I know it's bad that I'm addicted to Taco Bell; let's leave my gluttonous sins aside for the moment, heh. I also recognize that Taco Bell doesn't have the greatest track record for putting the right things into your order, but the local one that my husband and I frequent is actually pretty decent, and the people there are nice, to top it off.
Tonight--or, well, this morning--we went to the drive-thru. I think they close at 1 AM, but we weren't worried, because we ordered at 12:44 (according to our receipt, hee). We ordered a bean burrito, along with three other items, and when the chick read the items back, we both heard the word "bean." But after my husband paid and we got our receipt, and drove to the second window, I looked over the items, and one of the listings was for "1 BEEF" (and beef burritos are 1.59, which is about twice the price of a bean burrito).
Ah well, we said to each other while we waited for someone to come to the window; it's a pity to have paid so much for an item we don't want, but certainly the two words sound similar, so the misunderstanding is not that surprising. But my husband didn't want a beef burrito, he wanted a bean burrito. We agreed that we didn't need the difference of price given back to us, just the correct item in the bag.
When the guy came to the window, my husband politely said, "I'm sorry, but I ordered a bean burrito, not a beef burrito." The man sighed, and loudly said, "Whatever!" and closed the window. From the car, we heard him ordering someone else about, telling them to get a bean burrito.
My husband and I kind of gaped at each other. We go to that Taco Bell about once a week (yes I know gluttonous sins), and both of us recognize that employee; I think he's a shift leader or something. He's a very loud person--we can always hear every word he says--and he is very direct in ordering the other employees about; I don't think I'd want to work under him. But he's always been nice to us, and even went out of his way to tell us that since we come in so much (augh gluttonous sins) we should bring our plastic cups back and get a discount on refills that way.
He didn't come back to the window; the other girl did, and handed us a bag with the bean burrito, and when we cautiously pointed out that we had not yet received our other items, she ducked back and called to the guy asking if he'd not given us our food yet. He told her to take out the beef burrito from the sack, and she did so, then gave it to us and we drove off.
That was already enough rudeness for me to want to contact the manager--why the hell would you "whatever" at a customer, especially one that you probably recognize?--but when we got home, it turned out that the chick had taken out my seven-layer burrito instead of the beef burrito. Seven-layers are slightly more expensive than beef burritos, and dammit I wanted my seven layers of yum. I didn't want my few quarters back, I didn't care that much; an apology might have been nice, or anything other than a snarly "whatever!"
So I guess I'll call tomorrow. The price isn't the problem; the service definitely is. It's awkward, because he usually recognizes us, and we certainly recognize him (though I don't know his name)... I just don't want this to lead to him hating us (and therefore spitting in our food, or leaving off tomatoes, or whatever else a person can do to a taco). I'm not trying for free food, I just... want an apology. I'm so bad on the phone, too. I'll have to write a script out beforehand just so I don't forget something in my nervousness.
It all seems so tiny, compared to everything else on this globe. But hey, I like that place, and that guy made me feel unwelcome, and I want someone else to make me feel better. ;)
EDIT: I called and spoke to the manager, who was very nice and apologetic. He offered me free food, but that's not the part that matters to me, so I declined, but he said he will definitely speak to the employee, who he recognized from my description as "kind of loud when he talks." That bit kind of makes me laugh.