I cannot say that with American Fast Food institutions, I have high hopes for either intelligence, courtesy, nor even accuracy. Over the years, I have taken it for granted they can even speak decent English, much less understand my basic order of "large Pepsi, no ice". However, with this particular store, which my husband and I visit at least once a week, hires a myriad of employees, two of which stand out for totally opposite reasons.
One is Barbie's missing link. The other reminds me of the chubby girl from "The Facts of Life".
Now I know Taco Bell has a crew that mainly consists of teenagers. Mostly because adults have more self respect, and also because they have better skills. Even accepting that most of the staff is in school, possibly not even on path to a diploma, I cannot get past how absolutely snotty the Barbie wannabe is.
On a recent trip, when it was snowing, and yes this fact is critical, my husband and I went through the drive thru, and ordered two large sodas, both without ice. The blonde girl, who normally seems to work the drive thru, took our order, with her usual ecstatic-to-be-there tone, and we pulled up. She then handed me the first glass, which obviously had ice in it.
I mean comon now, we know what a cup sounds like with ice in it. It jiggles and crackles. So I pointed this out. Barbie then utters "I didn't put ice in it". I shake the glass, listening to the ice, and point out there was in fact, ice in the cup.
Now maybe she thought I was so coldhearted that the moment my hand touched the glass, the pop froze. Or maybe the snow had something to do with it. I don't know. But either way, there was ice in the cup, and I do know it wasn't my husband or I that put it there.
She had to argue. After about 3 times, she finally took the glasses back with a huff (both had ice), poured them out quite impatiently, handed them back about 3/4 full, and told us to have a lovely day. Barbie obviously had a rotten one at that point.
Since that time, we have had her serve us again. She nows seems to recognize our voices, and I swear, you can hear the disappointment over the PA. We get a sadistic satisfaction from that.
The second girl, a brunette that is heavier-set, is a joy. She is happy, polite, always gets our orders right, and aside from one time where she was talking with someone in the background and not really paying attention when she was handing our order to us, is the closest you will get to perfect customer service in the fast food world. She occassionally forgets our Cinnamon Twists (which Barbie did on purpose once, I swear... she even said "Oh yea, those"), but that is forgiveable.
So what is this whole review for? If you happen to be across the mall ordering Taco Bell, you may run into one of these two. One will be your worst nightmare. You will understand why Ken never married Barbie. He would have dismembered her and shoved her into the back of her pink Corvette. I'm sure a lot of Taco Bell customers have wanted to do the same to the store employee.
The other, the brunette, will make your day a little bit better. Now only if they could get the rest of the employees that good, it would be great.
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