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Is declining a drink the fast food equivalent of not tipping?

HamburgerBoy

HamburgerBoy

Lifer
I know that your average burger place probably breaks even at best regarding burger sales, and makes up for it through fries and especially drinks, but is it expected that one buys a drink lest they incur the saliva-flinging wrath of some random teenaged kid? I mean, it's not like I take my own drink and sip it nonchalantly in front of all the employees. I wait until I finish my meal (in this case, three hamburers with only mustard and spread, plus a side of fries), and then drink water in the privacy of my own car. Am I abusing the system without realizing it?
 
Since those that work there are paid hourly and is not based on sales or store margins, probably not. The store manager or owner might not like it though.
 
Farang said:
teenaged kid doesn't care about restaurant profit
Click to expand...

That's what I thought, but when I declined a drink the guy said "Ok bro, no problem" which to me implied that others might take offense. I'm thinking maybe that there is a tally system done by the managers which tracks each cashier and their respective drink-to-order ratios, and rewards the best ones. Granted, the cashier didn't make my burger (and In-N-Out being highly visible I wasn't worried about contamination anyways) but if it were a different restaurant, and the cashier sent back the order with a certain mark to his burger-flipping buddy to indicate that I am a non-drinker, it could happen.

Matthiasa said:
Since those that work there are paid hourly and is not based on sales or store margins, probably not. The store manager or owner might not like it though.
Click to expand...

Although I don't each as much fast food as I used to (and my order has since changed slightly), some of the employees still know that it's me when an order for three mustard-only burgers with two fries and no drink comes through. But sometimes I order a pink lemonade so maybe they cut me some slack.
 
It would be foolish to sell products in the fast food industry without a profit, even if it's just a single burger. The "tack on" items to make a combo make the effort more profitable by adding on those cheap to make items but the burgers themselves are usually more expensive by themselves to make up for it. Often when I go to Panda Express I don't get a drink because usually I just want water, which I already have with me often. PE doesn't have a combo system like most places, but they make it a regular practice to ask if someone wants an egg roll or medium drink on the side. If I do get a drink, I always get a small, because a 2 combo plate + small drink = $7.98 with tax here and that is a nice, close to even amount price.
 
I doubt there's a single teenage burger flipper that gives a shit about the profits of a fast food place and it's rare I'll give absolutes : p
 
This actually came up for me just yesterday at lunch. A few of us went to lunch, and I just didn't feel like getting anything to drink right then.

We got to a table, and a waitress went around the table for drink orders.
I might as well have started sodomizing a wounded puppy right there on the table. I think that would have garnered a less-shocked reaction from the waitress. I did finally cave and get something after repeated prodding from not only her but also everyone at the table, but...good god, it was made out to be the most horrible thing I could have possible done right then.

(Some days, it seems that if I drink anything, I'm making bathroom trips every 10 minutes for the next hour or so, which gets annoying in a damn big hurry. That happened to be such a day.)




...does anyone here have a cheap puppy?
 
HamburgerBoy said:
That's what I thought, but when I declined a drink the guy said "Ok bro, no problem" which to me implied that others might take offense. I'm thinking maybe that there is a tally system done by the managers which tracks each cashier and their respective drink-to-order ratios, and rewards the best ones. Granted, the cashier didn't make my burger (and In-N-Out being highly visible I wasn't worried about contamination anyways) but if it were a different restaurant, and the cashier sent back the order with a certain mark to his burger-flipping buddy to indicate that I am a non-drinker, it could happen.
Click to expand...

seriously? 😵
 
HamburgerBoy said:
That's what I thought, but when I declined a drink the guy said "Ok bro, no problem" which to me implied that others might take offense. I'm thinking maybe that there is a tally system done by the managers which tracks each cashier and their respective drink-to-order ratios, and rewards the best ones. Granted, the cashier didn't make my burger (and In-N-Out being highly visible I wasn't worried about contamination anyways) but if it were a different restaurant, and the cashier sent back the order with a certain mark to his burger-flipping buddy to indicate that I am a non-drinker, it could happen.



Although I don't each as much fast food as I used to (and my order has since changed slightly), some of the employees still know that it's me when an order for three mustard-only burgers with two fries and no drink comes through. But sometimes I order a pink lemonade so maybe they cut me some slack.
Click to expand...

You regularly eat three burgers, two orders of fries, and pink lemonade?


D:
 
Ronstang said:
If a waitress prodded me to get a drink I would get up and leave. I drink water and that is what I want.
Click to expand...

Same, and no one's given me any crap for it.

Buying dollar menu stuff with no extras is kind of working the system, but enough people get extras to make it worthwhile for them. Otherwise, they wouldn't offer it.
 
Hamburger, at wholesale, is probably around $2 per pound right now. Thus, a 1/3 pound burger contains about 67 cents worth of beef. Roll, lettuce, tomato, condiments, probably round that up to $1.00 for ingredients. A 50 pound bag of potatoes to make french fries can be purchased for under $10. Even including the price of the fryer grease, an order of fries still costs well under $1.

Yeah, I think they can make a profit, even if you don't get a drink. Sometimes, I glance at the drink price before I get a drink. $2.49 for a glass of coca-cola (but free refills)?! (And, I rarely have a 2nd glass at dinner.) "No thank you, I had a bottle of soda at work today. I'll just have a glass of water with my dinner, thank you."
 
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Jeff7 said:
This actually came up for me just yesterday at lunch. A few of us went to lunch, and I just didn't feel like getting anything to drink right then.

We got to a table, and a waitress went around the table for drink orders.
I might as well have started sodomizing a wounded puppy right there on the table. I think that would have garnered a less-shocked reaction from the waitress. I did finally cave and get something after repeated prodding from not only her but also everyone at the table, but...good god, it was made out to be the most horrible thing I could have possible done right then.

(Some days, it seems that if I drink anything, I'm making bathroom trips every 10 minutes for the next hour or so, which gets annoying in a damn big hurry. That happened to be such a day.)

...does anyone here have a cheap puppy?
Click to expand...

In those situations I just ask for a water, but it still can get confusing, especially if ones friends are drinking alcoholic beverages. Way too many unspoken rules and customs, and the punishments for breaking them are both cruel and unusual. The food industry is probably the most corrupt in the country. And people always wonder why I refuse to go to restaurants with them.

fatpat268 said:
seriously? 😵
Click to expand...

I don't see the relation between those two bolded statements. Please elaborate.

yh125d said:
You regularly eat three burgers, two orders of fries, and pink lemonade?

D:
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No, the pink lemonade is for special occasions, and I stopped eating the other stuff regularly a while ago.
 
Ronstang said:
If a waitress prodded me to get a drink I would get up and leave. I drink water and that is what I want.
Click to expand...
It wasn't just her.
Everyone at the table was also rather surprised by this. Blank stares all around.

"Because you're the only person on the planet who doesn't get a drink [with a meal]."


Oh well. In any case, I wasn't the one paying the bill. 🙂
 
Jeff7 said:
It wasn't just her.
Everyone at the table was also rather surprised by this. Blank stares all around.

"Because you're the only person on the planet who doesn't get a drink [with a meal]."


Oh well. In any case, I wasn't the one paying the bill. 🙂
Click to expand...

Then the people you were with are not too bright. Water tastes good with ANYTHING. The same cannot be said of all drinks. While beer might be good with a greasy burger it does not taste good with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

It is not my fault that many restaurants have raised their drink prices instead of raising the price of their entrees. They are the ones being deceptive since they think that most people don't even look at the drink prices, which is probably true. I am not paying $2-3 for iced tea or even soda unless it is a bundled price in a combo at a fast food joint.

I initially switched to drinking water years ago when this practice first began. Since then I have grown to truly prefer water. So much so that I also stopped drinking iced tea at home all the time. So sad, too bad. They created the situation. If the entree had gone up a dollar or two but the tea had stayed at $.79 guess what? Yep, I would be spending the extra money without a complaint.
 
Ronstang said:
Then the people you were with are not too bright. Water tastes good with ANYTHING. The same cannot be said of all drinks. While beer might be good with a greasy burger it does not taste good with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
...
Click to expand...
Well I didn't even request water. I didn't really want anything to drink, water or otherwise.
 
DrPizza said:
Hamburger, at wholesale, is probably around $2 per pound right now. Thus, a 1/3 pound burger contains about 67 cents worth of beef. Roll, lettuce, tomato, condiments, probably round that up to $1.00 for ingredients. A 50 pound bag of potatoes to make french fries can be purchased for under $10. Even including the price of the fryer grease, an order of fries still costs well under $1.

Yeah, I think they can make a profit, even if you don't get a drink. Sometimes, I glance at the drink price before I get a drink. $2.49 for a glass of coca-cola (but free refills)?! (And, I rarely have a 2nd glass at dinner.) "No thank you, I had a bottle of soda at work today. I'll just have a glass of water with my dinner, thank you."
Click to expand...

Yea, I can't see see spending $1.50 for a small 12oz soda, I just usually get the food and eat it at home where I have lemonade on hand. Some places will give you better prices on entrees IF you buy a drink to go with it, I see that trend might expand, they are not losing money on the $1 burger but are expecting the 90% profit from drink sales to make up for it..
 
Not at all. The consumer is always right, if they don't price their products to make a profit that is not the consumer's fault.
 
HamburgerBoy said:
I know that your average burger place probably breaks even at best regarding burger sales, and makes up for it through fries and especially drinks, but is it expected that one buys a drink lest they incur the saliva-flinging wrath of some random teenaged kid? I mean, it's not like I take my own drink and sip it nonchalantly in front of all the employees. I wait until I finish my meal (in this case, three hamburers with only mustard and spread, plus a side of fries), and then drink water in the privacy of my own car. Am I abusing the system without realizing it?
Click to expand...

I think it's pretty safe to assume you have never worked a shit job in your life, yes?

If you don't want teenagers to give you a hard time or fuck with your order just be nice, say please and thank you as you would to any adult, and don't be demanding with your order. Trust me the folks working there don't give a shit if you don't get a drink -- they're probably happier because it means less work.

HamburgerBoy said:
That's what I thought, but when I declined a drink the guy said "Ok bro, no problem" which to me implied that others might take offense. I'm thinking maybe that there is a tally system done by the managers which tracks each cashier and their respective drink-to-order ratios, and rewards the best ones. Granted, the cashier didn't make my burger (and In-N-Out being highly visible I wasn't worried about contamination anyways) but if it were a different restaurant, and the cashier sent back the order with a certain mark to his burger-flipping buddy to indicate that I am a non-drinker, it could happen.
Click to expand...

Yah, so further reading pretty much confirms it. 'Ok bro, no problem' means...no problem. I'm guessing 99 times out of 100 the customer wants a drink so you caught the cashier on the off chance. Relax.
 
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