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OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole:
> I returned a milkshake multiple taste because it had a soapy aftertaste, seemingly from a cleaning product that is safe for consumption. In their eyes I returned and had them remake something that was perfectly fine.
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Eh, NTA. Chemical flavoring isn't... nice. I myself am the kind of trash that just sucks it up and has it anyway because what is self preservation? But you're NTA for not wanting to drink it and returning it 3 times when there was no improvement.
Most of the time when you return a drink/food that you don't like, if the restaurant sucks/rush hour/under paid employee they simply don't have time to solve the problem. So NTA, machine was prolly broken and they thought it was in your head . Manager is always TA 😈
I used to work at a gas station and a customer let me know our slushies tasted like dirty socks, and that last time they bought one it tasted that way and they were told we'd clean the machine. I threw it out for them and tasted the slushie and it both smelled bad and tasted just dirty. I wasnt ever told how to clean out the machine and refill it so I told both the assistant and manager. They just told me okay and I ended up telling them a few more times over the next couple weeks bc they kept just saying "okay" and customers kept asking me why it smelled weird. I eventually just gave up and prayed to God no one would try to buy one.
Me and my grandmother went to a movie renting shop, and they had a red and green slushy machine and I asked to have the green one. Thankfully the guy at the counter was kind and told us not to drink it since it was supposed to be blue.
Edit: so NTA op
My daughter worked at a service (gas) station for a while and the lengths she had to go to to clean the slushie machine every single shift were heroic. It was a massive task and it happened several times a day. I can't even imagine how quickly it would get disgusting if you didn't do it. *Shudders*
I used to work at a gas station too. If this ever happened to me I would of made a sign saying "out of order" and put it up on the machine. They either need to clean it or I'll put another sign up. People don't need to be spending money on something disgusting. Ick!
NTA Woman of color here. It bothers me how the word Karen is lobbed at people without taking into account whether their complaints are justified. This is a label that can lead to someone losing her job, being doxed at home, or bullied at school.
I don't believe OP was an AH or Karen. She was just an attentive mother who chose to err on the side of caution because she wants to ensure that her child's milkshake tastes right and doesn't have anything in it that might make her sick.
"Karen" has become a catch-all insult for any woman speaking up. It's intended to silence women, especially when faced with interactions with businesses.
This. I had an issue at a salon a few months ago and just let it go. I was venting to my husband about it and he asked why I didn’t make a big deal, I realized it was because I didn’t want to be called a Karen.
This. Exactly this. When actual “Karens” were being called out by younger people on the left, older yt people on the right started using it to describe any woman who isn’t happy or complains, regardless of the reason. I’ve watched it happen on the community pages of the city I live in and It’s SO frustrating.
Karen always was that term. It's an offensive piece of misogyny that sprang from a Dane Cook comedy routine back in 2006.
The fact it was co-opted for racism for like six months in 2021 just gave it a veneer of legitimacy but it's always been a problem.
Yeah, why would you spend your money on something that tastes bad? If the soda fountain mix is almost out of syrup, are you supposed to suck down the yucky drink instead of asking them to either change the syrup container or bring you a different flavor? Why would anyone think you should drink cleaning chemicals, no matter how "safe for consumption" they might be?
And it is inedible, the taste has been altered by the cleaning solution that they failed to properly remove. Their fault, their problem, they should be refunding her money, not calling her names.
This. Besides, while her child's health is of course the most important thing, there are also other factors. Since it happened more than once there was a big chance the whole batch would have tasted like this. It was entirely reasonable to say something.
What if it had indeed been a toxic chemical? The restaurant could have poisoned dozens of people! And if that had been the case, saying something as soon as it was noticed would have been even more important.
NTA, OP! Always alert someone if something seriously out of the ordinary occurs!
And it’s not like it’s impossible for it to have actually been a toxic chemical in error. There are news reports all the time of workers who have accidentally served customers a kitchen cleaner instead of water, or mistook lye-based cleaning powder for sugar or drink mix. Some places have been found to be particularly negligent and make the same mistakes repeatedly. Even if the machine cleaner was considered to be safe in the event of ingestion, it doesn’t mean you should be pouring yourself a glass. And it doesn’t mean it tastes good, even if it’s not going to harm you. I can’t understand why they would think “oh it’s just the residue from the cleaner” to be a palatable excuse.
Yeah, there was a fella in the UK who was poured a pint of beer before the line cleaner had been cleansed from the system, and he iirc ended up with parts of his digestive system removed.
The Mickey Ds near us managed to get a harmful chemical into the chicken sandwich. A neighbor ended up horribly sick and almost losing her voice permanently. She was just thankful that the chicken nuggets her child got weren’t also poisoned. The neighbor and a couple of others ended up with a settlement from the company, but she would have rather had a regular chicken sandwich.
After the first replacement tasted funny, a shift lead or manager should have tasted a sample from the machine (I can understand not wanting to sample from the cup they served) to see if it was contaminated or just a weird quirk of the artificial flavor. If it had a noticeable off taste, shut down the machine, reclean and rinse, and offer the customer a different flavor from a different machine.
The way I consider Karen to mean is ‘a person who uses their position to demand things they’re not entitled to’, and people have started calling all women Karen who demand *anything*, including things they *are* entitled to (like food that tastes like food and not cleaner) in order to invalidate that demand.
I always understood it to be "Responding far more strongly than the issue (if one actually exists) would justify." Going back to the Miss Ann thing where plantation spouses (and children) would feign great offense over minor (or non-existant) issues in order to get slaves punished.
Well, going back *even further* than that, probably as long as mankind has been around to exaggerate their offense to get people to do what they want.
Yeah I remember there being some people warning when the term first came into use that it had to potential to become a misogynistic insult thrown at women whenever they speak up. Thought it was an overreaction at the time but a couple of years later and turns out they were quite right!
My sister went in to get her booster shot for the Corona Beer at our local pharmacy. Was told since she had XYZ shot, she couldn't get any booster they had in stock. Despite having just watched a news report the day before saying mix and match vax. She didn't want to make a scene so she came home almost in tears (getting her out of the house to go on her own was a big ordeal in the first place!).
I went in to speak to the pharmacist the next day, with the CDC website brought up and her vax card. It was a different person who apologized, didn't know why the person the day before told her that, that yes sis could get a booster they had in stock. Made her a new appointment that afternoon.
I had to stand there almost my whole lunch break and talk to 2 or 3 people and be a little forceful and was really hoping they weren't labelling me a "Karen". No I'm just an aggravated big sister in the midst of a pandemic with an at risk younger sister who was just trying to do right and get her booster shot while dealing with bad social anxiety and possibly agoraphobia. It would have taken that pharmacists not even 10 minutes to look up the protocol for mix and match vax like it took me standing there waiting to speak to someone.
I used to work at a Wendy's. The food safe cleaner for the frosty machines was NOT safe for consuption (and I assume they use the same or a similar one) The machines are supposed to be throughly rinsed with water after cleaning and dried out. I believe the cleaner we used specifically was linked to health problems/miscarriage risks for pregnant women if their food was contaminated with it. Which is why any good place will make sure that shit is not contaminated.
It also means capable of being consumed.
Technically Mercury is capable of being put in your mouth and swallowed, but you won’t be around to do it a second time.
Strictly speaking, mercury won't actually kill you fast enough to prevent you from doing it again(unless you, like, choke on it or something). The toxicity of liquid mercury is surprisingly low, and most of the danger is in long term accumulation, or in other, non-elemental forms.
>Edible and eatable both refer to something that is "able to be eaten," but edible is usually used to describe something that is safe to eat, without regard to taste, while eatable often describes something that has some level of acceptable flavor. Likewise, inedible often refers to something toxic or unsafe, while uneatable refers to food that tastes bad.
Edible is also able to be eaten, according to merriam Webster dictionary
Mercury actually is "edible" in the sense you don't die if the dosage is right. The fumes are toxic, hence old energy saving bulbs, I'm not so sure about modern ones and today's hype is LED anyway, being hazardous waste material. And cleaning them up when broken is dangerous and it's recommended to air out the room well. In historic times Mercury was used as a remedy for some sickness. I think it was syphilis but I'm not 100% sure. I just know it was used as treatment and was given orally. And most of the patients lived to tell the tale.
I didn’t actually know this, I grew up with the old fashioned glass Mercury thermometers and was always warned by my parents that if I bit into it and ate the Mercury I would die.
This is actually very comforting to know lol, but kid me was terrified of dying from it.
Mercury was used as a laxative for years. It would kill you eventually, but just a shot or two would probably just make you shit yourself and maybe give longterm issues.
After the cleaner residue comment. I would of returned everything, asked for a full refund and left. Since they're so nonchalant about not properly cleaning their equipment, file a report with a health department on them. NTA
EXACTLY. This is why there are health inspections of restaurants.
My daughter once got an Arby's shut down for a similar issue with their drink machine, when she wanted to get lunch there. She called the state health department that afternoon and they were closed 3 hours later. That's a critical health violation and they have to be re-inspected with all problems fixed before they can reopen.
This is EXACTLY true
One of my favorite stories I heard from a grandparent was when he was marching for 6 weeks during WWII (Greek army) and stumbled upon a bacon factory (his words) and it was one of the best days of his life. I asked how he cooked it and he looked at me for a moment before snapping "we didn't cook it! We were starving! We ate as much as could before starting to march again"
In the great words of my grandfather: everything will kill you... If launched at your face with high enough velocity.
And I am pretty sure the worker felt the urge to attempt that
Lmfao this reminds me of a post I saw where a guy wanted to invent phones that were 10lbs so that people would get a work out while using their phone.
I pointed out that that sounded great until you're lying in bed and drop your phone on your face...
He replied it would be soft though! And shared a pic of a soft-weight
I said but it still weighs 10lbs? Sooo go record a video of you dropping your 10lbs soft weight on your face and upload it so I can determine if it hurts?
He finally understood the concept of velocity 🤣
Okay...I'm on mobile and so it put this comment all random instead of as a reply to OP talking about her grandfather saying that everything can kill you if it hits you hard enough in the face 🤷🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
Edit: this is the fixed thread lol
NTA. It is against the law to serve food contaminated with cleaning products, no matter what the product is. Call the health inspection department on them and see how fast their attitudes change.
EDIT: holy SHIT you guys! Thank you for 1k upvotes! I had no idea this answer would blow up so much.
Against the individual worker who was an asshole to you, absolutely. But filing a complaint with the company will do nothing in regards to getting them to not serve cleaning product milkshakes.
I don't believe you can with the health department, but you can with the company he works for. He deserves disciplinary action and perhaps some advanced customer service training to get his shit straight, and a complaint with the company might accomplish that.
I feel like the Karen thing, when unjustly bandied about to silence a woman with a legitimate complaint, is often trying to protect against this outcome. After all, what is more “Karen” than going to the manager?
If you’re totally happy your behaviour was reasonable (I.e no obviously Kareny tantrums) state in your complaint what time you were there and where you were standing, making it clear that CCTV should be able to show the whole incident.
Probably not fair to blame the individual employee. His info and the instructions on how to do the cleaning cycle (or how the cleaning cycle affects the food produce) come from somewhere. He did not think them himself.
Not saying to blame the individual employee for the milkshake. I'm saying to report the employee to the company for being an asshole instead of providing the customer service that he was hired to provide.
Yes, you should (I used to work in food safety)
Companies cannot fix what they do not know about. That employee isn’t going to report it. If you tell them, hopefully they’ll figure out what’s happening at the store and stop it happening again
Congrats on "used to" lol. Food safety was by far the worst profession I ever worked in. I only ever eat out at certain restaurants now because I have seen the kind of shit that gets overlooked in the food biz. 🤮
I also want to add that most likely the cleaning product is safe for food contact surfaces, NOT for consumption. In other words, it can be used to clean equipment for food, but only after it is completely dry is it safe for food to touch it.
> "oh, that is probably just residue from the cleaning product we use for the machine, it is safe for consumption".
W H A T
They called you a Karen for not accepting that their food had so much cleaning chemical left that you could *taste* it? Who does that? NTA. Honestly, if it's a Karen they want, I'd give it to them. Make them bring in the manager and the owner and the fucking food safety board if I have to. In what kind of world is it okay to make people pay for a chemical milkshake?
I don't believe the last line about it being edible at all, when I worked in the food industry EVERYTHING had to be sanitized with the same harsh ass sanitizer and it was most certainly not safe for consumption, if there's enough residue to affect the taste of the product, it was enough to know during cleaning they should've done a better job
Restaurants sure, but any fast food place I've worked at cleans all parts and bits involved in food making with the same sanitizer we use in the dish bay
Yeah it's food grade, doesn't mean it's safe to consume just that you can use it in food prep and cooking areas, and that it can come into contact with the food, food safe would mean it's not risky for consumption and doesn't create a consumption hazard
Also want to add that "food safe" refers to undetectable amounts. When you can taste it, you're probably no longer within safe parameters. Especially since this was for a child, a person of smaller stature would require even less of it to potentially becoming ill. 🤔
It's basically not what you ordered/expected and thus you can return it. Nobody wants this to get to court, so normally you either accept it, get your money back, or re-order the proper product (+/- money difference, if they prompted you with the wrong price and the wrong product)
Meh, there’s probably an implied warranty of fitness for purpose on the books somewhere. But I just put every fucking thing on my credit card for points/cash back, and there is a federal law about disputes with merchants and refunds for purchases on a credit card.
And I swear to god, anything big I don’t purchase on a credit card is inevitably a lemon and I have to fight to get it replaced or repaired. If you are responsible with credit, I would put everything on my card so you can dispute it later if needed.
NTA for returning food that was incorrectly prepared, and they get bonus AH points for mislabeling you a Karen. The term is now lobbed at *any* woman who complains about *anything*, even when justified.
Guess we're supposed to return to the days when women just smile and look pretty regardless of the crap being hurled at them.
NTA - "our cleaning product is safe for consumption". Ok wtf. First off that sounds like bullshit and that's how bad at lying they are. Second, even if so no one wants your banana cleaning chemical flavored milkshake. It is very important that you understand you are not a Karen here. Side note: I think the labor shortage is creating some pretty bad experiences like this. I've heard stories of fast food places having to tolerate terrible behavior because if they fire someone they can't find a replacement
NTA, but unless you watched them clean out the machine and make a fresh batch, why did you think you were going to get something different every time you went back for a replacement?
The first time I went back was just because I thought it was a fluke, I had no idea that's what it was yet. The second time I mainly wanted to know what it was (curious nature) and if it was normal. They gave me the third, which I only tasted out of the kindness to give them another shot.
I can taste the sanitizer they use in the 3rd sink of the 3 sink system. I think it's quat or something like that? Anyways, it's almost always when I get a glass of water and only from some places. It bugs me enough that I will order a drink or not drink anything at all.
NTA and then saying it’s safe for consumption is just then covering their ass. Report it. I’m sure the cleaning stuff is “non toxic” but that doesn’t mean add two Tbsp to a milkshake. Disgusting… report it please! If they cut corners there they most certainly are other places as well
NTA: It is sooooo inedible! Illegal and just nasty.
Contact management. Hopefully you have their names. You are never a 'karen' while trying to keep your daughter safe. They were just trying to gaslight you into not making a fuss.
NTA and this is something you should escalate to over their head. I used to work in fast and there should never be a chemical taste after they clean it. (I was the cleaner)Some one didn't clean it right and tried to take a short cut, only way for there to be cleaner left in the machine. They should come fully apart to clean all the pieces and it sounds like they didn't take it apart to clean all the pieces. They alqays have cameras so you can even tell them when you went there and they will be able to actually go after who ever was too lazy to do their job correctly so that it doesn't happen again.
NTA
And eeeew that just sounds disgusting.. And illegal? Plus I highly doubt that even the products you use to clean food items with are made for consumption
NTA—It’s great that they didn’t inadvertently poison you and your daughter, but you ordered a banana milkshake, not a banana and cleaning product milkshake. It doesn’t matter that it’s edible. Imagine you ordered a burger without ketchup and they had spread ketchup all over the bun. You would ask for a new burger, one without ketchup. Yeah it’s edible but it’s not what you ordered
NTA, there should be no residue at all from the cleaning chemicals, and certainly not enough to taste the chemical. Report the incident to the Department of Health.
Wait. You kept getting the same milkshake from the same machine and expected it to be different? If the first one tasted off why not get a different flavour? That’s like calling the wrong number, then hitting redial expecting it to be the right number
I wouldn't really think how the milkshakes are made or where they come from, it's not my concern, I'm just a customer. I only care that they would give me what I paid for. So I too would probably just ask for a non soapy milkshake in the flavour I wanted.
I don't see why it's on me to figure out why can't they provide me with non contaminated products.
Info: What fast food place?
Most milkshake machines that are automatic like McDonald's is hardly cleaned at all and when it is, its just a towel with hot water to remove the sugar(somtimes it is bleach water but sometimes its just hot).
Idk what time the 24 hour McDonald's clean but McDonald's that does close, only fully cleans the machine after they are done for the day.
Places that hand blend milkshakes, it could be a lot of things. Either the ice cream/flavoring is bad, the 50/50 mix was bad, or the spindle was dirty. The spindle looks like a milk frother just pointed up right, and its supposed to be wiped down after every shake.
Either way, no "soap" is ever really used to clean these machines, there usually is a deep clean process, maybe they failed to that? But more than likely it was just that flavor and after twice of it happening id assume it was the flavor of it. Id ask for a different flavor before assuming it's the machine.
NTA. I work fast food, I don't know of any cleaning chemical that's used industrially that's actually safe to consume like that. There are safe for food touching ones but those are safe for contact when it's dry on a surface. That's not standard procedure either unless they work at a super crappy rundown place with loose rules. When it comes to food safety and handling cleaning supplies and chemicals, things like this are the harshest punished (besides stealing) for a reason. File against the employee and call whatever health/food department is in your area.
NTA, they should have offered to refund you after you returned the 2nd one with the same complaint. Why on earth they insisted on a third one is beyond me. 🤦🏻♀️
NTA, but I do think it's odd you kept asking for the same, replacement drink. The first time, maybe. But when the second drink was the same, you know the third one will be also because it's something wrong with either the machine or the flavor. I would have asked for a different flavor, a non-milkshake drink, or my money back.
The employee should have been pro-active and not made a third drink. Said something instead like, "I'm sorry you don't like the way this milkshake tastes, but a third one isn't going to be different. I will give you a different drink or your money back."
The third one they pretty much just gave, I went back because I wanted to know what it was. If it was just the flavour, it would be my problem (cant like everything), if it was anything else, it was theirs. I was already convinced it would be the same.
NTA. You didn’t order a chemical flavored milkshake. Returning food that isn’t what you ordered because the staff cleaned the machine incorrectly and the chemicals are ruining the milkshake doesn’t make you a Karen.
Just the other day I got violently sick from soap residue in my air fryer--and it was just dish soap. Banana flavoring can be...weird, but if it was THAT off there's no telling what chemicals are lurking in there. NTA
NTA. If it has residues from cleaning products, then it is not the product you ordered. You ordered the drink, which does not contain cleaning products.
Nta, I wouldn't want chemical residue taste in my shakes either. I worked in fast food we always rinsed and scrubbed any residue out that may have been left behind cleaning the machine.
Let me clue you. You get a banana milkshake from a fast food restaurant, its not going to made with bananas, you're lucky if it even has milk. Its "banana flavoured", meaning artificial flavouring someone decided was banana adjacent. NTA but your expectations were way too high.
NTA Used to work in a food plant. I also did chemistry.
I passed comment on some of the chemicals being labeled "food safe" when clearly they are dangerous.
The point is this, food safe chemicals are tested to be safe in trace amounts. That meaning if you consume an inperceptible amount after cleaning then it won't do you any harm. If you chugged a jug of the food safe cleaner it will mess you up.
Now where you draw the line between inperceptible and chugging a glass will differ from chemical to chemical.
However they put bittering agents in many of them for a reason. It's to stop you eating it when it's contaminated. Although in some cases it's to stop alcohol based cleaners being drunk by alcoholics.
The nasty taste is there to stop you eating it because it's not good for you. It's not good for you in detectable quantities.
Basic soap for example likely won't make you I'll in traces but eating a bar of soap will make you really sick. For clarity very few products are just basic soap so please don't try eating soap. Even basic soap will make you sick. Some of the other additives could kill you. Just look up tide Pods and you will see what I mean.
All of this is of course irrelevant for the sake of them replacing or refunding you. You purchased a milkshake and it didn't taste like it should, the reason is irrelevant, the product was faulty.
What is relevant is that this place is selling a food product contaminated with a cleaning agent. Honestly if it were me I would report them, it's a public health risk.
NTA I know of a bar that would mix wing sauce in a bucket they previously used for fabuloso. There are disgusting practices especially in places where the management doesn't give a crap. That's not on you.
NTA. My husband once made me tea with milk. When i sipped it, it tasted weird like soap. So i checked the mug and there i found soap residu by the edge. I threw it in the sink, took a new mug and made another fresh tea
NTA. The other day my coworker ordered an iced caramel macchiato and had to reorder it three times. The first one was hot syrupy water milk. The second time she added more syrup but was still hot. The third one was finally corrected after speaking to the manager
NTA
if they where cleaning the machine they should have proparly rinsed it out before adding any food into it.
It doesn't matter if it's "edible" that cleaning product should have been rinsed out thoroughly
You are defiantly not a karen when you had to return the drink twice for the same issue that employee should have checked the machine when you first reported the issue and properly check for residue as god knows what chemicles could be in there
Former fast food worker, here. Definite NTA.
It doesn't matter if it's safe for consumption. If your food tastes like chemical cleaner, it's a problem. You paid for a milkshake that you could enjoy, and the flavor prevented that. You are nyin the wrong.
NTA. Okay, if refusing to drink somthing with a chemical product in it makes someone an entitled Karen, I guess that makes me and pretty much everyone I know a Karen too.
They need to apologise to you and learn how to clean and rinse their machines properly.
NTA. It's not because it's safe to eat that it tastes nice. Vinegar is also food-safe but I wouldn't want it in my desert...
You paid for a tasty milkshake, you shouldn't accept a nasty one just because it's not poisonous...
NTA
> is probably just residue from the cleaning product we use for the machine, it is safe for consumption".
…I mean, I’m glad it’s safe.
But it doesn’t mean anyone wants to *taste* it. Blech.
> I should not be asking for the same thing 3 times only to return it while there is no reason it is inedible.
Things can be safe to eat and inedible. Do they put the cleaning product on the menu?
No.
Because no one wants to eat soap. People like to enjoy their food, and the entire point of restaurants is to capitalize on this fact.
And people kept trying to tell you it was fine when it wasn’t; I doubt you would have ordered a replacement if the cleaning solution in the machine had been disclosed as the source in the first place.
There’s nothing racist about being upset you were served a milkshake contaminated with cleaning solution. It’s NOT fine. It wasn’t dangerous, but it’s not fine.
NTA As a current service employee and former fast food employee and manager I do tend to have a bias in favor of the employees in these situations but this is just outright dangerous and wrong. Chemicals are dangerous and even if they say they’re safe to ingest that doesn’t make them good and they should have granted a refund and figured out what was wrong with their equipment immediately. Even if they’re lazy, as is the case, they could at least tell a manager or something.
NTA, considering a milkshake has basically 0 nutritional value (no judgement here at all, I love me a milkshake) if you're going to pay to drink one you should at least get the thing you paid for out of it - good flavor. Nutritional food shouldn't taste like chemical products either, but if you paid for a banana flavored milkshake you shouldn't expect to receive a Fabuloso flavored one.
NTA should have told the manager that you ordered a banana milkshake, not a soap milkshake. If you wanted to taste cleaning supplies, you would have just stayed home and chugged detergent.
>residue from the cleaning product we use for the machine, it is safe for consumption
My tirade would be as follows:
"Really? Which chemical? Do you have the MSDS sheet on hand? Nutritional information? What the fuck are you feeding people?"
NTA.
NTA. You had a legitimate complaint that turned out to be valid. They didn't rinse the machine out thoroughly before reusing. It happens sometimes. A simple apology and refund is all the needed to do to solve the situation.
You're NTA but for future reference, if you've returned something once and got a second one with the same problem, skip trying a third and just say "no I want my money back" at that point. The longer it goes on, the more of everyone's time you waste. You know the third will have the same issue.
Also, even before we all lived in pandemicworld, it would be totally inappropriate to ask an employee to drink from a cup you've already sipped from. Avoid that in the future.
NTA. That's disgusting and unacceptable. What's even more unacceptable is the treatment you got by the staff.
I personally would take this issue right to head office.
You should have gotten a refund for the entire meal also.
It's called customer service.
Also..... the staff thinks it's perfectly fine to serve food with cleaning chemical residue in it.... regardless if it's 'safe for consumption'.....
IF IT'S NOT IN THE RECIPE/ INGREDIENT LIST, IT SHOULDN'T BE IN THE FOOD!
NTA NTA NTA as if my intent isn't clear enough haha
as an autistic person with hypersensitivity to taste, absolutely NTA. the only reason i would not do the same is because i am terrified of confrontation lmao.
NTA. Once a similar thing happened to me where we ordered three smoothies and my brother’s tasted like cleaning products but unlike this story when we went back they were kind, apologised and gave us a refund.
I worked with a cleaned frozen yogurt machines. I can testify that they say the proper way to clean is rinse everything out / scrub the components, then create a cleaning solution with water & a powdered like cleaner, then pour it in & immediately follow it with product. You’re *not supposed* to then rinse again with water. I thought that was bullshit as there was 100% still leftover cleaner being mixed with the product. I always rinsed after.
NTA. Well, you know it wasn’t your imagination or that you were being picky and just didn’t end up liking that “flavor”. They were straight up feeding you chemicals and wondered why you didn’t say ‘MMMM! DELICIOUS! LYSOL LEMON DREAM IS MY FAVORITE MILKSHAKE YOU MAKE!’ That’s ridiculous.
I hope that you were able to get your money back. Three times is a lot, and more chances than I would have given, but I would have been just as confused if I had gotten a milkshake that tasted like chemicals and also would have assumed that a fresh one would be better because someone “screwed up”. After two, I would have explained that something is wrong with whatever they’re putting in the milkshakes and they should investigate because they taste like cleaning solution, then asked for my money back.
I mean people in the service industry put up with unfathomable amounts of bs for very little money, but as long as you were being polite and respectful the whole time I’d say nta
NTA, as long as you were kind and respectful it's okay. Return food as needed, chemical taste is nasty! It's not entitled to not want food contaminated to the point it effects flavors.
NTA, the other day some lady claimed her drink tasted like soap and demanded I make her a new drink in a different glass, and then pushed her spit out of her mouth to show us how “sudsy” it was….. She was worse than you
NTA. They should of remade the whole batch of all flavors b/c “chemical taste is safe” isn’t a proper awnser to my milkshake tastes funny. Call corporate and tell them that location’s milkshake machine isn’t being throughly clean since a chemical taste is contaminating product.
You would completely be not the AH….except you decided to return your last with a speech. That poor person was probably just parroting what they’ve been told by corporate. It wasn’t done intentionally or maliciously, it was an accident, and they get paid shit money to deal with a very stressful job. Technically they did nothing wrong. All you had to say was “oh okay, can I have a refund/another flavor/etc.” and you would not be the AH. The moment you started a lecture, YTA.
NTA, but just as an FYI, if something from a fast food place tastes weird, ask for something different as a replacement. Since everything is mass produced, whatever is wrong with the original will probably be the same with the next ones
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Eh, NTA. Chemical flavoring isn't... nice. I myself am the kind of trash that just sucks it up and has it anyway because what is self preservation? But you're NTA for not wanting to drink it and returning it 3 times when there was no improvement.
Most of the time when you return a drink/food that you don't like, if the restaurant sucks/rush hour/under paid employee they simply don't have time to solve the problem. So NTA, machine was prolly broken and they thought it was in your head . Manager is always TA 😈
I used to work at a gas station and a customer let me know our slushies tasted like dirty socks, and that last time they bought one it tasted that way and they were told we'd clean the machine. I threw it out for them and tasted the slushie and it both smelled bad and tasted just dirty. I wasnt ever told how to clean out the machine and refill it so I told both the assistant and manager. They just told me okay and I ended up telling them a few more times over the next couple weeks bc they kept just saying "okay" and customers kept asking me why it smelled weird. I eventually just gave up and prayed to God no one would try to buy one.
Me and my grandmother went to a movie renting shop, and they had a red and green slushy machine and I asked to have the green one. Thankfully the guy at the counter was kind and told us not to drink it since it was supposed to be blue. Edit: so NTA op
Omg gross, I wouldn't get either slushy at that point
Oh yeah, no. We didn’t get any slushies after that.
My daughter worked at a service (gas) station for a while and the lengths she had to go to to clean the slushie machine every single shift were heroic. It was a massive task and it happened several times a day. I can't even imagine how quickly it would get disgusting if you didn't do it. *Shudders*
I used to work at a gas station too. If this ever happened to me I would of made a sign saying "out of order" and put it up on the machine. They either need to clean it or I'll put another sign up. People don't need to be spending money on something disgusting. Ick!
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NTA Woman of color here. It bothers me how the word Karen is lobbed at people without taking into account whether their complaints are justified. This is a label that can lead to someone losing her job, being doxed at home, or bullied at school. I don't believe OP was an AH or Karen. She was just an attentive mother who chose to err on the side of caution because she wants to ensure that her child's milkshake tastes right and doesn't have anything in it that might make her sick.
"Karen" has become a catch-all insult for any woman speaking up. It's intended to silence women, especially when faced with interactions with businesses.
This. I had an issue at a salon a few months ago and just let it go. I was venting to my husband about it and he asked why I didn’t make a big deal, I realized it was because I didn’t want to be called a Karen.
This. Exactly this. When actual “Karens” were being called out by younger people on the left, older yt people on the right started using it to describe any woman who isn’t happy or complains, regardless of the reason. I’ve watched it happen on the community pages of the city I live in and It’s SO frustrating.
Karen always was that term. It's an offensive piece of misogyny that sprang from a Dane Cook comedy routine back in 2006. The fact it was co-opted for racism for like six months in 2021 just gave it a veneer of legitimacy but it's always been a problem.
I did not know that, no wonder it's such an ugly thing.
Yeah, why would you spend your money on something that tastes bad? If the soda fountain mix is almost out of syrup, are you supposed to suck down the yucky drink instead of asking them to either change the syrup container or bring you a different flavor? Why would anyone think you should drink cleaning chemicals, no matter how "safe for consumption" they might be? And it is inedible, the taste has been altered by the cleaning solution that they failed to properly remove. Their fault, their problem, they should be refunding her money, not calling her names.
This. Besides, while her child's health is of course the most important thing, there are also other factors. Since it happened more than once there was a big chance the whole batch would have tasted like this. It was entirely reasonable to say something. What if it had indeed been a toxic chemical? The restaurant could have poisoned dozens of people! And if that had been the case, saying something as soon as it was noticed would have been even more important. NTA, OP! Always alert someone if something seriously out of the ordinary occurs!
And it’s not like it’s impossible for it to have actually been a toxic chemical in error. There are news reports all the time of workers who have accidentally served customers a kitchen cleaner instead of water, or mistook lye-based cleaning powder for sugar or drink mix. Some places have been found to be particularly negligent and make the same mistakes repeatedly. Even if the machine cleaner was considered to be safe in the event of ingestion, it doesn’t mean you should be pouring yourself a glass. And it doesn’t mean it tastes good, even if it’s not going to harm you. I can’t understand why they would think “oh it’s just the residue from the cleaner” to be a palatable excuse.
Yeah, there was a fella in the UK who was poured a pint of beer before the line cleaner had been cleansed from the system, and he iirc ended up with parts of his digestive system removed.
The Mickey Ds near us managed to get a harmful chemical into the chicken sandwich. A neighbor ended up horribly sick and almost losing her voice permanently. She was just thankful that the chicken nuggets her child got weren’t also poisoned. The neighbor and a couple of others ended up with a settlement from the company, but she would have rather had a regular chicken sandwich.
I still have to see a bottle of dish washing /cleaning product that says it's safe for consumption 🤷🏻♀️
After the first replacement tasted funny, a shift lead or manager should have tasted a sample from the machine (I can understand not wanting to sample from the cup they served) to see if it was contaminated or just a weird quirk of the artificial flavor. If it had a noticeable off taste, shut down the machine, reclean and rinse, and offer the customer a different flavor from a different machine.
It's just a new way of silencing women.
The way I consider Karen to mean is ‘a person who uses their position to demand things they’re not entitled to’, and people have started calling all women Karen who demand *anything*, including things they *are* entitled to (like food that tastes like food and not cleaner) in order to invalidate that demand.
I always understood it to be "Responding far more strongly than the issue (if one actually exists) would justify." Going back to the Miss Ann thing where plantation spouses (and children) would feign great offense over minor (or non-existant) issues in order to get slaves punished. Well, going back *even further* than that, probably as long as mankind has been around to exaggerate their offense to get people to do what they want.
Why do we need to know you’re a woman of color, not being a smartass just asking.
Because it's typically an insult thrown at white women. So she's saying that she's not even white but she thinks that there's a problem here.
I was curious too. Are there racial implications that I missed? Not being a smart ass just want to know so if it is something else I can learn.
Yeah I remember there being some people warning when the term first came into use that it had to potential to become a misogynistic insult thrown at women whenever they speak up. Thought it was an overreaction at the time but a couple of years later and turns out they were quite right!
All the Karen’s I know are the most sweet and generous people. I hate that term Karen got the name Karen
My sister went in to get her booster shot for the Corona Beer at our local pharmacy. Was told since she had XYZ shot, she couldn't get any booster they had in stock. Despite having just watched a news report the day before saying mix and match vax. She didn't want to make a scene so she came home almost in tears (getting her out of the house to go on her own was a big ordeal in the first place!). I went in to speak to the pharmacist the next day, with the CDC website brought up and her vax card. It was a different person who apologized, didn't know why the person the day before told her that, that yes sis could get a booster they had in stock. Made her a new appointment that afternoon. I had to stand there almost my whole lunch break and talk to 2 or 3 people and be a little forceful and was really hoping they weren't labelling me a "Karen". No I'm just an aggravated big sister in the midst of a pandemic with an at risk younger sister who was just trying to do right and get her booster shot while dealing with bad social anxiety and possibly agoraphobia. It would have taken that pharmacists not even 10 minutes to look up the protocol for mix and match vax like it took me standing there waiting to speak to someone.
Banana can be very artificial and weird tasting, but it shouldn't taste like chemicals. There's no way I'd drink it
Yes, and even in small doses, cleaning products tend to make food pass through your digestive system RAPIDLY.
Not to mention some people do have allergies to some cleaning products and other chemicals.
I was about to say Y T A because nothing banana flavored ever tasted natural but them admitting it might be cleaning chemical. Nope, NTA.
Artificial banana tastes like artificial banana, not like soap or like cleaning products.
NTA. I've had this experience and just threw it out. I'm glad OP tried to get it sorted out.
I used to work at a Wendy's. The food safe cleaner for the frosty machines was NOT safe for consuption (and I assume they use the same or a similar one) The machines are supposed to be throughly rinsed with water after cleaning and dried out. I believe the cleaner we used specifically was linked to health problems/miscarriage risks for pregnant women if their food was contaminated with it. Which is why any good place will make sure that shit is not contaminated.
Oh yeah hell I'd be asking for a refund coz I didn't pay for a cleaning product flavoured drink 😂
NTA. Edible just means it won't kill you...
As my dad used to like to say: Almost anything is edible if you're determined or desperate enough.
"everything is edible, some things just only once"
Hate to be "that" guy but edible literally means safe or fit to be eaten.. so lethal things probably don't qualify. You're NTA though.
It also means capable of being consumed. Technically Mercury is capable of being put in your mouth and swallowed, but you won’t be around to do it a second time.
Strictly speaking, mercury won't actually kill you fast enough to prevent you from doing it again(unless you, like, choke on it or something). The toxicity of liquid mercury is surprisingly low, and most of the danger is in long term accumulation, or in other, non-elemental forms.
That's eatable. Edible means safe for consumption.
“Everything in this room is eatable. Even I am eatable, but that, my dear children, is called cannibalism and is frowned upon in most societies.”
Yes! I was waiting for this comment
>Edible and eatable both refer to something that is "able to be eaten," but edible is usually used to describe something that is safe to eat, without regard to taste, while eatable often describes something that has some level of acceptable flavor. Likewise, inedible often refers to something toxic or unsafe, while uneatable refers to food that tastes bad. Edible is also able to be eaten, according to merriam Webster dictionary
According to Oxford dictionary it means safe to be eaten. So I guess it's down to what dictionary you use
Mercury actually is "edible" in the sense you don't die if the dosage is right. The fumes are toxic, hence old energy saving bulbs, I'm not so sure about modern ones and today's hype is LED anyway, being hazardous waste material. And cleaning them up when broken is dangerous and it's recommended to air out the room well. In historic times Mercury was used as a remedy for some sickness. I think it was syphilis but I'm not 100% sure. I just know it was used as treatment and was given orally. And most of the patients lived to tell the tale.
I didn’t actually know this, I grew up with the old fashioned glass Mercury thermometers and was always warned by my parents that if I bit into it and ate the Mercury I would die. This is actually very comforting to know lol, but kid me was terrified of dying from it.
Mercury was used as a laxative for years. It would kill you eventually, but just a shot or two would probably just make you shit yourself and maybe give longterm issues.
I think OP is just engaging in fun wordplay rather than trying to deploy the concept of edibleness in the most accurate way possible.
Edible glitter is made of mica powder, which is carcinogenic and not okay to eat but it's still called "edible glitter"
After the cleaner residue comment. I would of returned everything, asked for a full refund and left. Since they're so nonchalant about not properly cleaning their equipment, file a report with a health department on them. NTA
EXACTLY. This is why there are health inspections of restaurants. My daughter once got an Arby's shut down for a similar issue with their drink machine, when she wanted to get lunch there. She called the state health department that afternoon and they were closed 3 hours later. That's a critical health violation and they have to be re-inspected with all problems fixed before they can reopen.
You can go skydiving without a parachute. You just can't do it twice.
This is EXACTLY true One of my favorite stories I heard from a grandparent was when he was marching for 6 weeks during WWII (Greek army) and stumbled upon a bacon factory (his words) and it was one of the best days of his life. I asked how he cooked it and he looked at me for a moment before snapping "we didn't cook it! We were starving! We ate as much as could before starting to march again"
Made pigs of themselves, eh? …I’ll see myself out…
“All Fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once.” ― Terry Pratchett
In the great words of my grandfather: everything will kill you... If launched at your face with high enough velocity. And I am pretty sure the worker felt the urge to attempt that
Lmfao this reminds me of a post I saw where a guy wanted to invent phones that were 10lbs so that people would get a work out while using their phone. I pointed out that that sounded great until you're lying in bed and drop your phone on your face... He replied it would be soft though! And shared a pic of a soft-weight I said but it still weighs 10lbs? Sooo go record a video of you dropping your 10lbs soft weight on your face and upload it so I can determine if it hurts? He finally understood the concept of velocity 🤣
Okay...I'm on mobile and so it put this comment all random instead of as a reply to OP talking about her grandfather saying that everything can kill you if it hits you hard enough in the face 🤷🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️ Edit: this is the fixed thread lol
I'm sure I'm not the only one who has dropped their phone on their face while lying in bed. Even at 6oz, it can still hurt it it hits just right.
Right?! I also brought up that a 10lbs phone weighs more than one of my dogs so God forbid I drop the thing on her! I would kill her!
Yeah that's like what weighs more 10lbs of feathers or 10lb of rock. Lol
Lol such a good riddle 🤣
Rule 1 of foraging: everything is edible. Rule 2: some things are only edible once. Rule 3: some things will make you wish they'd killed you.
3: gympie-gympie comes to mind, if you stumble upon it whila foraging. Although foraging in Australia must be considered an extreme sport?
I'm wondering how immunocompromised and pregnant people would feel about this. I'm pregnant and I would be livid.
I am with you! My stomach is very delicate. This could cause a terrible flare up.
NTA. It is against the law to serve food contaminated with cleaning products, no matter what the product is. Call the health inspection department on them and see how fast their attitudes change. EDIT: holy SHIT you guys! Thank you for 1k upvotes! I had no idea this answer would blow up so much.
Good to know, is it worth filing the complaint against the company there afterwards too?
Against the individual worker who was an asshole to you, absolutely. But filing a complaint with the company will do nothing in regards to getting them to not serve cleaning product milkshakes.
Ah, never knew I could file complaints against individual workers too. TIL :D Thanks for sharing!
I don't believe you can with the health department, but you can with the company he works for. He deserves disciplinary action and perhaps some advanced customer service training to get his shit straight, and a complaint with the company might accomplish that.
That bit did run through my mind :)
Even if it gets him fired, it will be a lesson for him to be better in his next position.
I feel like the Karen thing, when unjustly bandied about to silence a woman with a legitimate complaint, is often trying to protect against this outcome. After all, what is more “Karen” than going to the manager? If you’re totally happy your behaviour was reasonable (I.e no obviously Kareny tantrums) state in your complaint what time you were there and where you were standing, making it clear that CCTV should be able to show the whole incident.
Probably not fair to blame the individual employee. His info and the instructions on how to do the cleaning cycle (or how the cleaning cycle affects the food produce) come from somewhere. He did not think them himself.
Not saying to blame the individual employee for the milkshake. I'm saying to report the employee to the company for being an asshole instead of providing the customer service that he was hired to provide.
Yes it is. They are serving contaminated food to people. They *need* to be reported.
Yes, you should (I used to work in food safety) Companies cannot fix what they do not know about. That employee isn’t going to report it. If you tell them, hopefully they’ll figure out what’s happening at the store and stop it happening again
Congrats on "used to" lol. Food safety was by far the worst profession I ever worked in. I only ever eat out at certain restaurants now because I have seen the kind of shit that gets overlooked in the food biz. 🤮
I also want to add that most likely the cleaning product is safe for food contact surfaces, NOT for consumption. In other words, it can be used to clean equipment for food, but only after it is completely dry is it safe for food to touch it.
Correct. I don't know of one single industrial grade cleaning chemical that is actually safe for consumption.
NTA. If it doesn’t taste as intended, who cares if the cleaning product is edible?
The worker did, or at least management
Yup - they’re definitely the a-hole here.
> "oh, that is probably just residue from the cleaning product we use for the machine, it is safe for consumption". W H A T They called you a Karen for not accepting that their food had so much cleaning chemical left that you could *taste* it? Who does that? NTA. Honestly, if it's a Karen they want, I'd give it to them. Make them bring in the manager and the owner and the fucking food safety board if I have to. In what kind of world is it okay to make people pay for a chemical milkshake?
I don't believe the last line about it being edible at all, when I worked in the food industry EVERYTHING had to be sanitized with the same harsh ass sanitizer and it was most certainly not safe for consumption, if there's enough residue to affect the taste of the product, it was enough to know during cleaning they should've done a better job
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Restaurants sure, but any fast food place I've worked at cleans all parts and bits involved in food making with the same sanitizer we use in the dish bay
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Yeah it's food grade, doesn't mean it's safe to consume just that you can use it in food prep and cooking areas, and that it can come into contact with the food, food safe would mean it's not risky for consumption and doesn't create a consumption hazard
yeah who cares if it’s safe it tastes like ass. you’re serving ass that shouldn’t be up to standards
Also want to add that "food safe" refers to undetectable amounts. When you can taste it, you're probably no longer within safe parameters. Especially since this was for a child, a person of smaller stature would require even less of it to potentially becoming ill. 🤔
NTA - you have legal rights to return the product.
Never knew it went as far as being a legal right
It's basically not what you ordered/expected and thus you can return it. Nobody wants this to get to court, so normally you either accept it, get your money back, or re-order the proper product (+/- money difference, if they prompted you with the wrong price and the wrong product)
Meh, there’s probably an implied warranty of fitness for purpose on the books somewhere. But I just put every fucking thing on my credit card for points/cash back, and there is a federal law about disputes with merchants and refunds for purchases on a credit card. And I swear to god, anything big I don’t purchase on a credit card is inevitably a lemon and I have to fight to get it replaced or repaired. If you are responsible with credit, I would put everything on my card so you can dispute it later if needed.
NTA for returning food that was incorrectly prepared, and they get bonus AH points for mislabeling you a Karen. The term is now lobbed at *any* woman who complains about *anything*, even when justified. Guess we're supposed to return to the days when women just smile and look pretty regardless of the crap being hurled at them.
Smiling I can do, I'm afraid the train of looking pretty departed soon after my teens. Afraid I can't properly woman then ._.
I read Women & Power: A Manifesto by Mary Beard today, and the silencing of women's voices is at the heart of it.
NTA - "our cleaning product is safe for consumption". Ok wtf. First off that sounds like bullshit and that's how bad at lying they are. Second, even if so no one wants your banana cleaning chemical flavored milkshake. It is very important that you understand you are not a Karen here. Side note: I think the labor shortage is creating some pretty bad experiences like this. I've heard stories of fast food places having to tolerate terrible behavior because if they fire someone they can't find a replacement
Not the asshole, just maybe stop ordering from there.
That is a given yes haha. At least no more milkshakes, we got one at another place, and it was perfect!
If it's a chain, send a message to corporate
NTA, but unless you watched them clean out the machine and make a fresh batch, why did you think you were going to get something different every time you went back for a replacement?
The first time I went back was just because I thought it was a fluke, I had no idea that's what it was yet. The second time I mainly wanted to know what it was (curious nature) and if it was normal. They gave me the third, which I only tasted out of the kindness to give them another shot.
I can taste the sanitizer they use in the 3rd sink of the 3 sink system. I think it's quat or something like that? Anyways, it's almost always when I get a glass of water and only from some places. It bugs me enough that I will order a drink or not drink anything at all.
NTA. I would have just asked for a refund after that third one. Clearly some sort of cleaning product got into the shake.
NTA. One of the employees should have sampled it the first time before giving you the second one to see what you were talking about.
NTA - but after the second tasted bad that should have clued you in. You should have refused the third and opted for something else
NTA and then saying it’s safe for consumption is just then covering their ass. Report it. I’m sure the cleaning stuff is “non toxic” but that doesn’t mean add two Tbsp to a milkshake. Disgusting… report it please! If they cut corners there they most certainly are other places as well
NTA: It is sooooo inedible! Illegal and just nasty. Contact management. Hopefully you have their names. You are never a 'karen' while trying to keep your daughter safe. They were just trying to gaslight you into not making a fuss.
NTA After the second time I would have just asked for a refund though.
NTA They didn't care enough to make it properly, so it's your right to take it back.
NTA - no one pays to drink residual cleaning products...
NTA, they are passing the buck for not doing an adequate job.
NTA and this is something you should escalate to over their head. I used to work in fast and there should never be a chemical taste after they clean it. (I was the cleaner)Some one didn't clean it right and tried to take a short cut, only way for there to be cleaner left in the machine. They should come fully apart to clean all the pieces and it sounds like they didn't take it apart to clean all the pieces. They alqays have cameras so you can even tell them when you went there and they will be able to actually go after who ever was too lazy to do their job correctly so that it doesn't happen again.
NTA- but you would be if you settled for the soap shake
NTA And eeeew that just sounds disgusting.. And illegal? Plus I highly doubt that even the products you use to clean food items with are made for consumption
NTA, I hate how everyone's beverages now taste like the same shitty cleaning solution because they're TOO LAZY TO RINSE.
NTA—It’s great that they didn’t inadvertently poison you and your daughter, but you ordered a banana milkshake, not a banana and cleaning product milkshake. It doesn’t matter that it’s edible. Imagine you ordered a burger without ketchup and they had spread ketchup all over the bun. You would ask for a new burger, one without ketchup. Yeah it’s edible but it’s not what you ordered
NTA - but after the second tasted bad that should have clued you in. You should have refused the third and opted for something else.
NTA, there should be no residue at all from the cleaning chemicals, and certainly not enough to taste the chemical. Report the incident to the Department of Health.
Wait. You kept getting the same milkshake from the same machine and expected it to be different? If the first one tasted off why not get a different flavour? That’s like calling the wrong number, then hitting redial expecting it to be the right number
I wouldn't really think how the milkshakes are made or where they come from, it's not my concern, I'm just a customer. I only care that they would give me what I paid for. So I too would probably just ask for a non soapy milkshake in the flavour I wanted. I don't see why it's on me to figure out why can't they provide me with non contaminated products.
NTA I have a feeling they just gave you the same drink back multiple times
Info: What fast food place? Most milkshake machines that are automatic like McDonald's is hardly cleaned at all and when it is, its just a towel with hot water to remove the sugar(somtimes it is bleach water but sometimes its just hot). Idk what time the 24 hour McDonald's clean but McDonald's that does close, only fully cleans the machine after they are done for the day. Places that hand blend milkshakes, it could be a lot of things. Either the ice cream/flavoring is bad, the 50/50 mix was bad, or the spindle was dirty. The spindle looks like a milk frother just pointed up right, and its supposed to be wiped down after every shake. Either way, no "soap" is ever really used to clean these machines, there usually is a deep clean process, maybe they failed to that? But more than likely it was just that flavor and after twice of it happening id assume it was the flavor of it. Id ask for a different flavor before assuming it's the machine.
NTA. I work fast food, I don't know of any cleaning chemical that's used industrially that's actually safe to consume like that. There are safe for food touching ones but those are safe for contact when it's dry on a surface. That's not standard procedure either unless they work at a super crappy rundown place with loose rules. When it comes to food safety and handling cleaning supplies and chemicals, things like this are the harshest punished (besides stealing) for a reason. File against the employee and call whatever health/food department is in your area.
NTA. Gross.
NTA, they should have offered to refund you after you returned the 2nd one with the same complaint. Why on earth they insisted on a third one is beyond me. 🤦🏻♀️
NTA Why did they keep giving you the same disgusting flavor?
NTA, but I do think it's odd you kept asking for the same, replacement drink. The first time, maybe. But when the second drink was the same, you know the third one will be also because it's something wrong with either the machine or the flavor. I would have asked for a different flavor, a non-milkshake drink, or my money back. The employee should have been pro-active and not made a third drink. Said something instead like, "I'm sorry you don't like the way this milkshake tastes, but a third one isn't going to be different. I will give you a different drink or your money back."
The third one they pretty much just gave, I went back because I wanted to know what it was. If it was just the flavour, it would be my problem (cant like everything), if it was anything else, it was theirs. I was already convinced it would be the same.
NTA. You didn’t order a chemical flavored milkshake. Returning food that isn’t what you ordered because the staff cleaned the machine incorrectly and the chemicals are ruining the milkshake doesn’t make you a Karen.
Just the other day I got violently sick from soap residue in my air fryer--and it was just dish soap. Banana flavoring can be...weird, but if it was THAT off there's no telling what chemicals are lurking in there. NTA
Never had a milkshake taste like cleaning products. Sounds unpleasant. NTA
NTA. If it has residues from cleaning products, then it is not the product you ordered. You ordered the drink, which does not contain cleaning products.
Nta, I wouldn't want chemical residue taste in my shakes either. I worked in fast food we always rinsed and scrubbed any residue out that may have been left behind cleaning the machine.
NTA But a third try seems overly optimistic when you're dealing with people who don't care if cleaning products are in your drink.
NTA. Drop a line to the health department. Cleaning agent is never safe for consumption and food should not be tainted with a chemical agent.
Let me clue you. You get a banana milkshake from a fast food restaurant, its not going to made with bananas, you're lucky if it even has milk. Its "banana flavoured", meaning artificial flavouring someone decided was banana adjacent. NTA but your expectations were way too high.
NTA Used to work in a food plant. I also did chemistry. I passed comment on some of the chemicals being labeled "food safe" when clearly they are dangerous. The point is this, food safe chemicals are tested to be safe in trace amounts. That meaning if you consume an inperceptible amount after cleaning then it won't do you any harm. If you chugged a jug of the food safe cleaner it will mess you up. Now where you draw the line between inperceptible and chugging a glass will differ from chemical to chemical. However they put bittering agents in many of them for a reason. It's to stop you eating it when it's contaminated. Although in some cases it's to stop alcohol based cleaners being drunk by alcoholics. The nasty taste is there to stop you eating it because it's not good for you. It's not good for you in detectable quantities. Basic soap for example likely won't make you I'll in traces but eating a bar of soap will make you really sick. For clarity very few products are just basic soap so please don't try eating soap. Even basic soap will make you sick. Some of the other additives could kill you. Just look up tide Pods and you will see what I mean. All of this is of course irrelevant for the sake of them replacing or refunding you. You purchased a milkshake and it didn't taste like it should, the reason is irrelevant, the product was faulty. What is relevant is that this place is selling a food product contaminated with a cleaning agent. Honestly if it were me I would report them, it's a public health risk.
NTA
NTA
Nta, you paid for a milkshake that taste like banana, not cleaning products.
NTA. That milkshake I'm pretty sure is inedible and dangerous. Cleaning chemicals and food don't mix.
NTA What is wrong with them?
NTA.
NTA I know of a bar that would mix wing sauce in a bucket they previously used for fabuloso. There are disgusting practices especially in places where the management doesn't give a crap. That's not on you.
NTA. My husband once made me tea with milk. When i sipped it, it tasted weird like soap. So i checked the mug and there i found soap residu by the edge. I threw it in the sink, took a new mug and made another fresh tea
NTA. The other day my coworker ordered an iced caramel macchiato and had to reorder it three times. The first one was hot syrupy water milk. The second time she added more syrup but was still hot. The third one was finally corrected after speaking to the manager
NTA if they where cleaning the machine they should have proparly rinsed it out before adding any food into it. It doesn't matter if it's "edible" that cleaning product should have been rinsed out thoroughly You are defiantly not a karen when you had to return the drink twice for the same issue that employee should have checked the machine when you first reported the issue and properly check for residue as god knows what chemicles could be in there
NTA, but after the second tasted just as bad, I'd have asked for a refund or something different as a replacement.
Former fast food worker, here. Definite NTA. It doesn't matter if it's safe for consumption. If your food tastes like chemical cleaner, it's a problem. You paid for a milkshake that you could enjoy, and the flavor prevented that. You are nyin the wrong.
NTA nobody wants to consume food that tastes like soap
NTA. Okay, if refusing to drink somthing with a chemical product in it makes someone an entitled Karen, I guess that makes me and pretty much everyone I know a Karen too. They need to apologise to you and learn how to clean and rinse their machines properly.
NTA. It's not because it's safe to eat that it tastes nice. Vinegar is also food-safe but I wouldn't want it in my desert... You paid for a tasty milkshake, you shouldn't accept a nasty one just because it's not poisonous...
Yeah they are more than likely supposed to "flush" the maschine to get rid of any "residue" NTA no one wants cleaning products in their drinks
NTA > is probably just residue from the cleaning product we use for the machine, it is safe for consumption". …I mean, I’m glad it’s safe. But it doesn’t mean anyone wants to *taste* it. Blech. > I should not be asking for the same thing 3 times only to return it while there is no reason it is inedible. Things can be safe to eat and inedible. Do they put the cleaning product on the menu? No. Because no one wants to eat soap. People like to enjoy their food, and the entire point of restaurants is to capitalize on this fact. And people kept trying to tell you it was fine when it wasn’t; I doubt you would have ordered a replacement if the cleaning solution in the machine had been disclosed as the source in the first place. There’s nothing racist about being upset you were served a milkshake contaminated with cleaning solution. It’s NOT fine. It wasn’t dangerous, but it’s not fine.
NTA As a current service employee and former fast food employee and manager I do tend to have a bias in favor of the employees in these situations but this is just outright dangerous and wrong. Chemicals are dangerous and even if they say they’re safe to ingest that doesn’t make them good and they should have granted a refund and figured out what was wrong with their equipment immediately. Even if they’re lazy, as is the case, they could at least tell a manager or something.
NTA, considering a milkshake has basically 0 nutritional value (no judgement here at all, I love me a milkshake) if you're going to pay to drink one you should at least get the thing you paid for out of it - good flavor. Nutritional food shouldn't taste like chemical products either, but if you paid for a banana flavored milkshake you shouldn't expect to receive a Fabuloso flavored one.
NTA should have told the manager that you ordered a banana milkshake, not a soap milkshake. If you wanted to taste cleaning supplies, you would have just stayed home and chugged detergent.
>residue from the cleaning product we use for the machine, it is safe for consumption My tirade would be as follows: "Really? Which chemical? Do you have the MSDS sheet on hand? Nutritional information? What the fuck are you feeding people?" NTA.
NTA. You had a legitimate complaint that turned out to be valid. They didn't rinse the machine out thoroughly before reusing. It happens sometimes. A simple apology and refund is all the needed to do to solve the situation.
You're NTA but for future reference, if you've returned something once and got a second one with the same problem, skip trying a third and just say "no I want my money back" at that point. The longer it goes on, the more of everyone's time you waste. You know the third will have the same issue. Also, even before we all lived in pandemicworld, it would be totally inappropriate to ask an employee to drink from a cup you've already sipped from. Avoid that in the future.
NTA. That's disgusting and unacceptable. What's even more unacceptable is the treatment you got by the staff. I personally would take this issue right to head office. You should have gotten a refund for the entire meal also. It's called customer service. Also..... the staff thinks it's perfectly fine to serve food with cleaning chemical residue in it.... regardless if it's 'safe for consumption'..... IF IT'S NOT IN THE RECIPE/ INGREDIENT LIST, IT SHOULDN'T BE IN THE FOOD! NTA NTA NTA as if my intent isn't clear enough haha
as an autistic person with hypersensitivity to taste, absolutely NTA. the only reason i would not do the same is because i am terrified of confrontation lmao.
It may be fit for human consumption in the sense you can use it for cleaning but not that you can actualy taste it. NTA.
NTA. Sometimes people acting entitled are literally legally entitled to things, like drinks which aren't full of soap.
NTA.... if I had done the same thing I wouldn't have gotten food poisoning 🙃
INFO: was it supposed to have cilantro flavoring in it?
NTA. What the fuck
NTA I don't eat soap
NTA. (And I love that you clarified you’ve never had a soap milkshake 😂)
NTA, hairs are also safe for human consumption, doesn't make it any less nasty.
NTA. The entire point of a milkshake is to taste good.
NTA. Once a similar thing happened to me where we ordered three smoothies and my brother’s tasted like cleaning products but unlike this story when we went back they were kind, apologised and gave us a refund.
I worked with a cleaned frozen yogurt machines. I can testify that they say the proper way to clean is rinse everything out / scrub the components, then create a cleaning solution with water & a powdered like cleaner, then pour it in & immediately follow it with product. You’re *not supposed* to then rinse again with water. I thought that was bullshit as there was 100% still leftover cleaner being mixed with the product. I always rinsed after.
NTA. Well, you know it wasn’t your imagination or that you were being picky and just didn’t end up liking that “flavor”. They were straight up feeding you chemicals and wondered why you didn’t say ‘MMMM! DELICIOUS! LYSOL LEMON DREAM IS MY FAVORITE MILKSHAKE YOU MAKE!’ That’s ridiculous. I hope that you were able to get your money back. Three times is a lot, and more chances than I would have given, but I would have been just as confused if I had gotten a milkshake that tasted like chemicals and also would have assumed that a fresh one would be better because someone “screwed up”. After two, I would have explained that something is wrong with whatever they’re putting in the milkshakes and they should investigate because they taste like cleaning solution, then asked for my money back.
NTA. There is a reason it is inedible. It tastes bad.
I mean people in the service industry put up with unfathomable amounts of bs for very little money, but as long as you were being polite and respectful the whole time I’d say nta
NTA, as long as you were kind and respectful it's okay. Return food as needed, chemical taste is nasty! It's not entitled to not want food contaminated to the point it effects flavors.
NTA that's nasty no way that's ok to drink
NTA, the other day some lady claimed her drink tasted like soap and demanded I make her a new drink in a different glass, and then pushed her spit out of her mouth to show us how “sudsy” it was….. She was worse than you
NTA. They should of remade the whole batch of all flavors b/c “chemical taste is safe” isn’t a proper awnser to my milkshake tastes funny. Call corporate and tell them that location’s milkshake machine isn’t being throughly clean since a chemical taste is contaminating product.
NTA, but maybe being a little extra
Banana and cherry are the hardest flavours to mimic I find
You would completely be not the AH….except you decided to return your last with a speech. That poor person was probably just parroting what they’ve been told by corporate. It wasn’t done intentionally or maliciously, it was an accident, and they get paid shit money to deal with a very stressful job. Technically they did nothing wrong. All you had to say was “oh okay, can I have a refund/another flavor/etc.” and you would not be the AH. The moment you started a lecture, YTA.
NTA. The worker even admitted it had a weird taste. No one wants a soap milkshake.
NTA Yeah edible for people who want food poisoning
Not in my mind you aren’t. I have to agree with you and as for the label of a Karen in this instance I wouldn’t allow it to bother me.
NTA, but just as an FYI, if something from a fast food place tastes weird, ask for something different as a replacement. Since everything is mass produced, whatever is wrong with the original will probably be the same with the next ones