Bad customer service really pisses me off.

I just came back from lunch at South St. Burger with my friend and colleague, Matthew.

Matt also happens to be the head of Customer Service at Marketcircle, where we both work. 

A pleasant cashier took our order, and we both both asked for Cheeseburger combos.

When I got to the burger staging area, after providing the sandwich maker the list of toppings I’d like, I proceeded to say “oh, and I’ll have the cheddar”. Usually they ask what kind of cheese you want on the burger when you order a cheeseburger (they offer a selection of cheeses), but since I already knew what I wanted I thought I’d say it first.

The woman making my burger then went on to say “you didn’t order cheese”. I responded saying “yes I did, I asked for a cheese burger”, meanwhile I took a look at my receipt. Sure enough, the cashier didn’t punch in a cheeseburger (forgot to charge me for cheese). 

Not a huge deal – these kind of mixups happen all the time. What IS a big deal is how something like this is handled.

The woman making our burgers looked over at her manager and explained the situation. He said “ok fine, put cheese on it”, simultaneously making a face like he just found out that his house burned down.

At this point I was already having a less-than-desireable experience because I was confronted about “not ordering cheese”, rather than an “I’m sorry, we’ll take care of that for you”. 

BUT THEN, the manager proceeds to tell me “Sir you can go to the cashier over there and she’ll take payment for the cheese.”

Excuse me? Are you serious?

At this point my food was already ready. I had to leave the burger ordering lineup area, ask a bunch of people who were in line to excuse me, and then wait for the cashier to finish taking her current order. Then I paid for mine and my friend’s cheese.

What was the total? $2.10.

I found this offensive, inconsiderate, and pretty embarrassing.

Customer service is so simple, and so easy. It feels like it should be part of everyone’s common sense, yet so many people haven’t the slightest clue about it.

The manager made me feel like a bad guy trying to get “free cheese” out of him, rather than an appreciated customer.

All of this to “save” $2?