Service with a smile
People are getting a little more than fast food when they turn up to the drive through at McDonalds Taupō these days.
By Dan Hutchinson
Alice Wineera or ‘Aunty Alice’ as she’s known around town, has been upsizing people’s order with a side of happiness for the past seven years.
She was nominated by hundreds of people for the latest Harcourts Taupō Good Sort award, says Harcourts Taupō owner Mary-Louise johns.
“Every person that comes out to that driveway is happier when they leave than when they arrived.”
She has also been the subject of several social media videos courtesy of Taylor Hori, receiving thousands of likes and hundreds of comments about her friendly service.
On Friday, she was asked by her manager to come into the café, where she was surprised with a haka led by Geoff (Snow) Rameka, and the presentation of the award by Taupō mayor John Funnell.
She thought the special occasion must have been “someone from McDonalds Auckland” that had come down but she was soon wiping away tears when she realised the occasion was for her.
She says there is no real secret to her service and she told Taylor: “Always I pray to Jehova to give me a beautiful day … and he sure does.
“Oh, gee, the customers are so beautiful. One lady gave me a box of chocolates this morning.
“Yes, she goes, ‘Oh, Alice, I can't even come in grumpy because once I hear your voice, that's it, you just make me smile’.
“A lot of them, they go, ‘Oh, we only come through just to see you’ … I've had lovely customers.
“It's just me being natural. I like to make people happy, make them feel welcome.”
She is “born and bred” in Taupō, so she knows a lot of people.
“That's why I keep getting in trouble, for talking too much. Because I hold up the line.
“And I say, well, don't put me in customer service. I'll go down and do the fries if I'm holding up the line.”
She didn’t think she would ever be an internet celebrity.
“Oh, my goodness, no. No, really, I'd rather hide behind the scenes. But I'm glad everyone recognises me, I'm grateful.”
She has four sons, one daughter and four grandchildren. Aside from the daughter who lives in Omokoroa, the rest live in the Taupo District, with two at home, so that’s another reason to be happy.
So, does she ever get sad?
“I do, but I keep it not in the job, yes, yes, yes, and with the lovely customers, you can't be sad.”
Before launching into the haka Snow said “the kūmara never talks about how sweet she is, and that summarises this beautiful kūmara over here.
“You will never land in a hangi, you are too good. Let's lavish you with love, lavish you with affection, because that's what she's done to her community all her life.”
Her manager Damon Gregg says they have been receiving positive feedback about Alice from lots of different sources.
He read out a few comments including this one;
“I've been meaning to place this feedback for some time now, but I haven't identified the person, but this woman deserves to be recognised.
“I come across the same lady operating the drive-through, and I'm consistently getting the best and most friendliest customer service from her.
“She literally brightens my day and makes me want to hug her and cry as you leave. So welcoming and genuinely makes you feel valued.”
Gregg says the Good Sort Award was not something they had sought for Alice, and there was a whole another level of feedback they had received apart from the nominations.
“We didn't know about your nomination for the Harcourts Good Sort until it was done and dusted, and Harcourts did not know about you. So, we can't all be wrong.”