r/mildlyinfuriating • u/50calTaco • 21d ago

I'm slightly vexed Grown man gets mad because he doesn’t know what ordering a “plain” burger means

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.

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534

u/Lapidot-Wav 20d ago

When I worked at Wendy’s I would be amazed at the amount of people who would get mad or correct me when they would ask for a cheeseburger without cheese and I’d ring up a hamburger because there was a price difference, they would genuinely want me to charge them more and remove the thing they don’t want just because they’re too stupid to understand the only difference between a hamburger and cheeseburger is get this.. THE FUCKING CHEESE

144

u/ermax18 20d ago

I’ve seen this a few times in this thread. I’m curious if there is a reason why they think a cheeseburger without cheese is different from a handburger.

71

u/Ltrly_Htlr 20d ago

lol handburger.

39

u/Callidonaut 20d ago

What, do you eat yours with your feet?

1

u/MeowMachine09 20d ago

I genuinely cackled to myself on the couch 😆

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u/Auto_Generated_Thing 20d ago

Probably because they know a cheeseburger is made of beef, but they think that a hamburger is made of ham.

70

u/Elder-Abuse-Is-Fun 20d ago

In Nepal I went to a place that had a beef burger, veggie burger, or a cheeseburger. I got the cheeseburger. It was a block of cheese with lettuce and tomato. You just never know.

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u/Drama_owl 20d ago

We frequent a restaurant that is locally famous for their hotdogs. They have a "cheese dog" that is a stick of American cheese on a bun. If you want the actual dog you have to order a "hot dog with cheese" (to get a slice of cheese with the dog) or a "block combo" (to get both the stick of cheese and the dog).

This is all only vaguely indicated on the menu.

2

u/PhairynRose 16d ago

that’s funny. Lots of vegetarians in Nepal? that’d make sense if the “cheese burger” is another non-meat option

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u/_Gesterr 20d ago

Lol reminds me of the burger chain that tried to promote 1/3 pound burgers but it flopped because people thought 1/3 was less than 1/4 pound.

2

u/Dornith 20d ago

That version of the story comes from the people who ran the business. Everything I heard from people who went to the restaurant said their burgers were just bad.

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u/prison-schism 20d ago

This was A&W, which is still around, and it was focus groups they tested who said they thought 1/3 was smaller than 1/4.

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u/[deleted] 20d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/prison-schism 20d ago

I did, so i guess i need your sources...

5

u/Callidonaut 20d ago

Even though ham tastes absolutely nothing like beef, I can believe this.

11

u/Jaycon356 20d ago

Coupons, Special Deals, and 'Dollar Menu' pricing usually. Normally the person picks up the habit at a time when the menu item  "Cheeseburgers" are less expensive than hamburgers, then that changes but they keep the habit and insist on it thinking it saves them money.

2

u/adrienneBAwgu19 20d ago

Yes this is the reason!! A lot of time I get a free cheese burger on the McDonald’s app but I don’t want cheese so I’m technically ordering a cheeseburger no cheese 

1

u/Razzail 20d ago

Hamburger 🤣

2

u/ermax18 20d ago

Yeah I saw that. I’m going to leave it for the laughs. Hahaha.

1

u/Razzail 20d ago

I appreciate it I was genuinely laughing out loud because that's how I used to think to spell it as a kid!!! 

1

u/AdnanKhan47 20d ago

Too much lead in their water?

1

u/random_fucktuation 20d ago

Because education has gone down the fuckin' shitter.

Critical thinking no longer exists.

As is generally obvious on a global scale.

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u/sdpr 20d ago

There are moments in fast food that make you think about losing your job to tell some dipshit they're a moron.

"Alright, that's it, a cheeseburger is what on a bun?"

If they act stupid: "you're putting cheese on what to make a cheeseburger?

I once had a lady ask me for a mini mint Oreo blizzard with "no Oreo dust". I told her, "I can't guarantee that, but I'll try." Guess what they didn't like? The Oreo dust. It's a blended fucking dessert using crushed Oreos. They come pre-crushed in a giant fucking box. I told her this and offered to show her the box, but she "wasn't there to argue" and asked for her money back and left. See ya!

4

u/Lepelotonfromager 20d ago

This is one of those things where you can't protect people from themselves. "Are you don't just want a hamburgers sir? No? Okay then, a cheeseburger without cheese" and let them have what they want.

3

u/ReputationLost7295 20d ago

Wendy's has not had a hamburger without cheese on its menu in 30+ years.

The Dave's Classic is the most basic one they have and it has had cheese since at least 1996.

2

u/Lapidot-Wav 20d ago

Do you think the register doesn’t have a hamburger option?

-2

u/ReputationLost7295 20d ago

I do in fact know that there is no hamburger in the PoS system and anybody who tried to order for pick up online or in a store, where they now make customers use touchscreens to enter their own orders could know this too.

For thirty years I have been fighting with Wendy's about not putting their shitty American cheese sandwich. If there had been an actual hamburger option on the menu, I would have found it. 

It is possible there was a Hamburger sometime pre 1996 when I became responsible for feeding myself, but it hasn't been there since.

4

u/Lapidot-Wav 20d ago

I worked there less than 5 years ago, there is a hamburger option, you’re wrong

1

u/ThreeFingeredTypist 20d ago

The Wendy’s Jr. Hamburger has never actually been permanently removed from the national menu and remains available at most locations today.

Even if it isn't featured on the big overhead boards, cashiers can still ring it up, and it frequently appears on the digital app under the value or everyday items section.

Some individual franchise locations choose to drop it locally to streamline their kitchen operations or inventory, but it is not a nationally discontinued item.

1

u/Puptentjoe 20d ago

I want to commend you because I loved it when workers would do that.

When Fast Food workers would make me aware of changes that save me money its always welcome.

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u/Lapidot-Wav 20d ago

I would always do things like that and when I was on the fry station I’d be filling that shit up based on vibes, you ordered a 10 piece, surprise I can fit 14 in that mf. When I became a manager I was regularly comping meals if someone was funny, pretty, offered me weed. Fuck big corps I am depressed my life has to revolve around them in any degree

1

u/aevitas1 20d ago

Jesus christ people are so stupid.

1

u/PuppyJakeKhakiCollar 20d ago

Some people are just too stupid to live.

1

u/open_thoughts 15d ago

Reminds me of this kid I used to know. We were on holiday together when we were young: he was always really awkward. 

Ordering in one night, he said he wanted a cheese and tomato pizza. The adults were putting through the order. Said yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah, and the margarita.

Queue huge meltdown. "I didn't want a Margarita. I wanted a CHEESE AND TOMATO!". 

After trying to explain to him that a margarita pizza is a cheese and tomato pizza, he still didn't have it and specifically demanded that we told the pizza place he wants cheese and tomato. 

Of course he refused to eat the pizza when it turned up with slices of tomato on top. He was 12, but still.

-10

u/Background-Vast487 20d ago

Nah, because cheeseburgers are made with beefburgers.

Some people don't eat pork

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u/Lapidot-Wav 20d ago

I’m assuming you’re joking but hamburgers aren’t made with ham, they’re all beef patties

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u/Nyther53 20d ago

I know this is a tangent but it amuses me every time Europeans try to deny that hamburgers are an American food, so I'm gonna seize on this as an excuse to go into the etymology. 

"Hamburger" is indeed a reference to the german city, Hamburg. 

The key difference is that American style hamburgers are cooked, unlike the original Beefsteak A'la Hamburguese (yes that is a french name for a dish named after a German city, fine dining in the 19th century got weird) which was served raw. 

It is in the United States that "Hamburgers" picked up the following characteristics: Being cooked Being served on a bun Customary toppings of lettuce, tomato, onion, or pickle or a combination thereof Commonly paired with fried potato Optional pairing with cheese  Common pairing with carbonated drinks like coca cola 

You know, 100% of the things you are picturing when you encounter the word "Hamburger" on a menu. 

1

u/Callidonaut 20d ago

I thought an American hamburger is basically a "Hamburger steak" stuffed into a sandwich bun.

1

u/Nyther53 20d ago

That's sort of correct, except it happened 150 years ago and what makes a "hamburger steak" didn't stay static in that time either, nor was it universally agreed upon at the time. 

I've used the formal, high dining version of it. Which today we would call steak tartare. But there were people alive at the time would would deny that that counted as a "real" "Hamburg Steak" so how can you decide if one thing is a copy of something that had twenty different varieties. 

At a certain point you have to decide if you think there's only like three foods to have ever existed, or you accept these sorts of differences as significant. 

Like, do you think a Croissant is a french food? Because it's just austrian bread turned into a circular shape, which is itself just a....

If you go too far down that path it's madness. The only thing a Hamburger and a Hamburg steak have in common is they're both made of beef. 

1

u/Background-Vast487 20d ago

Apparently at least 8 people didn't get the joke...

0

u/scandii 20d ago

I feel this is one of those "where I'm from..." statements.

while I agree Americans refer to hamburgers as beef-only, the rest of the world sure doesn't and if we exclude say McDonald's in India that sure doesn't serve beef burgers, in Japan we find a literal pork "totally not a hamburger, just looks like one" item.

where I'm from if you ask someone if they want to go for hamburgers nobody has an expectation of the type of meat (or non-meat for that matter) we're talking about, it is just a style of dish.

anyway Reddit is global and it is always interesting when local definitions clash.

6

u/Lapidot-Wav 20d ago

I feel like having to find specific use cases that fit your point makes it an outlier and not the rule though, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone from anywhere talking about a hamburger being pork

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u/scandii 20d ago edited 20d ago

my guy India is ~20% of the world alone - ~5 times more people than in the US - and Burger King, McDonald's, Wendy's and even Carl's Jr are all there definitely not serving beef.

here's a menu for curiosity:

https://carlsjr.in/eat/

and now you'll probably go "but they didn't say hamburger, they just said burger!" to which I agree, but at the same time these terms are interchangeable across the world and McDonald's also calls their beef hamburgers burger so it is all just... burger.

so once again - local American thing to equate hamburger to beef and that definitely doesn't track globally because the word is borrowed from the US to begin with and doesn't mean anything in the local language.

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u/TaibhseCait 20d ago

While I have seen hamburger used in ads (Ireland), most places just call them burgers! So you'd have burgers (& the meat type of beef mentioned in the description with all the toppings) & then it'd be chicken buger & lamb burger + all toppings. (McDonald's have fish burgers but I don't usually see that as an option in regular burger places or restaurants).

So I've never seen a pork minced meat burger here (we do have pulled pork burgers now at food trucks) so I don't think I've seen the hamburger mistake here.

On the other hand sometimes you have to clarify burger with mash or chips as one burger meal is like a big thicker burger, sans bread, served with mash, gravy & cooked onions...

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u/Toolazytobeunique 20d ago

Japan Costco hotdogs are also made of pork. Just random trivia.

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u/petmechompU 20d ago

Did they change the menu from Single/Double/Triple, then add cheese, bacon, etc.? When I was there they were never called "hamburger" or "cheeseburger". 

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u/Lapidot-Wav 20d ago

They’re still called that on the menu but people just say “cheeseburger” or “hamburger” they don’t really say the specific name unless they’re asking for the special sandwiches