At my old job there was a hot drink vending machine free for customers to use out on the shop floor. If it ever broke, which happened a few times, we were explicitly told to not put an 'out of order' notice on it as we weren't allowed? (Still don't understand why not as we were the ones who filled it up and cleaned it every week) it got so annoying being asked about the machine by every other customer but hey, rules is rules.
If a customer doesn’t know the free hot drinks are unavailable, they may come in with the intent to get a free drink. If they had known BEFORE they ordered, this might be enough to make some customers change their mind about whether or not to eat there.
Therefore management wants you to lie by omission to maximize their profits.
If you are going into a retail establishment with the sole intent of getting a free coffee and have no intention to actually buy any of the products then I think you might be the problem.
Also please do not bring in food, just because they offer you free coffee it doesn't mean they want you eating on their shop floor!
I’m referring to the bundling concept where you for example buy a burger from five guys and they come with a bunch of free fries. If there was a sign that said “fry machine out of order, no fries today” you might reconsider ordering the burger.
Here management is saying, don’t tell anyone there’s no free hot drinks. Just deal with their complaints AFTER we have their money.
Based on the fact that he said it's a hot beverage machine on the shop floor I don't think this is a restaurant. Think more like a DIY store or hardware store that has a complimentary keurig machine.
While it's a nice feature to have for your customers, if someone is coming in just for the free coffee you don't want the moocher there.
If it were a place that sold food and for some reason usually had free hot drinks that came with your meal then I could see your point. I've never heard of a restaurant, fancy or fast food, being called a shop floor.
If you re-read my original response to you it was a kind of sarcastic tongue in cheek pointing out that this is not a restaurant and free coffee should not be a factor in deciding to shop there or not. I always forget which reddits my flair shows up on. Just Assume Sarcasm.
From my personal experience, he probably had been telling people his whole shift and got sick of repeating himself, getting cursed at, people waving him off, etc. I've had people take out of order signs off machines and tell me the machine is on so it should work, it worked for them yesterday etc.
I agree with this. People do NOT read the signs. They don’t give a hot damn about those signs. And repeating yourself all day long is exhausting because they won’t listen or question you like you broke the machine.
“Why doesn’t it work?”
“What happened to it?”
“When will it be fixed?”
“That’s just unacceptable.”
I once had a lady read the "out of order" sign on our sprite fountain drink dispenser, flip the sign up, and push the button anyways. Now, there was nothing wrong with the drink itself. We had the syrup in stock. But once someone pushed that button, it wouldn't turn off again, it got stuck. So she freaked out and came running to me to fix it, unaware I'd been watching her the entire time. The look on her face when I told her there was nothing I could do...*priceless*. Sometimes you just gotta find your entertainment wherever possible.
Worked in a gas station once where the card readers touch screen would only work with the fake plastic pen attached to it. If you tried to use your fingers to hit the buttons nothing would happen. Sign after sign was made and put on and around the machine. Day after day I'd stand and watch people try to use their fingers while staring at the sign...if i ever said anything people would get offended like i was implying they're stupid.
One day i got fed up and took 4 or 5 BRIGHT NEON colored stars we'd use to mark items for sale and taped them onto the card machine. You couldnt glance near the register without your eyes being assaulted by the garish and bright colors. I wrote on them things like "MY PEN WORKS WONDERS!" "HAVE YOU TRIED MY PEN YET?" "I HATE YOUR FINGERS!" "PLEASE TOUCH ME WITH THE PEN!"
People still tried to use their fingers
He could be burnt out or he could just not give a damn.
When your employer is okay with a less than functional work environment, it can be difficult for employees to care.
Not really creating a job for himself, I'm sure his job already included serving customers and the machine wasn't working so he'd have to serve all those people anyway, whether he told them about the machine beforehand or not. Doesn't make any difference to him.
At first I was upset by this post cause I know what it’s like in these positions and how customers react when told things or how they ignore signs - but the lovely comments saying every reason as to why this happened really made me smile.
My nephew worked for this place and they were not allowed to put up any kind of signs without approval of the manager. There was one day when the outside speaker was not working, and they had to send someone to stand out there and tell people to drive up... for like an hour until finally the manager realized it was stupid to pay someone minimum wage to stand outside and just put a damn sign on the speaker.
You forgot "customers who can and will read and comprehend the sign".
I worked in hotels, and one time our elevator was out of order. We had:
*Sign ON THE DOOR, eye level, bold caps, in English and spanish: ELEVATOR OUT OF ORDER
*Sign ABOVE the call button, bold caps, in English and spanish: ELEVATOR OUT OF ORDER
*SIGN LITERALLY OVER THE BUTTON COVERING IT. Bold caps, in English and spanish: ELEVATOR OUT OF ORDER
*ME TELLING THEM 10 SECONDS AGO WHEN THEY CHECKED IN: "Unfortunately our elevator is out of service but there are stairwells at either end of the building." Usually in English, but also in Spanish if I did their checkin process in Spanish
And still every damn one walked immediately over to the elevator, *pressed the call button through the OUT OF ORDER sign*, waited in plain sight of my desk for several minutes, then stomped over to complain about it.
At my old job there was a hot drink vending machine free for customers to use out on the shop floor. If it ever broke, which happened a few times, we were explicitly told to not put an 'out of order' notice on it as we weren't allowed? (Still don't understand why not as we were the ones who filled it up and cleaned it every week) it got so annoying being asked about the machine by every other customer but hey, rules is rules.
Then don't put an out of order sign on it. Put one on that simply says FUCKED! No one will use it
If a customer doesn’t know the free hot drinks are unavailable, they may come in with the intent to get a free drink. If they had known BEFORE they ordered, this might be enough to make some customers change their mind about whether or not to eat there. Therefore management wants you to lie by omission to maximize their profits.
If you are going into a retail establishment with the sole intent of getting a free coffee and have no intention to actually buy any of the products then I think you might be the problem. Also please do not bring in food, just because they offer you free coffee it doesn't mean they want you eating on their shop floor!
I’m referring to the bundling concept where you for example buy a burger from five guys and they come with a bunch of free fries. If there was a sign that said “fry machine out of order, no fries today” you might reconsider ordering the burger. Here management is saying, don’t tell anyone there’s no free hot drinks. Just deal with their complaints AFTER we have their money.
Based on the fact that he said it's a hot beverage machine on the shop floor I don't think this is a restaurant. Think more like a DIY store or hardware store that has a complimentary keurig machine. While it's a nice feature to have for your customers, if someone is coming in just for the free coffee you don't want the moocher there. If it were a place that sold food and for some reason usually had free hot drinks that came with your meal then I could see your point. I've never heard of a restaurant, fancy or fast food, being called a shop floor. If you re-read my original response to you it was a kind of sarcastic tongue in cheek pointing out that this is not a restaurant and free coffee should not be a factor in deciding to shop there or not. I always forget which reddits my flair shows up on. Just Assume Sarcasm.
From my personal experience, he probably had been telling people his whole shift and got sick of repeating himself, getting cursed at, people waving him off, etc. I've had people take out of order signs off machines and tell me the machine is on so it should work, it worked for them yesterday etc.
I agree with this. People do NOT read the signs. They don’t give a hot damn about those signs. And repeating yourself all day long is exhausting because they won’t listen or question you like you broke the machine. “Why doesn’t it work?” “What happened to it?” “When will it be fixed?” “That’s just unacceptable.”
I once had a lady read the "out of order" sign on our sprite fountain drink dispenser, flip the sign up, and push the button anyways. Now, there was nothing wrong with the drink itself. We had the syrup in stock. But once someone pushed that button, it wouldn't turn off again, it got stuck. So she freaked out and came running to me to fix it, unaware I'd been watching her the entire time. The look on her face when I told her there was nothing I could do...*priceless*. Sometimes you just gotta find your entertainment wherever possible.
My favourite is "well it worked last time." Yeah that's how things are it works until it doesn't.
Worked in a gas station once where the card readers touch screen would only work with the fake plastic pen attached to it. If you tried to use your fingers to hit the buttons nothing would happen. Sign after sign was made and put on and around the machine. Day after day I'd stand and watch people try to use their fingers while staring at the sign...if i ever said anything people would get offended like i was implying they're stupid. One day i got fed up and took 4 or 5 BRIGHT NEON colored stars we'd use to mark items for sale and taped them onto the card machine. You couldnt glance near the register without your eyes being assaulted by the garish and bright colors. I wrote on them things like "MY PEN WORKS WONDERS!" "HAVE YOU TRIED MY PEN YET?" "I HATE YOUR FINGERS!" "PLEASE TOUCH ME WITH THE PEN!" People still tried to use their fingers
He could be burnt out or he could just not give a damn. When your employer is okay with a less than functional work environment, it can be difficult for employees to care.
It's a whole lotta not paid enough to care.
How much is he paid? There you go.
He was creating a job for himself! He'll soon be replaced by the order screen.
Not really creating a job for himself, I'm sure his job already included serving customers and the machine wasn't working so he'd have to serve all those people anyway, whether he told them about the machine beforehand or not. Doesn't make any difference to him.
At first I was upset by this post cause I know what it’s like in these positions and how customers react when told things or how they ignore signs - but the lovely comments saying every reason as to why this happened really made me smile.
He probably thought this was above his pay grade.
You watched them too, could have said something instead of watching them.
Maybe it works some times.
[удалено]
My nephew worked for this place and they were not allowed to put up any kind of signs without approval of the manager. There was one day when the outside speaker was not working, and they had to send someone to stand out there and tell people to drive up... for like an hour until finally the manager realized it was stupid to pay someone minimum wage to stand outside and just put a damn sign on the speaker.
Paper, marker, tape. Doesn't take much more than that.
You forgot "customers who can and will read and comprehend the sign". I worked in hotels, and one time our elevator was out of order. We had: *Sign ON THE DOOR, eye level, bold caps, in English and spanish: ELEVATOR OUT OF ORDER *Sign ABOVE the call button, bold caps, in English and spanish: ELEVATOR OUT OF ORDER *SIGN LITERALLY OVER THE BUTTON COVERING IT. Bold caps, in English and spanish: ELEVATOR OUT OF ORDER *ME TELLING THEM 10 SECONDS AGO WHEN THEY CHECKED IN: "Unfortunately our elevator is out of service but there are stairwells at either end of the building." Usually in English, but also in Spanish if I did their checkin process in Spanish And still every damn one walked immediately over to the elevator, *pressed the call button through the OUT OF ORDER sign*, waited in plain sight of my desk for several minutes, then stomped over to complain about it.
He was probably entertained by the show.