A little bit of customer service doesn't require skill. Off the top of my head Taco Bell always asks if you'd like hot sauce. I think In-N-Out asks if you'd like ketchup whenever you order fries, but it's been a while. But, really, In-N-Out does just about everything right. They've never gotten my order wrong. Even their secret menu thing is kind of genius. The advertised menu is clear and simple, which keeps people who aren't regulars from dawdling about while they try to figure out what out of dozens of options they actually want to eat, or even worse, engage in a tedious question and answer session with the person taking the order. But, if you're in the know with the unlisted menu options you get a wealth of customization. Not to mention their burgers are very consistently well-made. Damn, I want to hit up the In-N-Out, but dinner tonight has to be a green smoothie. Kale's just as tasty.... right?
That kind of service requires training, which all companies provide, but even moreso it requires employees who are willing to apply the training. It doesn't happen everywhere. (If you want to throw the money thing into the mix, though you haven't indicated that so far, it won't matter how much you pay. There will always be a percentage of employees who will never personally invest themselves in the results of exceptional service. At the same time, there will always be a percentage who will always go above and beyond no matter how much or little they are paid.)
Hot sauce is the default, expected thing when you go to Taco Bell. Ketchup is the default, expected thing when you order fries at In-N-Out. The problem arises here because the Zesty Sauce is apparently not the default, regular thing one would expect to get with onion rings. They're giving him ketchup instead, which is the norm. However, they gladly give him the alternative when asked. Fast food joints can get stingy with the condiments sometimes, but expecting them to include every type of sauce they carry in every bag on the off chance the customer might want one (and because they can't telepathically intuit what you want) isn't reasonable or cost effective. The simpler answer is for the customer to just ask for the zesty sauce, but apparently that's some big chore that causes anxiety to the OP, in which case I don't really know what to tell you. It's not like asking a girl to the prom, it's asking for sauce packets from people who don't know you from the safety of your car. If that makes you nervous, I don't know how you even approach the drive-thru in the first place without exploding in a fit of anxiety.
Is this a real complaint? It would never even occur to me to complain about something like this let alone start a thread. Burger King is not some sort of five star restaurant, but a place that pays its employees nothing.
It does happen in my experience with In-N-Out across maybe 10 locations. I've never had a problem employee there. I'm sure it happens from time to time. But other places it happens so frequently that it seems like it could be improved. Better management? Higher pay to attract better workers? Sure, but that doesn't mean the percentage can't be minimized. Well, apparently it was tied to their onion rings in a promotion, and if you google "Burger King Zesty Sauce" lots of people are specifically referring to it as an onion ring sauce. I don't know if that qualifies it as a default at that particular chain. I'm not a Burger King fan and it's not conveniently located enough for me to use it as a change of pace meal. I think it'd be beneficial for all the parties involved for the employee to simply ask "Would you like any ketchup or zesty sauce with that?" It's beneficial to the customer because sometimes the customer forgets to ask. The less happy customers are, the less likely they'll be back. I think it would probably improve order accuracy by entrenching it in the routine. McDonald's usually asks "BBQ sauce with that?" when you order nuggets, I appreciate that because it serves as a reminder to mention the sauce I actually do want. The OP indicated that asking for the sauce wasn't a big deal, and his argument appeared to deal more with Burger King's policy than his anxiety, so I'm not sure why you bring that into it. But social anxiety disorder is a thing right? I've heard of phone anxiety at least, it seems like drive-thru could qualify in the same vein.
Yes, I'm going to investigate the mystery of the zesty sauce further. Because this is fascinating. The OP didn't mention a promotion. He just made it sound like your average everyday thing. I mentioned it because he brought it up: He doesn't mention himself, but it was in response to me asking why he didn't just ask for some sauce, so I assume it's one of those situations where you're talking about a guy in the abstract but the guy is actually you. Christ, I can't believe I'm now involved in a debate over zesty sauce. We've gone down the rabbit hole.
http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=burger king zesty sauce -- Notice if you click the forecast checkbox Google predicts a bit of a decline for Burger King Zesty Sauce in the second half of this year but a big comeback in 2015. Bottom line, I don't think the zesty sauce issue is going away. Google understands data trends.
I believed you the first time, I was just saying I don't care enough to check myself and was just going by the OPs tale of woe.
This thread makes me nostalgic for Roy Rogers and these: I know they still exist, but I have not seen one in a long time.
Well as another poster pointed out, zesty sauce is not exactly an obscure thing. Actually, before the incident that triggered this thread, there have been numerous occasions where the workers will just ask generically "do you want sauce for the onion rings?" and will give you zesty sauce, NOT ketchup. So before this thread, I would have assumed that zesty sauce was the default for BK onion rings. I didn't realize that a lot of people hadn't heard about it or tried it. If you haven't, do yourself a favor and find a BK that has it. It increases the pleasurability of the experience by around 38.7%. As to the hypothetical, it was just a hypothetical, but a lot of people do have issues being assertive in a customer service situation.(such as going back about an order that the food service workers got wrong vs. not going back and just rationalizing it as "it's not worth it.")
No, really, it very often isn't worth it. If I'm already merging back on the Interstate when I discover the error, I guarantee you I'm not going back to fix it.
agreed, but then it's NOT rationalizing, it's just making a sensible decision. I mean if you're dining in, or if you realize they got the order wrong before you've pulled away too far.
If you're watching your caloric intake, I would submit that eating at Burger King in the first place is your problem, not the mayonnaise in your Zesty Sauce.
Greek yogurt can sometimes be substituted for mayo, or at least a partial substitute. I bet you could make some sort of zesty hummus that would be delicious too!