Just Calling to Waste Your Time

I work in a Takeaway and Dine-In Restaurant and the level of skill and attention a waitress needs to have to be able to operate on either side is a little different. We train all the waitresses in Takeaway first and then migrate them slowly towards Dine-In. This gives them time to understand the menu items, remember prices and get familiar with our short hand writing system. It also means that there is less interaction time with the customer which means that they have less to be nervous about. However, the downside is that you have to be quick. Quick to answer the phone, take orders and to handle food and money. Takeaway is about doing things fast and efficiently to make the most money in the prime dinner time.

As a waitress I have also been (and of course still am) a customer, as well as being a logical person. So it will always amaze me beyond belief, no matter how many times it happens, the amount of phone calls I will pick up in one night where people have NOT decided what they want. They don't even call up to see what is on the menu, they simply just have not sat down and thought about what they want for dinner before they even start dialing our number.

Me: Good Evening.
Customer-Who-has-No-Idea: Hi, I'd like to make a Takeaway order.
Me: Sure, what would you like this evening?
Customer-Who-has-No-Idea: Umm... I'll have... Let me see...

Now some times I can hear them rustle about with a menu. Flipping it back and forth, frantically trying to find something to order. Maybe this is a dare devil method, or maybe they feel that they can somehow be pressured by the situation so that they will pick something randomly that they may like. Other times it continues like this.

Customer-Who-has-No-Idea: [Shouts to someone in the background without covering the receiver.] Hey honey, what do you want from the Chinese place.

Then of course I am deafened by the shouting, annoyed by the customer for not actually deciding before calling, and wasting my precious time.

Also, I can now hear the response from the other person, because for some reason the person responding is always on the other side of the room. Fantastic.

Person-in-the-Background: I don't know. You decide.
Customer-Who-has-No-Idea:  Just tell me what you want.

All the while I am still waiting quite impatiently and wondering of all the things that I could have done at the time.

Customer-Who-has-No-Idea: Okay, I'll have two large Fried Rice.
Me: Sure, no problem.
Customer-Who-has-No-Idea: [Turns round again to Person-in-the-Background of course shouting and not covering the receiver, once again]. Tell me what you want so I can order it.
Person-in-the-Background: Just get some rice.
Customer-Who-has-No-Idea: I already got that. What else you want.
Person-in-the-Background: Whatever, I don't care. Chicken?
Customer-Who-has-No-Idea: What kind of chicken?


And of course this continues throughout the order, until finally they have what they want. Which I'm not sure if they know that they want.

It may sound outrageous and you may think that sane people would not do this. But it happens, A LOT. At least once a night. I am dead serious.

Here's the real kicker. It's only happened to me once but it just topped off the whole conversation.

Customer-Who-has-No-Idea: [Laughs]. I probably should have thought about it before I called, eh?

No, really?

For people like, Customer-Who-has-No-Idea, they must really think that I have nothing better to do with my time then to stand there and listen to their brains speak out loud on deciding what to order. Sorry, but if I sound a little agitated or a little annoyed its because you have wasted precious minutes to a waitress. 

Our work policy does not allow us to tell the customer to call back when they have finally made their decision when we come across situation like above. I understand this because you can seem rude and also it may mean that you lose this customer to another restaurant. We are one in six Chinese Restaurants in two neighboring suburbs, you get what you can.

Ordering is not hard, but be prepared when you are ordering instead of making the decision when you have me on the phone, I won't make your decisions for you anyway.

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