Simple Questions

If you were thinking about applying to a Dunkin Donuts franchise, you won’t after hearing my experience. I have worked at Dunkin for over a year, almost 2 years. I ended up quitting on the spot and if you want to know why then keep reading. Working there for as long as I was, I had a lot of knowledge and experience, and not to toot my own horn, but I was one of Dunkin’s best employees. I picked up on It pretty fast and did not feel the need to ask many questions. It was very monotonous but simple, which made it bearable. I would take an order, asking the same basic questions I usually would. I would then make it for the customer and ask if they needed anything else. Another thing I picked up on pretty fast was the irritation that came along with serving tired, impatient customers that just wanted their coffee at 6 in the morning. On many occasions, a customer would say their order too fast or in a way that I could not understand. It was not in my best interest to ask them to repeat it only for them to get more irritable than they already were. Instead of clarifying their order with them, I would just decipher it the best I could and hope they did not rip my head off. It was like handing them my pride in a paper bag with a plastic straw.

I’m honestly surprised how well I handled it sometimes because It happened so often. Not just to me, but every employee. The amount of disrespectful customers that Dunkin employees have to put up with is tiring. We have had many employees walk out crying because of the way some customers treat people that are trying their best. Perhaps one of the worst occurrences was when I was on shift leader duty for the night. We had been slammed for 4 hours straight, the shop was a mess and we were running out of everything. On top of that, our coolatta machine was broken, we could not find any decaf beans, and our ice maker was under maintenance because it was not dropping any ice. Oh, did I mention we had no air conditioning. We were all irritated, tired, and dying of heat. A lady came in the store around 6pm with a lit cigarette in her hand. Immediately, before she could say her order I asked her politely to get rid of the cigarette or go outside with it. She firmly stated, “I’m allowed to smoke in here, there is no sign saying I can’t”. I told her that there was a sign on the door stating that you could not smoke inside the store. She told me I was wrong and that I was too young to know what I was talking about. I proceeded to tell her that not only was it not allowed, but that it was also common courtesy. I was not going to serve her until she took care of the cigarette. She then tossed the burning cigarette on the store floor and put it out with her shoe. Instead of making a big deal over it, I asked how I could help her. She asked for a large iced coffee with double cream and six sugars. Usually, when customers say double that means two creams so that is what I put in her coffee. Before she tasted her coffee, she handed it back saying it was to dark. I repeated her order back to her and asked if she wanted more than two creams. She started yelling at me and called me stupid for not understanding that she wanted eight creams. I explained that when a customer says they want double cream, it means they want two, not twice the normal amount. I remade the coffee the way she wanted and apologized. She then said, “I am pregnant, more cream helps dilute the coffee”. I offered the better alternative, which was drinking decaf. She told me not to tell her how to take care of her health and proceeded to cus me out and complain about how rude I was. I apologized, but she still wanted to know my name so she could complain about me to my boss. Very long story short, I did not feel it was appropriate to give my name and told her to have a good night. She left the store, still yelling at me and calling me stupid. Overall, the worst shift of my time working there.

If only I would have double checked exactly what she wanted in her coffee, it would not have escalated that much. I was very confident in my knowledge and common sense to make her coffee the way she told me to. I do not blame myself for the way I was treated, but I do blame myself for the misunderstanding that caused my almost heart attack. One simple question could have changed my already terrible day. There was no one to back me up because I was the one in charge. I took responsibility for it and told my boss what happened. While she was on my side, she told me the same thing I told myself. I could have avoided it completely by asking a simple question. I ended up putting my two weeks not long after that because I was fed up with constantly feeling like I was stupid. All things said, asking questions does not make you stupid, not asking them leads to stupid outcomes.

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