We had a really disappointing experience at the KFC/Taco Bell in Milton last Saturday night
We were coming back from the casino and decided to stop at the drive-thru because we were hungry and craving KFC and Taco Bell. Some of my friends are pure vegetarian, so while ordering, they were just trying to make sure that there was absolutely no meat in their food. They repeated the question a couple of times only because it was important to them.
While they were asking, the employee taking our order started laughing. We honestly didn’t understand what was funny. Maybe the employee didn’t mean anything by it, but from a customer’s point of view, it felt like we were being made fun of simply for asking a question about our food.
This is where I feel basic customer service comes in. If you work in a customer-facing industry, you should know how to communicate professionally and respectfully. You never know why someone may be speaking differently, repeating themselves, or asking the same question more than once. They could have a language barrier, difficulty communicating, social anxiety, or they might simply be concerned about what they are eating. Laughing at that moment can make someone feel very uncomfortable.
Then we reached the payment window and tried to pay with a Canadian $100 bill that we had just received from the casino. We were told they don’t accept anything over $50 because of management policy. That’s fine if it’s genuinely their policy, but we were confused and asked if they could show us where this policy was written. At first, they refused, and after some back and forth, they eventually gave us something in writing.
At that point, we said we could simply pay by debit card. We thought that would be the end of the issue. Instead, the conversation turned into another argument, and we were told that because they felt we were being rude, they were refusing to give us our food.
That’s what we really couldn’t understand. We weren’t refusing to pay—we were literally ready to pay by debit. Yes, we were frustrated and questioning how the situation was being handled, but questioning a policy or expressing frustration shouldn’t automatically turn into an argument between employees and customers.
Another employee from the back also kept getting involved in the conversation and eventually expected us to apologize to her and the night manager because they felt we had been rude.
The whole situation could have been handled so differently. A simple, professional explanation like, “Sorry, our location doesn’t accept bills over $50, but you’re welcome to pay by debit or credit,” would probably have ended the issue right there.
For us, this isn’t really about the $100 bill. It’s about how the entire situation was handled—from laughing while we were asking about vegetarian food, to the unnecessary arguing at the window, and finally refusing to serve us even after we offered another method of payment.
We also work and deal with customers, so we understand that customers can sometimes be frustrated and that late-night shifts aren’t always easy. But professionalism has to go both ways. If you’re working in customer service, being respectful, patient, and knowing how to de-escalate a situation should be basic expectations.
Hopefully management looks into what happened that night and uses it as an opportunity to improve the customer service at this location, because unfortunately this experience left a really bad impression on all of us.