Fast food, in general, has a reputation for being a bit sketchy. No matter how many revamps these chains make to their menu or how much they stress a "healthier" new direction in their commercials, the stigma still sticks. Luckily for them, people still flock to their restaurants no matter what. It's cheap and easy so generally, people can overlook the shady things. The people in the following stories were just looking for a fast, uncomplicated meal, but what they got went way beyond the typical cliche bad food and right into scarred for life territory.
Battle Royal At The Drive-Through
“I went to a commercially popular fast food place. I Pull up, look the menu over, and press the button to order. A lady comes on to take my order, just as the red light on the speaker changes. A big, loud 18 wheeler is at the light. I know she won’t be able to hear me so I hold off ordering until traffic can move on. When traffic finally moves, I hear your total is $18 or some other outrageous amount. I tell her, ‘But I haven’t ordered yet.’ She doesn’t respond so I press the button again. When the same lady comes on and asks if I wanted to add to my order. I tell her I didn’t order anything and try to explain what happened.
She cuts me off and yells at me, ‘Stop trying to get out of paying.’ Okay… I get out of the car, walk over to the door, open it and before I could say anything. She is screaming that I was trying to get out of paying for my order. I’m hungry on my lunch ‘hour’. Not at all proud of myself for this, but I started screaming back and forth with her. She then threatens me. I proceed to tell her to come out from behind the counter and out here so I can ‘whoop her’. The manager finally comes out the office (this had been going on for 30 minutes or so) tells me I’d have to go through him too.
I tell him, ‘Well come on.’ I’m still standing at the door. I haven’t gone in. He looks at me, looks at her, looks at me again for a solid minute. I call him a name, let the door shut, and go back to my car. Before I could drive away he comes running out screaming that I’m banned. He was 6’2″ 250lbs. She was 5’7″ 200+lbs. I’m 6′ 130lbs female.
All she had to do was cancel my order. Or better yet I should have driven off!”
Going Away On Three Counts Of Wing Theft
“I went to a restaurant that had those endless banquet style meals. Nothing else could be ordered, so I ordered mine, but was in a lot of pain as a migraine came on and couldn’t eat. My server said to go ahead and put a few biscuits that were on the table where I had my plate, in a take-home container. I did and also added 3 – Literally 3 – wings to the container. I took the container and my toddler into the women’s restroom and they sent 2 old male workers as security guards into the bathroom to make sure I didn’t flush – or I don’t know what – the wings. They stood outside my stall. I was freaked, unsure what was going on at that point and flew out. I was met by the manager who claimed I couldn’t leave because he’d called the cops.
I was so angry I started barking ignorance at him. At some point, I made a reference to him cheating with a server. I don’t know why. That was dumb. However, it hit a nerve because he called the cops off, let me leave, putting his hand lightly on my arm telling me never to come back.
My husband had already been in the car warming it as we went to the bathroom. I contacted the franchise and the supervisor of the store and filed complaints any and everywhere. They acted irate towards him. They sent me gift cards, about $100 worth and told me he’d be gone. I thought, ‘Heck no!’ But, tight wallets and hungry family came knocking again so I went back about a year later. He was still there, didn’t even notice me, I finally had some of those wings – they sucked!”
Scarred For Life
“A few months ago I ordered at a local Chinese food place. They claimed to make everything fresh on the spot, so I ordered pad thai with chicken instead of prawns because I am deathly allergic. I specify to the lady at the counter that there can be no prawns anywhere near my food or it may kill me. I get my food home and it smells so good, I am excited to get stuck into it. I was sitting in my dark lounge room with a movie and my food on my lap, and two bites in I can feel it happening. My airway is closing and my face is swelling, and I start to panic. Thankfully as I am scuffling about at the first aid kit looking for an epi-pen with the Australian equivalent of 911 dialed into my phone, my sister happened to come home and saved my butt.
$900 ambulance bill and a night in hospital later, I’m alive although still resemble the Michelin man. My parents and sister were furious and were all ready to take them to court, but honestly, it could have been as simple as accidental cross-contamination on a cutting board, so, I don’t want to take down a small local business. I did, however, go back, still puffy and swollen in the face to blast them and warn them to be more careful and they offered me free food for a year, but I haven’t actually gone back. I’m a little bit terrified to eat Chinese food.”
Food So Awful You Lose Hours Of Your Life
“I’m pretty sure I was medicated with something at a taco place in Billings, MT. I flew into the airport and had to drive to North Dakota. Was wide awake and feeling good when I pulled up at the drive-through. About 20 minutes on the road, I get the worst headache I’ve ever had. I couldn’t keep my eyes open and had to pull over on an off-ramp. Next thing I remember, I’m driving 90 degrees from the freeway on a dirt road in the middle of the night. I snapped out of it and stopped before I ran into a ditch. I had to use my GPS to figure out where I was. I was about 5 miles from the freeway. Weirdest thing I can’t explain. This was 3 years ago. Haven’t eaten there since.”
A Little Extra Flavor For Your Pancakes
“I was working overnight at a bank on Wall Street in downtown Manhattan and my colleague and I wanted to get some breakfast at about 4 AM. We walked over to a small diner on one of the side streets and my buddy ordered some pancakes and sausage to go. The cook behind the counter pulled out this huge bag of pancake mix from next to the grill and opened it. Immediately a rat jumped out of the bag covered in pancake mix and scurried under the fridge. The cook didn’t skip a beat, dug his scoop into the bag, and proceeded to make the pancakes. My buddy and I looked at each other completely dumbstruck. We waited to see what would happen. The cook packed the finished pancakes and sausage to go and gave it to us as if nothing happened. We looked at him and said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding!’ And we started to leave. The cook followed behind us demanding to be paid. He was boiling mad. I guess he didn’t see that we saw what happened. All we could talk about after that were the number of meals we had eaten there in the past how disgusted we were. It was really a shame because before that we thought the food there was really tasty. Guess you can never tell. We told everyone we knew about the incident (these were pre-Yelp days). The place closed inside of six months.”
Something To Write Your Complaint To Head Office On
“There’s this local fast food joint right in my town that’s pretty popular as a hang out spot. Teens can often be spotted in large groups eating. The whole restaurant has a whole ’50s vibe to it, so it’s a cool place (I mean even Ralph Lauren ate at the place).
Admittedly, I am a major glutton when it comes to anything that is unhealthy or snacky, so a cheeseburger well done and a small Pepsi was normal for me.
Considering I didn’t have any bad experiences before with this place and it had good reviews; I guess I was thinking that it was safe, unlike some other places. That was until I found what was in my burger half-way through.
I noticed I was chewing on something tougher than the meat and had wondered what it was. Well, what I was chewing on was wads of soggy paper in my burger that I was pulling out of my mouth now.
Sure it’s not the worst thing in the world, but I was wondering why it was in the patty in the first place, literally in the beef. It had a texture of a napkin, and no I did not bite my napkin along with the burger (I checked because I’m not aware of my surroundings often).
Being as this place had a good reputation, the waiter immediately informed the manager of the whole thing, and he was freaking out. I could tarnish the reputation of their quality beef or better yet ask more from this tiny local place; I didn’t do that to them though and they looked relieved. I took another burger even though I was partially full, and went on with my life.
But why was there paper in the beef?”
A Weird Experience From Beginning To End
“When I was in college I was hungry at 4 am, but everywhere was closed. I went online and saw that this one fast food place was open 24/7.
I decided to walk there, but on my way there I decided to double check I was right, so I stopped by the computer lab in the student center building. As I walked into the lab, there was a security guard sitting there and as soon as I walked in he started frantically closing tabs that clearly had adult content. He said, ‘It’s about that time isn’t it?’ and then stood up and left. It took me a second to process the whole thing, but then I remembered I had a more important mission. I went online and it did indeed say it was open.
So, I walked about 2-3 miles to this place but when I got there it looked closed. I guess it was only a 24-hour drive-through, so I decided to go order. They told me right away they couldn’t let me unless I had a car. I begged them and explained that I just walked really far, but they still turned me away. I walked back, very sad I couldn’t get food and still hungry. It wasn’t the worst experience but it was extremely disappointing. I don’t know why they didn’t just let me get a freaking burger.”
The Drive-Through Girl Needs Some Training
“On a road trip, I decided to stop by a fast food burger joint to get a cheeseburger. When I do get a cheeseburger, I order it with no tomato or onion. Simple change. I tell the woman on the speaker my order and proceed to drive to the window.
When I got to the window, I was greeted by the cashier. She gave me my total, I had paid, and she handed me my bag. As per usual, I do a quick check of the burger to see if it had been made right. Lo and behold, there were tomatoes and onions on my burger. So I gave my bag back to the cashier and told her I ordered no tomato or onion.
Then the cashier reaches into the bag, unwraps the burger from the paper, and proceeds to pick off the tomatoes and onions right in front of me. She was not wearing any gloves and was handling money with God knows what on it all throughout her shift, and for whatever reason thought that would be an okay thing to do and hand back to me. I immediately stopped, parked, and went inside to watch them make a new cheeseburger, from start to finish.
Even though I knew for certain that my new burger was exactly the way I wanted, I still didn’t even take a bite until about 25 minutes later. I didn’t eat at that place for a year after that.”
I Do Not Approve!
“So I’m a high school student and whenever I used to get money I would to this one place because it offered pretty cheap food compared to other local places. I would always get the $6 meal deal with 3 chicken strips, fries, a drink, and a small ice cream sundae, or a small sized version of their specialty ice cream dessert for another dollar. I’d typically get $10 or $20 at a time and with $20 I’d be able to get it 3 out of 4 times a week (yes my school only has 4 days a week). Even though it made me fat, it was easy. So Whenever I built up spare change or had extra money I’d upgrade to a small ice cream treat. Then the cheap jerks went and did it – they raised the price. Literally, the day before they did it I had it for regular price and it was now $7. 7 X 3 = 21. No! Not to mention, along with raising the price, for the additional dollar for a small, they demoted it to a mini. I literally went to this place multiple times a week to the point where the younger staff members (mostly kids who just recently graduated) knew my name. I could walk in and ask for the regular and they’d know what I wanted.”
False Advertising
“I went to a popular chicken place to pick up a bucket of chicken. There was no one in the parking lot (as usual at this location). I go inside, ask for a bucket of chicken and the reply I get? ‘Sorry, we’re out of chicken.’
Another time, there was a place about a half mile away from my house that I go to often for dinner if I’m feeling slummy. At one point, this location had horrible management. The food was fine, for what it was and all, but it was slow to come out and the service was horrible. So I drive over and order my usual, Garlic Steakburger and a vanilla shake. The cashier says, ‘Sorry, but we have no milk to make a milkshake with.’ This place – with SHAKE in the title – are out of milk to make shakes with and if that wasn’t bad enough, the location was ACROSS THE STREET FROM 2 GAS STATIONS WHERE THEY COULD BUY MILK IF THEY NEEDED IT. Their excuse, ‘We have to get the milk from our supplier.’ You are probably losing a lot of money in the long run by doing that. I later called corporate and complained, the bad manager was fired later that week.”
Just Encouraging People To Eat Better
“So I and my nana decided to go on a little ‘date’. We don’t see each other that much anymore, so seeing each other is a nice time. We decided to go to a popular fast food place. I got a Chicken burger, along with some fries. She got a salad. We were both enjoying our meals when she asked me something, ‘What does this look like to you?’
She turned her salad bowl towards me where I saw something looking back at me. It was a large fly, maybe a moth, in the salad.
Now she doesn’t like gross things that well, so she was disgusted. She walked to the order/pickup area and showed them the bug and complained. It was gross. I overheard the manager tell her that it could’ve gone in there during packing for the lettuce.
So a few minutes later, she got a new, bug-free, salad and an apology. She’s never been too keen on getting a fast food salad since then. I guess it was too disgusting for her. I’d be the same way. Who wants a bug with bug eyes in their salad?
She hasn’t been to that place since. I would not blame her.”
Fertilizing The Shrubs
“First time in this one popular taco place in like 2008. We walked back from the restaurant because we lived relatively close and I suddenly needed to go to the bathroom really badly. I needed to stop walking because if I so much as moved one of my legs a bit too much, things would explode out of me everywhere. I inched it, sweating buckets, breathing heavily, red in the face. I told the rest of the group to go ahead because I wanted to walk a bit slower because I was full. They went ahead, thank God. I just was there standing awkwardly on the side of the road waiting for the cars to pass, and a like a blessing from above, I eyed a particularly attractive shrub sitting to my left. Well, buddy, I darted for that shrub, whipped my pants down and went. I’ll spare you the details but it was really bad. No one noticed thank heavens. I walked home ultra fast and jumped in the shower before anyone at home noticed (or smelled) anything. I haven’t been back to that place since.”
Not So Fast Food
“I was at a burger place that had just been rebuilt and they had two drive-through lines, but they both led into the same line eventually. The line was awfully slow, and it took about an hour to get through. When we finally got to the second window to get our food, the worker there told us to go to the next window, so we did. After about 15 minutes of waiting there, we call the restaurant to tell them we were at the 3rd window. While we waited for the manager to show up, we noticed the people behind us getting angry. That is understandable, as they were waiting about 1-1/2 hours for FAST food. The manager finally showed up and was mad at us for pulling up to the 3rd window. When we told her that her worker put us there, she left for a few minutes. She came back with food, but it was not ours. So then she got more food, which was ours, so we took it and left. 2 hours for fast food. When we got home, the order was wrong anyway.”
What Do We Want? SERVICE! When Do We Want It? NOW!
“My dad started a riot in a chicken place once.
They have quotas there for the speed of a transaction, which is calculated from initial input of order until the order is paid. Which in essence means that you have to speed through the drive-through customers but can go slower on walk-in customers (since cars block other cars but customers don’t).
We and about ten other customers had been waiting patiently for our food, as customer after customer in the drive-through got served. After twenty minutes of this, he went up to the server and politely but firmly insisted on being served next. The server brushed us off, but my dad insisted. Everyone else in the store was angry too and started demanding their food and threatening to cancel their credit card transactions.
After that, a manager finally started serving the in-store customers.
Like, screw corporate for their stupid policies.”
One Way To Get Extra Vacation Time
“After my 3-week-long trip in the United States, I was ready to get home. I checked in to JFK Terminal 5 and ate a heated up pizza slice from one of the Italian food vendors at the food court – then it began. I felt strange and congested. I drank a lot of water, boarded my flight back home, and took off. A few minutes after the seatbelt sign went off, my stomach went ape and I darted to the restroom. Oh my God the horror! I was pooping and puking at the same time! Mind you, this was the summer of the ‘Ebola crisis’ and I was stupid enough too tell the crew that I didn’t feel so well and had gotten food poisoning. Luckily there weren’t people in pressure suits when I got home.
This went on for a week every 6 hours + horrific throat burns! The only good thing I got out of it was some free chips and coke on the flight and a week extra vacation.”
Our Ingredients Are So Fresh Some Of Them Still Have Dirt On Them!
“I was eating my favorite burrito from a little taco chain up in Wyoming and surrounding neck of the woods. There in the folds of my delicious burrito was a clod of dirt. Yes, dirt. I can understand how things like bugs, hair, etc. Stuff happens, especially in a fast food joint, but DIRT? How does this happen? Not in the filling, mind you, but like, wedged into one of the folds of the flour tortilla. I was eating it in my car and was probably just too stupid to go in and complain. I think I’d reasoned to myself if I went back inside, they would just claim I put it there while I was outside and then walked back in or something. It was not a fun experience anyway.”
That’s How They Get That Smoky Flavour In There
“Once I found a smoke butt at the bottom of my large cup of chili from a burger place. I ate all the way down, not noticing a thing and at the very bottom of the cup was this nasty smoke butt. The smoke butt was really soggy so you could tell it had been soaking in the chili for a long time. I was so upset, I took the cup right up to the manager and showed him what was at the bottom. He just took the cup from me and tossed it in the waste bin behind the counter. Didn’t say a word, didn’t offer a refund. Nothing. I didn’t get ill, but I have never eaten chili from there since. Plus I was told the meat in the chili is just old hamburger meat that hasn’t been sold anyway. Gross.”
It’s Totally Your Fault We Don’t Have Better Food Quality Standards!
“On the last day of classes at college, I got a sub on the way home from this new location in town. It had only been open about a week or so. The next day I was woken up with about a 5-second warning that I was going to vomit. Never vomited so much in my life. I was so sick for the next week that I couldn’t even keep water down. That was scary. I’ve never been that sick since. I emailed the owner of that location and told him I’d gotten food poisoning. He left me a pretty nasty voicemail saying it was my fault that I was sick because I’d ordered an apparently not very popular sandwich and the filling had been sat out for a while… Right.”
It’s Just Extra Protein
“So one day after a shopping trip we decided to pass by a mall to grab a bite to eat. As soon as we take a seat by the food court a few workers flock to us with menus. I settle for a burger while she decides to get some sweet and sour chicken noodles. Moments later as we are tucking into our food, I notice a weird looking black thing in her food that neither looked like a vegetable or piece of meat, I nudge my sister and ask her to pull out that thing, turned out to be a fly. Disgusted she took the food back and she was given another plate free of charge. However, it was safe to say we didn’t go back to that place ever again.”
Thanks For Ruining My Day!
“I’m a type one diabetic, the number of times that I’ve ordered a diet coke but received a full sugar coke is too freaking high. I ordered from the drive-through generally, meaning I either get a soda I won’t drink or not notice and having my whole day messed up. For some reason this popular chicken place’s regular Pepsi or whatever they sell always tricks me, I drink it and then I end up puking due to hyperglycemia.”
This Isn’t Bad Service, This Is A Genius Way To Get More Food!
“I went to a burger place late one night (around 11 pm) and ordered some chicken nuggets. I received two Chicken burgers and two plain burgers. I went back a week later, ordered the same thing, got two fish sandwiches and a small fry. Tried a third time. Same results. Now I just go to the taco place down the street. The store is fine during the day, but the night shift… something is amiss.”
(Points edited for clarity)
