... I'm DONE with the Burger King.
For the most part, anyway. I will definitely miss those chicken fries ... and they did get pretty bacon-friendly in the last few years (although not as bacon-forward as that Wendy's girl has gotten in her middle age). But here's the problem. I'm going to have to boycott the two that are closest to me due to abhorrent customer service.
(Note: whilst looking for companion links for this post, I discovered that boycotting Burger King has actually been a very popular past time these last few decades. Models have called for a boycott due to their pictures being used in ads without their permission [it was probably a vegetarian model at that] ... certain types of "Christians" have called for a boycott due to the existence of something called a "pride burger" [in case you haven't updated your bigot scorecard, according to the modern day Pharisee: Chik Fil-A good, Burger King bad] ... certain types of "patriots" have called for a boycott due to the company's purchase of a Canadian donut franchise that made it seem like the business was trying to dodge paying taxes [as all corporations try to do] ... certain types of religious fanatics have called for a boycott due to them allegedly "bowing to sharia law" and/or opening a branch in an occupied territory in the armageddon tinderbox known as the Middle East [do religious extremists even EAT flame broiled burgers?] ... and, last but not least, Al Sharpton called for a boycott because not enough black folks own franchises [which, I can attest, is most definitely not the situation down here in the SoFlo].)
My intent to go Whopper-less is not in any attempt to support any of those calls for boycott, but it's simply because I can't bring myself to support gross incompetence and overall apathy with regards to the customer experience. Long ago, I had chosen to skip the location closest to me (Andrews and Oakland Park here in the FTL for any local readers) because they consistently got the drive-thru order wrong ... and instead, when the Burger King urge hit, I would drive out of my way to the next closest one further out Oakland Park by the vet's office. I didn't mind the extra mileage if it meant that I could guarantee that that which I ordered was actually in the bags I opened up when I got home.
In a moment of weakness, I recently returned to that first Burger King this week -- but walked in to the counter to ensure that I could check the purchase before I left. Within a few minutes, I had walked out, though -- because the counter order taker announced she had to leave after taking the order of the customer in front of me. She attempted to tag in the drive-thru employee, who took a stand to say that she wasn't about to work both jobs. So I stood there, ignored until a manager-type returned from outside where she had been delivering a fast food order. And then I was ignored again as the manager-type found out about the counter situation and endorsed the drive-thru employee's decision. Wanting to avoid having a Michael Douglas style "Falling Down" moment, I walked out before I could be further ignored -- and decided that I wouldn't let any of these ladies -- who all looked like Burger King was the halfway house that their parole officer had arranged for them to spend time in so that they could stay out of jail -- wash my balls let alone make me my lunch.
Thinking it was mostly my fault for trying to give a second chance to those who had wronged me previously, I felt secure knowing that I could drive two dozen blocks away and still have a satisfactory encounter with the King of Burgers. Despite my order taker there needing a lot of assistance (I do believe she was a trainee, because she was hella confused about how to put in a cheeseburger as plain without the cheese itself being omitted), I thought things were still heading to a good place. Despite the fact that they ran out of my frozen lemonade mid-pour at the machine, I thought all would be well since I talked them into mixing in a little frozen cherry to fill it up, making my own new drink that I told them they could add to the menu so long as they gave me 10% of any future orders. All went to flame-broiled hell though, when it took them 21 minutes between the time of my receipt and the time they handed me my food. I do blame the management at this location, as the kids sure did try to make things work, but were just overwhelmed and didn't know how to handle the situation. I was tempted, once my order all finally came together, to walk up to the counter and return it for a refund ... but then I decided that if management didn't care during the whole ordeal, they sure as hell weren't about to care about the outcome.
So there we are ... I'm fresh out of Burger Kings (although there is one on the way to the beach that might still be in play) and my rant for this week is over ...
OF COURSE THEY HAVE THE WORST RECORD:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/caroltice/2012/10/12/rude-employees-and-order-errors-worst-fast-food-chains-for-drive-through-service/#17a840404877
OF COURSE THEY HAVE HATERS:
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2015/01/eating-badly-burger-king-the-saddest-chain-in-fast.html
OF COURSE AL SHARPTON DOESN'T LIKE THEM:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=95438&page=1
