the screens here work pretty well, the real problem is the heavy accents and inexplicably bad mic systems.

Posted by: gmangw at January 23, 2006 12:26 AM

Yeah, those foreigners at the fast food places are pretty difficult to understand.

Posted by: Cole Passannante at January 23, 2006 01:04 AM

HOLY CRAP!!1 I just went to that Wendy's Friday night, and I though "Hmm, this would make a good "This is Broken" entry..."

Posted by: Jello B. at January 23, 2006 01:16 AM

the speaker systems can often be quite poor. The display in the picture has obviously been urinated upon.

Posted by: asbestos (Ron) at January 23, 2006 03:12 AM

I haven't seen those at Wendy's before, what exactly is their purpose? Do they ever say anything else? Because if they're just telling me how helpful they "might" be, I'd rather they not put anything there in the first place that is so difficult to read.

Posted by: Manni at January 23, 2006 10:05 AM

Manni-They display the order as you recite it... so you order a number 1 and you see everything w/prices as you order it... along with the total.

Posted by: Eddie at January 23, 2006 10:48 AM

You know what's also broken about those things? Hardly anybody actually uses them until practically after the order has been finalized, so it's too late to correct any errors you spot.

Posted by: Trekker at January 23, 2006 01:06 PM

Trekker-

I feel the same way... in fact- my response above had something similar... but I just made it a seperate topic on my own site if your interested. Click name.

Posted by: Eddie at January 23, 2006 01:18 PM

Okay here's my little broken wendy's story.

A Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger is $.99. A Jr Hamburger is $.89. I happen to like plain hamburgers with bacon. If I order a Jr Hamburger w/ bacon I am charged $1.29 since they add on 40 cents for bacon. This means I actually have to order a Jr. Bacon Cheseburger, plain, no cheese. 75% of the time it's not made right the first time, but is the only way to get through their pricing system.

Posted by: Joshua Wood at January 23, 2006 01:37 PM

Well, way to be picky, Mr. Wood! (just kidding- I'm just as bad, if not worse!)

Posted by: ambrocked at January 23, 2006 04:33 PM

Lots of things in Utah are broken. (State motto: Welcome to Utah, now turn back your clock 100 years!)

Posted by: Pat at January 23, 2006 05:26 PM

As an order taker at Wendy's, I can tell you the screen is of no use. Try telling a customer that you are having trouble hearing them, they still leave their noisy diesel trucks running. It's hard to hear the difference between "mayo" and "mato". Then there are the fools who order from the passenger seat. Meanwhile we ring up what we think they said and very few watch the screen to see if we ring in what they said. Thanks for letting me vent.

Posted by: Miki at January 23, 2006 08:37 PM

what's broken is ordering anything other than the spicy chicken from wendy's. Their patty's are pretty nasty, greasier than even McDonalds (if that's even possible)

Posted by: real_saddam at January 23, 2006 09:01 PM

I know what "mayo" is, but, what the hell is "mato"?

tomayonaise - no?

matonaise - no?

I give up.

Posted by: myheadhurts at January 23, 2006 09:22 PM

What kills me about the screens at Wendy's (at least here in Reno) is that they don't actually display your order. What's the point of having them?

Posted by: Craig at January 23, 2006 09:28 PM

looks fine to me - the nights i make my way to wendys, everything looks about like that anyways...

Posted by: trippy at January 23, 2006 11:16 PM

I think this is a case of damaged, not broken.

As someone who does read the signs I get very annoyed at the order generally not appearing until I'm done, or the ones that can get glared into invisibility.

What's broken is the McDonalds that put a hearing-impaired person on order-taking duty on a decidedly-unclear system. Reasonable accomodation is one thing but she wasn't being able to understand anybody. (The guy in front of me had to pull forward to order, I had to and the guy behind also.)

Posted by: Loren Pechtel at January 24, 2006 12:03 AM

I've been through ones were the screens display your order as you order it, and I use them and make sure my orders are correct. I have a minor speech impediment that makes it more difficult to convey exactly what I want to strangers, so it is a big help for me and for them, because sometimes I take orders back if they aren't right.

However, with that said, Wendy's here has paid for something that is fundamentally ok in my opinion, but now it is... well... broken. And ones that don't display your order... probably were meant to at one point, then something... broke.

Posted by: Role at January 25, 2006 05:29 PM

"I know what 'mayo' is, but, what the hell is 'mato'?"

'Mato' is tomato. I like to order burgers with tomato only, and 9/10 times I get mayonnaise only. If you say it slow ("TOO-MAY-TOE"), they think you're getting snotty with them, so I just go inside now. Which isn't too bad, since the fast-food drivethrough concept is just about the laziest thing ever invented. Right up there with the people who can't be bothered with that extra syllable in mayonnaise, even.

Posted by: Ron Mexico at January 26, 2006 01:04 PM

I think the reason that the order doesn't usually show up until you're practically done ordering is because they don't enter until then.

It's also probably why so many orders are messed up - can't except someone to remember your order for 30 seconds until they can get to the register.

Posted by: ed at January 26, 2006 03:12 PM

The sign at our Wendy's is much worse than that one over here in Akron Ohio.

Posted by: Aux10 at January 29, 2006 11:20 AM