Practice Drive Thru Etiquette

Restaurant "drive-thru's" are essential and convenient for people who want a quick snack or who wish to avoid the long lines inside a fast food restaurant. However, there are some basic etiquette standards that should be applied while going through a drive-thru, to ensure service that is more effective and to keep the transaction friendly.

Note: This article applies to fast food drive-thru's in North America; some differences may exist in your country or region.

Steps

1. Finish your cell phone conversations before entering the line or at least ask the person you're talking to hold on while you conduct your transaction. If you're calling home to see if anyone wants something, do so before entering the drive-thru lane. Trying to gather everyone's order by phone as you're actively ordering creates a delay for you the customer as well as everyone in line behind you.
2. Eliminate any background noise. Either turn down the volume or turn off any radios or CDs that are blaring noise. Excess noise may interfere with hearing the order. The employees need to hear the actual order, not what you are listening to in your car. If the restaurant has a drive-thru speaker behind the counter for the food line, people ordering inside can hear everything that happens around the service speaker. This includes the conversations held by other people in the car.(Yes! They can even hear you yell at or spank your children... it is very awkward!) Also, if you have a loud engine, it is advised to turn it off as well.
3. If it is raining, please turn off your windshield wipers before you get to the service window. Not doing so results in your wipers spraying dirty water, anti-freeze leftovers and grime on the service person.
4. Turn off headlights at night. The last thing someone in a drive-thru needs is blazing headlights in their mirrors. Parking lights are acceptable. The only exception to this rule is if the area is not lit. You may turn the headlights back on if there is no one in front of you or when exiting the line.
5. Know what you want before you get to the speaker box. It's polite to know what you're going to have before you come to the speaker. Pondering and thinking at the speaker wastes the employees' time, as well as the time of the people in the back of you. Note that some places may have Make Breakfast Sandwiches and lunch items on the same board, but will stop breakfast at a certain time (usually around 10:30 to 11 am). Some boards may have "express" items, or a limited amount, whereas a full menu can be accessible inside the restaurant.
6. Speak loudly and clearly. Speak loudly, slowly and clearly but not so slow that you cause the employee to feel like a child and not so loud that you're screaming at the employee taking your order. You'll always want the food line to know exactly what you want, so if there is any miscommunication or if something is wrong with your order, you may need to go into the restaurant to change it. Have one person talk into the speaker instead of people shouting out their orders from the vehicle. Finally, be sure to verify each item or meal before leaving the speaker.
7. Make sure that the order-taker understands your order. Cashiers at fast food restaurants have multiple duties and may not be giving you their full attention, they might also be speaking with a customer at the service window, or putting equipment away, etc. If you read out your full order in a single breath, it will probably be misunderstood. Take small pauses after different items (number one combo...with no pickles and extra mayo) and wait for the cashier to respond ("ok", "yes", etc) before continuing.
8. Be aware that you can order condiments at the speaker box. Don't be afraid to tell the order taker to add ketchup, mayonnaise, extra sauces, salt or pepper, and so forth at lunchtime, or jelly, butter, creamer and sugar, and so forth at breakfast to your bag. For the most part, it's free!
   • Note that some places charge for extra sauce. You can try to be slick and ask for it at the window but most places see that food cost slipping away and will charge you at the window.
   • Realize that asking for extras slows down the line. Patience is a virtue not much found in fast food lines.
9. As much as possible, avoid ordering three to five items, only to then go back and change the first item. The order taking system is so high-tech that many restaurants with drive-thru service have the grill-staff wearing the same headsets as the order-takers so that they can hear and begin preparing your order as soon as you say "cheeseburger." So, if you order anything after said cheeseburger, then go back and say, "Oh, can I have that first cheeseburger with no onions", the grill team now has to make another cheeseburger for you, wasting your time and the customers behind you, and wasting food.
   • Reminder: By doing this, it means now you have an audience of at least 4-8 people listening to you screaming at your child for making changes––how awkward.
   • Do not add to or change your order at the window. As stated earlier, to speed up service, employees begin making the food as you're ordering it. If you change your order at the window, the grill team can't hear it and now they must stop making the next person's order and fix what you changed to not slow down the drive-thru. If your change is a big one (for example, completely re-making an item because you decided you wanted to take something off or substitute, or you added more items), chances are they will ask you to park aside and bring you the changed or added items so you don't slow down the rest of the line more than necessary. That's your time being wasted then but it's only fair since you've made major ordering revisions.
10. Extinguish all forms of smoking before you reach the window. Fewer people smoke nowadays and in many places, smoking is not allowed on food premises at all. Therefore, not everyone wants to smell your tobacco or marijuana products when they open the drive-thru window, nor do they want your smoke in their face. Remember, this is a window and when it opens, the wind carries the smell throughout the service area of the restaurant. The employee at the window isn't the only one who gets bombarded with it.
11. Be prepared with Safely Carry a Lot of Money. Organizing your payment method should be carried out before driving into the line. Trying to search for and dish out change from the deepest crevices of your car seat at the last minute may hold up the line and people's orders. Worse for you, you mightn't have enough to pay!
12. Treat the line like an ATM machine. Leave a good space between you and the car in front of you. Have respect for those around you and move forward when they do.
13. Prepare cup holders, and other holding areas in your car before you get to the pick-up window. Waiting for the customer to move things around while the employee is holding the bag or drinks out the window also creates a delay for the entire line of customers.
    • If your car is like your second basement, the need to create space for the food should be a paramount concern before you get in the queue to order.

Tips

• Treat the employees with courtesy and respect. Don't verbally abuse them if your order is wrong, or snap at them if they ask you to repeat your order. Also, no one likes upselling ("Do you want fries with that?" or "Would you like to try our new pineapple smoothie?") but the employees are required to do it. Politely decline the offer if you don't want it.
• Don't blow cigarette smoke into the worker's faces. It smells bad, makes the eyes burn, and there is a chance that they might have asthma.
• When paying and receiving food, always try to get the driver's side at least within an arm's reach of the window. The window people may not have accessibility to reach further across.
• Please don't make lame jokes when using large bills. "No need to check, I printed it off this morning" is not funny when it is heard eight times a day.
• If your window does not work you should not visit an establishment that relies on such. If the inside is open GO IN. If not, make the trip worthwhile (don't order just a soda which can be purchased at the nearest store)!
• Cashiers cannot split an order after it has been input, so if you have multiple bills say so before you begin.
• Before leaving for the drive-thru, take a moment to be sure you are dressed appropriately. No sleepwear or bare feet. If your order is wrong, you may be required to go inside and change it.
• Many restaurants, such as Wendy's, discourage their employees from voiding items from an order, so if you change your order they might not input it and you will be charged for the original or slightly more. If, for example, you ordered a combo but then changed it to just the burger and nuggets, they'll keep the combo since it will be essentially the same price, or if you turned a one paddy burger into two paddies they might do it by adding one more as an extra (which is slightly more expensive), or if you took the cheese off your burger they might keep the cheeseburger on the bill. To avoid this its best to stick to your order and mention any change in condiments quickly.
• The cash register programs are restrictive and might not allow certain requests to be inputted, such as drink-mixing or certain condiments on your sandwich (ie, if you order a burger all dressed except for one condiment that usually doesn't go on that burger), so when you ask for these the cashier has to remember it. If you're ordering during a rush there's a very good chance that they will be forgotten.
• If you're not in the drive-thru line area, but waiting aside, try to form a line that does not interfere with other traffic/cars. Avoid making a long line near parking stalls or entrances and exits. This is especially important if the "line" trails near the exit--take care that you aren't blocking traffic in the street.
• If your vehicle is loud (no muffler or a diesel truck), consider turning the engine off or going inside. Most drive-thru restaurants utilize headsets, and the loud engine can make it difficult (and painful) for employees to hear you. If you turn the engine off, please be sure to warn the employee when you turn it back on. It hurts just as much to hear a loud engine through the entire order as it does to hear it turn over.
• Turn off your vehicle's engine at the speaker box if it has a loud engine. Loud vehicles make it difficult to hear your order.

Warnings

• If the line is long or seems stalled, please do not honk your horn, shout at the people in front of you to hurry up, or race your car's engine. Restaurant managers have been known to call the police and report disruptive customers.
• Be dressed when you go through the line. Serving a naked customer is disturbing, and a breach of public propriety, and if the service person feels that you're exposing yourself to them, you've probably broken the law.
• The following items drastically slow down the drive-thru. Please DO NOT GO THROUGH THE DRIVE-THRU IF:
  • Your window does not work. This makes it awkward for the employee to take your money, give you your change and your food. It also slows down the drive-thru line waiting for you to open the door and awkwardly place your items in your car.
  • You want to place more than two individual orders. Two is the maximum amount of orders most places will allow. You again hold up the line trying to decide how to combine the multiple orders into two.
  • You want to place a very large order. Any order over three value meals or six individual items significantly slows down the drive-thru.
  • You don't know how much money is on your Debit/ATM/Credit Card. If your card is declined you have just wasted your time, the time of the customers in line behind you and the food they just made and bagged for you––no, they're not going to give it to you for free.
  • Your car has mechanical issues. If your car likes to stall or smoke, please go inside. A stalled car holds up the drive-thru until there are enough people to help you move said car out of the way. You are inconveniencing everyone around you when this happens. A car that smokes a lot not only bothers the customers behind you in line but the exhaust fumes go right in the windows and float around a bit before they dissipate as stated above in number 10.

Things You'll Need

• Pre-worked out order
• Adequate money/payment ready
• Footwear if you need to get out to go inside

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Sources and Citations

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• Be an Elegant and Mature Young Lady
• Complain in a Restaurant
• Be a Good House Guest
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• Fold a Handkerchief

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