Wendy's — Restaurant in Clearwater

I pulled up to the drive through expecting to speak with a low-energy Gen Z stoner as usual, but my worst expectations were surpassed when I was instead greeted by a terse, inept, and categorically useless AI system.

Me: “What sizes do your frosty swirls come in?”

AI: “I don’t know the sizes.”

Me: “Fine give me one caramel frosty swirl and one fudge swirl”

AI: “Would you like them in medium or large?”

Me: “Haha. Medium I guess.”

AI: “Do you want anything else?”

Me: “Yes, your smallest regular vanilla frosty. Kid size if you have one.”

AI: Do you want anything else?

Me (thinking it didn’t hear me): “ONE KID SIZED REGULAR VANILLA FORSTY.”

AI: Do you want anything else?

Me (Puzzled): No thanks.

AI: Okay. Pull forward.

Bear in mind the AI did not repeat my order back to me like a Wendy’s employee would. I had no idea what I actually ordered or if it made a mistake. So I pull forward as the machine rudely instructed without so much as a thank you for choosing Wendy’s. The guy at the window (an actual human thank the lord Jesus) comes with two medium swirls and TWO kid sized Frosties (despite the AI denying their existence).

I told him the thing made a mistake and I only wanted one. I couldn’t tell if he was more annoyed at me or his new AI overlord.

If this is the way the fast food industry is going, we’re all doomed. The sci fi writers got it right and wrong at the same time: AI will destroy us, but not because it sees us a threat to ourselves and decides to exterminate us. No it will destroy us with of sheer mediocrity.

On top of that, Wendy’s AI system objectively sucks. Afterward, I pulled up ChatGPT, asked it to load the most current Wendy’s menu, and role play as a Wendy’s employee. It took my frosty orders politely and almost flawlessly with a few clarifying questions. It even welcomed me to Wendy’s and thanked me at the end of my order. Why Wendy’s can’t at least match that performance with a system they likely spent millions on...

Every time I come in here there a particular employee that is seemingly not on the clock that, pretty much, bothers and gets in the way of the employees that are currently working , which always makes order take ALOT longer than it really should to be done. There was once that I waited a literal hour, ( I had the receipt with the time stamp on it) I didn't even realize cause I was playing a game on my phone, I look up to realize it had been an hour since I ordered my simple combo meal ... And it was because (it's usually the same employee) thats off the clock, was bothering the employee trying to work. You could clearly tell the one working was really annoyed and bothered but still treated the off the clock co-worker like a customer .....idk what was really going on there.... some tension between co workers ....but none the less, no one should have to wait an hour for a spicey chicken combo cause some girl that works there , that's not even on the clock, needs 110 things from her co workers .... While they're clearly busy with actual customers just trying to eat....I highly suggest the manager of this store look into some of their problematic employees ....and do some adjustments , cause it was EXTREMELY apparent to me as a customer that the staff here dont...

October 12, 2024 during this crisis after the hurricane we are having, to make it worse I recently had an incredibly disappointing experience at this establishment. I The staff was shockingly unprofessional, and it completely ruined my visit.

I only ordered french fries, thinking it would be simple enough that they couldn’t mess it up. But even the fries were a disaster—they were old, cold, and inedible. When we pulled up to the window, we overheard the staff gossiping about other customers, which was not only rude but extremely unprofessional.

When we questioned how the fries could be so old if they weren't even hot, the staff just threw them back on the counter without any care. One of them even accused us of just wanting a refund for $3.75, which was not the point at all. It wasn’t about the money—it was about the lack of basic service and respect.

This experience was enough for me to decide that I will never return. I will also be encouraging others to share their reviews to make sure no one else has to go through what I did. Avoid this place if you value quality food and decent customer service, it was a group of 4 girls in the front . Worse...