at these kind of places and you're forced to hire whoever
applies. It is rude, but that's all they can get. It isn't worth
boycotting, unless they're spitting in your food.

While I agree its rude I dont think this is that huge of a concern. Im
sure your food would have tasted better and been hotter and just a
much better meal in general had this person said those two little
words I dont think you should boycott the place.

If you like their food better than McDonalds then eat it. Truth be
told they wont even NOTICE that you stopped coming there. I promise.
And if they do they will be THANKful that you stopped coming in. You
arent hurting the people who broke your heart.. only the owner will
suffer. Someone else will kiss your butt on demand later.. no need to
worry so much about this one little min wage hard working wendys
employee.

Maybe you should offer this person a job as your personal butt kisser.
They could follow you around kissing your butt all day and thanking
you.. and they would do it pretty cheap.

You know.. I agree with you. I don't work in the fast food business
but I do work in retail. In the location that I work.. alot of the
people tend to think... oo lets say.. that they are better than the
associates'.. in my opinion. When people walk out of that exit door..
I DO say "have a great day/night".. and do you know what i get half of
the time? NO RESPONSE.. NOTHING!.. So half of the time.. I don't
bother saying anything. If your not going to even acknoledge(yea I
know I spelled it wrong) me.. then why should I waste my moment on
you? Alot of customer's say they won't shop there again.. Yea they
always come back.

Two things:

Currently, I have to thank each and every single person I speak to.
Sometimes, it's a pain in the neck and I really don't want to thank
them for the hassle they've given me. And the ex-fast food/retail
employee in me screams that customers should be thanked and you were
not treated well.

However, as long as the food was right and you were given the right
change, does it really matter whether you were thanked?

I used to work at Wendy's back in the day. And granted, that was
quite a few years ago, but our training videos for drive-thru
personnel specifically laid out the "thank you, have a nice day/night"
as the end of each transaction. For a manager to tell you that
sometimes it gets too busy to do that is ridiculous. It takes a
second to say that phrase, and I agree that it does make a world of
difference! Shame on Wendy's for not following their own
corporate-sponsored training and using polite phrases for their
customers!

Is it overreacting for the OP to be so upset? A little, perhaps - but
it's also inexcusable for Wendy's to be so rude, when I KNOW they are
supposed to be saying "thank you" and such as dictated by their
training! If a mystery shopper or one of Wendy's district managers
stopped in for a routine check and were dismissed that way, they'd be
written up for it.

Excuse Me!!! You don't practice what you say, lay!!!HAHAHA!

You feed your kids fast food at least 2 times a week?? You have bigger
problems than not hearing a thank you.

Lady, I work at Wendy's (Wendy's RULES!!!!!) and I smile all the time
and am VERY polite to everbody. Costomers are ALWAYS treating me like
absolute CRAP for NO REASON AT ALL and making me angrey. So, I don't
put up with one ioda of it! I handle situations right and my managers
aplaude me. If a customer is being a pissy jerk, I say "You are a sad,
strange little person--and you have my pity" or "You want to know
somthing? You are extremely rude!". GO WENDY'S---YOU RULE!

I work at a sushi joint, and we're instructed to say 'thank you' when
we take a person's money and thank them for coming.

In Canada, we say thank you and sorry every other word. I'm not even
joking. Maybe it's different in the states...

In any case, it is rather sad what the world's coming to, but
sometimes things just roll that way. I don't consider myself insulted
if no one thanks me every ten seconds.

Thank-you for sharing your expereince with us.

I know EXACTLY what you mean. Customer service has just flown out the
window these days. I do my best to make mental notes of where I have
the best customer service and go to those establishments more often
and the ones with poor CS. I guess if the REST of the world followed
suit, there would be several businesses that would get a much needed
reality check.

'Just the way of the world'. Sad to say, but when I receive great
service with all the polite 'thank you', I am truy surprise. And like
you, I have requested to speak with the manager and most times they
are no better than the hourly employees. I find that when I receive
service that I'm not so pleased with, writing a nice letter to
coporate letter usually gets better results. However, I think if more
people begin requesting and expecting better service, than we might
get it. Hence, sometimes stop giving your money is the only way to
show that their service needs some addition work in the public
relatios department.

So, on principle of wanting/needing a "Thank You" you are eating food
you dont really want?

Yeah..thats showing them!

This is a very petty complaint. I rarely get a thank you anywhere I go
but I make it a point to say thank you to them. I am not going to stop
going some place because I did not get a thank you.

What a difference you could have made if YOU had just given THEM a
sincere thank you instead.

Look, this is a two way street here. They arent there just to serve
you. They have something you want, you have something they want. You
can always choose another place to eat but there is always another
person in line behind you happy that you got out of their way.

Not eating at some place you really like just because no one thanked
you for doing so is really just...strange.

In a perfect world, it would be nice if people were civil toward
everyone, but sometimes people get rushed and overlook these things.
I'd much rather have it be genuine than just because it's part of
"policy". But I still like to hear it. I guess I just got used to it,
but I always say "you're welcome" even if they don't say "thank you"
it may make them stop to think.
It really dosen't take that much time and it DOES make things
pleasant. I hope they take your suggestion to heart.

Just to offer another prospective, one of the weirdest things to get
used to when I moved over here was how completely "hands-off" the
employees in stores are. Nobody says "hi, how can I help you?" when
you walk in, nobody asks if you found everything ok, nobody says
"thank you", nobody says "goodbye." Unless you directly (and usually
more than once) look someone in the eye and ask a question, you are
pretty much gaurunteed to be ignored until you checkout. Upon checking
out, the ONLY words out of the cashiers mouth will be your total and
your change. IF the store provides bags, you MIGHT be asked if you
want one.

Here, it's completely taken for granted and the people love it. In
fact, when BF was in America, he was slightly freaked out by all the
people talking to him. Although I definetely don't miss "pressure
selling" and being followed around, I do miss common courtesy. I say
"thank you" every time I'm handed my change AND my purchase. It's
completely automatic. I don't even realize the words are coming out
usually. My mother just had it POUNDED in my head that "thank you" is
an "if..then.." equation. If someone hands you something, then you say
"thank you." Heck, I've thanked cops for speeding tickets when they
handed to me. Cashiers look at you very strangely when you thank them
over here. I'm not sure what relevance this has, except to say don't
take the politeness for granted, because it is DEFINETELY not a
worldwide occurance. I hope the US doesn't let the "please" and "thank
you" get erased from society, because it feels pretty cold to NEVER
hear it.

I have to agree with someone else that when it comes to a drive thru
its a hit or miss thing. Sometimes I can go to the same place one time
and get a thank you, other times I don't get one at all. The only
thing is is that I really don't care. I mean it would be nice to get a
thank you but I don't expect it. What I find works sometimes is that
if you say thank you to a person, they will respond back with a thank
you. And if they don't so what, at least I know that I was being
polite by saying thank you.

I think the issue of not saying please and thank you doesn't just
apply to fast food restaurants. A lot of people don't say please and
thank you anymore, in a lot of difference settings. Again, I really
don't care. My momma raised me to polite and as long as I am saying
please and thank you, that is all that matters.

There are many times when I have not gotten a thank you or anything
for that matter. I have never been upset about it, but I take a thank
you as an end to a transaction. When they simply just hand over my
bags and say nothing, I have asked them if that was everything simply
because I did not know whether or not the transaction were over. That
is all a "thank you" is to me.

And it does come down to being a personal preference thing. Some
people see being thanked as an absolute necessity, whereas people like
you and I can either take it or leave it. For me, I'm paying for two
things - the food and the convenience of not having to make it myself.
If I get those two things, I've gotten my money's worth. Good cheer
from the cashier is just an additional bonus on the side, something
that isn't necessarily a deal-breaker, but still, admittedly, is nice
to receive.

You've made a very good point, Janell, and I appreciate the additional
perspective. So thank you.

I always try to say "thank you" and "you're welcome" anytime I go
through the drive thru. I notice a lot of times that I will get a
"thank you" or "you're welcome" back.

It can be 50/50 here. One day you will get really nice people and some
days you won't.

I think the worst time is when I went thru a Wendy's drive thru and
the person taking my money was laying ACROSS the counter. He didn't
say a word the whole time. When I got my food, she didn't say a word
either. I still did say "thank you". I wasn't going to let my manners
slip.

I don't work in fast food, but I do work in a restaurant, and it never
ceases to amaze me how many people do not thank me when I bring their
food. On Sunday nights I strictly run food to the tables for other
servers, and maybe one out of three tables will thank me. I want to
bring some little prizes to keep in my apron and maybe reward those
people who do thank me. I have resorted to saying "YOU'RE WELCOME"
with a big, fake smile on my face to customers who don't thank (or
sometimes even acknowledge) me.
It could be that these Wendy's employees are sick of not being thanked
themselves, but that's never an excuse to stop saying thank you. I
suggest that in the future, you give anyone who doesn't thank you a
big, exaggerated "You're Welcome!!"

A lot of restaurants have implemented this bell that customers are
supposed to ring as they exit to signify they had a good meal.

Usually that chime is met with a chorus of thank you's from the staff,
but I saw one store take it to the extreme the other day.

My son LOOOOVES to ring those stupid bells, even when the service
isn't the best. We were at Arby's, he rang the bell on our way out &
the staff broke into a "Thank You Guest!" song. I don't remember the
all the words, but I do remember it was hilarious.

To be honest, if I knew they all had to sing that, I'd ring that
frigging bell every time just to hear them sing it! It was TOO funny.

I Agree!! I used to work in fast food myself when I was in high
school. I remember being trained to provide good customer service.
Now when I go into these restaurants, the staff are often not polite
at all!

Read the book "Talk to the Hand" Its all about being polite in the
world today.

I agree. Thank you, please, and you're welcome seem to have gone the
way of 8-tracks. It's sad, really. It takes no brains and only
seconds to be polite. I think we have become a really rude society.

In my oh so humble opinion, as a whole,society needs to start saying
please and thank you and have a good day and so on.

I get a little peeved when I hold door for someone and they just
cruise past like I'm not even there. I get really peeved if someone
lets the door slam on me because they won't hold it open.

And don't get me started on the people that won't turn a shoulder in
tight circumstances and just plow in to you. I'll circle back around
to "run into" them again. Sometimes being bigger has it's advantages.

Good letter. As a retail manager I cringe when I don't hear a "thank
you" coming from one of my clerks to a customer. I'll correct them
immediately. Some commenters commented on the customer saying "thank
you". As far as I'm concerned that's the last thing I'm listening
for. As Mr. Helpful mentioned the customer is thanking you with their
patronage and that's good enough for me.

In spirit, I agree with the OP. It would be nice if everyone would
observe such simple courtesies like 'please', 'thank you', 'sir/ma'am'
and holding the door open for the people behind them, among others.

(I'm not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but half this
stuff is rote by now and I do it without really being aware of it.
When I was a phone rep, I almost always got a laugh from the caller
because I would automatically end the conversation with 'y'all have a
good day'. I got points knocked off my QT's more than once because it
was considered unprofessional.)

However, I find it ironic that a letter demanding such simple
courtesies is in fact so devoid of those self-same actions. Courtesy
is a two way street. It's rather naive to expect courtesy when one is
unwilling to extend the same.

Shelly, I agree with you 100%.

As a cashier that works at a Wendy's drive thru, I must say yes you
should get a please and thank you... but it is a two way street. I am
lucky to get a you're welcome back when I say it.

That's right, I only get a response back in 1 out of 5 customers, also
I am lucky if I get any eye contact with these guests.

I try to follow a simple rule:

If someone does something for me because I have asked them to or
because it's their job, or if they do something that actually helps, I
thank them; if they do something "for" me that makes my life harder,
esecially if it's over my objections, and it is not their job to do
it, I don't.

I don't always remember (just today I blew it at least three times,
and I feel bad about doing so) and there are plenty of people who
refuse to look directly at me, so they never catch on that I'm
thanking them. But I do try.

And it is amazing how many people are really nice to me and say things
like "thank you" and "you're welcome" to me. Sure, some of the time
it's only after I've already said something polite to them; but the
people I deal with on a regular basis are usually nice to me (a couple
of them aren't nice to anyone at all), even when a lot of people
wouldn't be. (For example, when the temperature is below 0, people I
know who are dressed for the indoors sometimes hold doors open for me
and smile.)

If please and thank you even when you don't say them are more
important to you than the quality of food (since you say you prefer
Wendy's), then by all means you should go to McDonald's. I absolutely
think that you should make a stand if this issue is as important to
you as it seems to be. If enough people feel the way you do, maybe
you will make a difference and Wendy's will start training their
people to say please and thank you, and maybe your kids, even if they
end up working at jobs where the management doesn't lead by example
when it comes to common courtesy, will remember your lesson and be
polite anyway.

If, however, you're willing to spend a couple of extra seconds saying
please and thank you to the people working the drive through, you
might find your experience there more pleasant as well.

If you go there often enough, they might even get to know you --
probably not by name, only as "the lady who says please and thank
you", but that's enough -- and start being polite to you as soon as
they see you have arrived.

Amongst all fast food chains, Wendy's has the fastest speed of service
averages. They place a LOT of emphasis on this in their restaurant
operations. Unfortunately this comes at the expense of service in a
lot of cases.

Ive seen several letters on PFB where the letter writer complains they
got their food TOO fast - that they actually felt rushed to get away
from the window. There's nothing wrong with placing an emphasis on
speed...especially since it is "fast" food. However the customer
should NEVER feel like they are an obstacle to meeting those speed
goals.

Wendy's was once the darling of the chains because of increasing sales
and a burgeoning bottom line. Such is no longer the case and, now,
they're struggling. In order to right the ship, I believe they will
need to address this "speed over service" perception that a lot of
their customers have.

Nowhere is that attitude more obvious than in the response you got
from the manager when you called. It is mind boggling that he would
say anything other than "Ma'am, I'm truly sorry we didn't thank you
for your business...but let me thank you now for letting me know about
this." The manager in any establishment sets the tone for his workers
- based on the manager's attitude toward your call, it's not
surprising at all that his employees don't feel the need to thank you
for your business.

And the end result is you took your business elsewhere. Gee, what a
surprise.

"Please" and "thank you" have disappeared from many people's
vocabularies. When I ask someone for the time, I include both of
those words/phrases. A fast food worker should actually thank the
customer for frequenting that restaurant.

When I worked fast food, the district manager and the owner would
occasionally drop by. They'd help out if it were a busy lunch rush,
but they also would listen and watch and offer advice. I handed a bag
of food to a customer and said, "There you go! Thanks! Have a nice
day!" The DM told me to not say "There you go," but instead to say
something more along the lines of "Thank you for dining with us" or
"Thank you, and have a nice afternoon." I wasn't resentful -- it was
good customer service.

I assure you, if the manager doesn't think he has time to say "thank
you" to customers, he isn't training his staff to say it EVER.
Granted, fast food managers typically are overworked and underpaid,
but the level of quality as far as friendliness and customer service
are dependent on the manager -- he is there to make it happen, through
the employees.

However, your sending this letter will not accomplish anything. Did
YOU try saying "please" or "Thank you" to the employees? I say it
(more out of habit than anything) when I order, including at the drive
through, and while I appreciate it when someone returns the sentiment
and I am mildly annoyed when someone doesn't (decline of western
civiliation, etc., yada yada yada), I certainly don't let someone
else's lack of manners motivate me to make a phone call to berate a
store manager. Good manners means not correcting other people's
misbehaviors/poor manners (particularly that of strangers -- moms, you
go ahead and correct your kids all you want/need to).

Are you serious? Are you so important that you must recieve a Thank
You? Thank you for what exactly?? Do you Thank them for taking your
order, Thank them for taking your money and making your change
correctly? Thank them for making your food? Thank them for walking the
food out to your car if you must drive forward and wait for it??
I dont personally recall ever getting a Thank You from a fast food
employee but I know how hard they actually have to work so I do NOT
expect a Thank you. Perhaps a better attitude on your end would make
the end result of your trip much happier.
Oh, and I would THANK YOU not to waste everyone's time with writing
such a wasteful letter.

Alot of this seems so typical of how things are done sometimes, rush
rush and no thanking out of habit I suppose on their part. But that
they defended their right not to say it doesn't say much on character.
I think most likely it's a bunch of kids who can't be bothered and
management just isn't aware. I suppose they don't have time to
verbalize the dollar amount too, and just show you the digital screen
for it. It is too easy to say thank you so I do think they should
throw that in there with your order. I'd make better eye contact
while the cash is in your hand and smile at them. Or say "you're
welcome" and smile. Sounds like they are busy in their own world
there.

Wow. What a sense of entitlement. Usually, the customer says thank
you when handed the bag with the food in it.

What an absolutely PETTY thing to call a manager about - especially
for someone who is too busy to cook for her kids; how ironic you made
the time for that phone call.

I don't understand why you felt the need to mention that you're a
"working mom with 2 children". Was it to show how busy you are?

You have a good point regarding manners these days, but I agree with
the other poster who said that you should remember to say thank you as
well.

Have a good day, and thank you for reading this.

I agree. It's a shame that we've become so busy that we can't say
"please" and "thank you."

However...

What's ironic about this letter is that Shelly seems to have forgotten
HER manners. If you want someone to be polite to you, the last thing
you want to do is write a nasty letter like this. No where, Shelly,
did YOU say "Please" or "Thank You."

For example, instead of the DEMAND "Train their managers..." why not
change it to "I would appreciate greatly..." or "Please..."

You letter should end in "Thank You for your time and consideration."

Shelly, you're 100% correct. We've lost our ability to be polite.
And you're one of them.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to seeing a more polite
letter.

I think everyone can agree that fast food is a hit-or-miss situation
these days. You either get a friendly employee and/or a correct
order, or you don't.

I do hope you thanked them, sometimes it's best to not sweat the small
stuff and lead by example (okay, that's enough cliches! lol)

I understand a 'thank you' is always nice, but, speaking solely for
myself (and not trying to sound smarmy), I don't need anybody to 'pet
me on the head' every time I patronize a business.
It's nice, but I don't sweat it.
I have enough worries without adding to the list.

In my years as a cashier, customers run hot and cold about that sort
of thing, and while one person may respond in kind to "Thank you!" or
"Hello, how are you today?", the next one may give you a scowl that
would curl your hair.
It's one of those no-win situations, really.