Know what pump you are at Part 2

So you read the last critique and you are off again for your weekly fill up at Wawa. This time you pull up to the pump, get out of your car and make note of that number ten posted on your pump. You walk inside, this time you need a soda to give you that kick to make it through the rest of the day and while you are in there the hoagie that someone just bought catches your attention. You make your way to the touch screen with your Pepsi in hand and find yourself ordering the ever so popular cheese steak. Your ticket prints and you make your way up to the register to pay for your things.

“Hey! How are you doing today? Picking up a late lunch?” asks your cashier.

You respond, “Yes and I have gas to I am on pump…” you take a brief pause to recall that number you saw on the pump and say, “nine, I need $40.”

Your cashier asks if you will be paying with cash or credit, then asks if you need anything else. You respond no, slide your card and make your way back out to your pump.

You walk up and remove the nozzle, place it in your tank, and hit the regular button. Nothing happens. You try again, this time hitting it harder, “Maybe the button is just stuck,” you think to yourself, and still nothing. You look at the pump and it is telling you to “Slide your card or see the cashier inside.”

“I just did that,” you think. “I just put $40 on this pump… why is it not working?”

At this point your reaction varies, no two people are the same.

The intercom person

You may hit the call button at the pump and when the cashier responds, “Yes, how may I help you?” You tell them, “Um, yes. I just put $40 on the pump and it is not working.”

Your cashier looks at where you are standing and which car you are by and tells you, “Oh, no problem, you said nine and you are at pump ten. Don’t worry though your money will be there in a second.”

Problem solved. You get your gas and are good to go, only slightly embarrassed.

The angry customer who comes back inside

Maybe confronting your cashier over and intercom is not personal enough for you, so you march your way back inside and find your place in line. Furious that you paid for something that you have not received, when your cashier recognizes you and ask you if you have change you exclaim, “No! I do not have change! I put $40 on pump nine and it is not working!”

Your cashier glances out the window and says, “I am sorry, you are on pump ten not nine. Give me one second and I will have your money on there. It should be good to go by the time you get out there.”

You must now take the walk of shame back to your car to pump your gas as all the customers in the store look at you thinking, “They seriously do not know what pump their car is at? It is not that hard.” (Granit when they get to the register chances are they won’t remember either, but maybe your act had something to do with their sudden memory loss.) But at least the problem is solved, right?

The person who thinks the solution is to move to another pump

Possibly the gas fumes have gotten to you, or you are so frustrated about the situation that your solution to the problem is to drive to another pump, and hope that your money fallows. Your logic and senses must have left you at this point, because who this would make any sense to I do not know, but it happens.

So you hang up the nozzle, get in your car and drive to pump 16, park your car, get out and try again. Nothing.

At this point you take on the roll of either the intercom person or the angry confront inside person, and look like a fool while doing so.

As your cashier, puzzled, tries to figure out your logic they check to see if the money you place on pump nine is even still there. If it is, you are in luck your $40 will be moved to your pump and you will finally be able to pump your gas and get on with your day, and enjoy that hoagie that is waiting for you. However, if you money is no longer on pump nine, consider yourself to have done your good deed of the day and bought someone else’s gas. If you get lucky, and your cashier and the manager on duty sympathize with your lack of logic and common sense they may move your money to your pump.

I can guarantee you though; if you are this person… you have just provided free comedy for everyone in the store and all of its employees.

There is one more possible person you maybe and this one is the exception.

The lucky customer

Your cashier may suspect your incorrectness about your pump number and watch you walk outside and then move your money to your pump before you even notice.

Now do not think because you got lucky that you saved yourself the walk of shame, on the contrary, your cashier is now most likely pointing you out to other cashiers (and possibly customers) asking them if they can tell what pump you are walking to, because it is not the one they said.

So what is the solution you may be asking yourself? Simple, remember what pump you are at. Take those few seconds to make note of the correct pump number and remember it long enough to make your purchase and walk back out to the correct pump. No matter what person you are you find yourself embarrassed (some more than others) and providing the comedy for the hour.

You do not want to spend ten minutes at Wawa (or any other gas station) trying to figure out why the money you put on your pump is not really there, so remember the pump number and get it right when you get inside.

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Make sure you order everything you want

Starbucks allows us to obtain our daily coffee fix, to go on with our day without that caffeine headache and weather you are getting coffee or some other drink, you need to be specific.

You walk in, the cashier greets you saying, “Hey how are you today? What can I get you to drink?” And you respond, “I would like an iced grande caramel macchiato.” The cashier asks you if that will be all then tells you your total and calls your drink.

“Calling… an iced grande caramel macchiato.”

You make your way down to the bar to wait for your drink and in a matter of minutes the barista calls out, “I have an iced grande caramel macchiato on bar.” You pick up the drink, examine it and place it back on the bar. For some reason you did not get what you wanted. You looks at the Barista and say, “Excuse me, I wanted my drink decaf and with caramel drizzle inside the cup. Oh and I wanted whip on it to.”

But wait. Did you even ask for any of those things when you ordered?

Time and time again customers walk into Starbucks, ask for their drinks and leave half of what they wanted out.

Think about it like this, on your birthday you make a list of every last thing you want (or at least probably used to)… well every day at Starbucks is your birthday, ask for everything you want. Weather it is extra pumps, extra whip, light whip, decaf, skim milk, whatever – ask for it at the register. By doing so you save yourself time, because let’s face it unless your day is too short to have to stand and wait for your Barista to make your drink again, you have better places to be and other things to do. As do all the customers standing in line behind you that to now have to wait even longer for their drink.

So you want to throw a fit at the bar because your drink is how you asked for it, not how you imagined it?

Don’t do it. Weather your Barista says it or not, you are the one who made the mistake, not them, so don’t take out all your anger on them. If you do you simply make for, in many cases, lower quality service for the next customer.

No one comes in and tells you that you are doing your job wrong, no one yells at you on a daily basis because of something missing. Give these Starbucks employees a break, all they are doing is trying to make your day and your life simpler, give them the same common courteously back, and make sure you order everything you want. If you want legendary customer service, which Starbucks does provide, please make sure that you yourself are not the soul person causing the hold up in the line.

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