Cheeseburger meal please

[Fino]

It's the latter I expect. A meal should mean +fries&drink, regardless if that is on the menu. It seems intuitive and obvious enough to me. But I have been known to have overly high expectations of others. I will lower my expectations accordingly.

It's not even a matter of high or low expectations. It's sideways. There's a specific concept you've invented and you want everyone to participate in it. It's more of a hope than an expectation.

 

[Varzar]

It's not even a matter of high or low expectations. It's sideways. There's a specific concept you've invented and you want everyone to participate in it. It's more of a hope than an expectation.

Yeah, I did understand that's what you're trying to say.. But I don't see the evidence to back that up when every fast food place has meals/combos that (unless it's breakfast) include fries and a drink..

I related this story to the people I know at the local Dairy Queen.. They knew what I meant when I asked for a Cheeseburger meal (even though they would call it a combo, and no, it's not on their menu)..
The manager was like, "That's why people always come in and ask if we have a cheeseburger meal.. Why wouldn't we?"..

So, it definitely seems like some people get it.. And when every fast food joint sells meals/combos that mean the same thing, I'm not sure why it isn't a concept I can expect everyone to participate in...

 

[tducey]

Our local Mcdonald's still has a cheeseburger meal. It's one of my favorite meals on their menu actually.

 

[Kalinychta]

Fast food employees are constantly being chewed out (no pun intended) by customers and management for getting orders wrong. What seems obvious to you as a customer is not so to an employee, especially if they’re a new employee. I haven’t been to a fast food restaurant in ten years, but if I recall correctly, the word “meal” refers to specific bundled menu options e.g. a #1, #2, etc. You say “meal” meaning “add fries and a drink,” but they’re thinking in terms of meal option #1, #2, etc. I also seem to recall that the standard size of fries and a drink in a meal order is small unless the customer specifies otherwise (but that was ten years ago, so maybe it’s different now). So yeah, just take the extra two seconds to say “with medium fries and a medium drink” and then move on with your life. It’s not worth getting upset about.

 

[Fino]

Yeah, I did understand that's what you're trying to say.. But I don't see the evidence to back that up when every fast food place has meals/combos that (unless it's breakfast) include fries and a drink..

I related this story to the people I know at the local Dairy Queen.. They knew what I meant when I asked for a Cheeseburger meal (even though they would call it a combo, and no, it's not on their menu)..
The manager was like, "That's why people always come in and ask if we have a cheeseburger meal.. Why wouldn't we?"..

So, it definitely seems like some people get it.. And when every fast food joint sells meals/combos that mean the same thing, I'm not sure why it isn't a concept I can expect everyone to participate in...

Perhaps the problem is difficulty imagining how many people there are in the world. You're thinking of it as a collective consciousness. You want everyone to share a very specific idea. Every single person. All of them. They need to all come to the same conclusion after noticing the same trend. That doesn't sound like a lot to ask? Most people aren't thinking about something like this. It's not on their minds. Because they're different from you. Everyone is different from you. All the people.

 

[Varzar]

Fast food employees are constantly being chewed out (no pun intended) by customers and management for getting orders wrong. What seems obvious to you as a customer is not so to an employee, especially if they’re a new employee. I haven’t been to a fast food restaurant in ten years, but if I recall correctly, the word “meal” refers to specific bundled menu options e.g. a #1, #2, etc. You say “meal” meaning “add fries and a drink,” but they’re thinking in terms of meal option #1, #2, etc. I also seem to recall that the standard size of fries and a drink in a meal order is small unless the customer specifies otherwise (but that was ten years ago, so maybe it’s different now). So yeah, just take the extra two seconds to say “with medium fries and a medium drink” and then move on with your life. It’s not worth getting upset about.

Those meal options, are usually "meal deals" or "extra value meals".. Meaning they're on special, hence "deal".. They offer the combination of things at a slightly reduced price than the individual items sold separately...
But, at least at the Dairy Queen I frequent, they have a button on the till for each burger, and then they have a "meal" button if the person wants fries and a drink... So asking for it as a "meal" is actually more efficient for them to enter than if it's cheeseburger, then medium fries, then medium drink. 2 button presses versus 5.. I'm sure that not all till systems are made equal though.. so.. *shrug*

As for sizing here at least, "regular" size here depends on the place. McDs, medium is regular, A&W & DQ only have small and large fries, where small is "regular", A&W only has 1 size of drink, so no choice.
Burger King I haven't been to in years..

I think I've already decided however from Fino's and now your post that there's enough confusion here for most people that I'll likely just change how I order to make things go smoother.

 

[Varzar]

Perhaps the problem is difficulty imagining how many people there are in the world. You're thinking of it as a collective consciousness. You want everyone to share a very specific idea. Every single person. All of them. They need to all come to the same conclusion after noticing the same trend. That doesn't sound like a lot to ask? Most people aren't thinking about something like this. It's not on their minds. Because they're different from you. Everyone is different from you. All the people.

I guess perhaps I've thought about this a lot more than most people..
But that would be true for most things I suppose...
And of course you know this ties into my other thread on anxiety at a cashier.. I want the process to go as fast as possible, so yeah, I basically want them to know what I want when I say it in the shortest number of words possible.. And I want them to ask me as few questions as possible.. So, if they interpreted "meal" in the same way, that would be very convenient for reducing my time at the cashier, and therefore my anxiety level..

I'll just change how I order though to be slightly less efficient, but with hopefully less confusion on their end that then decreases the efficiency of the whole interaction...

 

[Bronzelincolns]

isn't the full expectation that everyone understands what you are saying part of the AS MO?

been there, done that...got the T-shirt, buttons, and decoder ring.

 

[Kalinychta]

isn't the full expectation that everyone understands what you are saying part of the AS MO?

been there, done that...got the T-shirt, buttons, and decoder ring.

Ha! Exactly. Theory of mind.

Also the OP's logical autistic mind is trying to make sense of a world that is allergic to sense. For all that we've been giving him a hard time about the word "meal," I think most people would assume it means "include fries and a drink."

 

[Fino]

Although I may assume that, generally speaking, to assume it as a cashier, where a real transaction with money is involved, would, of course, be silly. One would never assume or guess what a customer is ordering.

 

[GrownupGirl]

Here in Canada I look at the combos on the menu at fast-food places and order the number of the combo. Every meal is called a "combo", which is basically a kind of burger, fries and a drink. I haven't eaten at McDonald's in ages, however, so I don't remember what it's like. Last week, however, I went to KFC/ Taco Bell and decided to order two pieces of chicken and fries supreme (which is fries with nacho-style toppings)because I saw another woman order the same thing. I just said I'd like two pieces of chicken with fries supreme and I got what I ordered.

 

[WildCat]

Fast food joints here have numbered options and buzzwords that employees are used to and that makes the process a lot smoother. That's not even getting into the fact that said employees are on a timer and under constant pressure from management. They also on occasion have to deal with irate customers who really could care less, because why not?

Try being more specific than "a cheeseburger meal" or order from what's on the menu next time and see what happens.

 

[Judge]

Fast food joints here have numbered options and buzzwords that employees are used to and that makes the process a lot smoother. That's not even getting into the fact that said employees are on a timer and under constant pressure from management. They also on occasion have to deal with irate customers who really could care less, because why not?

Try being more specific than "a cheeseburger meal" or order from what's on the menu next time and see what happens.

Point taken. I mean, if you go to Taco Bell and order "Nachos"...there are eight possibilities involved. Simple, generic descriptions of food items don't work in the competitive world of fast food. A marketing dynamic that's likely to occur with much of any major fast food franchise.

Though one thing that continues to make me irate is their "cut and run" practice of offering a specialty item for a very brief amount of time, usually advertised on television. Then surprise! You order it and they tell you it's no longer on the menu. Then a week or two it magically appears on the menu again. Only to disappear and be replaced by something else. It's not a pet peeve either. I've watched people in front of me at the counter make the same complaint. It's really just a "bait and switch" tactic if you ask me. So when they tell me a temporary item is no longer on the menu, I politely say "OK", and leave. Without ordering anything.

 

[Streetwise]

By any chance has anybody seen a vegan burger meal at a fast food joint we don’t have Dairy Queen in the UK and I don’t really want to encourage McDonald’s there animal rights policies are despicable

 

[Judge]

By any chance has anybody seen a vegan burger meal at a fast food joint we don’t have Dairy Queen in the UK and I don’t really want to encourage McDonald’s there animal rights policies are despicable

Try Burger King. Allegedly their "Impossible Whopper" is supposed to be quite good, and indistinguishable from their beef counterpart. Personally I'm skeptical, but hey...give it a go and let us know what you think. Assuming of course this particular item whether ala cart or in a combo meal is offered in Britain.

Burger King Locations in Sunderland | Burgers, Chicken and More, Salads and Veggies, Beverages, Breakfast, Sides, Sweets, Value Menu, Kids Meals

 

[Varzar]

By any chance has anybody seen a vegan burger meal at a fast food joint we don’t have Dairy Queen in the UK and I don’t really want to encourage McDonald’s there animal rights policies are despicable

A&W has a "beyond meat" vegetarian burger in Canada now. Dunno if A&W is anywhere else..

 

[Judge]

A&W has a "beyond meat" vegetarian burger in Canada now. Dunno if A&W is anywhere else..

LOL...yeah, we have one nearby. Though I haven't been to an A&W in decades.

 

[Varzar]

LOL...yeah, we have one nearby. Though I haven't been to an A&W in decades.

The last time I tried to go to an A&W in the US (years ago, in California), it was closed in the middle of the day, and it looked less like a fast food place and more like an actual restaurant.. It was.. weird...

 

[Judge]

The last time I tried to go to an A&W in the US (years ago, in California), it was closed in the middle of the day, and it looked less like a fast food place and more like an actual restaurant.. It was.. weird...

I always thought of them as nothing but a fast food joint. Good root beer, but mediocre everything else.

 

[Streetwise]

A&W has a "beyond meat" vegetarian burger in Canada now. Dunno if A&W is anywhere else..

thanks never heard of them in the UK