I rarely eat fast food anymore, but once in a while the beef n cheddar craving hits and there's nothing for it but to go to Arby's. Then I'm good for another few years.
I've been to this location a couple of times and the food is always pretty good quality Arby's.
My gripe here is that the store is wildly and actually cruelly understaffed. I placed my order through the app and went to the drive-thru, which was busy, to see if I could pick it up at the window.
The young woman told me the order wasn't quite ready, and if I could pull into a spot they'd run it out to me. This is totally fine. I work food services in the school district and I understand how things go in those kitchens.
After about five minutes, I went inside because I knew they were probably too busy, and it was raining, and I try not to be that kind of person. I walked my butt inside instead of putting it all on them.
There were only two people behind that counter, taking care of almost non-stop drive-ups but there was one dude at the counter waiting for his stuff and then me, and nobody else.
Both people behind the counter looked harried and stressed out and unhappy and the young woman looked close to tears.
She apologised to me for the wait but I told her not even to worry about it, that I worked food service, and she said, "So you know!" I said, "I know, honey. I know. Take your time, you're fine."
I thought she was going to break down right there
When someone showing a person working somewhere a little kindness is enough to bring them to the edge of an emotional breakdown, that says that the management is failing as hard as they can in every single way.
No job should ever make you cry, especially at a fast food joint. I felt so bad for these two people. The young man behind the counter was running around like his tailfeathers were on fire and that young woman looked about ready to just collapse in despair. For what? $16 an hour?
What the heck is happening here?
There needs to be at LEAST two more people in that location. This was a weeknight during the dinner hours. Two people are not enough staff.
They forgot everything I asked for - the modifications to my food as well as the packets of sauce I wanted - but I said nothing and I made no complaints because I'm not going to get these people in trouble for being so overworked they can't even think straight.
As far as I'm concerned, the non-present person running that store into the ground so badly forgot all that, not the overworked folks behind the counter.
This is clearly a case of trying to get one person to cover three jobs so the owner doesn't have to pay anyone to work there. In the meantime, these employees are worked to death and the customers suffer. The location was also filthy inside because there's no time for anyone to keep up with the cleaning. Two people to run the entire business during dinner rush? Madness.
I'll be putting in a complaint to Arby's corporate about the management and running of this location, but I want to make very clear that it was NOT the fault of the two people who were doing their absolute best to keep up with an impossible task. They were kind, patient, and didn't take their frustration out on any customers. They were great. They were literally doing their jobs running back and forth. I felt SO bad for them. I was actually angry on their behalf. What a nightmare gig.
I want to talk to their boss. Because whoever that person is should be ashamed of themselves.
If you hit up this Arby's, please be patient because whoever does the staffing must be related to Cinderella's stepmother. They are not a good person, but the employees are, and they need your patience. The wait you will probably experience is not their fault.
And check your order carefully before you leave, because you'll probably have to go inside and ask for any of the extras you want. They just can't remember everything when they're literally performing at a run the whole time they're there.
Management: THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE. TREAT YOUR...
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