Article

The toll it takes when QSR customers 'lose it' on employees

'Soul-sucking' is how one fast food worker describes the constant parade of customer abuse she faces on the job, but that worker and others like her aren't the only ones suffering as a result of such behavior. Brands can lose big too.

July 17, 2019 by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

Here's a nasty fact about many of the frontline hourly wage jobs at QSRs: It's not only tough to make it on such wages, but the jobs themselves can be hugely stressful. And not so much because of the work itself, but quite often customers can be more than a little cruel, unrealistically demanding and even abusive. In fact, if you talk to those who have customer-facing jobs at fast food brands, they'll tell you it can not only destroy your job motivation and mood, but whole days and home life, to some degree.  

At QSRweb, we know this because — like most everyone — we know a lot of folks who work or have worked within quick-service as cooks, cashiers and drive-thru attendants, among other positions, and we've heard them venting after shifts, on weekends or just on the phone at the end of a very bad day. 

Take, for instance, some of these recent news items, beginning with the Norwich, Connecticut customer who attacked a pregnant McDonald's worker there because the customer was not happy with her McChicken sandwich, according to police in an interview with local media outlet, The Bulletin. Or perhaps, you recall the incident involving a Florida Burger King customer who is reported to have hurled scalding coffee at an employee after a nasty verbal round in the drive-thru. 

The toll it takes 

In fact, one QSR worker — who asked we not identify her or her chain — said it seems like a growing number of customers feel like fast food workers are "okay" to vent on after a bad day, a mistaken order or just not smiling enough to meet the customer's expectations. 

"Have you ever gone into a fast food place ... where the person who takes your order seems totally disengaged? Well, those are people who have been yelled at ...by other people who've maybe been throwing stuff at them or yelling at them ... and that worker is just preparing themselves mentally to receive that treatment again."

-QSR sandwich chain worker

"It's really just a whole set of general (customer) behaviors like customers throwing stuff at you like money and food and stuff," she said. "Then there's always (customers) refusing to answer when you ask them questions about their order. ... Or like the woman who called me a dumb b---- and asked me if I was stupid," said the worker.

For that particular sandwich chain worker who is also a Dean's List college student, fast food frontline work can be a soul-sucking experience, in her words, since it stations many employees directly on the receiving end of a constant flow of customer disrespect and outright abuse. Worse yet, for the brands and their employees, she and a friend who had previously worked at a burger chain drive-thru, said the constant wear-and-tear on employees' overall psyche can ultimately result in an unenthusiastic, unmotivated attitude at work, along with the symptoms of stress at home, like drinking, sleeping more than usual, or taking it out on family members. 

"That's really important — the effect all of it has and it doesn't even need to really be a series of customers who do that kind of stuff to have a real effect on you," she said. 

"Like, have you ever gone into a fast food place or something like that where the person who takes your order seems totally disengaged? Well, those are people who have been yelled at or 'shat' upon by other people who've maybe been throwing stuff at them or yelling at them ... and that worker is just preparing themselves mentally to receive that treatment again because 9 times out of 10, somebody has already that day been an ass to them and all their energy has just been sucked out of them. 

"When you go home, it just has destroyed all your energy and you just want to blow it off somehow. Plus it really demotivates you a lot."

Granted, every workers has a different threshold for abusive behavior, but the issue seemed some so pressing that QSRweb worked hard to obtain feedback from fast food brands. Unfortunately, after a couple of months of dropped or refused interviews on the subject with QSR brand executives, we've opted to push on with what elements of the subject we were able to cover thanks to the never-ending litany of customer-abuse incidents that cross the news desk weekly. 

How a counselor to hourly workers sees the problem

One of the individuals who did respond with some compelling responses on the subject of customer-induced fast food employee stress was Denver-based counselor and founder of Career Catalyst, Emily Frank, who currently works with many foodservice hourly workers in her practice. She said she has learned that the level of severity of the problem hourly workers have in tolerating customer-induced stress probably also has something to do with the fact that they typically earn at or near minimum wage, which can create its own stresses, she said. 

"Since people in jobs like this often feel like they are so low in the order of things, being abused by a customer is extra painful," she said. "These are people who aren't getting much in the way of extrinsic satisfaction from work (with its low pay, generally poor benefits, bad hours) and any intrinsic rewards, like making customers happy, can get taken away in an instant when someone lashes out at them. 

Emily Frank. (Photo provided)

"With no larger meaning to take from the work, there isn't a piece of satisfaction to fall back on. These workers can't think, 'Well, that person was unhappy, but at least my boss knows I'm good' because the most abusive customers have taken the complaint to the boss."

This problem only grows when the "boss" fails to support the employee when warranted in such disputes since many managers in fast food settings feel — even in this incredibly tight labor market — that since the jobs require very general skill sets, they can find someone else to do the job. 

"These are, of course, broad brushstrokes, and many employers are wonderful about these things — consistently backing their staff and working hard to provide a safe environment," Frank was quick to add. "But I do see a lot less of that in jobs that pay minimum wage or slightly more, since the financial impetus for the employers is simply not there."

The indelible mark it all leaves on QSR brands

The implications of all this for the brands themselves — who, after all, are in business to make a buck rather than to make employees happy per se —are still evident to Frank. As she sees it, truly unhappy workers can destroy even the best QSR concept when that dissatisfaction filters through to customers. And have no doubts, it most always filters through, loud and clear. 

"Unhappy staffers are still the face of the business," she said. "Employees who don't feel particularly beholden to the employer are less likely to provide good customer service, which, in turn, makes people less likely to become loyal consumers. And more basically than that, it's always good practice to demonstrate kindness to employees and customers alike."

Whether QSR brands are addressing this issue in training remains an unanswered question, since we were unable to gain QSR feedback as previously noted. But Frank said from her seat, some basic education for hourly workers on the best way to both handle customer abuse as it's happening and deal with its effects at other times  "wouldn't be a bad thing."

But she qualified that by saying that in the event of such training QSR employers should work hard to make sure workers aren't left feeling that the "onus is on them when a customer behaves badly."

"So for employees, I'd say some training on not personalizing abusive feedback would be helpful," she said. "But beyond that, I'd love it if employers would (include) training on supporting their staff in this situation. Knowing your boss trusts you and will go to bat for you makes a huge difference."

"Unhappy staffers are still the face of the business. Employees who don't feel particularly beholden to the employer are less likely to provide good customer service, which, in turn, makes people less likely to become loyal consumers."

-Emily Frank

Similarly, Frank said the whole idea of so-called "bystander" training that teaches other staff members who witness abuse or general bad behavior ways to step in and defend their co-workers, would also be very helpful in QSR employment education as both support to the employees and a kind of team-building in tough times. 

This is particularly true since, as a counselor and confider for those who work in these roles, Frank said she expects customer abuse to only continue to grow in frequency in the years ahead, as she said the world seems to be becoming "increasingly polarized."

"And as abuse online starts to feel almost mainstream, these behaviors will likely begin to seep into more parts of everyday life," she said. "At the same time, I think there's probably a point at which bad behavior tops out — friends step in, other people remind the bullies of social norms, etcetera. And if employers set the tone in places like restaurants and quick-service shops that makes it clear that abuse of staff is not tolerated, that will help matters."

Feature photo: iStock

About S.A. Whitehead

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Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb editor Shelly Whitehead is a former newspaper and TV reporter with an affinity for telling stories about the people and innovative thinking behind great brands.