I wasn't in town this weekend for Homecoming because I was at the Ingrid Michaelson Concert in Charlottesville! She's so great. She interacts with the audience on a level that some comedians can't even reach. I was super impressed by her.
But, okay. Let's talk about a little event that occurred right before the concert which made me realize how language barriers can impair success even with the simplest of media.
Before the concert, my three friends and I ordered Chinese food. Two orders were put on one credit card, and two on another. We specifically told the man on the phone, whom did not speak English well AT ALL, that they're two orders but need to come to the same place, so make them all together, please? He pretended to understand.
Needless to say, two of us were eating and finished for a half hour. The other two called the restaurant again and they were extremely confused. Yes, they gave us our two orders. We already got them.
Oh. Um, no. Those were just two dinners, not the two ORDERS. So, after much confusion on their part, my friends finally got their food. I felt bad that the delivery man had to go back and forth twice, but I really thought this situation was made clear.
My point is that even with cell phones and online that can track orders and make it visual for the employees, there are still significant problems in the restaurant business because of language barriers.
I actually found myself in the same situation this weekend with ordering chinese food here in harrisonburg! Me and my friends all had seperate orders to the same place and wanted them all on seperate JAC cards so we could pay seperately. Needless to say, the man on the phone had NO IDEA what we were saying and was extremely confused and ended up charging all of the orders to the same jac card and it was really irritating. I felt bad because he seemed geniunely confused about the orders and felt bad when he gave us the bill, but come on, if you cant take orders then let some one else in the place who understands english take the orders. I can bet this wasnt the first time this has happened.
ReplyDelete