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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u/pedroah 20d ago

Don't underestimate average person's stupidity.

A&W's 1/3 pound burger cost less than McD's 1/4 pounder but it flopped because people thought it was smaller because 3 is smaller than 4. https://archive.is/9KAIz

Only when the company held customer focus groups did it become clear why. The Third Pounder presented the American public with a test in fractions. And we failed. Misunderstanding the value of one-third, customers believed they were being overcharged. Why, they asked the researchers, should they pay the same amount for a third of a pound of meat as they did for a quarter-pound of meat at McDonald’s. The “4” in “¼,” larger than the “3” in “⅓,” led them astray.

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u/DigbyChickenZone 20d ago

I mean, that is an assumption about the advertisement failing. Maybe people then, just like now, don't like A&W - no matter how much beef they were selling; a product testing group ASKING them "why don't you like X over Y?" with "Which one do you think has more beef" doesn't really reflect consumers true intentions.

Chalking it all up to the public being idiotic, is just a way to ignore larger trends.

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u/RadiantMenderbug 20d ago

I thought it failed because no one has ever eaten at an A&W... Restaurant? Have you ever seen one? Because I haven't 

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u/Melodic_Fall_3273 20d ago

A&W in the 60's 70's and early 80's was one of the larger "fast food" places. They were all over. They didn't have drive thru's they were drive in's like Sonic is today. Used to go more for the Root Beer than the burgers but yeah they were big before BK and McD's took over the world.

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u/Wildcandle55 17d ago

My first job when I was 15! Carhop! Try putting a tray with 6 large root beers over the edge of the window without dumping it in the drivers lap. Mad skills.

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u/IncognitoErgoCvm 20d ago

I've seen exactly one and went as a novelty. It was the worst value in the quality/cost matrix of any fast food place I've ever visited.

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u/Available_Advisor626 20d ago

We went to A & W a TON when I was younger, both the drive in and a restaurant

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u/beo559 20d ago

Or at least that's the story the owner trotted out to explain the failure of his new big deal product. Don't get me wrong, i have no doubt a marketing consultant could find someone confused about that to ensure there's external blame to put somewhere.

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u/The-Yar 16d ago

It was definitely a made up story and not even a serious or rational one.

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u/HungryBearsRawr 20d ago

Ahh Americans

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u/The-Yar 16d ago

It isn't true though.

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u/Pschobbert 20d ago

The plan is progressing smoothly...

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u/Rampage_Rick 20d ago

Need to sell some 1/5th pounders and make millions!

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u/The-Yar 16d ago

Right? The story makes no sense.

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u/The-Yar 19d ago

This isn't true. A former A&W made this story up because he was mad that he failed to take on and defeat Big Arch.

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u/Wildcandle55 17d ago

Also, the original burgers had names, like Teenburger, basically a bacon cheeseburger.

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u/The-Yar 16d ago

Not to mention the McDs burger is Quurter Pounder, not a "1/4 pounder." The whole story is nonsense and was basically an angry joke he made in one interview.