A Wendy's Exposé
Disclaimer: This article is not referring to every Wendy’s or in any way purposely offending or bashing the New Wen corporation as whole; rather, it is referring to the specific Wendy’s in which I personally experienced these events. Also, the events described in this article were never brought to the attention of anyone at a higher authority level than the store’s general manager.
Everyone has been to Wendy’s, or at least knows what it is, but what we don’t know is what really goes on behind the scenes, and what the workers go through.
Between drama, rude customers, illegal activities, and inadequate training, it is quite possibly the worst place you can work. Employees are underpaid and mistreated, and no one is doing anything to change it. They are mistreated by their own co-workers and managers as well as the customers for which they are doing a service. Fast-food workers have one of the toughest jobs because they have to meet certain criteria and keep a smile on their faces even when customers are throwing nothing but hate their way.
I worked at Wendy’s from November of 2015 to August of 2016. After almost 10 months of working there, I know for a fact that I will never be able to go back. I will never forget the things that happened while I worked there.
Within my first week of working there, I was already frustrated with the place. I received absolutely no training whatsoever. They didn’t show me any videos or give me any instructions. I was thrown into position and expected to pick it up, and now that I’ve taught myself every position, they rely on me to be flexible, sometimes running up to four positions at the same time. This wouldn’t be a problem if they were actually training people but they aren’t.
Just as any fast-food worker will experience, some of the rudest customers walk in and out of Wendy’s every day. I have had some of the worst experiences; I’ve dealt with screaming customers because the sandwich maker made a slight error, crazy customers that have come through drunk, and my managers having to call the cops because someone refuses to leave. I have even had hot coffee thrown on me at the drive thru window because the customer claimed it “wasn’t hot enough.”
One of the worst things that went on there during my time as an employee was the drug use by the managers. While on the clock, they would crush up and snort Xanax off of the back counter, take 30-45 minute “smoke breaks” to get high outside and would give access to drugs and alcohol to minors. Once this was brought to the attention of the General Manager, they of course denied it, but they also threatened to terminate the employment of anyone who told. However, bringing it to the attention of the GM did get them to cease these actions.
Personally, I will never return to Wendy’s just because of the horrible experience I had there, and I caution to anyone looking for a first job to apply elsewhere. Although you may get 60 hours a week, I don't know if that’s even legal, and you will most likely thoroughly hate every minute of it.
One positive I can say is that a slim few of the people that I worked alongside are now good friends of mine and for that I am thankful. Other than that, I can now say I have a lot of in-person communication skills that I can carry with me for the rest of my life.
