Okay, so a little over a month ago I wrote an article, called "34 Things All Dunkin Employees Wish Their Customer Knew", and it ended up being one of my most viewed articles! But since then I have gotten some strange customers through my store and I have some more things I want to say and that I think my customers need to know. Hopefully, other Dunkin employees have experienced these 25 things too.
1. You have to order at the menu.
You can't just pull up to the window and expect to order. Especially if it's during the morning rush and there is a person taking an order and all the store orders. It just messes everything up and throws the entire store and timer off.
2. Some specials are left up to the franchise owners.
So right now, there's this special for egg and cheese on an English Muffin, but the FRANCHISE OWNERS can decide if they want to offer the egg and chess special on all the other breads or not.
3. Unless we tell you to pull forward to the second window, DON'T DO IT.
It super annoying when somebody just pulls forward to the second window without us telling them to.
One, there's no register over there so I hope you don't plan on paying for your order with your phone. Two, it's beyond annoying to walk from the first window to the second window to get their card/money and then go all the way back to give them their change and order. Three, it confuses other customers and then they start doing it too.
4. Our machines have pre-measured amounts of milk and skim milk for the espresso-based drinks.
No, you cannot get a medium iced latte with less milk.
5. The espresso melts the ice.
So don't ask for an iced macchiato or iced latte with less ice because you'll end up with no ice.
6. Please don't use Starbucks sizes.
A grande over there is their idea of a medium and it's the same size as our small. So, when you ask for a grande and you get our medium-sized cup don't be surprised that it's bigger than the cup you had pictured in your head.
7. Don't order a box of Joe or box of hot chocolate through the drive-thru.
Like I said in my previous article, those take a lot of time and it messes up our timer when you're sitting there waiting for your box of Joe or hot chocolate. Even if we have you pull up to the second window the car behind you now has to wait to get out of the parking lot and it backs everything up.
8. Don't order half a dozen or more donuts through the drive-thru and want to pick them each out.
We run out of things and it takes forever to tell you what donuts we have and what donuts we don't have and to explain the specialty donuts to you. Just come in and look at them yourselves.
9. On the go for drive-thru is pointless so don't do it.
Once you get to the speaker you have to tell us that you have an on the go and what your name is, then we have to pull it up and repeat it back to you and you still have to wait in the drive-thru line like everybody else to get your order, so it's just like ordering at the drive-thru to begin with.
10. Almond milk is extra.
Don't complain to me about your upcharge, call corporate.
11. A turbo shot is extra.
You asked for it so don't complain about your extra dollar on your bill.
12. A turbo shot is just a shot of espresso.
....enough said.
13. Espresso based drinks don't come with sugar.
If you want sugar in a latte, cappuccino, Americano or macchiato you have to tell us.
14. We judge you based on your order.
If you get a croissant with grape jelly or cream cheese, we all stop and look around at each other with a disgusted look on our faces. Same goes for when somebody asks for a small iced tea with 12 liquid sugars because it takes up the entire cup. We're terrible, I know.
15. Decaf dark roast is not a thing.
Just stop.
16. Frozen coffee is pre-sweetened and doesn't come in decaf.
Once again, just stop.
17. They're called hash browns.
Don't ask for a side of french fries, home fries, or potatoes...
18. Also, they're called coffee rolls.
They aren't honey buns, or cinnamon buns/rolls.
19. Munchkins can only be sold in 3 or higher.
"Can I have one powered munchkin?" Well no, but you can have three.
20. You need to tell us which cooler drink you actually want.
Don't say "and a bottle of soda." We have Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, and Ginger Ale.
21. Hash browns take a while to cook.
If you order five orders of hash browns, you're going to have to wait a couple of minutes.
22. You have to ask for whipped cream.
Now, most people will ask if you want whipped cream on your hot chocolate or coolatta, but technically we aren't supposed to.
23. The donuts are called strawberry frosted and vanilla frosted.
Not the pink donut or the white donut. We have multiple pink donuts during Valentine's day and multiple white donuts every day.
24. Sometimes our machines are down.
Our machines don't last forever and it takes a few days to ship. So, don't be mad at us if we don't have hot chocolate or espresso for a couple of days.
25. We don't have a "secret menu".
Some people just mix different swirls and shots and coolatta mixes together and they end up tasting like something else. Like vanilla bean coolatta with strawberry coolatta mix is really good, or a vanilla bean coolatta with hazelnut swirl tastes like a birthday cake. But we don't have this secret menu for you to choose from.
I mean honestly, I can go on and on, like I said last time but please take these 25 and my other 34 things into consideration before stopping by your local Dunkin. And who knows, maybe there will be a part 3.
