‘It’s in the handbook’: Woman places Wingstop order 4 minutes before close. Then she catches the worker refusing to make it

Is it okay to call in to a restaurant to order food right before it closes? It's an age-old question. Some people think it's alright, while others consider it to be the height of rudeness.

Recently, Wingstop worker Bri_stay_yapping (@bri_stay_yappin) took to TikTok to vent after a regular decided to call in a to-go order three minutes before closing. Viewed over 1.4 million times as of publication, the video divided viewers on who was in the wrong— the workers or the customer.

What happened at Wingstop?

According to Bri, Wingstop stops taking phone orders at 11:30 p.m. While it wasn't quite that time, Bri said her manager told her to stop accepting phone orders because they had a large amount of DoorDash orders to fulfill.

"It is literally in the manual that we stop taking phone orders at 11:30," Bri said. "[But] my manager goes. 'Just tell them we're done taking phone orders now, and it's getting late, and we have hella DoorDash orders.'"

So, at 11:26p.m, when a regular called and asked to order food. Bri, following the advice of her manager, explained that the restaurant could not take any more phone orders. Unfortunately for Bri and her coworkers, the customer informs her that she is five minutes away and will order at the store.

"At this time—it's 11:35-40 p.m.—we don't have a lot of foot traffic unless it's people coming to pick up DoorDash, which is why you don't take phone orders so we have time to clean," Bri said.

According to Bri, by the time the customer arrived to order her food, the workers were already sweeping and cleaning. And though she was frustrated with a regular who decided to come in right before closing, she took the order.

What do viewers think?

Some viewers argued that customers shouldn't order close to closing.

"I’ve literally gone to a restaurant to see they are closing in 30 minutes and I leave. I find a place open later. It’s so rude in my opinion," one said.

"Ppl need to stop being so freaking inconsiderate if we close at 11:30 and you calling us at 11:27 im not answering we not making no more food we are cleaning up and closing the store down. Try again tomorrow," a second agreed.

"I refuse to argue with anybody who handling my food," another said.

"As a wingstop employee I KNOW THE STRUGGLE, It’s always the REGULARS," a viewer added.

Others argued that the store should take orders until 11:30 p.m.

"If the policy say 1130 and she called at 1126, y’all are in the wrong," a viewer said.

"You said yall stop taking orders at 11:30 but she called at 11:26 so you could’ve either took her order or explain that yall are backed up..i know customers can be aggravating but yall were wrong," a second agreed.

"Tbh me as a customer I really wouldn’t care, I’d just ask if I could make an order inside or order online. But I’m also mindful of closing times by going earlier that’s just me tho," a third said.

"Nah if y’all stop at 1130 and I call at 1127 your taking my order it’s not 1130," a fourth said.

@bri_stay_yappin THIS IS PART 1! #philly #houston #storytime #wingstop ♬ original sound - Bri_stay_yappin

When should you stop ordering food?

According to Times Union, the right window of time to order food close to closing time is 30 minutes before closer or earlier.

In an article on Not Always Right, restaurant employees listed a lot of reasons not to order food before closing. These include common courtesy to the employees and the fact that workers need to clean the restaurant.

In a r/barista subthread on Reddit, multiple restaurant workers offered their own insights on whether or not ordering right at closing is okay.

"I don’t care to an extent. I had someone come in 1 minute before close and ordered 8 drinks. Another order 3 sandwiches (we make them from scratch) 2 minutes before close. My rule of thumb is if your order keeps you in the store 10 minutes past close, just called it in. I have group meetings and homework to do and in the 21st century calling or placing an order online is easily available," u/Choosegooser said.

"I get annoyed, but only if it's a regular that knows when we close. And I keep that to myself. It doesn't make the interaction better if they know you're annoyed. Other than that, I'll often get annoyed with myself- it will be slow so I'll tell myself I'll get a jump start on cleaning before my close- then I inevitably get a last minute rush and have to rewash everything I already cleaned." u/haleynoir_ said.

The Daily Dot reached out to Bri and Wingstop via email.

Internet culture is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here. You’ll get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.

Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.

The post ‘It’s in the handbook’: Woman places Wingstop order 4 minutes before close. Then she catches the worker refusing to make it appeared first on The Daily Dot.