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Everyone who wants a black coffee says "Black Coffee" or "Coffee, Black", the word 'black' is the keyword here for how you get your coffee. When a worker hears

Everyone who wants a black coffee says "Black Coffee" or "Coffee, Black", the word 'black' is the keyword here for how you get your coffee. When a worker hears "Coffee, no cream, no sugar" what they're actually hearing is 'Coffee' 'Cream' and 'Sugar', the no isn't a keyword to them and you'll get a coffee with one cream and one sugar just because you said the words. Without those words, you'd have gotten what you wanted. When you can say in 2 words exactly what you want, you shouldn't be using 5.

wtallis 17y ago
So, you're saying that when a customer says a phrase with unambiguous meaning, it's excusable for an employee to misinterpret it as a similar, but more common phrase simply because they aren't actually listening to the customer? When you're taking orders, your entire job is to listen to what the customer actually says, not what you expect them to say. If you're half asleep and acting on reflex and as a result you screw up, you deserve to get yelled at by the customer and your boss, because you've failed to do your job. I'm quite aware of the psychology research that's been done and discussed here recently regarding cashiers operating on auto-pilot and reflexively asking "You want fries with that?" after a customer orders fries. These kind of mistakes are common, and to be expected. That doesn't change the fact that you're being paid to not make those mistakes, and if you don't have the mental discipline to catch those mistakes, you aren't fit for the job.
pyre 17y ago
> When you can say in 2 words exactly what you want, you shouldn't be using 5. Right, because human beings should strive to be as efficient as possible and throw anything that isn't as efficient as possible. Love? Too inefficient! Socializing? Not getting enough work done! 5 words instead of 2? I'm so embarrassed that that seppuku is the only option! > When a worker hears "Coffee, no cream, no sugar" what they're actually hearing is 'Coffee' 'Cream' and 'Sugar', So you're saying that the workers aren't paying any attention to what the customer is actually saying, and that it's definitely the customer's fault for not knowing the 'secret code' of the coffeeshop?
TerminalDummy 17y ago
Pay attention. I certainly wouldn't yell but if you got the order wrong because you didn't understand what I was saying I would ask for the proper order. Even if the wording was redundant the message was clear that the person wants black coffee - you were too spaced out to put the information together.

wtallis 17y ago

So, you're saying that when a customer says a phrase with unambiguous meaning, it's excusable for an employee to misinterpret it as a similar, but more common phrase simply because they aren't actually listening to the customer? When you're taking orders, your entire job is to listen to what the customer actually says, not what you expect them to say. If you're half asleep and acting on reflex and as a result you screw up, you deserve to get yelled at by the customer and your boss, because you've failed to do your job. I'm quite aware of the psychology research that's been done and discussed here recently regarding cashiers operating on auto-pilot and reflexively asking "You want fries with that?" after a customer orders fries. These kind of mistakes are common, and to be expected. That doesn't change the fact that you're being paid to not make those mistakes, and if you don't have the mental discipline to catch those mistakes, you aren't fit for the job.

pyre 17y ago

> When you can say in 2 words exactly what you want, you shouldn't be using 5. Right, because human beings should strive to be as efficient as possible and throw anything that isn't as efficient as possible. Love? Too inefficient! Socializing? Not getting enough work done! 5 words instead of 2? I'm so embarrassed that that seppuku is the only option! > When a worker hears "Coffee, no cream, no sugar" what they're actually hearing is 'Coffee' 'Cream' and 'Sugar', So you're saying that the workers aren't paying any attention to what the customer is actually saying, and that it's definitely the customer's fault for not knowing the 'secret code' of the coffeeshop?

TerminalDummy 17y ago

Pay attention. I certainly wouldn't yell but if you got the order wrong because you didn't understand what I was saying I would ask for the proper order. Even if the wording was redundant the message was clear that the person wants black coffee - you were too spaced out to put the information together.