This woman insists you shouldn’t have to pull your car aside to wait for your drive-thru order. It’s a “scam,” she says.
Many people in the comments section apparently share her frustration.
In a video with more than 25,000 views, Rikki (@rikkifitnessmama) films herself in the heat of the moment while waiting for her Arby’s sandwich.
Her qualm is that drive-thru spots shouldn’t ask you to “pull up,” meaning to pull up ahead to the exit of the drive-thru line or over to the parking area to wait for your food.
This is often done if a person’s order is going to take extra time, and they don’t want their idle car holding up the rest of the line.
But Rikki has another theory.
“The reason why they ask you to do that is because they are literally on a timer for each car, and they want corporate to think that they go you in and out,” Rikki says as she snaps her fingers.
“But you didn’t get me in and out. You told me to pull up and wait for my food. Oh. So you want me to lie for you?” Rikki adds. “What do I get out of that?”
She adds that if they’re going to make her wait longer and pull her car aside, she should at least get a discount.
@rikkifitnessmama They think they slick #fastfood #scam #fyp ♬ original sound – Rikki
You can score free stuff—if you play your cards right
A person in the comments section said that she asks for an incentive to pull up and usually gets a freebie added to her order, like a dessert or shake. “Just ask nicely,” she advised. Others said that they usually get a free drink out of it.
She advised viewers to ask the fast-food worker why they needed to pull up.
Rikki told a commenter that instead of pulling over to the side, she told them that she was going to wait at the window since there wasn’t anybody behind her.
People in the comments section had a lot to say.
“I worked Wendy’s drive through. And we had to move the cars. Because it’s a time thing. And we got nothing for doing that. Only the managers,” a top comment read.
“Could it be that it’s more efficient for the sake of keeping it pushing?” a person asked.
“I be wanting to tell them No! and for what, but I don’t play with folks that gotta fix my food… So I do as Iam told, but I hate not being able to say what I really wanna say,” another added.
Are drive-thru timers actually a thing?
Drive-thru timers are, in fact, a thing. Fast-food workers at places like Wendy’s have complained about them and the pressures they are under to complete drive-thru requests in a timely fashion. One Wendy’s worker was even filmed trying to trick the timer at her store, further illustrating such pressures.
Drive-thru lines move faster than ever
While drive-thru customers may not realize this at the moment, drive-thru lanes are actually faster than they used to be, according to an Intouch Insight study that included visits to Arby’s, Burger King, Carl’s Jr., Chick-fil-A, Dunkin’, Hardee’s, KFC, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, and Wendy’s.
In 2023, the average total time spent in a drive-thru shrank by 29 seconds. And the wait time to order went down by 25 seconds. But 2023’s total drive-thru time is still 15 seconds slower than 2019 (pre-pandemic).
When taking into account how busy the drive-thru lane was, Chick-fil-A, McDonald’s, and Wendy’s took the top scores for fastest drive-thru.
Now, back to the whole “drive-thru lanes are actually faster than they used to be” part. As with many things, this phenomenon has to do with the pandemic.
When the pandemic hit, most orders shifted to the drive-thru as dine-in was shut down. But now, in a post-vaccine world, people are still opting more for drive-thru than dine-in, which puts added pressure on drive-thru workers, CNBC reported.
To address this, many fast-food restaurants are pushing for people to order in the app, and many now offer curbside pickup—which is great for people who prefer minimal human interaction (shout out to introverts).
Some chains are even testing AI software to take orders (let’s see how that goes) and building locations with more drive-thru lanes, sometimes as many as four, CNBC stated.
The Daily Dot reached out to Rikki via Instagram and TikTok direct message and to Arby’s for comment via email.
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