Grown man gets mad because he doesn’t know what ordering a “plain” burger means

[u/50calTaco]

So I work at Five Guys and for those who don’t know, when you order a burger there you get to fully customize the toppings on it (helps justify the price tag a tiny bit i guess). And you choose between a little (single) or regular (double) burger.

I had a pleasant enough exchange with a customer while ringing up his food… and when it came to his cheeseburger I asked what toppings he wanted on it. He looked at me and said, “Oh you know… just a plain, regular cheeseburger.” Ok great, a cheeseburger with nothing on it, easy enough.

Well we make the food, and a minute after he gets it he comes back up to me, visibly annoyed and holding the burger.

“You made my food wrong. There’s nothing on it.”

“Oh I’m sorry sir, I thought you’d ordered a plain cheeseburger.”

“I did. Do you not know what that means? Like a McDonald’s burger.”

Ok first of all, “McDonald’s” is not a standard for how someone orders burger toppings and second of all, this guys in his late 40s to early 50s and has never once run into this issue ordering a plain burger?

“Ok I’m sorry about that sir, we’ll remake that for you. What exactly did you want on it?”

I shit you not, with an annoyed voice he ordered:
Ketchup. Lettuce. Pickles.
So notably NOT a McDonald’s cheeseburger???

He got what he wanted in the end and I apologized because customer service but like?? I’m in awe at the sheer level of misunderstanding and audacity.

[u/LiamOmegaHaku]

I work at a place that does daily sandwiches in the case (we are a small neighborhood deli/butcher/market). The sandwiches are made every morning, and have a "standard" setting depending on the sandwich (such as, 'this one has meat, cheese, arugula, spicy mayo. This one has 3 meats, cheese', et cetera. The sandwich is listed 'as is').

We have a second board that is "here is the list of shit you can add to the sandwich" and lists like 10 veggies. I give a spiel to people who haven't been there before explaining that exact thing. in the past month I've had three men go "just give it to me as it comes" after I point at the sign and ask what they'd like added to it.

Okay. Sure. I take the sandwich out of the case, I toast it a moment to wake the bread up, cut it in half, wrap it, hand it off.

A few minutes later, I receive a complaint (again, same complaint, from all 3 guys) that there are no veggies on the sandwich. I do the same thing as OP; "well, you asked for how it comes."

All three men did not understand "how it comes" meant "how it reads on the menu", which is already what I explained. They all expected it to come with...I don't actually know. Because THEY DID NOT TELL ME.

Some people just go through life like that. It is insane to me.

[u/teacuptypos → u/LiamOmegaHaku]

It’s like people who say they want “just a coffee”, which is already super vague but to me implies a black drip coffee. And then get pissed because they wanted a latte because that’s what they drink every day and the stranger across the counter didn’t telepathically, magically know that’s what they mean (because they never actually SAID it)

[u/RI_Swamp_Yankee → u/teacuptypos]

A Dunkin’ Donuts regular coffee comes with extra cream, extra sugar compared to a diner. My wife, who grew up in VA where there were no Dunkies and very few other donut chains was shocked - a regular coffee is black where she comes from.

[u/teacuptypos → u/RI_Swamp_Yankee]

Surprising to me as well. I think that just reaffirms that “regular” is just not a very useful term when ordering things. It helps to be specific. :)

[u/Willing-Cockroach-76 → u/RI_Swamp_Yankee]

First time I ordered coffee there expecting a black coffee, had to go back and go inside (had done drive thru) and they explained what their default coffee was so make sure I always say black coffee now 😆

[u/MillennialPolytropos → u/teacuptypos]

A concerning number of grown adults don't have a fully formed theory of mind. They lack the mental toolkit to understand that a latte is not everyone's go-to coffee order and the barista does not know what type of coffee they're thinking of.

[u/MartyFunkhoosier → u/teacuptypos]

There’s almost no coffee in a latte, sir.

[u/Inner_Tennis_2416 → u/LiamOmegaHaku]

I would say that usually at a sandwich shop theres like a 'standard' selection of veggies that go on a sandwich, that are then modified for some specific sandwiches. So, unlike ordering a plain burger, asking for a sandwich as it comes will get you the sandwich you want 95% of the time.

[u/blugirl111 → u/LiamOmegaHaku]

If they said “just give it to me as it comes”, why didn’t you wrap up one of the standard sandwiches that are pre-made? Sounds like that’s what they’re asking for

[u/LiamOmegaHaku → u/blugirl111]

I take the sandwich out of the case, I toast it a moment to wake the bread up, cut it in half, wrap it, hand it off.

Did you miss where I said that? I literally give them the sandwich they selected "as it comes" out of the case. Which is exactly what they asked.

and then minutes later they complain the sandwich they selected "as it comes" didn't come with any additions to it.

[u/OkStorage9347 → u/LiamOmegaHaku]

I think you just found one of your customers on reddit.