Who is the server?

I did my first fast food comparison shop today. It was a drive-up shop. They want the name and description of the server at both restaurants.

Restaurant # 1 - One person took my order and took my payment. Another person gave me my food. Both were at the second window. The name is on the receipt is the name of the person who took my order. So I am assuming that is the person I would name and describe?

Restaurant # 2 - A person named Josh took my order. The receipt says "employee greg." A woman with no name tag (that I could see) gave me my food. (She had the word BOSS on the back of her shirt). She is the only one I can describe, as I didn't see Josh or Greg. But I don't have her name (Other than Boss).

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Okay. I think I will go with the person who handed me the food being the server in both instances. I hope that doesn't create a problem as the name on the receipt of the one restaurant is the person who took my order and payment; not the one who handed me my food.

And dang... the receipt I got at the first place is one hour off.

Jatufu1,

I think it is best to start by saying you are assuming that name tags and receipt time stamps are always 100% accurate. That would not be correct.

From personal experience, I know name tags are sometimes just picked up and put on - any name will do - just so that the employee can say he/she is in uniform. They forgot theirs at home. The business won't/can't make another. There are other excuses. That can make descriptions important, sometimes very important.

Time stamps. Some equipment is not up-to-date stuff that constantly updates the time through the internet checking with the super accurate atomic clock and resetting the clock to match. Inaccurate times are not uncommon, especially with convenience stores and gas stations.

What to do? Get it right. Take your notes including descriptions right after the shops. With receipts make a note of the inaccurate time in the report. If there is no spot to do so, email the scheduler separately explaining that your times are from your accurate source, a cell phone for example. The companies know these things happen. Telling them with the report will save you having to explain it later.

Happily shopping Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts and Connecticut

While in most restaurants your server name will match the server name on your receipt, it is not always true and almost never true of fast food restaurants. I have my receipt from a FF a couple of days ago that shows my cashier was Elizabeth. Now perhaps it is 'a boy named Sue' situation, but I doubt that the big burly football player type guy who was the cashier is named Elizabeth. In fact I saw no female employees in the restaurant at all.

You can only go with the hand you are dealt. Good descriptions, comparing the date and time on the receipt to real time, comparing the location on the receipt with where you actually are, checking to make sure that it is indeed YOUR receipt and the proper items were charged is about all you can do. Be proactive in pointing out discrepancies because, as vlade pointed out, it will save explanations later or claims that you did not do what you were supposed to do.

Thank you to both of you. Completing this report took me a long time. This MSC wants some pretty general descriptions. So I put the requested description on the form, and included the person was wearing a black t-shirt with the word "Boss" on the back.

I emailed the scheduler and let them know that. I also told them about the error on the time on the receipt; noted that the time on my receipt from the second restaurant I went to is well before the time on the receipt from the first restaurant, and gave both my geoverify codes and time-stamps.

I hope it all goes well because this report took me almost forever to finish.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/01/2014 10:24AM by jatufu1.

It sounds like you did the best you could. Practice will make the reports go quicker.

Happily shopping Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts and Connecticut

Every time I go to one of my local Five Guys, my cashier is "Manager One" on my receipt, no matter who rings me up.

At Walmart, cashiers are not allowed to spend more than six hours on register. Company policy. The registers automatically lock them out when they reach six hours. Locations get around this by logging them in with someone else's code, so they can continue on register longer than six hours.

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Plan the work. Work the plan.

As some have already stated, don't make assumptions and go off exactly what YOU observed. Do not assume the server name on the receipt is correct, unless stated in the guidelines otherwise. Note that it's usually OK to have "Unknown" as their name, as long as you provide a description.

If you were served by multiple persons, I pick one way or the other; the cashier or the actual person who served me my food. In the report, I'd include my interactions with ALL crew members, with the name / description in my narrative, if possible. Since this is a Food Comparison Study, be sure to be as consistent with your approach as possible. If your case, I'd list one of these as the "server" in the report:

Option 1:
"Restaurant # 1 - One person took my order and took my payment."
"Restaurant # 2 - A person named Josh took my order."
Add into the narrative about your interaction with the expeditor, in addition to the above.

Option 2:
"Restaurant # 1 - Another person gave me my food."
"Restaurant # 2 - A woman with no name tag (that I could see) gave me my food."
Add into the narrative about your interaction with the ordertaker, in addition to the above.

Very infrequently shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado these days.

Thank you so much Tarantado. Your suggestions are VERY helpful!

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