Oh that manager is in for it. The ADA is no joke.

Wow, just wow. ...and I thought the crappy service at McDonalds was something to talk about.

First they call the cops on grandmas who want salt-free fries. Then they threaten a deaf woman with a call. What's next? Am I going to get tazed for wanting an extra pickles?

No excuse for this sort of ignorance. Don't they train their managers adequately? (Guess not...)

Mmmmm, beef milkshakes.

@honus: Yeah, one thing I've learned in my life is to not screw around with ADA compliance. They will eat you for lunch.

@CaptainSemantics: I just realized I said "eat you for lunch" while talking about something that happened at Steak n' Shake. Great, now I want cheese fries...

They probably record the speaker transactions for "quality service".

@cde: Now THAT would be irony!

I wonder what the civil/criminal fines/penalties for a violation of the ADA are going to cost?

Honestly, I find that the loudspeakers at the drive thru are quite loud enough even for somebody who is half-deaf.
Now, I always hate when people assume the worst of businesses when it comes to people with disabilities. For some reason, we seem to throw logic and reason out the window. The disabled person is always right. Wrong. Many times, some disabled people are rather prude and ignorant. They believe they should be given 100% preferential treatment even if they are in the wrong.This is what I hate. We just heard 1 side of the story (the lady's. I want to hear the managers side as well. So, before we pass judgement, lets hear both sides first. Lastly, if this lady can't hear well, why is she driving aroun with 3 kids? Isn't that a safety hazzard? What happens if there is an emergency and she can't hear the ambulance approaching or the cops approachinig or the kids yelling?

@stinkingbob: Heaven forbid if a deaf person decides to become a mother. And may god have mercy on our souls if she decides to take care of her children.

@stinkingbob: "Honestly, I find that the loudspeakers at the drive thru are quite loud enough even for somebody who is half-deaf." Well, then, I guess that settles it! Ass.

BTW, we did hear both sides of the story: the "corporate overlords have apologized."

I'm pretty sure a deaf person would be RIGHT about not being able to hear anything. And I have a feeling volume doesn't make a difference when you're DEAF.

@stinkingbob: If her hearing was that big of a safety issue, she would be denied a license, which the ADA would check for while investigating the case.

@stinkingbob: Im pretty pro-business and even I am going with the customer 100% here. I dont think it was malicious, but this was a case of a bad, and ignorant, manager making life hard on someone for no reason. Im sure he was just trying to enforce policy as he understood it, but 3 brain cells should be enough to realize that when someone says they are in need of special assistance you help them.

(My guess, they have a timer on transactions, and her skipping the speaker and coming to the counter will slow down the times for everyone who has ordered from the speaker since she passed it, maybe to the point the manager would get in trouble. )

@stinkingbob:

Why is it that everytime I see you post something you are always bashing the consumer. You are a moron and a disgrace to the human race. Feel free to flag that you jackass.

@stinkingbob: Also, how big of an issue would it be to let her order at the window? Is that 100% preferential? No, its a simple, understandable request.

@embean: "And I have a feeling volume doesn't make a difference when you're DEAF."

You do realize there's plenty of middle ground between having perfect hearing and having no hearing whatsoever, right?

If I was def I would go inside to order, it would be simpler and easier for both parties involved. I wouldn't make a big deal about it. This is just complaining not discrimination. If I was def I wouldn't expect special treatment everywhere I went. I usually go in to order anyway because they fuck you at the drive thru. THEY FUCK YOU AT THE DRIVE THRU THEY ALWAYS DO IT. THEY KNOW YOU'LL BE A MILE AWAY BEFORE YOU NOTICE. THEY FUCK YOU AT THE DRIVE THRU, EVERY TIME.

caps lock is cruise control for cool.

@Tracy Ham and Eggs:

Whew, it's a good thing that he avoided getting into trouble.

Oh wait...

@stinkingbob: Are you half-deaf? Then how do you know?

yes of course there's middle ground. but, you can either hear enough to order at the speaker, or you can't. she obviously couldn't. I don't see what the issue is.

@stinkingbob: I'm not sure if you are just unfamiliar with the hard of hearing or just trying to get people upset.

Hard of hearing and deaf people often cannot hear emergency sirens behind them, correct. The thing is they aren't blind, and there aren't invisible cop cars going around.

My college has a NTID college with it, which basically means many deaf or hard of hearing students go with the fully hearing students. I will agree 100 percent that many of them will use their disability to try to get away with many things. I wouldn't say that hearing people do it any less, but they just don't have a disability to blame for their actions.

The fact of the matter is according to ADA, hard of hearing customers are allowed to order at a window instead of the loud speaker. It's not something that a hard of hearing customer has to do, but has a right to choose as they want. It equates to you not wanting to make your order to a pair of hands preforming sign language. And as it was mentioned, both sides of the story are clear - the Steak 'N Shake was in the wrong, and has apologized.

I blame her. The manager was quite clear - all she had to do was drive around to the speaker again, say "I am deaf and need to order at the window."

Then drive up....to....the window....OH.

What an ass.

@stinkingbob: flashy lights?

@picantel: Because he's a troll that normally can't get a reply from his best attempt at a comment, and figured that if he pissed people off he would get the attention.

By the way, shit like this pisses me off. This manager should be fired.

@picantel: Way to disrupt a semi-intelligent debate/discussion. Like it or not, the customer is not always right. At least stinkingbob brought some good points to the argument. Your contribution was to troll his post. Dick.

On another note, she should've just went inside. Lines are usually smaller and yes, it would have been easier for both parties involved. On the other hand, the manager was being a dick about it and could've just taken her order.

@stinkingbob: And in the driver's tests I've and my son has taken - no one EVER tested hearing. Eyesite yes.

It's possible she IS totally deaf - and was reading lips. Which doen't work well through a SPEAKER.

@stinkingbob: Exactly.

@stinkingbob: Actually, if you knew anything you would know that they have devices that let a deaf person know that a siren is wailing by flashing a light inside. There are restrictions for deaf people regarding driving which varies by state, but no state in the US AFAIK bans them from driving.

It's called Reasonable Accommodation. The key word being reasonable. What would any reasonable person do in this situation? Take the deaf woman's order at the window. She wasn't asking for thousands of dollars of special equipment be installed. Heck, she wasn't asking for any service that cost this business one single solitary extra penny.

I agree that this manager should penalized, maybe demoted, not necessarily fired. A manager that unreasonable and apparently illogical shouldn't be running a store.

It's true though that there are the "bad penny" disabled people who make a practice of suing businesses for financial gain. Clearly, this woman was not even remotely on that plane. I think only a troll would say she deserves less than a full apology, and free shakes.

what a cock

I occasionally visit a Jack In The Box drive-thru which is next to an apartment buliding. After 10pm, they change the order screen to say something like "So we don't disturb the neighbors, please just pull up and tell us what you want, and we'll verify it on the display"

Seems like this approach would work well for these drive-thrus. If you're deaf, push a button and they'll know not to scream at you but instead verify your order on the menu board.

Am I the only one wondering if I would've put it in park and shut off the car at the threat of calling the cops? Go for it. You call the cops, while I call the papers.

Maybe the manager is moonlighting from his normal Best Buy management position. ;)

OK, I do not know the the circumstances of this woman but I do have some incite. In high school I had a friend who was deaf. He could only hear high pitched noises(you could whistle to get his attention)and he could read lips. He also liked loud music because he could "feel" the base. Anyways, he had a drivers license and drove all the time. He could not use a phone so I imagine he would not have been able to use a drive-thru speaker either. So someone can by deaf and drive a vehicle safely and legally.

@stinkingbob: So now the ADA is wrong as well?
Well no problem. You want deaf people to not be able to drive, get your smarmy ass over to her house and take her and the kids out shopping.
Otherwise, crawl back in your hole and STFU.

@Fry:
I don't think it would have necessarily been easier for her to go inside with 3 kids.
Depending on the ages of the children it could have been a much bigger hassle getting them out of the car then back in than it would have been for the manager to just take the damn order.

To all you people who are bashing me. You missed my point entirely. I believe that the manager should have taken her order when she spoke with him.
BUT, the point I was trying to make is that we should not automatically assume that when it comes to a deaf person and a business, that the deaf or disabled person is always right. No,we did not hear from the managers point of view. His POV was given by the lady. She could have miscontrued the facts in her favor. Of course the business apologized. It doesn't mean they were wrong, it simply was easier to apologize than to create some whole legal/media drama over this. My point people is to listen to both sides of the story.
Lastly, this issue with deafness and being able to drive safely has me perturbed. If someone is deaf, it presents a very serious safety issue to everyone involved on the road. If there is an emergency she would not know about it. Ambulance or fire truck comes, she would not be able to hear it and move to the right.
People say flashing lights, flashing lights, BUT we hear the siren blocks away before we see the flashiing lights. THis is so we have time to move out the way! Just some things to think about. I am not against the lady. I am not for the business. I just want both sides to be heard inthis becuase I have seen some disabled people who take advantage of businesses without merit.

Where was this located?

@Primate: Hmm...touchée. As one of five children in my family, I can "appreciate" that comment. I still stand by the rest of my comment though.

If it was very busy, would have been nice if the manager understood the situation and asked her either to drive around again or wait over to the side since the orders behind her were likely ready which is why he probably needs everyone to order in sequence. That would be accomidating enough, I should think.

HEY EVERYBODY --
Please suppress your urges to flame each other and keep comments on-topic. Thanks.

Doctor Cos,

Driving is a privilege and not a right. No one has the right to drive. Show me or quote me a passage from the lawbooks where it says that Americans have the right to drive. With that said, my concern as it should be with all of you, is the safety of driving on the road. Your safety, spouses safety, kids safety, etc. There is a great risk of someone who is deaf and drives vs someone who is not. Just as there is a safety issue with someone who talks on cellular and drives and someone who has cataracts and drives. You have to look at each individual situation and make decisions as to whether or not this person should be able to drive. Am I wrong in thinking this way?? I am looking at it from a safety point of view. Which means that yes, if some is gabbing on their cellphone or runs the red light, I believe we should impound their vehice for 15 days. 2nd time offense gets 1 month and 3rd time gets 1 year and a suspeneded license. My point is dealing with safety onthe road. I nknow tht this is off topic from the Burger joint, but many people have brought this up and I wanted to respond to it.

Bad drive-up service is universal for Steak 'N Shake, regardless of whether you have a disability.

They serve you much more quickly when walk in and order takeout, and you can watch them put together your order to make sure you're not driving off missing a sandwich or something.

Seriously, Wow, If i was deaf, and someone threatened to call the cops on me, I would tell him fine, And sit in the drive thru until they got there just to spite him, Then i would kindly explain to the officer that he was refusing service to a disabled person, and me sitting in his drive thru lane was a perfectly acceptable demonstration of free speech, and that since he was violating the Amercians with disabilities act and clearly refusing to take my order at the window, i was waiting for that situation to be resolved so i can get my food.

@revragnarok:
Exactly what i think, If i was her, my car would stay put until he served me, I might go to the car or cars behind me and explain what was happening, maybe let them out after they become disgusted with the way they were treating me.
@mikemar42: Wow man, please attain the maturity level of a 10 year old before commenting. I thought that was a pre-requisite.

@stinkingbob: So you have been hard of hearing before? Deaf even? Great, So do me a favor and to read the lips of a speaker, Or just put your hand on it and try to feel that he got your order right, and that it really "feels" like a chocolate shake and large fry. Yes many disabled people take advantage of their disability i have seen it, But this is clear-cut, probobly wouldnt take the order because she screwed up the line, making the people behind her have to wait only a small bit longer. She should be able to place the order at the window, SHIT, ANYONE SHOULD BE, Some of those god damn speakers are so crackly even i have a hard time hearing people sometimes. Any manager that trys to have a -clearly deaf person pull around to a SPEAKER, and says "if you had told me about your disability i could have accomidated you" when she is AT THE WINDOW, AND IT MAKES NO DIFFIRENCE is a douche, period. I hope he is fired, he obviously doesnt like his job.

"You'll have to drive around again so I can take your order through the speaker," the guy said.

"I can't hear back there, so I'll need you to take my order here," I explained.

"No, it's our policy. You'll have to just drive around and tell me your order and then I can take your order."

"I can't use the speaker, which is why I'm at the window giving you my order here!" I started raising my voice a little, as I was getting frustrated at the hoops he was putting me through.

Man what a bitch. Yep I said it. At what point did she think the window monkey would realize she is deaf? She could not have said "I am deaf, I can't hear back there, so I'll need you to take my order here,"?

Nope she would rather argue with the guy, start telling him about ADA instead of just saying "I am deaf". Maybe she speaks so clearly it is not readily apparent that she is deaf.

She got the poor bastard taking her order so frustrated he shut the window on her, threw up his hands and walked away.

If you have a disability and need help, state so in a calm manner. Sorry if you are pissed at the world because you can't [insert disability here], we did not do it to you and we are not physic.

You'd think that in these litigious days, people would err on the side of caution and make whatever accommodations are requested so they don't get their asses fired and/or sued. I mean, would he have gotten in trouble for taking her order at the window? Nope. But he's definitely in trouble now, and if this lady has a lawyer, so is the entire company.

The ADA is bullshit.