A woman shared how she allegedly caught a fast-food worker lying to her about her food’s wait time.
In a new TikTok with over 52,000 views, content creator Lin Marie (@linmarietoolit) recounted her drive-thru experience.
“Y’all, this is literally one of those moments where I’m like, ‘Damn, I wish I was recording,’” Lin Marie started.
She described how she pulled up to the fast-food restaurant to make her order and was given a lengthy wait time. “I’m looking at the menu, trying to figure out what I want. Before I even place the order, the guy goes, ‘There’s an 18-minute wait on chicken,’” she recalled.
Lin Marie said she accepted the wait and ordered chicken nuggets, moving forward to the next window to pay.
“I’m literally on the phone with my friend when I say this, before I even get to the window. I’m like, ‘These places, these quick food restaurants will lie to you and give you an excessive wait time thinking you will pull off, saying, ‘Oh no, I’m not gonna wait that long,’” Lin Marie says.
She said she told her friend that she didn’t believe it would be an 18-minute wait for her food, but instead a 10-minute wait.
At the second window, Lin Marie said she paid for her food, received her drinks, and was told by the employee to pull forward and wait for her food to be brought to her.
“Before I pulled forward I asked him, ‘How long is the wait?’ This man goes, ‘It’s a 10-minute wait,’” she recounted, saying her friend on the phone “busted out laughing.”
In the video, Lin Marie waited for her food to be brought out. “It’s been about five minutes, though, I will update y’all and let you know if it comes out in 10 minutes,” she said.
Sure enough, the next clip showed Lin Marie getting her bag of food. As the video ends, she said, “Y’all it came. It came in 10 minutes.”
In the comments section, users shared their own gripes with exaggerated fast-food wait times and other untruths.
“They do that all the time. I never stay, I just leave,” one user wrote.
“They’ll also lie and say their computers are down,” a second person stated.
“Did he say 8 to 10 minute wait or 18 minute wait?” one comment questioned. Lin Marie replied, “Good point, I swear I heard 18.”
“I’m a fast food worker and I do confirm that we will say stuff to make people leave, but my store does it when we’re really busy,” came another user’s remarks.
“I had to lie and say our computer was down because my manager was yelling at two people. There were only four [employees] in the store,” wrote another viewer.
@linmarietoolit This literally just happened
♬ original sound – LinMarieTooLit
In the post-pandemic years, the hospitality industry has experienced a large shift in the labor market, with as many as 2 million restaurant, bar, hotel, and casino jobs remaining unfulfilled in 2023, according to the Washington Post. As many service workers lost their jobs during the pandemic, they were forced to find employment elsewhere, with many never returning to the industry.
The shift has led to understaffing problems at restaurants across the country—and workers doing whatever they can to deal with large customer demand.
The Dot Dot has reached out to Lin Marie via Instagram message for more information.
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