Arby’s: A Masterclass in Customer Repellent

You ever walk into a fast-food joint and feel like you’ve entered a bureaucratic nightmare? No, not the DMV—Arby’s. The place that supposedly “has the meats” but doesn’t seem to have the brains to go with it.

One of my favorite shows, My New Zealand Family, has spent the past few weeks road-tripping through the western U.S., taking in the sights, the culture, and of course, the fast food. And after years of hype, they finally made it to Arby’s, expecting a fun, meaty experience. Instead, they got the cold, corporate shoulder.

The place was dead—like, tumbleweeds-rolling-through dead. You’d think a couple of friendly YouTubers ordering a variety of food and drinks would be a welcome sight. But no, the manager decided to be the human equivalent of a brick wall. They tried to swap out drinks in their meal combos, a completely reasonable request, but nope—“not allowed.” They tried to order a variety of items in a way that made sense to them, and the manager basically told them they had to start over and do it the correct way, like there was some ancient, sacred fast-food order ritual that must be followed.

After finally getting through the unnecessary ordering gauntlet, they sat down—annoyed, frustrated, and drained. And guess what? The food was cold. The place was empty. The service was trash. And somehow, Arby’s still expects people to come back?

Look, fast food is supposed to be fast and easy. If your system is so rigid that you can’t accommodate basic requests, maybe it’s time to rethink your entire business model. We live in a world where customer service is one of the few things keeping brick-and-mortar businesses alive. If you can’t train employees to exercise a little common sense, then just shut the doors and let better restaurants take your place.

No one has patience for this kind of garbage anymore. If a business treats customers like an inconvenience, then we, the customers, should return the favor. Plenty of places out there actually want our money—Arby’s clearly doesn’t.

So screw it. Arby’s, if you can’t figure out how to do the bare minimum, then don’t be surprised when you’re left with empty stores and cold, unwanted food. You earned it.